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Government of Laos Responds to US Visa Restrictions

By
Laotian Times
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laos-reponds-US-visa-restrictions

The Government of Laos has issued a response to the recent visa restrictions placed upon a number of citizens of Laos, which has caused confusion among Lao communities.

The Trump administration has ordered suspension of the issuance of visas to certain citizens of Laos after the country refused to take back its persons deported from the United States.

The Government of Laos made the following response on its Ministry of Foreign Affairs website:

Vientiane, July 10, 2018

In reply to the U.S. Embassy Verbal Note No. 18-720/CONS, dated 9 July 2018, on the above-captioned sanctions the Lao PDR Government expresses its profound disappointment and regret over the visa sanctions unilaterally imposed by the US Government against Laos for the so-called “lack of adequate cooperation from the Lao side in documenting and facilitating the return home of those claimed to be Lao nationals who have exhausted their legal remedies and have no right to remain in the United States”. This unfounded and unfair act by the US Government is not only unacceptable and counterproductive, but may bring about negative impact on the positive and growing Laos-US cooperative relationship as well.

The undeniable truth is that despite myriad difficulties and constraints facing it, the Lao Government has attached importance to and extended its fullest possible cooperation in responding to the US Government’s request by ways and means mutually agreed upon and on the basis of the relevant national laws and regulations of the Lao PDR as well as in accordance with its specific conditions and capacity. In doing so, the Lao Government has established an Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Deputy Minister of Public Security to be directly responsible for cooperation with the US side in addressing the repatriation issue. To date, a series of bilateral consultations at different levels have been conducted to discuss the matter related to repatriation. Ten video-conference interviews with persons subject to deportation were made by the Lao authority concerned. As a result of this joint effort, three cases have been accepted by Laos of which two have already been repatriated to Laos, and there are now 9 cases under consideration and subject to interview which is scheduled to be held on 27 July 2018.

In view of the above, the unreasonable sanctions imposed by the US Government would not be helpful for making Laos-US cooperative relationship advance toward a new step or a higher plane in the future. Conversely, it could possibly undermine the existing good bilateral cooperation between the Lao PDR and the United States in other fields. For this reason, the US Government is urged to consider removing this measure against Laos as soon as possible for the common benefits of the two countries and the peoples.

The Lao PDR Government, which consistently adheres to its policy of consolidating and promoting the friendly relations and fruitful cooperation with the US, stands ready to continue to work with the US Government toward the shared goals, including this issue of the latter’s concern. At the same time, the Lao Government hopes that a positive and constructive gesture would be shown by the US Government as regards its unilateral action on this matter.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lao PDR

Laos Receives Four Mi-17 Helicopters

By
Laotian Times
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mi-17-helicopters

Russian Helicopters, part of the Rostec State Corporation, has completed its first service contract to the Lao Ministry of Defence, transferring four repaired Mi-17 helicopters at an official handover ceremony on Wednesday.

The ceremony was held at the Vientiane air base and was presided over by Lao Deputy Minister of Defence, Phouvong Vongphom, who inspected the helicopters.

A crew from the Lao Air Force made a demonstration flight in the repaired helicopter during the event.

“We prepared an offer to repair another batch of Mi-17 type helicopters at the request of the Lao party. I hope the decision will be made shortly,” said CEO of Russian Helicopters, Andrei Boginsky.

The two sides held talks on supplies of new aircraft and continuation of cooperation in service and maintenance of earlier deliveries.

The Lao aircraft fleet includes over 20 civil and military helicopters. Laos operates Ka-32T helicopters in addition to the Mi-8/17 type.

Photo: Aero Laos

Lao University Examination Registration Goes Online

By
Laotian Times
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NUoL Entrance Exams Online

Students wishing to register for entrance examinations at the National University of Laos (NUoL) for the 2018-19 academic year must register online.

The registration website, http://entrance.nuol.edu.la was created by the university’s IT department, and is navigable by either smartphone or web browser.

Online registrations will officially open on 16 July.

University entrance examinations will take place at exam centers from August 25.

“The online university entrance exam registration system is the first ever at NUoL, and is aimed at facilitating quick and convenient registration for thousands of students across the country.”

In the 2017-18 academic year, the university accepted 5,757 students from all over Laos. Exams were held in subjects including physics, mathematics, chemistry,

US to Cease Issuing Visas to Laos Citizens Following Deportation Row

By
Laotian Times
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US Restriction on Laos Visas

The Trump administration has ordered suspension of the issuance of visas to certain citizens of Laos after the country refused to take back its persons deported from the United States.

The US Department of Homeland Security made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon, saying it had ordered the State Department to sanction visas for Laos and Myanmar because the two countries “have denied or unreasonably delayed accepting their nationals ordered removed.”

US officials claim they had made diplomatic communications at the highest level of government in Laos before resorting to the heavy penalties.

US consular officials in Vientiane were ordered to impose visa restrictions on certain applicants.

A statement at the Department of Homeland Security website reads, “as of July 9, 2018, the US Embassy in Vientiane, Laos, has discontinued the issuance of all B1, B2, and B1/B2 nonimmigrant visas for current officials at the Director General level and above from the Lao Ministry of Public Security (MPS) as well as their immediate families; and all A3 and G5 nonimmigrant visas to individuals employed by Lao government officials, with limited exceptions.”

