The Indigenous World 2024: Laos

Written on 20 March 2024. Posted in Laos

 With a population of just over 7 million,^[1] the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR or Laos) is the most ethnically diverse country in mainland Southeast Asia.^[2] The ethnic Lao, comprising around half of the population, dominate the country economically and culturally. There are, however, some provinces and districts where the number of Indigenous people exceeds that of the Lao and where their culture is prominent. There are four ethnolinguistic families in Laos; Lao-Tai language-speaking groups represent two-thirds of the population.

The other third speaks languages belonging to the Mon-Khmer, Sino-Tibetan and Hmong-Ew-Hmien families and are considered to be the Indigenous Peoples of Laos. Officially, all ethnic groups have equal status in Laos, and the concept of Indigenous Peoples is not recognized by the government, despite the fact that Laos voted in favour of adopting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The Lao government uses the term ethnic group to refer to Indigenous people.

The Lao government currently recognizes 160 ethnic sub-groups within 50 ethnic groups. Indigenous Peoples, especially those who speak Hmong-Ew-Hmien languages, are unequivocally the most vulnerable groups in Laos. They face territorial, economic, cultural and political pressures and experience various threats to their livelihoods. Their land and resources are increasingly under pressure from pro-investment government development policies and commercial natural resource exploitation. Indigenous people lag behind the majority Lao-Tai at all economic levels. They have more limited access to healthcare, lower rates of education, and less access to clean water and sanitation. Indigenous people relying on unimproved or surface water ranged from between 20% to 32.5%, compared to just 8.5% of Lao-Tai, and while only 13.9% of Lao-Tai practice open defecation, this rises to between 30.3% to 46.3% among Indigenous people.^[3]

Laos has ratified ICERD (1974), CEDAW (1981) and ICCPR (2009). The Lao government, however, severely restricts fundamental rights, including freedom of speech (media), association, assembly and religion, and civil society is closely controlled. Organizations openly focusing on Indigenous Peoples or using related terms in the Lao language are thus not allowed, while open discussions about Indigenous Peoples with the government can be sensitive, especially since the issue is seen as pertaining to special (human) rights.

Under the Constitution of Laos, land and natural resources are considered “national heritage”. The State is responsible for managing this in accordance with the law. It is also the responsibility of the State to protect the property rights of organizations and individuals. In theory, the State grants long-term and secure land-use rights to Lao citizens as well as legal persons, collectives and organizations of Lao citizens. The State recognizes the right to use the surface of the land only for cultivation, planting trees or construction, while all natural resources under the ground and on the surface still belong to the national community. 2023 marked a turning point in the development of the legal framework and four main pieces of legislation regarding land rights were promulgated.

Under the current legal framework, land rights in Laos are treated differently for lands located inside and outside forestland. State Forests comprise three main categories: Production Forest Areas (PFAs), Protection Forest Areas (PtFAs) and Protected Areas (PAs). While land holders outside of the three forest categories can receive land titles for their land, holders inside can receive Land-Use Certificates instead. According to the sub-legislation introduced in June, these Land-Use Certificates do not include the rights to transfer, mortgage or lease the land, as would be the case with full land title rights.

This article is part of the 38^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous man harvesting quinoa in Sunimarka, Peru. This photo was taken by Pablo Lasansky, and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2024 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2024 in full here

New Decree on Protected Areas

After three years in the making, Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Sonexay Siphandone adopted the new Decree on Protected Areas in Laos on 20 June 2023, marking a major milestone for better management and governance of these biodiversity-rich zones.^[4]

The decree aims to balance benefits between people and nature by involving the residents of the surrounding villages in the co-management of the PAs through the “Guardian Village” approach. This approach requires a Guardian Village Conservation Contract and promotes PA communities’ participation, empowering them to jointly make decisions with the PA Authorities about resource uses and allocations that serve conservation and development objectives. Inside PAs, the forest and natural resources are managed through a collaborative management system. Indigenous Communities are becoming key players in partnership with the Lao government. The decree also recognizes the land tenure of the inhabitants living inside PAs before its designation by means of land registration and land title or land-use certificates for authorized customary land uses inside PAs. This decree is a big step in the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ land rights inside PAs and also for biodiversity protection in Laos.

