Villages should not charge residence fees to newcomers, but should only require them to report to the authorities, according to a senior police officer.
“As a Lao person, you have the right to live anywhere in the country, but if you have newly arrived, you have to report your name to the village authorities,” the Acting Commander of the Vientiane Police Headquarters, Colonel Bounthieng Chanthamoungkhoun, told Vientiane Times yesterday.
Colonel Bounthieng was speaking in response to complaints that a number of village authorities had issued official notices urging new residents to obtain temporary residence permits, which cost 50,000 kip for the first three months, and then from 5,000 to 10,000 kip a month.
The fine for not obtaining a permit is also 50,000 kip.
Chief of Phaxay village Mr Thongxay Sodahuk told Vientiane Times that his village authorities charged residence fees only for workers, and not for students.
He explained that the revenue was used for village security. “We have to be able to pay our security officers, because it's important to keep the community safe,” he said.
But Colonel Bounthieng, who is also responsible for security maintenance around the capital, confirmed that Vientiane authorities had only advised village organisations to collect personal data from newcomers, and do not support the charging of residence fees.
“There is no legal authority to support this. If low-ranking officials demand these fees, I would consider them opportunists,” he said.
Colonel Bounthieng said charging newcomers a fee was ‘inappropriate', and would only act as a disincentive to register at all. This would make it difficult to collect reliable data on village populations, he said.
He added that many people who move to another village, especially students from the provinces, do not have the money to pay such high costs.
But, he added, they still have an obligation to report themselves to village authorities as a security measure.
He explained that the past years had seen many people migrate from their hometowns to seek jobs in the capital. With the increasing population, there are some people who use this opportunity to conduct crimes.
“You have seen that there is a lot of crime, especially robberies,” he said. “As security officials, we find it difficult to control the problem, and this is why it's necessary to distinguish between newcomers and permanent residents.”
Colonel Bounthieng said he supported the right of local authorities to fine people who don't register themselves, adding that those who don't want to inform the authorities are only making it more difficult to maintain security.
He said local authorities have a right to set fines, which can encourage newcomers to register.
Newcomers can report their arrivals either through the house owner, or directly to the authorities. Colonel Bounthieng confirmed that he would discuss the residence fee issue with higher authorities to find an appropriate solution to the problem.
This is a good news for new migrants to the city. This kind of practice has occured for many years already but villagers do not know that it is wrong. We just follow what the village authorities tell us. I think all village authorities must stop this practice now (DO NOt be opportunists) and must follow laws or regulations of the state.
I am also one of victims of this behavior of village opportunists (Ban Xieng Yuen, Chanthabouly)
Wow! this is something very shoking for my poor western mind! How local administration can expect people to respect the law if they don't respect the law themself? They should be the example to follow... Administration and local authorities absolutly have to perfectly respect the law! more than anyone in the country!
all lao citizen have the right to settle one`s home anywhere in the territory of the Lao PDR ... it was said in the lao constitution but in reality it is very, vrey hard for people who came from other province to get settled in VT... if the regulation of local sector contradicted with the constitution it should not legal and useless ! but no one is against that..... I really don`t understand this kind of policy... je vais me faire cuire un oeuf !
As one would have said : " welcome to the jungle ! " These so called vampires only know how suck off lao blood - and the higher authority has let them off the hook even though they are fully aware of this practice a long long time ago.
