Kinh nghiệm giải quyết việc làm đối với đồng bào dân tộc thiểu số tái định cư do xây dựng thủy điện ở một số quốc gia khu vực Đông Nam Á
226(03): 3 - 10
TNU Journal of Science and Technology
EXPERIENCE IN EMPLOYMENT RESETTLEMENT
FOR ETHNIC MINORITIES DUE TO HYDROPOWER CONSTRUCTION
IN SOME SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES
Nguyen Phung Quan*
Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
The construction and development of hydropower plant play an
important and significant role in socio-economic, defense, and security
system of each country. From the plan to actual operation, the
resettlement of communities who affected strongly by the hydropower
plant construction has remained unsolved. One reason of this situation
is that employment policies for ethnic minorities who affected by
hydropower construction have not been analyzed thoroughly in
Vietnam as well as in other countries. Most of the key hydropower
construction sites are home to ethnic minority communities who are the
most vulnerable but are directly affected by the relocation process. By
empirical research methods, summarizing the experience of Laos,
Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia which are located in the Southeast
Asian continent and have the same hydroelectricity development
potential to Vietnam, the study draws lessons in formulating and
completing job creation policies for ethnic minorities who are affected
hydropower construction in Vietnam.
Received:
Revised:
25/12/2019
21/5/2020
10/6/2020
Published:
KEYWORDS
Management science
Employment policies
Ethnic minorities policies
Resettlement policies
Ethnic minorities
KINH NGHIỆM GIẢI QUYẾT VIỆC LÀM ĐỐI VỚI ĐỒNG BÀO
DÂN TỘC THIỂU SỐ TÁI ĐỊNH CƯ DO XÂY DỰNG THỦY ĐIỆN
Ở MỘT SỐ QUỐC GIA KHU VỰC ĐÔNG NAM Á
Nguyễn Phùng Quân
Ủy ban Dân tộc
THÔNG TIN BÀI BÁO
TÓM TẮT
Việc xây dựng, phát triển thủy điện luôn có tầm quan trọng và ý nghĩa
đặc biệt về kinh tế - xã hội, quốc phòng, an ninh của mỗi quốc gia. Từ
khi bắt đầu triển khai lập kế hoạch tới khi nhà máy được đưa vào vận
hành, vấn đề tái định cư cho người dân bị ảnh hưởng do xây dựng thủy
điện còn nhiều bất cập. Một trong những thiếu sót dẫn tới bất cập đó là
chính sách giải quyết việc làm đối với đồng bào dân tộc thiểu số trong
bối cảnh tái định cư do xây dựng thủy điện chưa được nghiên cứu sâu cả
trong nước cũng như nước ngoài. Hầu hết các khu vực xây dựng thủy
điện trọng điểm là nơi cư trú chủ yếu của đồng bào dân tộc thiểu số, đó
là nhóm người dễ bị tổn thương nhất nhưng lại là những người chịu ảnh
hưởng trực tiếp của quá trình tái định cư. Giải quyết việc làm chính là
bình ổn cuộc sống của đồng bào dân tộc thiểu số sau tái định cư nhằm
bình thường và phát triển cuộc sống cũng như an ninh, xã hội, kinh tế
vùng đồng bào cư trú. Bằng phương pháp nghiên cứu thực tiễn, phân tích
tổng kết kinh nghiệm của Lào, Myanmar, Thái Lan và Campuchia, các
quốc gia thuộc nhóm Đông Nam Á lục địa có cùng tiềm năng phát triển
thủy điện giống Việt Nam, nghiên cứu đưa ra bài học để xây dựng, hoàn
chỉnh chính sách giải quyết việc làm đối với đồng bào dân tộc thiểu số
tái định cư do xây dựng thủy điện ở Việt Nam.
