Hmong leaders focus on violence

Friday, August 28, 2009

A committee of Hmong clan leaders and activists from across the state who want to stop domestic violence will meet Sunday in the Weston Village Hall.

The forum will scrutinize the issues behind domestic violence within the Hmong culture, and set forth cultural guidelines for the future.

The meetings are a direct outcome of a visit to Wausau in July by Gen. Vang Pao, who denounced domestic violence and the practice among some men of having multiple wives.

"Overall, there's a lot of things we need to work on when it comes to domestic violence," said Mao Khang, Southeast Asian coordinator for The Women's Community in Wausau.

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A way of life: farm family of the year

Wednesday, August 26, 2009


May Lee's daughter Mhonpaj shows off some of the fresh veggies from her family's farm operation at the Minnesota Food Association.

At the small parcel of land that they rent near Marine on the St. Croix, May Lee and her family provide food for themselves and the greater community. For the Lee family, it's a way of life. May Lee began farming at the age of 8 in Laos, and continued when her family moved to St. Paul from a Thai refugee camp in 1981.

The Lee family may not be the first that comes to mind when you picture a typical Minnesota farm family, especially in generations past, and that's symbolic of how the face of agriculture has changed over the years.

But one thing hasn't changed. In this state, agriculture is still a family affair. "In the state of Minnesota, our agricultural land and our agricultural production system are owned and operated by farm families," says Bev Durgan, dean of University of Minnesota Extension. "I think that's something to get the word out on and also something to be very proud of."

Durgan and the University are doing just that. Since 1980, the U has annually been naming "Farm Families of the Year" from counties in all corners of the state, and May Lee and her family have been chosen as the 2009 Farm Family of the Year for Ramsey County.

Durgan says the program looks for farm families rooted in production agriculture and also active in their community. Beyond those common denominators, the family histories are as diverse as Minnesota's landscape. The Bruce and Lynette Wellendorf family, Farm Family of the Year for Big Stone County, tends 2,800 acres of corn and soybeans on a farm that was established in 1912. The Schaper family, the winner from Hennepin County, operates Minnetonka Orchards, a 13-acre spread that has some 3,800 trees including about 825 SweeTango(r) trees-a new apple variety developed by the University of Minnesota.

And going back three years, Kay and Annette Fernholz were named the Farm Family of the Year for Lac Qui Parle County. Annette and Kay are biological sisters as well as members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and theirs is a growing ministry.

Promoting health and carrying on traditions
Because access to farmland has been a challenge, May Lee has rented land whenever the opportunity has presented itself. At the Minnesota Food Association, where she has farmed since 2007, she grows a variety of vegetables including tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, peas, and onions. The Lees are the first Hmong farmers to be certified organic in Minnesota.

May works with her daughter, Mhonpaj, and other children in their family of 10. In addition to their land at the Minnesota Food Association, May also grows traditional herbs at a greenhouse in Mahtomedi. She sells her products at area farmers' markets, through her Mhonpaj's CSA (community-supported agriculture), and through the Minnesota Food Association.

According to Mhonpaj, winning the Farm Family of the Year award for Ramsey County is nice, but the family's satisfaction comes from successfully running a farm operation each day and from serving their community.

"It's a way of life. This is how we grew up, and we didn't think our lifestyle should get recognition," she says. "Our recognition that we're still waiting for is to buy land. To buy land that has a house so that we can sustain our lifestyle."

It's a lifestyle that Mhonpaj, 25, became accustomed to while growing up and even throughout her college years at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter. She was a triple major in health education, health fitness, and political science, and also worked a number of jobs to get through school.

Even now, she finds time to work outside the farm. Mhonpaj is a medical interpreter at Hennepin County Medical Center, acting as a cultural liaison between doctors and Hmong patients. She's also been approved as a Ramsey County master gardener. And she's well aware of the resources available to farmers and others through University of Minnesota Extension. "I stay very well connected to the University of Minnesota," she says.

Mhonpaj isn't the only one in her family who functions as a cultural liaison. May helps plan cooking shows each year that demonstrate how to prepare the traditional Hmong post-partum diet. And as part of the Mill City Museum's Hmong cultural celebration, May and family show others how to cook Hmong greens.