Guidelines on Village Forest Management Plan

The guidelines, released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) in October, set out the principles and procedures for implementing forest management plans at the village level both inside and outside the three main categories of State Forests. Its objective is to ensure a common approach to implementing the forest management plan throughout the country and to strengthen village authorities’ capacity to manage and protect forestland and to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country with the idea of ultimately ensuring Indigenous Peoples land ownership and access to land in the three forest categories, including harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs).^[5]

Country Action Plan for the Recognition of Land-Use Rights in Forestland

In November 2023, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry presented a joined Country Action Plan (CAP) for the Recognition of Land-Use Rights in Forestland. This project is supported by the PROGREEN-funded initiative: Security of Tenure in Forest of East Asia & Pacific.^[6]

The development objective of this CAP is to enhance the recognition of land-use rights in forestland in order to promote security of tenure, natural resource protection, and livelihood development. The CAP aims to: create or improve village land allocation plans, and forest and agriculture land management plans for all 3,167 villages located on forestland by 2030; survey and register the land of individuals, legal entities or organizations in at least 628,000 plots, including issuing Land-Use Certificates according to law; and recognize the rights to use State land for collective purposes, including agricultural land and village forests, by means of demarcation and the issuing of village forest management and conservation contracts.

Civil society organizations have raised their concerns about the potential impacts of this legislation on Indigenous communities’ access to customary land, both collective land and individual land inside State forestland. Indigenous people that were already settled in the State Forests prior to their establishment have the opportunity to have their customary rights to the land recognized. However, the criteria for identifying these households are unclear and, while they are eligible to obtain a Land-Use Certificate, they will not be able to transfer, sell or use their land as collateral or mortgage it. This illustrates the limitations of this attempt to formalize customary rights.

Indigenous people who settled inside State Forests after their establishment as such face the risk of expropriation or eviction. However, depending on the individual case, compensation may be provided. The risk of not receiving adequate compensation due to the lack of available funds for compensation from the government remains. During the last Land Information Working Group (LIWG) meeting in November 2023,^[7] the government reiterated its strategy of resettling remote Indigenous communities located inside State Forests closer to services and permanent livelihoods (sedentary agriculture/paddy cultivation, as opposed to rotational shifting cultivation).

Cancellation of Decree 84 on Resettlement and Compensation

In December, the government officially promulgated the cancellation of Decree 84 on Resettlement and Compensation.^[8] This decree provided principles, regulations and standards on the management and monitoring of compensation for losses and the management of resettlement activities in order to properly and effectively implement development projects. It aimed to ensure that the affected people are compensated, resettled and assisted with permanent livelihood alternatives that will ensure that they are better off or at least on the same level as they were before. Finally, the decree advocated for projects to contribute to the socio-economic development of the nation in a sustainable way.^[9]

The decree is replaced by the new Law on Settlement and Occupation,^[10] which primarily aims to regulate the impact of development projects on the population by providing rules on the process for identifying the benefits they should receive, particularly compensation, resettlement and training. The law clearly covers projects funded by the private sector but it also appears to cover government projects. The law indicates and, to a degree, authorizes an interventionist role for government in moving communities around the country to suit its plans.

Challenges and opportunities

Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) was discussed during official meetings conducted in 2023 and is becoming more widespread as a compulsory process for ensuring community ownership and a sine qua non factor of sustainability, supported by the Forestry Law (2019).^[11] The World Bank-funded Lao Landscapes and Livelihoods (LLL) project implemented FPIC in 334 Indigenous communities targeted by the project.

Limited awareness of land rights prevents Indigenous communities from exercising their rights. Awareness raising is needed on the legal provisions protecting and securing village land and customary tenure, including the possibility of obtaining communal/collective title. The lack of awareness of their rights also means that Indigenous women struggle to have their customary land rights recognized, even during land titling processes.