Ngày nhận bài:
Ngày hoàn thiện:
Ngày đăng:
25/12/2019
21/5/2020
10/6/2020
TỪ KHÓA
Khoa học quản lý
Chính sách việc làm
Chính sách dân tộc thiểu số
Chính sách tái định cư
Đồng bào dân tộc thiểu số
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1. Introduction
Located in the Southeast region of Asia, Southeast Asia includes countries which located in
the south of China, the east of India, the north of Australia, the west of Papua New Geinea. With
an area of about 4.5 million km², accounting for 10.5% of Asia and 3% of the Earth, the region is
divided into two groups of countries – Continental countries (including Vietnam, Lao PDR,
Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and west Malaysia) and Island countries (including Indonesia,
east Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Timor Lester and Brunei). The continental countries
possesses dense river systems with large water flow including the Mekong River, Salween River,
Ayeyarwaddy River, Red River, Chi River, Rajang River..., bringing advantages for hydropower
development, which is also the main source of energy for these nations. The total installed small
hydropower capacity of Western Asia is 2,340MW and the estimated potential is 13, 642MW,
indicating that 17 percent has so far been developed. However, the massive construction of
hydroelectricity entails a lot of negative economic, social and ecological consequences for the
reservoir area, especially for people who forced to relocate and resettle [1] - [4]. To solve this
problem, all countries have their own policies and solutions to create jobs for local people due to
hydropower construction, research, learning, and experience exchange among the nations is
essential to achieve the most effective solutions for socio-economic stabilization in the
resettlement area.
Employment issues have long been an important topic in the world in general and in Southeast
Asian countries in particular, and job creation is a basic social policy of the countries for
sustainable human development. Southeast Asia has always been considered the most diverse
region in terms of ethnicity, language and culture in the world, the region of the "multicultural,
multi-ethnic" countries. Along with development progress and development gap reduction
efforts, the socio-economic development of ethnic minorities in the country is considered a top
strategic issue. Especially in the context of hydropower construction, the most affected group is
ethnic minorities since their home, live, and job are changed substantially, all countries
promulgate specific policies to create jobs for ethnic minority community to help them quickly
integrate with new live and have sustainable livelihood as well as to ensure regional security -
economic - social stability.
2. Methodology
Research methods: By applying empirical research methods and secondary data analysis and
synthesis methods, analyzing experience of continental Southeast Asian countries, namely Laos,
Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, the paper review achievements and consequences of job
creation policies for ethnic minority communities affected by electricity constructions in recent
years. After that, lessons-learnt were drawn for feasible implementation of job settlement policies
for ethnic minority communities in Vietnam.
Regarding approach: the research focus on two main directions: ethnic minority policies, and
job settlement policies for ethnic minority communities affected by electricity constructions.
Research period: The study focused mainly on the past 10 years (2010-2019).
Research area: International experience in this topic is relatively diverse. Policies of each
country are largely affected by its historical, cultural, and socio-economic background. The
study’s targeted area is experience of four colonial Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, Lao
PDR, Thailand and Myanmar.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Cambodia’s experience
Cambodia is located in the Southwestern part of Indochina peninsula with 24 ethnic groups, of
which 90% are Khmer and 10% are other ethnic groups such as Puon, Krung, Brao, Krao, Pnong,
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Poar, Jarai, Cham, Lao PDR, Thai, Myanmar, Chinese, Malaysia,... For indigenous ethnic
minorities, the Cambodian government applies "socio-economic development policies for
indigenous peoples" [5] with three key points: (1) Socio-Economic Development, Poverty
Alleviation; (2) Complete basic education, improve the quality of human resources; (3)
Preserving national culture. However, the main objective of this policy group is to induce a pure
Khmer society that has a substantial impact on ethnic minorities in Cambodia [6].
Currently, Cambodia has seven large hydropower plants: Kirirom 1, Lower Sesan 2, Lower
Srepok 2, Stung Battambang 1 and Stung Sen, of which Lower Lower Sesan 2 is the largest
hydroelectric plant in the country with an investment of US$ 800 million on Tonlé San river. As
a purely agricultural country with over 20% of agricultural land and about 80% of the population
living in rural areas, hydropower construction have a detrimental impact on Cambodian lives
despite of the government’s compensation.
It can be seen in table 1 that over the past 10 years, Cambodia has experienced a significant
structural shift from agriculture, forestry and fishery to construction, leading to a change in the
contribution of agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector into GDP with a decrease of 12%,
industry (including construction) increased by 10%. This change is partly contributed by
Cambodia's hydropower development policy.
The views of the Cambodian government on resettlement of ethnic minorities due to
hydropower construction in general and employment for ethnic minorities due to hydropower
construction in particular is the application of settlement and compensation policies through land
and credit support. However, the life and environment in Cambodia's hydropower construction
and resettlement areas are adversely affected [7].
