In the early 1990s, TEW, identified the problem afflicting indigenous and ethnic minorities in the Mekong region as one of ‘structural poverty’ caused by a three overlapping vicious circles: 1) isolation from decision making processes that affect their lives, 2) un-confidence in the formal political system that treats ethnic minorities as ‘backward’, and 3) no-ownership (of land and culture) resulting from a legal system that does not recognize customary laws.