4 January 2022

Villagers in southern Laos’ Saravane province are refusing to hand over community land to a planned Chinese banana farm, saying if they lose their land they will have no way to feed their families, Lao sources say.

The farm for which the Chinese firm — identified by the Lao name Jayching — is seeking permission from provincial authorities, would take over 100 hectares of rice field now farmed by 40 families in the province’s Viengkham village.

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Residents of a nearby village targeted earlier by the Chinese company had also resisted encroachment, but had seen their land taken anyway, a source in the second village said, also speaking on condition his name not be used.

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Locally operated Chinese banana farms pollute rivers and other water sources with chemicals and pesticides, making workers and villagers sick, he said. And in some areas, villagers can’t use water from the river for cooking or drinking.

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