As Durgan points out, it's family farms like the Lees that help define the state. "We're very broad and very diverse," she says, "and I think that's what has helped to make Minnesota agriculture strong."

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Hmong-style pants

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Found these cute Hmong-style pants and had to share it.

the7thrabbit is selling these pants









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Traditional skills, games major part of Hmong weekend festivities

Monday, August 24, 2009

By Joe Knight
Leader-Telegram staff
CHIPPEWA FALLS - Bee Herr, 52, gave instructions in English and Hmong and gestured with a machete as younger Hmong lashed a house frame together with twine.

One of the workers soon borrowed the machete to carve off a piece of poplar being used in the frame.

Herr said he participated in building numerous houses when he lived in Thailand. But the new generation, born in the U.S., were clueless but enthusiastic.

"The kids don't know how to do it, but they are learning," he said.

Building a traditional bamboo house, playing traditional games and eating traditional food were among the activities featured at the first Hmoobfest at Chippewa Falls.

Organizers hoped non-Hmong attending would absorb some Hmong culture, but it was also a learning experience for the younger Hmong, who knew soccer and basketball but had never learned the finer points of Tuj Lib, or "top spin," a game that combined elements of spinning a top, bowling and curling.

And the new generation hasn't had much experience building bamboo houses.

In the old country, a house would last about five years, Herr said. The wood wasn't varnished and would start to rot after a few years of rain and sun.

The family who needed a home would be responsible for gathering grass for the roof, bamboo for the walls and wood for the frame. When they were ready, the whole village would show up and help them put it up. No nails were used, Herr said. The beams were notched and lashed together.

They were one-story homes. "You would call it a ranch style," he said.

The house at the fairground would take two days to build, with inexperienced labor and some unfamiliar materials, but in Laos or Thailand a house with several rooms would go up in one day.

"The family would sleep in it that night," Herr said.

Also in Laos or Thailand, the construction workers would not have had friends tossing water balloons at them, as was happening Saturday afternoon in Chippewa Falls.

Paw Moua, 31, of Eau Claire was coaching novices in "top spin," where contestants, usually in teams of six, toss 1-pound fiberglass tops using a stick with a string that wraps around the top. It requires tossing the top in one direction while pulling back with the stick to impart the right spin. Points are scored based on the duration of spin and knocking over other tops.

Coming close doesn't count, Moua explained, after he narrowly missed knocking over two tops set 25 feet away.

"If you don't get it, you don't get it," he said.

The rules vary slightly among states, Moua said.

In Laos they played for fun at major festivals. In the U.S. they now have tournaments with cash prizes, he said.

Xoua Yang of Elk Mound, chairman of Hmoobfest, said the idea of the festival was to have Americans experience a little Hmong culture.

"So they know who we are, and so we get to know each other and learn about each other's cultures," he said.

They are thinking of making it an annual event, he said.

"After this, we'll talk and see what we're going to do. Hopefully, we want to keep this going every year," Yang said.

Knight can be reached at 830-5835 or joe.knight@ecpc.com.

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The Hmong Cause

Jesse at Dog Walks Man posted his thoughts. I wanted to share it here.

For the most part, this blog is about the American political scene. I am also very interested in issues outside of our borders. Recently, I came across a news article about Hmong refugees in Thailand. Not knowing very much about the Hmong people, other than what you see and hear in the recent Clint Eastwood movie, "Gran Torino", I read the article and was disgusted.

First, some history of the Hmong and how they came into the American eye. The Hmong are an indigenous people in Southeast Asia. They live in and around Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. During the Vietnam Civil War, the US was invited by the fragile democratic government of South Vietnam to provide military assistance and later, full military involvement in the internal conflict. Laos, a small Asian nation, was neutral. The Ho Chi Minh Trail ran through parts of Laos. Due to their neutrality, the US and South Vietnam could not base troops there. The Laotian king was invited to Washington so the US President, John F Kennedy, could meet with him and ask for his help. The Laotian King agreed and the indigenous Hmong were put into action. Fast forward and the current, communist government of Laos, a key ally to the current communist government of Vietnam, is now punishing the Hmong people for their assistance to the US military and CIA. Thousands of Hmong, traditionally Christian, are murdered, raped and persecuted. One of the most atrocious and recent attacks involved a two month old Hmong baby. Her murdered body was used for target practiced. Her head was separated from her body by the Laotian soldiers from being shot so much. Their indifference to this innocent life is shocking. Their aggression is no surprise to people who have known the communist creed of kill all who oppose.
In Thailand, there are communities of Hmong refugees that escaped this horror. The Laotian government, wanting to silence the Hmong, made a deal with the Thai government to deport the Hmong back to Laos. One group of 30, with one adult, 5 boys and the rest girls, were returned. The adult and 5 boys have never been heard from or seen again. Some of the girls escaped back to Thailand and recounted a horrific experience back in Laos. More rape, torture and threats of genocide occurred.

