How To Develop A Poor Country

Transcription

1 EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA 305 LAOS Over the last decade, Laos has been in a rapid state of economic and social change driven, in part, by national development policies linked to regional and international integration and the goal of leaving their Least Developed Country status behind. Much of the economic change involves the commodification of water (hydropower and irrigation) and land and forests (agriculture, wood products and carbon pools), which are the natural assets of indigenous communities. Increasing numbers of indigenous people are being separated from their means of production and pushed into discriminatory, exploitative and transboundary labour markets. 1 Decision-making power over these resources is mainly controlled by a small politically-dominant elite group from the Tai-Kadia language family (ethnic Lao) and their client-patron networks. The ethnic Lao comprise around one-third of the total population. Approximately another third of the population consists of other Tai-Kaidia language speakers. As for the remaining population, 30% speak one of the 30+ Mon Khmer languages as their first language, 5% speak the Sino-Tibetan language and 10% speak Hmong or Iu Mien. The Government of Laos classifies indigenous people as ethnic groups 2 and does not recognize indigenous status, regardless of their support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN- DRIP). Only one nationality, Lao, is recognized. Most donor agencies and development INGOs follow the government position on classification and do not apply a rights-based approach. Open discussion about indigenous peoples with the government can be a sensitive issue, especially as it is seen as pertaining to special (human) rights. Officially, there are 49 ethnic groups recognized, with 160 ethnic sub-groups, all of which the Lao Constitution states have equal status and rights. Self-identification as indigenous varies among the non-lao portion of the population. Extreme poverty is most common in the mountainous regions, where the majority of the country s indigenous peoples live. 3 The greatest marginalization and poverty is found among the women of indigenous groups

2 306 IWGIA THE INDIGENOUS WORLD 2014 living in rural areas. 4 The poorest groups in the lowlands are often those who have been resettled from the mountain regions. Social isolation and marginalization from mainstream Lao culture occurs due to their different languages, customs and religious beliefs. Indigenous communities have limited access to education and information that would enable them to improve their living standards, especially as this relates to their rights as Lao citizens. National development T he government of the Lao People s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR or Laos) is deeply influenced by the concept of development and many of its policies (e.g. National Socio-Economic Development Plans 1 7) and goals are framed through international bodies (UN Millennium Development Goals, World Bank and Asian Development Bank poverty indicators), overseas development agencies and integration into ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the main indicator of development, and attracting direct foreign investment is crucial to maintaining growth in GDP. These factors are having a profound effect on indigenous peoples and are transforming their livelihoods. The main drivers of the economy continue to be the construction and operation of hydropower dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries and mineral and precious metal mining. These industries are having a negative impact on indigenous peoples across the country, involving the loss of land and forests and associated livelihoods, village relocation, air and water pollution, migration and changes to traditional ways of life. Recognizing their overdependence on mining and the large number of mining concessions that were inactive, in June 2012 the government issued a three-year moratorium on mining, rubber and eucalyptus concessions. 5 All non-operational mining concessions were reviewed in 2013 and a small number had their concessions cancelled. A loss of land has been a key impact of these economic land concessions, and thousands of indigenous people no longer have access to their traditional agricultural and forest lands and have thus been forced to move into the wage labour economy. However, the employment opportunities claimed by investors have not materialized, with most jobs going to foreign workers. 6

3 EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA 307 The Government of Laos does not collect or endorse social and economic data that segregates ethnic groups. However, there is now a clear and noticeable distinction between wealth accumulation in urban areas and among the ethnic Lao people, and that of the upland areas populated by indigenous people. Aid agencies working in these areas have observed persistently high poverty levels. There is limited access to education or to education adapted to indigenous cultures and, even though it is well known among aid agencies that physical stunting in children in non-lao communities is higher than in Lao communities, the detailed Lao Social Indicator Survey makes no reference to or correlation with ethnicity and nutrition. 7 Indigenous communities are also largely cut off from higher-level political office, which decreases their ability to access the power and

