Ethnic minorities and indigenous people

Ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples profiles

Vietnam’s minorities lose right to farm forests

One afternoon at the end of 2017, officials in Dakrong district in Central Vietnam’s Quang Tri province visited Ho Thi Nieng’s house. They claimed she and her husband had “burned the protected forest to do farming.” “We had been cultivating that land for a long time ...

Nguyen Dac Thanh

Thousands fish for luck in central Vietnam's marsh festival

The Dong Hoa fishing festival, which began dozens of years ago, is a yearly festival celebrated in the fifth month of the lunar calendar at the Vuc Marsh in Xuan Vien Commune, Nghi Xuan District. The marsh spans around a kilometer and is near the Hong ...

Duc Hung

Why indigenous land rights matter in Myanmar

The customary land rights of Myanmar’s indigenous peoples have been a much-discussed subject for decades, including during the “democratic transition” period that ended on February 1. The most striking aspect of this discussion, however, is how reluctant Myanmar policymakers—regardless of their political orientation—have been to ...

Esther Wah

Concern rises after Karen indigenous community returns to ancestral land

Concern continues to rise among civil society for the safety of members of the Bang Kloi Karen indigenous community who returned to their ancestral land at Chai Phaen Din in the Kaeng Krachan forest, after reports of a possible military operation to evacuate them from ...

Prachatai

The ‘death jars’ of Laos continue to intrigue

The so-called “death jars” of Laos could be more widespread than previously thought. Australian archaeologists and Lao Government officials have reported discovering 15 new sites containing 137 of the massive stone jars, which are believed to be around 1000 years old. Experts believe the jars are related ...

Ethnic cultural centre in land dispute

A Bunong ethnic community representative on Tuesday claimed Mondulkiri provincial officials have not begun measuring land for the Hill Tribes Cultural Centre in the Phnom Dos Kramom mountain area even though they had received an order to do so from Prime Minister Hun Sen late ...

Small Voices, Real Actions of People in Forests

Similar to other ethnic groups, people of Hmong at Ban Pang Kob living in the buffer zone of Doi Phu Kha National Park and Khun Nan National Park are entirely dependent on the forests. Their livelihoods and food security from surrounding forests are now facing ...

Sustainable Livelihoods Behind Street Vending in Thailand

When people talk about sustainable development there is rarely any mention of the many street vendors who make a living on streets in Thailand, as across the rest of Asia.  []In January it was reported that the Thai authorities had arrested over 1,600 illegal migrants, mainly ...

Kalinga Seneviratne

River Festival comes close to capital for first time

For the first time in four years the annual Mekong River Festival and multi-sport gala, a celebratory event to pay tribute to Asia’s seventh longest river, is to be held within easy distance of Phnom Penh. Running from March 9-11, the fourth edition of the ...

H S Manjunath

Indigenous communities resisting dams in Indonesia claim they face repression, rights abuses

In October 2014, when developers entered Seko and Central Seko to begin preliminary work on a 480-megawatt hydroelectric dam, the communities living there say no one asked their permission. ​The area, in the Seko Subdistrict of North Luwu, in the southern part of Indonesia’s Sulawesi ...

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