Some relief workers, NGO's and activists have petitioned the UN for intervention. Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General, failed to act due to a lack of evidence.
Rebecca Sommer, a freelance documentary filmmaker, went to Thailand and made a documentary. I warn you, it is graphic. It needs to be in order to demonstrate the urgency of the situation. Visit her web site, www.rebeccasommer.org and view segments of the documentary, "Hunted Like Animals."

America, what is going on in Laos is nothing less than genocide. An entire race of people are being systematically killed. If this were happening in our backyard, there would be an uproar of proportions unknown to society. But because this is somewhere else, the national media has not covered this story. Join me in a letter writing campaign to our national leaders to expose this. Write Fox News, CNN and other national media outlets and express your interest in this and your anger in not finding out about it through them.
We needed the Hmong then, they need us now. They served with honor and distinction, will we?

Disclaimer: Rebecca Sommer in no way sponsored this blog. I visited her site, following a link from an independent news organization and viewed the segments and decided to blog about this on my own. DVD's of the documentary are available by emailing her at sommerfilms@gmail.com. Copies of the DVD have been distributed to NGO's, The United Nations and other agencies. I would encourage you to buy her DVD and show it to your friends, your Sunday School groups and anyone else you can think of. Beware:Do not show this video to children. Do not show it to anyone without warning them it is graphic.

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Jailed Democracy Protesters Seek Amnesty from Laos, Virginia Senator Jim Webb

Friday, August 21, 2009

2009-08-21 17:26:22 - The Lao Students Movement for Democracy (LSMD) has issued an urgent appeal to U.S. Senator Jim Webb ( D-VA ) and the international community for the immediate and unconditional release of imprisoned Lao student pro-democracy leaders of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy of October 1999.


Bangkok, Thailand, Luang Prabang, Laos and Washington, D.C., August 21, 2009

Jailed democracy protesters in Laos, and their families and friends in Virginia and across the United States, are seeking help from Virginia Senator Jim Webb to have them released from jail in Laos where they are being held as political prisoners in harsh conditions. From Laos, Thailand and the United States, the Lao Students Movement for Democracy (LSMD) has issued an urgent appeal to U.S. Senator Jim Webb ( D-VA ) and the international community for the immediate and unconditional release of imprisoned Lao student pro-democracy leaders of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy of October 1999.

"On behalf of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy, movement of October 26, 1999, we are calling upon U.S. Senator Jim Webb to help release these leaders and all political and religious prisoners without conditions and unconditionally," stated Ms. Nouamkham Khamphilavong and Mr. Oudong Saysana of the LSMD in the United States. asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA260042000?open&of=EN ..

“Now, as our Virginia Senator, we the Laotian community in Virginia, and across the United States, are appealing to you, U.S. Senator Jim Webb, to help the Lao Student Leaders of the October 1999 Student Movement for Democracy who should be immediately released from jail in Laos and granted political asylum in a third country such as Canda, Australia, France or the United States said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. in Virginia. “Their families are not even allowed to visit them in Sam Khe Prison in Laos which is not right, since they are innocent political prisoners being held for political reasons in by the LPDR regime in violation of their human rights and dignity

U.S. Senator Jim Webb is visiting Southeast Asia, including the nations of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Thailand. A recent Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) meeting was held in Thailand last month attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Lao Movement for Human Rights in Paris, France, has also repeatedly issued appeals for the release of the Lao student leaders.
www.media-newswire.com/release_1079649.html

Laos, under the LPDR regime, continues to imprison and jail Lao and Hmong political and religious dissidents, three Hmong-American citizens from St. Paul, Minnesota ( including Mr. Hakit Yang ), as well as hundreds of Hmong refugees forcibly repatriated to Laos from Ban Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in Thailand in recent months. Many of the Lao and Hmong have disappeared into Sam Khe Prison, Phonthong Prison, the Sam Neua gulag and reeducation camp system and elsewhere into secret prisons and camps in Laos.

