TNAG-1066-FCO40-1316-Human-rights-in-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 208

E/CN.4/1503

Annex II page 25

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73.

The reasons which led such a high number of Lao to move from the former "Kingdom of a Million Elephants" emanate largely from a war which severely ravaged the once peaceful land classi- fied as one of the five poorest in the world, and from the aftermath of that war.

Periodically throughout its history Laos had been dominated by its neighbours, particularly those to the east and south, and after World War II the land-locked country was not to escape the effects of political and military developments on its eastern flank. In addition to the identity of language and culture between the lowland Lao and the inhabi- tants of north-eastern Thailand which had given rise to a con- stant movement back and forth across the Mekong for centuries, there can be little doubt that the change in political and socio-economic patterns of Lao life contributed significantly to the departure from Laos of almost one inhabitant in 10.

74. The Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR) was once a number of kingdoms or principalities which were unified in by a Lao prince, Fa Ngum,

Fa Ngum, who had grown up at the Khmer court of Angkor. The population consisted of lowland people, the Lao, believed to have migrated

to have migrated south from an area near the Yangtze River as part of a mass migration of T'ai peoples of about the seventh century. Much later they were to be joined by upland tribes from China such as the Hmong and Yao who

who came to represent 40 per cent of the population.

75. Though incursions from Viet Nam were successfully dealt with, the time came when tribute was to be sent to Hué, the former capital, while the Kingdom of Champassak in the south had close links with Siam (Thailand). After having been a virtual protectorate of Thailand for some time, Laos came under the domination of the French who were laying claim to the whole area east of the Mekong, which was eventually incorporated into the Indo-Chinese Union. A small French-educated Lao élite developed, but for the most part government was in the hands of either Frenchmen or Vietnamese brought in from the neighbour- ing country. The kingdom became independent in 1949 within the French Union and full sovereignty was recognized by France in October 1953. The leading royalist politician was Prince Souvanna Phouma, Prime Minister four times, most not ably from 1962 to 1975.

✓

76. From 1950 onwards, the royal government was opposed by the Lao Patriotic Front (LPF: Neo Lao Hak Sat) a movement formed by a group of former anti-French activists presided over by Prince Souphanouvong and supported by North Viet Nam. Internal conflict was overshadowed by the involuntary involve- ment of the country in the Viet Nam war. The heavy bombing of Laos despite the strenuous but ineffectual diplomatic efforts of Prince Souvanna Phouma to mobilize support against external interference left Laos a devastated country.

Even after