Peuan Mit supporting reintegration of minority groups

Peuan Mit recently reintegrated three boys who had migrated to Thailand and came back to Laos through the official repatriation program last year.

The three of them studied at Peuan Mit and all graduated from mechanics training. Peuan Mit has supported them to open a mechanics shop in their district in Saravanh province in the South of Laos. It is a very economically depressed area which has a very high incidence of migration to Thailand.

Migration is a problem for young people in Laos, as they go to Thailand in the hope of finding jobs and earning money. Many of them end up in places where they don’t know anyone, have nowhere to live and are at risk of taking dangerous jobs, ending up in prostitution, or arrested for being illegal immigrants.

The three boys also belong to a minority group which is extremely vulnerable because the information and prevention campaigns about the dangers and risks of migration are not conducted in their language. It is the first time Peuan Mit has worked with youth from this province.

The local authorities in this province were really happy with the support provided by Peuan Mit and said that it was the very first time they had received concrete support for their young people from any organization. Because of this lack of support, many of them migrate to Thailand and they are worried about this.

These former students now have a very important place in their community because in the entire district there are only 2 more small shops repairing motorcycles! We also hope that they will talk to other young people in their province and help prevent them from migrating.

The Peuan Mit team has just done the first follow-up visit and their business is going very well.