Vietnam is seeking to increase the population of some ethnic minorities, especially for groups whose populations are below 1,000, such as the Brau, Sila, Ro Mam, Khang and La Hu.

Thanks to the efforts of the Party and the Government in population control and family planning activities, traditional families have changed from having many children to having just a few for many ethnic minority groups. However, extinction risks in some sects are creating problems for policy- makers.

“Though special population programmes were set up for minority groups, there hasn’t been a marked increase in the populations of these groups,” said Trinh Hoa Binh, from the Institute of Sociology on December 22 at a workshop on measures for improving the lives of ethnic minority groups in Vietnam.

An institute survey showed that the number of Si La people had increased from 400 in 1996 to 451 in 2004, an increase of only 51 people over eight years. The Brau population increased by just nine people from 1999 to 2003, while the number of Ro Mam ethnic minorities went from 352 to 330 in 2003.

“Inbreeding is also a problem,” said Binh.

Statistics show that the rate of people living under the poverty line is 80 percent in the Si La, 85.5 percent in the O Du, 38 percent in the Pu Peo and 51 percent in the Brau. The average income per capita in those groups is very low, between 25,000 VND (1.3 USD) and 38,000 VND (2.1 USD).

The National Assembly’s Nationalities Council has implemented projects for comprehensively developing five minority groups with populations under 1,000 people, including the Pu Peo, Si La, O Du, Ro Mam and Brau, with an aim to help them integrate with the majority by 2010.

At the workshop, participants agreed that long-term programmes focusing on research, education, training and knowledge dissemination should be set up with an aim to minimise the gap between those groups and more developed groups. A population policy should permit each couple in groups with fewer than 1,000 people to have a maximum of three children, and to receive support with reproductive health and family planning.

Solving social issues in ethnic minority areas, especially reducing poverty and improving intellectual standards, played an important role in the socio-economic development cause of these areas, according to Nguyen Lam Thanh from the Nationalities Council./.