Table 1. GDP Cambodia Profile
Year
Subject
2010
11.24
6.0
2018
24.57
7.5
GDP (current US$) (billions)
GDP growth (annual %)
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %)
3.1
3.1
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)
Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP)
34
22
22
32
Source: Author compiled from World Bank
Table 2. Employment Cambodia Profile
Year
Subject
Indicator
2012
67.0
33.3
25.2
41.5
1.3
2016
81.2
37.5
25.8
36.7
0.7
Employment-to-population ratio (%)
Share of agriculture in total employment (%)
Share of industry in total employment (%)
Share of services in total employment (%)
Unemployment rate (%)
Employment
Source: Author compiled from International Labour Organization
As shown in table 2, share of agriculture in total employment (+4.2%) tends to increase more
steadily than share of industry in total employment (+0.6%) and share of services in total
employment (-4.8%). Ethnic minorities who rely on agriculture and fisheries in areas affected by
hydropower have lost their main livelihood, while vocational training and career change support
have not been adopted by the Cambodian government. On the other hand, due to the
"assimilation of Khmer" policy, the cultural life of ethnic minorities in Cambodia is
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underestimated, and the infrastructure in resettlement areas was not installed properly, resulting
in protests. In many sites, ethnic minorities tried to stay in their homeland, hoping to preserve
their cultural identity; those who agreed to reallocate but then have to move out of resettled areas
to due to the poor infrastructure.
3.2. Lao PDR’s experience
Lao PDR located in the center of Southeast Asian mainland, with an area of about 236,800
km², given its location, it is complicated to determine the ethnic composition. According to the
Lao PDR Social Sciences Committee’s list in 1985, there are 47 ethnic groups classified into 6
Lao PDR Thay, Mon - Khmer, Mong - Dao, Tibetan - Burmese, Vietnamese - Muong languages,
Han. However, due to the complexity in culture, language, name [8].... completely renovated the
list of ethnic groups of Lao PDR including 49 ethnic groups, of which the Lao group is the
majority group (54.6%), other ethnic groups are considered as ethnic minorities. With regard to
ethnic minorities, the Lao PDR Government focused on developing three main issue groups [9]:
(1) Equality and unity in all ethnic groups, the country takes all measures to gradually develop
and improve the socio-economic life of all ethnic groups; (2) Stabilization of residential and
cultivated land in midland and highland areas; (3) Relocating and resettling people to favorable
areas for agricultural development. Thanks to the geographic and climate advantages, high
rainfall during the year, and the system of large tributaries, the Lao PDR Government considers
hydropower development as an option to escape the low and underdevelopment [10], as of 2017,
in Lao PDR, there are 46 active hydropower plants and 54 plants which were under construction,
and as expected, 100 plants will start operation by 2020. Starting in 1993 when the Lao PDR
Government allowed foreign investors to participate in the energy sector, the number of
hydroelectric plants increased by more than 41 times. In just 7 years, from 2010 to 2017, share of
agriculture in total employment (%) decreased sharply from 71.4% to 31.3%, partly caused by
hydropower development and construction which is a reason of agricultural resources shortage.
The results are shown in table 3. This created negative consequences for the environment, climate
change and socio-economic safety and sustainability [11].
Table 3. Employment Lao PDR Profile
Year
Subject
Indicator
2010
77.7
71.4
8.3
2017
36.9
31.3
14.1
42.2
Employment-to-population ratio (%)
Share of agriculture in total employment (%)
Share of industry in total employment (%)
Share of services in total employment (%)
Employment
20.2
Source: Author compiled from International Labour Organization
Table 4. GDP Lao PDR Profile
Year
Subject
2010
7.13
8.5
2018
18.13
6.5
GDP (current US$) (billions)
GDP growth (annual %)
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %)
9.2
1.7
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)
Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP)
23
16
30
32
Source: Author compiled from World Bank
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Table 4 reveals that in recent year, Lao PDR has succeeded in controlling inflation rate, GDP
deflator to 1,7% (reducing 7.5% in the 2010-2018 period). As industrial development is given
higher priority, the contribution of Agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector into national GPD
reduced significantly (7%).
The contradiction in the development orientation of Lao PDR, on the one hand, is to stabilize
farming, life and resettlement for upland and lowland communes as opposed to focusing on
hydropower development, forcing groups to ethnic minorities have to relocate again, changing
their living environment and livelihoods, leading to deviations in employment policies for ethnic
minorities who are resettled due to hydropower construction in Lao PDR. With more than 80% of
the population live in rural areas, living mainly on agricultural development, hydropower plants
occupied agricultural land, ethnic minorities rely mainly on raising their small herds, increasing
poverty rates.