Fortunately, many international agencies are committed to raising Indigenous communities’ awareness of the law. This includes members of the LIWG^[12] and the Land Learning Initiative for Food Security Enhancement (LIFE), a capacity building and legal awareness raising project related to land and natural resources in the country.^[13]

In late 2023, the Public Information and Awareness Services for Vulnerable Communities in Lao PDR Project (PIASVC)^[14] was planning to start using the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials developed by LIWG in collaboration with the Department of Agricultural Land Management (DALAM) and used by various civil society organizations and international Non-Government Organizations in the network. The PIASVC is also involved in the Enhancing Systematic Land Registration Project (ESLR), which supports MONRE in improving tenure security and improving the Government of Laos’ systematic land registration process and advancing the issuance of property titles throughout the country.^[15] However, it appears that all this material is now under scrutiny from the government, as it is planning to revise and comment on all instruments, including videos, tools, etc.^[16] This reflects the prevailing climate of sensitivity toward organizations trying to empower and conduct legal awareness in Indigenous communities and, despite the recent development of the regulatory framework, there are still many grey areas that provide both opportunities and challenges for Indigenous people when maintaining their way of life and claiming their rights, including their land rights.

Steeve Daviau, is an anthropologist who has been working on Indigenous Peoples’ issues in Laos for over 20 years. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This article is part of the 38^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous man harvesting quinoa in Sunimarka, Peru. This photo was taken by Pablo Lasansky, and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2024 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2024 in full here

Notes and references

^[1] UNDP, Human Development Reports – Laos http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/LAO

^[2] Open Development Laos, https://laos.opendevelopmentmekong.net/topics/ethnic-minorities-and-indigenous-people/

^[3] Statement by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on his visit to Lao PDR, 18-28 March 2019. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24417&LangID=E

Lao, Vientiane, 28 March 2019.

^[4] Lao PDR adopts the Protected Areas new decree to safeguard and restore biodiversity. Jess, 21 June 2023. https://laos.wcs.org/About-Us/Latest-News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/19309/Lao-PDR-adopts-the-Protected-Areas-new-decree-to-safeguard-and-restore-biodiversity.aspx

^[5] Guideline on Village Forest Management Plan, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, No.4143/MAF. Vientiane Capital, dated 3 October 2023.

^[6] Country Action Plan for the Recognition of Land Use Rights in Forestland in Lao PDR

Second DRAFT. Department of Land (DoL), Ministry of Environment and natural Resources (MONRE), 25 October 2023.

^[7] Personal communication with the coordinator of the Land Information Working Group (LIWG).

^[8] Prime Minster’s Cabinet, Instruction No. 2552 on the Abolition of Decree 84 on Resettlement and Compensation. 29 December 2023.

^[9] Cancellation of Decree 84

^[10] Decree of the President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic regarding the Promulgation of the Law on Resettlement and Vocation. President/ No. 204/P, Vientiane Capital, 1 August 2018.

^[11] National Assembly. Amended Law on Forestry, No. 64/ NA, 13 June 2019.

^[12] The LIWG is one of the thematic working groups of the INGO Network, the network of international NGOs in Laos.

^[13] Village Focus. “LIFE Project.” 2023. https://villagefocus.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/LIFE-project-Flyer-upate-Final-version.pdf

^[14] Public Information and Awareness Services for Vulnerable Communities in Lao PDR is a project funded by the Japanese Social Development Fund (JSDF) and administered by the World Bank (WB). It is co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and aims to improve public access to information on natural resource rights and obligations by providing awareness raising and enhanced legal counseling services to the poorest and most vulnerable communities.

^[15] The Enhancing Systematic Land Registration Project (ESLR) Project is financially supported by the World Bank and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The project is currently supporting land titling in over 200 Indigenous communities in 18 provinces.

^[16] Personal communications with a representative from the Land Information Working Group (LIWG).

Tags: Land rights, Business and Human Rights , Biodiversity, Conservation