Laos

The Lao government has approved hundreds of thousands of hectares in concessions, but has yet to identify how many hectares of land investors have already used or whether they have followed their original proposals.

Rising tension over land seizures is emerging as a critical issue in Asia. An RFA special report examines the changing dynamic of Asia’s Great Land Grab.

A citizen video shows a rare confrontation between authorities and villagers in Bokeo Province, Northern Laos, where villagers gathered to block construction workers from digging up their rice fields for a Chinese investor.

A large Chinese investor is looking to secure a concession for 10,000 hectares of land on the Bolaven plateau in Champassak province, Laos PDR, for rice, small crops and cattle raising, according to provincial officials.

Three FAO reports published in 2013 looking at Lao PDR, Zambia and Ghana

Large multinational corporations are swooping into Laos to acquire the land — or the rights to the resources that the land holds — from the local, regional and national governments.

Al tiempo que el Directorio Ejecutivo del Banco Mundial sigue favoreciendo los fondos de capital privado, se afirma que los intermediarios financieros de la CFI han financiado 'apropiación de tierras" en el sudeste asiático y violaciones de los derechos de la población indígena en Honduras.

Investments by the World Bank's IFC in financial intermediaries are alleged to have financed 'land grabs' in South East Asia and violations of indigenous people's rights in Honduras.

Two Vietnamese firms bankrolled by Deutsche Bank and the International Finance Corporation – the World Bank's private lending arm – are leading a wave of land grabs in Cambodia and Laos, causing widespread evictions, illegal logging and food insecurity, according to a report.

Rubber Barons shows how vast amounts of land have been acquired for rubber plantations in Cambodia and Laos by two of Vietnam's biggest largest companies, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) and the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG).

The company will also seek to obtain land concessions for additional rice cultivation in the districts of Soukhouma and Sanasomboun.

"There is currently more land granted in concessions, than there is land being cultivated for rice."