With ineffective vocational training and career change support, almost no change in
occupational structure, labor rate in agriculture remains high above 70% [12]. Credit support,
infrastructure failed to meet initial targets due to inadequate resources and experience, partly due
to the focus to accelerate hydropower development; in many places, ethnic minorities who are
not fully supported have returned to their previous residence or continue shifting cultivation.
3.3. Thailand’s experience
Thailand is a country with a thriving economy in Southeast Asia, the region's second largest
economy with an employment rate of 67.28%, unemployment rate of 0.77%, and average monthly
income of 14943.73 baht [13] thanks to the successful restructure from a purely agricultural country
to a new industrial and service country (tourism and service sectors in Thailand are promoted).
Therefore, Thailand’s labor allocation in agriculture, industry, and services in 2010-2019 period did
not witness substantial changes. The results are shown in table 5-6. With a population of about 69
million, Thailand is the 20th most populous country in the world with 75% being Thai, 14% are
Chinese, 5% are Muslims and 1% are other ethnic groups [14].
Table 5. Employment Thailand Profile
Year
Subject
Indicator
2012
72.5
42.1
19.8
38.0
2018
67.3
32.1
22.8
45.1
Employment-to-population ratio (%)
Share of agriculture in total employment (%)
Share of industry in total employment (%)
Share of services in total employment (%)
Employment
Source: Author compiled from International Labour Organization
Table 6. GDP Thailand Profile
Year
Subject
2010
341.11
7.5
2018
504.99
4.1
GDP (current US$) (billions)
GDP growth (annual %)
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %)
4.1
1.4
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)
Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP)
11
40
8
35
Source: Author compiled from World Bank
Starting from a underdeveloped country with an average income of 179,556
baht/household/year and the income of farming households is 105,802 baht/household/year [15]
with little added value of goods compared with the input investment, the value of agricultural
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products is low and unstable, low level of cultivation and technical expertise, family planning
issues and large population,... and many other economic issues. The economic and social
situation have prompted the Government of Thailand to introduce special solutions to change the
situation and restructure the industry to bring Thailand to develop as it is today. The solutions are
divided into 3 main phases (1) Restructuring stage - Patiwatn: Restoring destroyed natural
environment, increasing the participation of ethnic minorities and mobilizing participation of
sectors and industries; (2) Period of reform - Apiwatn: Building organizations to enhance trade,
develop tourism with orientation to industry restructure, trade promotion, access to external
commodity markets, product branding to enhance the value of products, to improve new
technologies and to develop risk management channels; (3) Period of moral reform -
Thammapiwatn: Using high technology in production, encouraging young workers to return
home by scholarship funds, applying the "reed" policy to take advantage of maximizing
development resources.
As for hydropower construction, Thailand is the less favorable and the second most affected
country in the region. Because Thailand located in the tributary and the lower basin of the river,
Thailand had to sacrifice a lot of agricultural land as well as access to livelihoods from agriculture
and fisheries to hydropower construction. With increasing hydropower development of upstream
countries to export energy to Lao PDR and China, many hydropower plants in Thailand lose
electricity production capacity; some hydroelectricity has turned into lakes, dams to regulate water
for other hydroelectricity or to serve as agricultural irrigation.
Despite the unfavorable environmental conditions, reasonable policy making in each period
ensured high employment rate and restructure of ethnic minorities due to Thailand's hydropower
construction. The support for vocational training and job restructuring were applied widely,
ethnic minorities can develop not only agriculture but also develop high-tech agriculture to bring
higher values. Ethnic minorities have been trained and instructed to take advantage of cultural
and life factors to develop tourism and service industries.
3.4. Myanmar’s experience
Myanmar is the largest country in Southeast Asia with a population of about 51 million people
and an area of about 676,578 km² [16]. It is also the country with the most complex ethnic
composition in the region with 8 main ethnic groups and more than 87 small ethnic groups [17]
with GDP growth annual rate 6.2% and tended to level off, GDP deflator to 1,3% (reducing 7.5%
in the 2010-2018 period). The results are shown in table 7.
