Aiding or Abetting? Internal Resettlement and International Aid Agencies in the Lao PDR

There now exists a compelling and growing volume of evidence demonstrating that internal resettlement and related initiatives in Laos are, in many cases, having a major and generally negative impact on the social systems, livelihoods and cultures of many indigenous ethnic communi- ties and people. Tens of thousands of vulnerable indigenous ethnic minority people have suffered and died due to impacts associated with ill-conceived and poorly implemented internal resettlement initiatives in Laos over the last ten years. Many of those impacted can expect to be impoverished long into the future. The initiatives responsible for this situation have received substantial indirect and direct support from outside aid agencies and donors. While it is not easy to judge the various site- specific and complex situations involved, the question must be raised of whether some agencies are in reality facilitating violations of the basic rights of impacted communities through their support for internal resettlement. Our findings indicate that many international development agencies working in the Lao PDR have failed to recognize or understand the critical importance and impacts of internal resettlement-related initiatives on the people they are meant to be assisting or to adequately address these issues within their own projects and institutions. Given the political and cultural context in the country, international aid agencies operate there with very little accountability. A close examination and reflection on the practices of individual agencies seems called for – by the agencies themselves, by their partner organizations, and by their supporters.