Unauthorized migrants in Et District, Houaphanh Province have been granted Lao nationality by the provincial authorities to preserve their rights as Lao citizens.
Some 119 persons living near the border of Laos and Vietnam were granted Lao citizenship on Thursday at the district club stadium.
The unauthorized migrants migrated to settle in Laos from Vietnam and have families in villages nearby which are home to several such individuals.
The government has approved the Ministry of Home Affairs to issue registration documents and certificates of Lao citizenship to the residents, who were originally Vietnamese citizens, to settle in the province legally.
Mr. Anousine Khattiyalath, Deputy Head of the National Boundary Committee, Mr. Thongsouk Somphavanh, Mayor of Et District, and other government officials presided over the citizenship ceremony.
So far, authorities in Houaphanh have granted Lao citizenship to 720 migrants, including 617 females, in 33 villages in At District.
Huaphanh Province borders Vietnam on the north, east, and southeast, Xiengkhoung Province on the south and west, and Luang Prabang on the southwest.