4 308 IWGIA THE INDIGENOUS WORLD 2014 resources needed to make larger scale changes. Given this situation and, as the country develops, indigenous people are at risk of becoming entrenched in economic, social and political poverty. The Government of Lao PDR has a long history of relocating villages, a process that is often not voluntary but rather coerced or forced. This method of social and national construction has been ongoing for many years, in some cases with support from international aid agencies, even though there are critical concerns about the negative impacts of relocation. The National Leading Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Eradication (NLCRDPE) is responsible for coordinating relocations and recently reported that: Some 70 locations out of a planned 167 locations in provinces across the country where poor families are being settled have been developed and equipped with necessary facilities, with many of the people previously engaged in shifting slash and burn cultivation and that: The numbers of families engaging in shifting slash and burn cultivation have been declining thanks to the Stabalization of Settlement and Livelihoods scheme. 8 Overseas Development Assistance Donor agencies have poverty reduction mandates and support similar government approaches focusing on upland areas and indigenous peoples. The impact of this work on indigenous livelihoods is therefore widespread. These efforts are aligned with various government policies and international goals such as the UN Millennium Development Goals. In order to give focus to the development efforts, specific strategies (such as the Forest Strategy to the Year 2020) and policies aimed at the uplands have been created. With donor support, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has created the Upland Development Strategy to the Year 2020, which includes food security and commercial agriculture as its two pillars. Support for the expansion of commercial agriculture is being promoted as key to connecting remote indigenous communities to a growing network of agricultural buyers, both national and international (mainly China, Vietnam and Thailand). This pillar is directly linked to the government policy of stabilizing pioneer shifting cultivation and informally bringing the uplands under greater state control through market expansion and greater regional economic integration.

5 EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA 309 Natural resource legislation As indigenous peoples have no specific rights, stronger legal tenure over natural resources is one way of securing resources and livelihoods. There was very active legislative drafting related to natural resources and access to and control over land and forests in The first ever National Land Policy was drafted, with significant input from international civil society organisations. Key recommendations affecting indigenous peoples included: the right of villages to refuse land concessions based on internal decisions (i.e. consent); the full recognition of communal land and communal titling; the establishment of specific and transparent grievance mechanisms; and formal recognition of customary land tenure rights. The final recommendation is of particular importance as the vast majority of land occupied by indigenous peoples is under communal ownership and is untitled. The National Land Policy is meant to provide direction for a revision of both the Land and Forestry Laws. The Forestry Law has been under revision through a donor-supported consultation process allowing local and international civil society input. This recommended the designation of Community Forests alongside the three other existing main forest categories (Production, Protection and Conservation). The draft law distinguishes between rotational agriculture and shifting cultivation, with the former being acceptable if based on an approved land-use plan. Shifting cultivation is defined as the clearing of new, previously uncut forest areas and is deemed illegal. If the law is passed, it will legitimize the most common agricultural system of indigenous peoples in Laos. In 2013, a Village Forestry and Non-timber Forest Products Unit was established within the Department of Forestry. The Land Law is also under revision and should incorporate the themes addressed in the National Land Policy. The policy has been intensely debated in the National Assembly, with the Politburo leading the National Steering Committee. These pieces of legislation will not give specific rights to indigenous peoples but will address the weak natural resource tenure rights of all rural communities, many of which are indigenous. To meet the changes in the forestry sector (REDD+, FLEGT, etc.), the Forestry Strategy to the Year 2020 was also opened for revision in 2013, after a 2012 review. New guidelines created by the Lao Front for National Construction 9 and supported by the World Bank were completed in Entitled Guidelines on Con-

6 310 IWGIA THE INDIGENOUS WORLD 2014 sultation with Ethnic Groups Affected by Public and Private Development Projects, they are meant to: a) ensure that consultation with ethnic groups follows an effective practice in order to comply with the Environmental Protection Law, the Decree on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), the Decree on Compensation and Resettlement of People Affected by Development Projects and other relevant regulations; b) ensure the right of people affected by development projects to be fairly compensated by those projects; c) prevent or mitigate the potential environmental and social impacts generated by development projects and ensure that the project is properly designed for sustainability. The guidelines are, however, not legally binding, have not been widely distributed and do not include the right to give or withhold consent. Furthermore, EIAs have not been conducted for many investment projects and those that have do not take into account the concerns of the affected indigenous peoples. Previous models of consultation with indigenous peoples include the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) model that was piloted in Xayabury Province under a GIZ bilateral REDD+ project (see The Indigenous World 2013). Unfortunately, the FPIC process was not completed in the project area and, to date, has not been followed up anywhere in Laos. If the National Land Policy discussed above includes the right to refuse land concessions (i.e. consent) then it will informally strengthen the FPIC process. Indigenous resistance The agricultural and forest lands of indigenous peoples have continued to be converted through economic land concessions into other land uses. Prior to this, land-related conflicts were minor and localized; however, non-transparent and top-down land acquisitions facilitated by the government have resulted in an increased number and intensity of conflicts. A variety of species have been planted by foreign and local investors, with the government facilitating the process: rubber plantations are widespread and especially damaging to indigenous livelihoods. As there are no clear or fair District and Provincial level grievance mechanisms, and local authorities benefit from the concessions, complaints made directly to the National Assembly have risen sharply and resulted in a backlog of unresolved grievances. 10 Two high-profile cases involving indigenous communities and for-