Concern about Laotian and Hmong refugees fleeing the LPDR regime in Laos to Thailand was raised by Secretary of State Clinton with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit following concerns raised by Members of Congress including U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), U.S. Congressman Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA), U.S. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), U.S. Congressman Steve Kagen (D-WI), U.S. Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI), U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), U.S. Congressman Harold Berman (D-CA) and others.

“The peaceful Lao student leaders who continue to be imprisoned in Laos after leading non-violent protests in support of economic and political reforms in Laos are Thongpaseuth Keuakoun, Seng-Aloun Phenphanh, Bouavanh Chanmanivong and Keochai said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA).

The U.S. Congress unanimously passed legislation, H. Res. 402, in 2004, urging the LPDR government to release the Lao student leaders and to cease its human rights violations against the Laotian and Hmong people. In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives, in bipartisan fashion, led by Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Frank Wolf and Dana Rohrabacher, introduced H. Res. 1273, which also addressed these issues.

“Unfortunately, Lao student leaders of the LSMD are still being held in terrible conditions as political prisoners in Laos since their arrest in October of 1999 for peacefully demonstrating for political change and reform in the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) in Vientiane, Laos; the LPDR regime remains a corrupt, one-party military regime Smith continued.

Continued Smith further from the Washington, D.C. offices of the CPPA : “Ms. Nouamkham Khamphilavong was one of the Lao student leaders who helped lead peaceful protests for political and economic reform in Laos in October of 1999. After the Lao military and police crackdown on the demonstrators, she fled to Thailand and was helped in being granted political asylum in the United States, thanks to the efforts of key Members of the U.S. Congress and Laotian community leaders.

“Now Nouamkham, and Oudong Saysana, along with the other LSMD leaders who escaped the LPDR government and military attacks against the peaceful demonstrators in Vientiane in 1999, continue to advocate and urge the release of their colleagues and fellow students in Laos still imprisoned in Sam Khe Smith observed.

“Presently, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Lao Students Movement for Democracy, the Foreign Prisoners Support Service and other organizations are continuing to seek to raise awareness of their plight in harsh prison conditions in Laos where the students are being held unjustly by the LPDR regime Smith stated.

“The Lao students are again requesting Senator Jim Webb’s assistance in helping to seek to have their colleagues, and fellow students, in Laos released from the infamous Sam Khe prison in Laos by LPDR officials Smith said in conclusion.

Below are excerpts of the August 2009 statement issued by Ms. Nouamkham Khamphilavong and Mr. Oudong Saysana and the LSMD on behalf of the imprisoned Lao student leaders still being imprisoned in Laos in Sam Khe Prison ( also known as Samkhe Prison ) as political prisoners and prisoners of conscience:

“We remain concerned that four (4) out of eleven of the leaders of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy of October 1999 are still in Samkhe prison, Laos.

Thongpaseuth Keuakoun, Seng-Aloun Phenphanh, Bouavanh Chanmanivong and Keochai are still continued to serve their 10 year sentences in Samkhe prison, while their companion Mr. Khamphouvieng Sisa-At, died in Samkhe prison under torture and deprivations.

On behalf of the Lao Students Movement for Democracy, movement of October 26, 1999, we are calling upon U.S. Senator Jim Webb to help release these leaders and all political and religious prisoners without conditional.

We are also calling on the Lao PDR to respect human rights as guaranteed by the Lao Constitution and the charter of the United Nations ( 1951 Geneva Convention ).

Please be advised that the Laos is Communist State like… Vietnam, and an authoritarian military regime like Burma.

