‘Voluntary’ Migration in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

The Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) (GoL) seeks to transform what it considers to be a traditional, rural economy into a modernised, market-oriented system by eradicating shifting cultivation, changing the way that land is allocated and by relocating communities. It intends for this to take place alongside providing improved access to roads, markets and government services and promoting new opportunities, including plantation-based cash crop production (Bechstedt et al., 2007). This case study focuses on relocation policies and their apparent results.