Fact
Sheet on Laos
Updated February 2004
US-Lao Relations
- The US has had diplomatic relations with the
Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) since its founding in 1975.
These relations were not interrupted as in the cases of Vietnam and
Cambodia. The current US Ambassador, Douglas Hartwick, arrived in
Vientiane in September 2001.
- According to the State
Department, international donors and NGOs, the Lao government is
cooperating fully on the search for MIA remains from the Vietnam
War and a campaign to eradicate narcotics production and trade in
northern Laos. Since September 11, Laos has also aided the US in counterterrorism
efforts.
- The US currently funds
approximately $10 million per year in MIA recovery, clearance of
and education about unexploded ordnance (UXO), and counter-narcotics
programs in Laos. In FY 2002 and
2003 USAID provided $2 million to NGOs for HIV-AIDS and LEAPSS (Laos
Economic Acceleration Program for the Silk Sector) projects. US funding
also supports programs to prevent trafficking of women and children
from Laos to neighboring countries.
Trade
- Laos is the only country in Southeast Asia without
normal trade relations (NTR) with the US. The only other countries in
the world without NTR are Cuba and North Korea, both of which do not have
normal diplomatic relations with the US. (Afghanistan and
Serbia/Montenegro recently received NTR, while Libya, Burma and Iran face
US trade sanctions but have never lost NTR status.) As a result, Lao
exports to the US face the highest average tariff rates in the world:
46.3% in 200, compared with a global average of 2.4%.
- A US-Lao bilateral trade
agreement was initialed in 1997 and was signed by both countries in
September 2003. It has not been ratified by Congress. On September 29,
2003, Rep. Betty McCollum (MN) introduced HR 3195 to extend Normal
Trade Relations treatment to products of the Lao People’s Democratic
Republic. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee,
where it has not yet been voted on. Written testimony to the Committee
submitted in March 2003 favored NTR by a ratio of three to one.
- The Bush Administration supports normal trade relations with
Laos. In a joint letter dated February 24, 2003, Secretary of State Colin
Powell and United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick wrote to the
Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee that “The Administration seeks your support
for extending normal trade relations (NTR) status to Laos and for bringing
into force the comprehensive bilateral trade agreement that the United
States concluded with Laos in 1997.”
Society and Development
- The
Lao PDR is a multiethnic state with a bare majority of ethnic Lao
and more than 40 minority groups, the largest being Kam Mou (11%), Phou
Thay (10%) and Hmong (7%). Although income and education gaps among
regions and ethnic groups can be great, there is no legal discrimination
against specific minority groups. Ethnic minorities are represented at all
levels of government.
- Approximately 500,000 people of Lao
and Hmong descent live in the US (compared with a total Lao population
of 5 million). The Laotian-American community includes a range of diverse
views on trade and engagement with Laos. More than 20,000 Laotian
Americans travel to Laos for family visits and business each year and can potentially play a major role in
trade, development and reconciliation.
- More
than 80 international development
organizations in Laos, including 14 American NGOs, are encouraged to
work with all ethnic groups and have access to almost all parts of the
country.
Security and Human
Rights
- The US fought a secret war in Laos from
1964-1973, the extent of which is still relatively unknown. The legacy of
the war includes "bombies" and other unexploded ordnance (UXO),
as well as herbicides such as Agent Orange. These effects are concentrated
in the poorest and most remote areas of the country, where remnants of the
war still cause about 150 deaths and injuries each year.
- In certain mountainous
areas, small groups of ethnic
insurgents still hide in the forest. The Lao government offers amnesty
to those who re-enter society; there is no policy of extermination. Most
Hmong in Laos are not associated with these groups, some of whom receive
illegal funding from overseas.
- A series of terrorist attacks on public buses
in 2003 killed 22 and injured more than 70. The exact identity of the
attackers is uncertain. Secretary of State Powell and Ambassador Hartwick
have condemned the attacks and offered US cooperation to solve them. The
Lao government, for its part, denies that an insurgency exists and blames
the bus attacks on “bandits.”
- Laos shows gradual progress
in some areas of human rights. The 2003 State Department Religious
Freedom Report cites Laos as one of only two countries where significant
improvements have been noted in the past year. However, international
human rights groups do not have access inside Laos. Where changes have
occurred, they usually result from quiet diplomacy, not outside pressure.
This fact sheet
is complied by the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, 355 W. 39th
St., New York, NY 10018, and updated regularly on our website, www.ffrd.org.