( --- end excerpts of the August 2009 appeal and statement by Ms. Nouamkham Khamphilavong, President of LSMD, and Mr. Oudong Saysana, Executive Director of the LSMD--- )

In February of 2009, the LSMD participated in a Laos National Policy Conference at the National Press Club and U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos held in the U.S. House of Representatives. www.media-newswire.com/release_1088854.html

Nobel Peace Prize nominee, historian and author, Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, and the 15th anniversary of her book “Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans and the Secret Wars for Laos” ( Indiana University Press ), were honored by Lao and Hmong student groups, including the LSMD in February of 2009. Members of Congress, policymakers, current and retired U.S. Administration officials, human rights organizations, veterans groups, and others, also honored and recognized Dr. Hamilton-Merritt and the 15th anniversary of the publication of "Tragic Mountains" by Indiana University Press.
http://iupress.typepad.com/blog/2009/02/in-response-to-recent-dire-developments-in-thailand-and-laos-regarding--the-horrific-plight-of-thousands-of-hmong-refugees-t.html

Lao and Hmong student leaders from across the United States, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, California, traveled to Washington, D.C. for the events honoring Dr. Hamilton-Merritt, and the 15th Anniversary of the publication of "Tragic Mountains." They also urged the United States' government, and the new Obama Administration and U.S. Congress, to elevate human rights, humanitarian and refugee issues regarding the suffering Laotian and Hmong people in Laos and Thailand.
www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=210

Contact: Ms. Maria Gomez
Telephone: 202.543.1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite No.#212
Washington, D.C. 20006
www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

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Hmong plead for help for relatives

A Hmong child pushes other children in a wooden cart in June 2004 through the village in Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Saraburi, Thailand. (SHARON CEKADA/GANNETT WISCONSIN MEDIA FILE PHOTO)

U.S. residents worry about fate of those in Thailand

WASHINGTON -- The calls come in constantly to Vaughn Vang, but there's little he can do to comfort his Hmong compatriots worried about family members and friends at refugee camps in Thailand.

"A lot of families in Wisconsin contact me daily, asking me to help their families," said Vang, director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council in Green Bay. "One lady called me from Sacramento saying she has three brothers there and doesn't know what to do."

The calls reflect growing alarm in the U.S. Hmong community and among humanitarians worldwide over the treatment of Lao Hmong refugees at the camps and the Thai government's effort to repatriate them to Laos.

About 4,800 Hmong are at the Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun, and another 158 are being detained in Nong Khai. The Lao Hmong are an ethnic minority and were U.S. allies during the Vietnam War. Many fled Laos out of fear of persecution by the communist government.

"I've had members of my own family tortured and killed," Vang said. "Every single Hmong family has had that experience."

Human rights advocates say the Thai government and military have intensified coercive efforts to return the refugees to Laos, despite calls from the U.S. State Department and lawmakers for an open and voluntary repatriation process. The Thai government contends the refugees fled for economic reasons and have become a burden on the country.

"The Thai government has been threatening to close the camp located at Phetchabun for a year now, but they keep changing the deadlines," said Bill Frelick, refugee policy director for Human Rights Watch. "It's been tense all the way, because the Thai government simply has not been open."

In June, a bipartisan group of 31 House members, including Wisconsin Democratic Reps. Tammy Baldwin, Steve Kagen, Ron Kind and Gwen Moore and Wisconsin Republican Rep. Tom Petri, signed a letter urging Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to intervene to stop the forced repatriation.

The letter noted that Doctors Without Borders, the lone humanitarian organization working at the camp, had pulled out because of the Thai military's "coercive and restrictive tactics" to thwart the group's efforts to provide aid.

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"We continue to have a vital national security interest in and moral obligation to assist our former allies, especially those with bona fide persecution claims," the letter said.



In July, five members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, wrote to the Thai military seeking details about the repatriation process.

In July, five members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, wrote to the Thai military seeking details about the repatriation process.

"While officials of the government of Laos maintain that no harm comes to those Hmong repatriated from Thailand, the absence of transparency in the screening process in Thailand, and in the repatriation process in Laos, merely add to the uncertainty and concern surrounding this issue," the letter said.

Both Clinton and Samuel Witten, a senior State Department official, have spoken to Thai officials during recent visits. Witten also visited the camp and detention center.

"Mr. Witten noted the importance of an appropriate and transparent screening process to identify those detainees who may have protection concerns. Those Lao Hmong who are found to be in need of protection should not be forcibly returned to Laos," the State Department said in a statement.

The United States has no plans to resettle the refugees in America, the statement said, but the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program would consider case-by-case referrals.

