Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07VIENTIANE476
2007-06-06 09:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Vientiane
Cable title:  

AUTHORITIES IN NORTHERN LAOS WORRIED ABOUT HMONG

Tags:  SMIG PGOV SNAR LA VM XC 
pdf how-to read a cable
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INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 7347
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RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH 1902
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RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0566
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000476 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS (BESTIC)
STATE FOR INL/AAE (BOULDIN)
PACOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2017
TAGS: SMIG PGOV SNAR LA VM XC
SUBJECT: AUTHORITIES IN NORTHERN LAOS WORRIED ABOUT HMONG
IMMIGRATION

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Mary Grace McGeehan for Reason
C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000476

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS (BESTIC)
STATE FOR INL/AAE (BOULDIN)
PACOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2017
TAGS: SMIG PGOV SNAR LA VM XC
SUBJECT: AUTHORITIES IN NORTHERN LAOS WORRIED ABOUT HMONG
IMMIGRATION

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Mary Grace McGeehan for Reason 1.
4 (D)


1. (C) Summary: Vietnamese Hmong immigrants are resettling
in northeastern Laos from Vietnam and are becoming a growing
concern among local authorities trying to control one of
Laos' most remote borders. The Government of Laos (GOL) has
repatriated some recent arrivals but appears to lack the
capacity to undertake more than limited efforts. The
Vietnamese Hmong are reportedly immigrating because of
tighter Vietnamese enforcement of laws prohibiting opium
cultivation and improving economic conditions in areas where
donors are active on the Lao side of the border. End
Summary.


2. (C) Project staff in the Lao American Project (LAP) in
Laos' Luang Prabang Province reported that ethnic Hmong are
continuing to immigrate into Laos from northwestern Vietnam,
particularly from the region near Dienbienphu. The staff
claim that as many as 40 Hmong families have recently settled
in Viangkham District LAP villages alone, on average two to
three additional households per village. Viangkham is in
northern Luang Prabang and borders Vietnam. This immigration
is part of a larger movement of Hmong from Vietnam into
northeastern Laos, especially the northern districts of Luang
Prabang Province and the eastern districts of Phongsaly
Province.


3. (C) LAP staff said that military personnel stationed in
border districts found the influx of Vietnamese Hmong
difficult to control. The project staff reported that they
can no longer travel to some border areas populated by ethnic
Hmong from Vietnam because of language barriers and security
fears arising from the sometimes aggressive behavior of the
immigrants. Lao authorities have begun to repatriate some of
the Vietnamese Hmong back to Vietnam via the international
checkpoint at Taichang, but it appears that they are the
unlucky few in the midst of a much larger migration. Post
has no reliable statistics on Hmong immigration in this area,
and it is doubtful that the GOL does either.


4. (C) The primary motivation for Hmong immigration into
Laos appears to be a desire to escape stricter controls
imposed by the Vietnamese Government since 2000, especially
with regard to the cultivation of opium. The Hmong
immigrants seem to believe that law enforcement is weaker in
northern Laos, and they are probably correct. The Vietnamese
Hmong settling in Laos were also attracted by reports from
their relatives already here that expanding development in
donor-assisted districts offered better economic
opportunities.


5. (C) Comment: The issue of Vietnamese Hmong immigration
into Laos is a particularly sensitive one for the GOL, both
because of the turbulent history of Lao-Hmong relations
domestically, and because rapid population growth in upland
areas threatens to make the ethnic Lao a minority in their
country. These Vietnamese Hmong immigrants will do little to
endear themselves to their new hosts if the primary purpose
of their migration is to cultivate opium or share in the
benefits of development intended for Lao citizens. End
Comment.
MCGEEHAN