Table 7. GPD Myanmar Profile
Year
Subject
2010
49.54
9.6
2018
71.21
6.2
GDP (current US$) (billions)
GDP growth (annual %)
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %)
7.0
8.3
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)
Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP)
37
25
26
32
Source: Author compiled from World Bank
Deeply affected by British colonial rule, ethnic issues in Myanmar in the previous period were
deeply divided, conflicts occurred between ethnic groups as well as within the groups. By the
time the Myanmar Government came to power, the democratic process was intensified, the
reforms were divided into four main stages: (1) Political reform, all ethnic groups were
developed equally and neutralizing previous aggressions, enhance exchanges between groups; (2)
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Economic and social reforms to improve the quality of life of all ethnic groups; (3) Public
administration reform with the aim of cleaning the apparatus, combating corruption, considering
using the private economic development as a driving force for reform (4) Reforming
mechanisms, building a framework of law, investment support to promote economic
development orientation.
Hydroelectric plants in Myanmar contribute 55% of the country's electricity output [18] but
according to the Myanmar electricity development plan in 2018, nearly 60% of rural households
could not access to electricity. This leaves Myanmar in a state of severe energy shortage. With a
clear policy line, the Myanmar Government has put stabilization and development as their top
priority, so many hydropower projects in Myanmar have been "suspended" indefinitely.
On the other hand, due to the long ethnic separation period, Myanmar's infrastructure is also
considered to be the worst in the region, so the infrastructure support of job creation policies in
Myanmar is not developed. In addition, Myanmar's labor skills and labor attitude are not highly
appreciated, the labor force is mainly an immigrant labor from surrounding countries. Creating
jobs for ethnic minorities resettled by hydroelectric construction in Myanmar is still a big
problem revolving around the developmental axis of the country.
4. Conclusion
Through studies and assessments on the experience of some Southeast Asian countries, it can
be seen that this area has a great potential for hydroelectricity. Hydropower energy not only
serves the needs of domestic economic development but also helps bring about great economic
benefits thanks to energy exports. However, this is also a region with unique national identities,
which makes each country has its own strategies for development and management of ethnic
issues in general and employment issues for the ethnic minorities relocated due to hydropower
construction in particular. There are two common characteristics of these countries in job creation
for ethnic minorities who are resettled due to hydropower construction:
(1) Lack of balance in policies for ethnic minorities, in other words, policies for ethnic
minorities are always dominated, inferior to other policies. Only in Myanmar, after a long time of
ethnic division, would this benefit be on par;
(2) Lack of long-term vision for policies, employment policies are promulgated without the
support of other component policies such as credit support, land support, infrastructure development,
vocational training assistance and job transition. Thailand alone is a quite successful country when it
has applied nearly all of the component supports to solve employment problems and develop regional
economy.
Based on the experiences from some Southeast Asian countries, the author proposes a number
of solutions to complete employment resettlement policies for ethnic minorities due to
hydropower construction in Vietnam as follows:
(1) It is necessary to have separate policy groups depending on the actual situation, the
ethnicity of the resettlement area to resolve cultural and social conflicts, including: cultural life,
customs of resettled ethnic minority people.
(2) It is necessary to have a clearly oriented strategy in vocational training, career change and
avoid stereotypical applications from a province to others (promote internal development of the
ethnic minorities in the area to develop traditional occupations) along with communication
support, branding support to enhance the value of products made by the people.
The issue of resettlement and sustainable resettlement is difficult to solve harmoniously in
regions and countries, especially countries with a large cross-border between ethnic groups. How
to solve well the issues of livelihood, people and job creation in resettlement areas will be the key
to create a stable and sustainable development situation in the resettlement areas.
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TNU Journal of Science and Technology
REFERENCES
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[5] L. B. Nam, Some basic and urgent issues about ethnic minorities in China and Southeast, Hanoi:
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[11]Mekong River Commission, “State of the Basin Report 2010 MRC,” Tech. Report, 2010
[12]Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, “Annual report 2015,” Tech. Report, 2015
[13]International Labor Organization (ILO), Thai statistics 2018. Geneva, Switzerland: Office of
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[14]United Nations (UN), “Statistical report of Southeast Asia region 2018,” Tech. Report, 2018.
[15]International Labor Organization (ILO), Thai statistics 2005. Geneva, Switzerland: Office of
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[16]Asian Development Bank (ADB), ADB and Myanmar: Fact Sheet. Mandaluyong, Metro Manila,
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