Vang and Philip Smith, director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, which has closely monitored the Hmong refugee situation, are not satisfied with the State Department's response.

Smith called it a "deceptive, deplorable and shameful statement, full of half-truths." He said the Thai government has used Witten's visit and statements as propaganda to try to get the Hmong refugees to agree to voluntarily return to Laos.

"The level of coercion has reached an all-time high in the camp and has intensified to the point where it appears they're really trying to break the Hmong," Smith said.

Vang says the Thai military and government have engaged in "psychological torture of the Hmong people, saying no country will take them, that they are illegal, and trying to make them feel guilty."

Chungsou Her, a Marathon County Parks Department employee whose nephew and family are at the Phetchabun camp, agreed the refugees are being subjected to various attempts to induce them to return to Laos.

"The Thai people are saying there will be a way to go to a different country if you want to go, but the door is in Laos," Her said.

Even though the U.S. has no plans to resettle the Hmong refugees here, it has an obligation to ensure the refugees are provided a safe haven, Vang said.

"We continue to have a vital national security interest in and moral obligation to assist our former allies, especially those with bona fide persecution claims," the letter said.

In July, five members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, wrote to the Thai military seeking details about the repatriation process.

In July, five members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, wrote to the Thai military seeking details about the repatriation process.

"While officials of the government of Laos maintain that no harm comes to those Hmong repatriated from Thailand, the absence of transparency in the screening process in Thailand, and in the repatriation process in Laos, merely add to the uncertainty and concern surrounding this issue," the letter said.

Both Clinton and Samuel Witten, a senior State Department official, have spoken to Thai officials during recent visits. Witten also visited the camp and detention center.

"Mr. Witten noted the importance of an appropriate and transparent screening process to identify those detainees who may have protection concerns. Those Lao Hmong who are found to be in need of protection should not be forcibly returned to Laos," the State Department said in a statement.

The United States has no plans to resettle the refugees in America, the statement said, but the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program would consider case-by-case referrals.

Vang and Philip Smith, director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, which has closely monitored the Hmong refugee situation, are not satisfied with the State Department's response.

Smith called it a "deceptive, deplorable and shameful statement, full of half-truths." He said the Thai government has used Witten's visit and statements as propaganda to try to get the Hmong refugees to agree to voluntarily return to Laos.

"The level of coercion has reached an all-time high in the camp and has intensified to the point where it appears they're really trying to break the Hmong," Smith said.

Vang says the Thai military and government have engaged in "psychological torture of the Hmong people, saying no country will take them, that they are illegal, and trying to make them feel guilty."

Chungsou Her, a Marathon County Parks Department employee whose nephew and family are at the Phetchabun camp, agreed the refugees are being subjected to various attempts to induce them to return to Laos.

"The Thai people are saying there will be a way to go to a different country if you want to go, but the door is in Laos," Her said.

Even though the U.S. has no plans to resettle the Hmong refugees here, it has an obligation to ensure the refugees are provided a safe haven, Vang said.

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‘May Face Honor Killing If Returned’

Lao Soldiers Decapitate Two-Month-Old Girl Ahead of Senator Webb’s Visit
Infant used as target practice during military attacks that leave 26 civilians dead

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 20, 2009) - International Christian Concern (ICC) has just learned that Lao soldiers captured, mutilated and decapitated a two-month-old girl during recent military attacks against Hmong and Laotian civilians. Survivors of the attack said the infant was used for target practice.

“We are told, by some of the Lao Hmong survivors of the recent military attacks in Laos, that the LPDR (Lao Peoples Democratic Republic) soldiers of the LPA (Lao Peoples Army) used the … Lao Hmong girl, while she was still alive, for target practice … once she was captured and tied up; they mutilated her little body and continued to fire their weapons, over and over … until her head just eventually came off after so many bullets severed her head,” recalled Mr. Vaughn Vang, the Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council.

The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) reported the incidents, claiming that 8 children were captured and 26 Hmong and Laotian civilians were murdered during a series of four major attacks over the past month apparently designed to stifle “religious and political dissidents” ahead of a visit by U.S. Senator Jim Webb. Christian Hmong were mostly certainly among those attacked as they are often targeted specifically by the regime.