7 EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA 311 eign investors have been monitored closely by the government and civil society groups. One group affected by a Vietnamese Lao joint venture rubber concession (Cong Ty Cao Su Huu Nghi/Lao-Viet Friendship Rubber Company) organised itself independently and travelled numerous times to the national capital to present petitions and seek a resolution. 11 The leaders of the group were arrested in their home province, with several being detained for three weeks, during which time they suffered physical abuse. Following their release, they were subjected to death threats and intimidation and forced to flee for their safety. During 2013, they continued to pursue the case at the central level and this is helping to expose the injustice and corruption not only in this case but in many others. Representatives of the National Assembly have met with the leaders and are taking a resolution and monitoring role in this regard. The provincial military was mobilized in case the resistance spread to other indigenous communities. A second group of indigenous people were affected by the international agricultural conglomerate Olam International and coffee-related land concessions. 12 This group successfully negotiated the return of some of their land and compensation for crops destroyed. In both cases, the international media coverage was not welcomed by the Lao authorities but played a role in keeping the cases from being ignored. The legitimacy of the resistance was in part related to their indigenous identity and their ancestors involvement in resistance and as liberators during the colonial (French and American) eras. Not all land conflicts have reached this level of resistance but, across Laos, low levels of resistance include: cutting and destroying tree plantations, active local petitioning, blocking access to planned plantation sites, unwillingness to cooperate with companies and the government, and occasional acts of direct violence. Notes and references 1 Molina R., 2011 CAMPS, CHILDREN, CHEMICALS, CONTRACTORS & CREDIT: Field Observations of Labour Practices in Plantations & other Social Developments in Savannakhet and Champasak. Unpublished report. 2 In the past, the term ethnic minority was officially used but this was halted as the government believed it created a minority identity that did not align with the state s efforts to create a national identity. It could also be interpreted that, being minorities, these groups qualified for specific attention (i.e. rights), something which the state does not support.

8 312 IWGIA THE INDIGENOUS WORLD Epprecht M., Minot N., Dewina R., Messerli P., Heinimann A., The Geography of Poverty and Inequality in the Lao PDR. Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Bern: Geographica Bernensia. P Elizabeth M. King and Dominique van de Walle, Indigenous People. Lao PDR Country Brief Number 2. Catching up slowly: ethnic and gender inequalities in Lao PDR. November Vientiane Times, 8 May Govt to consider suspending large mining, land concessions. 6 Vientiane Times, 29 January 2014 Rapid growth fails to generate jobs in Attapeu. 7 Lao Social Indicator Survey, Ministry of Health. Partner Agencies: UNICEF, UNFPA, LuxGov, USAID, AusAID, SDC, UNDP, WHO, JICA, UNAIDS, WFP. 8 Vientiane Times, 3 February 2014, Settlement and livelihoods crucial to fighting poverty, donors told. 9 The Lao Front for National Construction is a mass organisation with representation at all levels of government (central to village). It is responsible for enhancing unity and harmony among all Lao ethnic people/citizens, officially registered religions, social strata and organisations. It is responsible for reaching out to the non-party population and is seen, by the government, as the closest thing to a local NGO in Laos. 10 Vientiane Times, 12 October 2012, Public raise concerns over land rights ustring=laos+sekong 12 Asian Times Online, Due to the sensitivity of some of the issues covered in this article, the author prefers to remain anonymous.