In the last decade the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has transformed itself into a provider of natural resources (timber, agricultural products, minerals, and energy) for its wealthier and more populated neighbours China, Vietnam and Thailand.
Bouat talks about their need of a water filter.
Amleuam talks about his rights with the land.
Village Focus helps families in rural villages in Laos and Cambodia. Dependent on the natural abundance of the wilderness around them for all things, they are often victims of profiteering in many forms. Images from Pajujeun, Pajudon, Ta-oy, Saneung and Phorbeuy villages in Laos, and Siem Reap province, Battambang and Mondulkiri provinces in Cambodia. Scenes of bomb craters, Typhoon Ketsana's destruction, a sacred forest reserve, water and sanitation projects, and food cultivation.
This article examines changing contexts and emerging processes related to “land grabbing”. In particular, it uses the case of Laos to analyze the driving forces behind land takings, how such drivers are implied in land policies, and how affected people respond depending on their socio-economic assets and political connections.
ABSTRACTED FROM THE 'APPROACH' SECTION: The national inventory of land purchases and leases in Lao PDR is unique in providing comprehensive in-depth analysis of the extent and impacts of large scale land acquisitions across the country. It represents a major contribution to achieving greater transparency in what has previously been a very opaque field of business, and could serve as a model for other countries. Its major asset is the systematic and spatially-referenced compilation of data on the location, extent and implementation status of land-based investments.
The series of studies of which this is the overview are a contribution to the third year of this process. The aim of the studies has been to pull together in a simple form, updated information about large-scale land acquisitions in the region, with the aim of identifying trends, common threats, divergences and possible solutions. As well as summarising trends in investment, trade, crop development and land tenure arrangements, the studies focus on the land and forest tenure and human rights challenges.
In Rubber Barons, Global Witness documents the devastating impact of Vietnam’s rush for rubber on local communities in Laos and Cambodia. The investigation also shows how international financiers Deutsche Bank and the International Finance Corporation were backing these land grabs – often in contravention of their own policies. In both Laos and Cambodia, national laws are supposed to protect forests, limit the size of foreign land concessions and require consultation with local communities over land use, but these laws are rarely enforced.
ABSTRACTED FROM INTRODUCTION: In April 2008, the Vietnamese corporation Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Joint (HAGL) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Laos (GoL) agreeing to finance the construction of a $19 million athletes’ village. HAGL financed this property complex in support of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, a biennial regional sporting event that the GoL was hosting for the first time from December 9th to 18th, 2009, in the capital of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Vientiane.
ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This paper seeks to add to the growing literature on land concessions by examining a recent, high-level concession as a means of understanding three aspects related to concessionary investments: (1) the process by which concessions are awarded and implemented; (2) the intricate relationship between land use, land tenure, and land ownership in the face of concessions; and (3) the way in which village and household livelihoods are impacted due to such massive land use and ownership changes.
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