Country: Thailand
Group: Hill Tribes
Date: 5/1/20
Team: Erika Walker (lead), Vianney Mancilla, Colleen Clauss
Around 20 culturally and linguistically distinct indigenous groups in mountainous regions of northern and western Thailand are called “hill tribes” by the government (Minority Rights Group, 2017). This includes groups such as Akha, Karen, Lahu, Lisu, Meo (Hmong) and Mien. Many groups in this region practice swidden (“slash-and-burn”) or subsistence agriculture (Minority Rights Group, 2017). Some hill tribe communities face land grabs and forced relocation by Thai state forces in order to create space for army checkpoints near the Myanmar border, resorts, national parks, and eco-tourism (Hunt & McDaniel, n.d.). Conservation policies focused on “reclaiming” forests in this region also “alienated indigenous communities from their lands and territories” and resulted in land confiscation (Minority Rights Group, 2017). For indigenous communities that support themselves primarily through farming, this displacement can have serious negative impacts on their livelihoods, including culture (Hunt & McDaniel, n.d.).
As of 2016, roughly 100,000 highland indigenous people continue to lack citizenship despite a drive beginning in 2001 to register individuals (Minority Rights Group, 2017). An article from Cultural Survival explains that individuals unable to prove where they were born are denied identity cards, hill tribe people are given cards of a different color than other citizens in Thailand, and these cards are sometimes withdrawn by officials (Hunt & McDaniel, n.d.). This denial of citizenship means that “indigenous communities face a lack of access to state resources, such as health and education and restrictions on freedom of movement, which can exacerbate land rights claims” (Minority Rights Group, 2017). Additionally, state schools do not provide education in languages spoken by hill tribes, contributing to low participation in education (Minority Rights Group, 2017).
The combination of land grabs and displacement and lack of citizenship rights provide strong evidence that hill tribes in Thailand face ethnocide. Data quality is rated a 2, because information was found from credible websites but not from any peer-reviewed articles.
Sources
- Hunt, P., & McDaniel, M. (n.d.). Hilltribes Terrorized by Government Agents and Policy in Thailand. Cultural Survival. Retrieved April 24, 2020, from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/hilltribes-terrorized-government-agents-and-policy-thailand
- Minority Rights Group. (2017, August). Highland indigenous peoples. Minority Rights Group. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/highland-ethnic-groups/