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Central issues
This section highlights issues that are of importance to the indigenous peoples in Laos:
 Internal resettlement
Shifting cultivation eradication/stabilisation
Opium eradication
Commercial resource exploitation |
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 People: Brao
Photographer: Christian Erni |
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Internal resettlement
The government policy that has one of the most severe impacts on indigenous peoples is that of internal resettlement-related initiatives. A recent report (Aiding or Abetting? Internal Resettlement and International Aid Agencies in the Lao PDR, by Ian G. Baird and Bruce Shoemaker (2005)) notes that a number of programs and policies in Laos are promoting, directly or indirectly, the internal resettlement of mostly indigenous ethnic communities from the more remote highlands to lowland areas and along roads. These initiatives are linked to government policies on eliminating shifting cultivation and opium cultivation (see further below) and the concentration and integration of rural populations in order to deliver cost effective development services and integrate ethnic minorities into the dominant Lao culture.
The effects of internal resettlement
The impacts of internal resettlement on the resettled communities' livelihoods, social systems, food security and environment have often been devastating. Many vulnerable indigenous ethnic minority people are said to be dying of malaria and dysentery, and mortality rates as high as 4% have been recorded due to impacts associated with ill-conceived and poorly implemented internal resettlement initiatives in Laos. Many of those affected can expect to be impoverished long into the future. But despite strong evidence of the negative impacts of internal resettlement, it continues in various forms and in various parts of the country populated by ethnic minorities.
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 People: Brao
Photographer: Christian Erni |
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Shifting cultivation eradication/stabilisation
As in many other Asian countries, the government of Laos perceives shifting cultivation to be a major cause of deforestation, soil degradation and erosion. The aim to reduce shifting cultivation is clearly stated in the Forestry Law of 1996 and the Background Document on the National Poverty Eradication Programme of September 2003. The aim is ...To put an end to pioneering shifting cultivation by 2010" and "to stabilise shifting cultivation, particularly in the mountainous areas of the northern region by 2005". The motivation behind this policy is the government's intention to protect the forests and to spur on rural development.
The effects
More than 40% of the rural population, most of them belonging to ethnic minorities, are considered shifting cultivators and therefore this policy has a severe impact on them. Resettlement of remote mountain communities is one of the main means of eradicating shifting cultivation, although evidence clearly shows that resettlement has a devastating impact (see above). Although the degree to which the policy is implemented varies from district to district (in some districts, government officials have redefined shifting cultivation into "pioneer" and "rotational" swidden agriculture, with the latter being considered more acceptable than the former), the affected indigenous communities have experienced increased poverty and worsened food security. In many areas it has also triggered massive and uncontrolled additional migration because resettled shifting cultivators, deprived of their major sources of livelihood, try to find government-compliant livelihoods.
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 People: Brao
Photographer: Christian Erni |
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Opium eradication
Opium is produced in remote mountain regions where local farmers face structural disadvantages. Indigenous mountain-dwelling peoples in ten provinces and one special area, in central and especially northern Laos, are the main opium cultivators. It is often found in close combination with shifting cultivation. However, most of the opium produced does, in fact, not reach the international market. There is a very high addiction rate in the mountainous areas where the primary health care system is lacking and where opium is the only effective medicine available for fighting mental and physical pains.
Part of the subsistence economy
Opium is a dual-edged sword: its drawbacks are addiction, affiliated with impoverishment. On the other hand, opium has become an important cash crop over the last 150 years. The cultivation of the poppy and production of opium is an important element in the relatively isolated economy of the highland farmers, an economy that is primarily based on subsistence agriculture. The cash income from opium provides people with rice in years of bad harvest, and in good years with other necessities such as salt, oil, modern medicine, clothes and tools. For many families, opium therefore represents an indispensable product for trading in important goods.
The government’s policy
Since the mid 1990s, Lao law has prohibited the production, trade and consumption of opium. The official opium eradication policy was aimed at eradicating opium completely by 2005. It is an integral part of the international war on drugs and has been launched in response to international pressure from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which is heavily funded by the United States. It has been adopted by the Lao government largely because of the country’s dependence on development assistance and its hope of being recognised as a cooperating member of the international community.
The effects of the opium eradication programme
According to a survey conducted in 2005, there has been a 73% decline in poppy cultivation since 2000 and a 67% drop in potential opium production. However, many of the indigenous opium growers living in mountainous areas have been badly affected by the rapid pace of Laos' opium eradication programme, as many do not have suitable livelihood alternatives to replace the income they used to receive from growing opium. In addition, most indigenous opium addicts cannot afford to buy the opium needed to feed their habits once they are unable to cultivate their own. An estimated 65,000 hill tribe people have been displaced from the mountains of northern Laos.
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 People: Nya Heun
Photographer: Christian Erni |
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Commercial resource exploitation
Logging
In 2005, there were serious concerns raised by the Lao government regarding the extent of logging in the country. While the National Assembly only approved a quota of 150,000 m3 for 2004-2005, well over 500,000 m3 was actually cut down, according to official government statistics. The actual amount cut may in fact be much more. For example, quotas for taking dead wood out of National Protected Areas have resulted in loggers taking advantage of the situation and cutting live trees as well. The consequences for indigenous peoples are the same as elsewhere in the world where large-scale logging has taken place: a total disregard for the customary rights of indigenous peoples and the plunder and destruction of their resource base.
Dams
There has been a general surge in international investment interest in large hydropower dams in Laos over the last few years and many prospective dams are presently being studied or are under construction. After years of delay, the controversial Nam Theun 2 dam received support from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in 2005. Apart from resulting in the resettlement of about 6,200 indigenous people from the reservoir area, the dam will also cause serious downstream impacts along the Xe Bang Fai River into which the water from the dam's reservoir on the Nam Theun River will be diverted via the project's powerhouse. The increased volume of water, along with the dam's erratic operating regime, will probably affect more than 100,000 people in Savannakhet and Khammouane provinces. The large hydropower dams negatively affect the ethnic minorities situated within their project areas, and it is clear that it is they who are paying the highest price for hydropower development in Laos.
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 People: Mien
Photographer: Christian Erni |
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