According to US law, countries that agree to accept back citizens must issue travel documents for deportees before the US can deport them. In the case of Laos, the government allegedly refused or delayed the supply of these documents.

As of July, nine countries including Laos are being considered uncooperative. Sanctions still apply to Cambodia and Myanmar as well.

Source: DHS, Washing Examiner

Facebook to Exclusively Broadcast Premier League Matches in Laos

By
Laotian Times
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Tech giant Facebook has agreed to a £200 million (US$265 million) deal to exclusively broadcast every single Premier League match in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos starting next year in 2019.

It represents a major breakthrough for the Facebook after they beat out the competition from television networks BeIn Sports and Fox Sports Asia in the auction for broadcast rights to the four Asian countries.

The deal will commence at the beginning of the 2019-20 season and run until 2022 and means Facebook will livestream all 380 Premier League matches in those countries.

The deal represents a slight shift away from the traditional television networks towards online streaming after Amazon gained the rights last month to show 20 live Premier League matches per season from 2019-20.

For Facebook, its new Premier League deal is a chance for it to demonstrate that it is serious about long form video, something it’s been trying to do for a while with its Facebook Watch platform.

It is believed the Premier League has also held discussions with YouTube and Netflix over rights deals in other parts of the world as the financial clout of streaming services grows ever stronger.

Source: Daily Mail, Evening Standard

Laos Ranked 42nd Most Vulnerable Country to Climate Change

By
Laotian Times
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Laos has been ranked as the 42nd most vulnerable country to climate change.

This is due to the country’s proneness to climate-related hazards. Laos’ susceptibility to natural disasters manifested again last week with flooding in Phongsaly province. Several districts suffered from the loss of crops, breaking of irrigation canals and flooding of homes.

This week, the UN System in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare is rolling out training in Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) as part of capacity building to strengthen resilience to climate impacts and disasters.

The PDNA is a tool that was established by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank to assess damage and losses after major disasters, and most importantly, to ensure responsible recovery efforts.

The training conducted this week is part of a global initiative for PDNA roll-out. Training has been ongoing in the Asia and Pacific region in countries such as Cambodia, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. Globally, over 20 training sessions with over 1500 people have been conducted over a four year period.

In his opening remarks, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Balusubramaniam Murali stressed the importance of building resilience to disasters in support of furthering Laos’ economic growth and graduation from LDC status.

Koen Everaert from the European Union and Vongkham Phanthanouvong from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare encouraged people to participate actively and share their thoughts on the benefits of the training to Laos. In addition to representatives from several ministries, participants from Bolikhamxay and Saravan also participated and learned how to conduct a PDNA as well as build a comprehensive risk reduction culture and strengthen their disaster management capabilities.

Source: UNDP

Laos Places 132nd On Status of Children Report

By
Laotian Times
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Save the Children launched a new global report, ‘The Many Faces of Exclusion’ where it ranked countries based on a range of indicators related to childhood.

More than 1.2 billion children – over half the world’s children – live in countries affected by conflict, widespread poverty or discrimination against girls, significantly reducing their chances to learn, grow or reach their potential.

Compared to last year, the overall situation for children appears to be more favorable in 95 of 175 countries. This is excellent news – showing that investments and policies are working to lift up many of our children. But the index also shows progress is not happening fast enough, and conditions appear considerably worse in about 40 countries.

Laos performs poorly when it comes to stunting, under 5 mortality, child marriage and adolescent pregnancy. Laos fell two places to 132nd out of 175 countries, behind regional neighbors Thailand (85), Vietnam (96), and the Philippines (104). Despite significant increases in the number of people living above the poverty line, Laos has 43% of stunting among children, according to the report, and 6% child mortality incidence. Almost a quarter of girls under 19 are married, and 6% of these girls have children.

“Stunting and child mortality remain big challenges for Laos. Save the Children works with the government of Laos and with the support of donors such as USAID, the European Union and the Australian government to reduce these numbers,” Save the Children Lao Country Director Deborah Leaver said.

“Save the Children has been working in Laos for more than 30 years, and we’ve seen a lot of improvements in this time. But there is a lot more work to do, and we will continue working to improve the situation for children in Laos.”

Apart from Laos, the report includes a ranking of 175 countries where childhood is most and least threatened as a result of poor health, malnutrition, exclusion from education, child labour, child marriage, early pregnancy and extreme violence.

Singapore and Slovenia both rank first, with Norway, Sweden and Finland rounding out the top five. Eight of the bottom 10 countries are in West and Central Africa, with Niger ranking last for the second consecutive year.

Save the Children is calling on governments around the world to ensure that no child dies from preventable or treatable causes or is subjected to extreme violence; is robbed of a future as a result of malnutrition, early or forced marriage, early pregnancy, or forced labor; and that they have access to a quality education.

Sources: Vientiane Times, Save The Children Laos

South Korea Eyes Strawberry Farm Project In Xiengkuang

By
Laotian Times
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On the 3rd of July, President of the South Korean Association of Arts and Culture Dr Yu Hian Suk and her delegation met with Acting Party Head of Xiengkuang Province Bounthon Chanthaphone to discuss the possibility of establishing a strawberry farm in Xiengkuang.

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