Country: Laos

Group: Khmou/Kammu/Keummeu

Date: 5/3/2020

Team: Colleen Clauss (lead), Vianney Mancilla, Erika Walker

            The Khmou are one of the largest indigenous groups in Laos, at about 11% of the population, and are one of several indigenous ethnic groups in Laos grouped together under the designation Lao Theung. Although the Khmou are most likely the original inhabitants of Laos, around 1230, the Lao Theung were displaced into the uplands by the Lao Loum, and are even today still referred to by the derogatory term “slave-servant” (Minority Rights Group, 2018; Khumu Community, n.d.). Under French colonial rule, the culture and language of the Lao Loum became more dominant in the state. Since 1975, minorities in Laos have receive more support in “stated policy and constitutional documents,” they are still underrepresented in the political sphere (Minority Rights Group, 2018). The Lao Theung’s traditional way of life has been threatened by land reform programs aimed at preventing deforestation, slash-and-burn agriculture (the traditional method of agriculture of the Khmou), and gaining private ownership of land (Minority Rights Group, 2018). Minority Rights Group (2018) states that “many of the Lao Theung are being dispossessed and not benefiting from these initiatives, all the while being prevented from continuing their traditional activities” and likely being left with “increased vulnerability, and reduced food security” (Dressler et al., 2017). The Khmu have tried to fight off encroachments such as Chinese-owned rubber concessions established in their village lands through “anonymous acts of sabotage, refusal to work for the company, identification of powerful allies in the government and civil society and recourse to law and state institutions” (McAllister, 2015). Resettlement efforts often involve pressure to assimilate into the dominant Lao culture and adopt different languages and traditions, leaving the Khmou with a lack of educational opportunities and a 98% illiteracy rate (Minority Rights Group, 2018; Khumu Community, n.d.).

Our team rated the data quality as a 2 because credible sources discussed the Lao Theung groups as a whole and not specifically the Khmou, and it seems likely that they are experiencing the examples of ethnocide described above. Some evidence was found in a peer-reviewed journal, but this source was not specific about this group.

Sources

  1. Dressler, W. H., Wilson, D., Clendenning, J., Cramb, R., Keenan, R., Mahanty, S., Bruun, T. B., Mertz, O., & Lasco, R. D. (2017). The impact of swidden decline on livelihoods and ecosystem services in Southeast Asia: A review of the evidence from 1990 to 2015. Ambio, 46(3), 291–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0836-z
  2. Khumu Community of Orange County (n.d.). Khmu History. Retrieved from http://www.khmuoc.org/KhmuHistory
  3. Mcallister, K. E. (2015). Rubber, rights, and resistance: The evolution of local struggles against a Chinese rubber concession in Northern Laos. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 42(3-4), 817-837. doi:10.1080/03066150.2015.1036418
  4. Minority Rights Group. (2018, July). Lao Theung. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/lao-theung/