Find land and establish maps for repatriated people

Concerns

The story of Mong people illegally migrating to Laos and then repatriating is not new. According to statistics from the authorities, from 1986 to 2013, in Que Phong district alone, there were 195 households with 1,546 Mong people illegally migrating to Laos. And in 2009 - 2010, our government mobilized 115 households with 946 people to repatriate.

Reporters of Nghe An Newspaper and representatives of relevant parties at the resettlement area for Mong people to return. Photo: Nhat Lan

During that period, with the motto that people who migrated freely from whichever village they left would now return to that village, when Mong households returned, they were arranged to settle in 8 old villages in Tri Le commune. To help the returning people feel secure in settling in the old villages, the government implemented many support policies such as providing rice, blankets, mats, supporting land, loans, issuing health insurance cards, etc.

According to Vice Chairman of Tri Le Commune People's Committee, Mr. Tho Ba Xo, with the attention of the Party, the State, and all levels and sectors, up to now, the lives of the resettled Mong ethnic households have basically been stable.

Mr. Tho Ba Xo also said that in the past, Tri Le had 8 Mong villages, now it has increased to 10 villages. However, the land fund for housing and production has run out. Therefore, welcoming about 80 households of Mong people back at the same time is very difficult to ensure a stable life for them. Because before illegally migrating, the Mong people had sold their land and production land, so when they returned, they were completely empty-handed.

Without appropriate solutions, the Mong people who return will face difficulties in their lives. This will lead to illegal encroachment, burning forests to clear fields for farming, raising livestock, etc.; or a recurrence of illegal migration.

What Mr. Tho Ba Xo pointed out is a reality. In the past few years, there has been a situation where Mong people in Tri Le have encroached on the land of the neighboring commune of Nam Giai, and on the special-use forest area of ​​Pu Hoat Nature Reserve.

A typical case of encroachment and destruction of protective forests and special-use forests in Pu Hoat Nature Reserve by some Mong people in Tri Le commune was in April 2016. Through inspection, the total area that had been encroached upon was very large, up to 325.8 hectares. Of which, 125.3 hectares were special-use forest land and 200.5 hectares were protective forest land. On the encroached land, some Mong households even brought their whole families to build huts, sheds, and barns to raise chickens and pigs.

The area is planned to build a resettlement area. Photo: Phuong Thao

In response to this incident, authorities and inspection teams went to the scene to propagate, dismantle camps, and request a commitment not to repeat encroachment. This incident has significantly affected forest resources and security and order in the western border area of ​​Nghe An.

Find land, make map

With the experience accumulated from the 2009-2010 period of welcoming Mong people back to their homeland, the functional departments of Que Phong district have carefully calculated and chosen the best direction to avoid the recurrence of the inappropriate situation that occurred in the past; in which, the most sustainable solution is to build new housing, with land for housing and production for the people to stabilize their lives.

In September 2017, during the visit of Comrade Do Van Chien - Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Committee to Que Phong and working with the province, Que Phong district proposed this solution. Realizing that this was a suitable solution, in Notice No. 75/TB-UBDT dated September 20, 2017, Minister Do Van Chien commented "Agree to submit to the Prime Minister to allow Nghe An to pilot the implementation of Decision 162/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister approving the plan "arranging and stabilizing the population for free migrants from the Lao People's Democratic Republic returning to the country" at a location in Que Phong district".

With this opinion of the Minister, Que Phong district will be surveyed, a suitable land area will be selected, and submitted to the competent authority for permission to build a resettlement area, in the form of concentrated population arrangement, ensuring the lives of the Mong ethnic people who have returned.

There have been many trips by the People's Committee of Que Phong district and related agencies to coordinate field surveys to select suitable land for resettlement for the Mong people. And in conclusion, the area where the project can be implemented is the forestry land planned for production forest planting in plot 15, sub-zone 108 (plot number 94, 86, forestry land allocation map sheet number 06, Tri Le commune, according to the results of the 2015 forest inventory).

Near the planned resettlement area, people build huts to graze livestock. Photo: Nhat Lan

This area is about 80 hectares wide, currently located in the detailed planning area of ​​raw material areas serving the forestation project of Viet Financial Investment and Real Estate Joint Stock Company approved by the Provincial People's Committee in Decision No. 1058/QD-UBND dated March 24, 2014, but has not been allocated or leased land according to the provisions of the Land Law.

On March 16, 2018, together with representatives of the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve Management Board, the Rural and Mountainous Development Board of Que Phong district and Mr. Tho Ba Xo - Vice Chairman of Tri Le Commune People's Committee, Nghe An Newspaper reporters visited the area where the Mong people will be resettled.

According to observations, this area belongs to Tri Le commune but is adjacent to Chau Thon commune at an altitude of 1,300m. Although it is a mountainous area, there are many flat areas, suitable for residential planning; moreover, this is a barren hilly land suitable for converting land use to agricultural production.

According to the assessment of Vice Chairman of Tri Le Commune People's Committee, Mr. Tho Ba Xo, with convenient traffic characteristics, located about 2 km from the Son Vu hydroelectric power plant currently under construction, about 8 km from National Highway 16; besides, this land has streams, close to Mong Muong Long village, so it will be a suitable land for the living and production habits of Mong ethnic people.

Mr. Tho Ba Xo said: “We are very happy that the district and the authorities found this land to help stabilize and resettle people…”.

According to the plan of Que Phong District People's Committee, the pilot concentrated resettlement project in the selected area will serve 74 households, 557 people. The total land use demand for population arrangement is about 80 hectares. Of which, residential land is 7 hectares, garden land is 12 hectares, production land and forest land is 61 hectares, the rest is land for building public welfare works, community land with a total investment of 58 billion 436 million VND.

On January 26, 2018, the People's Committee of Que Phong district submitted a document requesting investment policy to build a pilot project "arranging and stabilizing the population for free migrants returning from the Lao PDR" in Que Phong district to the Provincial People's Committee.

According to Mr. Le Van Giap - Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee, to implement the proposed contents, it is necessary to wait for the decision of the competent authority. However, because the number of Mong people returning to their country in the coming time is large, it is necessary to prepare carefully to ensure that they can stabilize their lives and integrate into the community.

Thereby, not allowing complicated problems to arise that lead to people re-migrating freely, or violating the law, negatively affecting political security in border areas.