Ranging from two months to eight years old, the captured children remain a concern to Mr. Vang, who said that their whereabouts were unknown and that they would likely be tortured and killed by the soldiers. The decapitated child’s body was found next to her mother, who had also been tortured and killed by Lao soldiers. A number of the female victims were raped and tortured before they were killed. The most recent attack occurred last Thursday, August 13.

Unfortunately, this level of brutality against women and children is not uncommon for Lao soldiers. It is standard procedure for soldiers to surround and isolate pockets of Hmong people and starve them out to be killed when they venture out to forage. Philip Smith, the Executive Director of CPPA, told ICC of video footage smuggled out of Laos in 2004 that documents the aftermath of the killing and brutalization of five Hmong children, four of them girls, on May 19th of that year. That footage was used in an extremely graphic documentary, “Hunted Like Animals,” by Rebecca Sommer. Clips from the documentary can be viewed at rebeccasommer.org, but please be advised that the clips contain highly graphic content.

Natalia Rain, ICC’s Regional Manager for East Asia, said, “Rights groups have rightly called the acts the Lao military commits against children and civilians war crimes. Let the international community not be guilty of the same by its silence in the face of a regime who has already been allowed so much room that it has reached the heights of sadism in the torture and decapitation of a two-month-old little girl.”
ICC Calls On Florida Social Services (DCF) to
Not Return Christian Girl to Ohio
May Face Honor Killing If Returned

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 20, 2009) - International Christian Concern (ICC) is calling upon officials in Florida to retain custody of a Rifqa Barry, a Christian girl who has alleged that her fundamentalist Muslim Father in Ohio threatened to kill her upon finding out about her conversion to Christianity. Rifqa faces a jurisdictional hearing Friday at 3:15 pm from Florida’s Department of Children and Family (DCF) to decide if she should be sent back to Ohio Social Services or her parents. ICC has extensive experience with fundamentalist Islam and is warning Florida officials that they must take these allegations seriously.

While most Americans cannot fathom how a father could kill his daughter over her religious choices, this is a common practice among fundamentalist Muslims overseas who follow Quran and Hadith injunctions against apostasy. Parents murder their own children if they feel dishonored by any number of acts, especially when it comes to apostasy. Honor killings have even happened here in the United States. On January 1, 2008, a Muslim father killed his own daughters in Irving, Texas in an honor killing (link). On January 26, 2009, Chaudry Rashid, a Pakistani born Muslim, killed his own daughter in Georgia because she wanted to leave a marriage arranged by her family. According to estimates by the United Nations Population Fund, there may be up to 5,000 female victims of honor killings annually.

Rifqa and her family came to the United States from Sri Lanka eight years ago. Four years ago she converted to Christianity. She kept her faith hidden until officials from her father’s mosque, the Noor Islamic Cultural Center, confronted her father with the fact that his daughter was an apostate from Islam. Following pressure from the Islamic community, her father became increasingly agitated. Rifqa told WFTV that her father took her laptop “and waved it in the air and he was about to beat me with it, and he said, ‘If you have this Jesus in your heart, you’re dead to me. You’re not my daughter.’ And I refused to speak but he said, ‘I will kill you. Tell me the truth.’ In these words, bad words, cuss words. So I knew that I had to get away.”

There are several reasons ICC has concerns over this case besides Rifqa’s allegations.

-Sgt. Jerry Cupp, the police officer from Columbus that did the investigation into Rifqa’s case gave a statement to the press saying Mohamed Bary (Rifqa’s father) “comes across to me as a loving, caring, worried father about the whereabouts and the health of his daughter.” An ICC source that spoke directly with Sgt. Cupp says that Sgt. Cupp reported to him that he had spoken with 20 different people who warned him that Rifqa’s life was in danger.

-Florida’s DCF has a long history of incompetence, including turning back children to parents who end up killing the child under investigation.

-According to ICC sources, Rifqa, upon leaving home, left a note explaining her decision to run away was because she would never be forced to go back to Islam.

-It is ICC’s understanding that Rifqa’s friends urged her to go to her school counselor to report parental abuse after she repeatedly came to school with bruises. ICC sources said there had been a culture and history of violence in the family.

-Statements have been made by those connected with the family that Rifqa was brainwashed and kidnapped. Kidnap victims don’t typically get on a bus alone and ride across country.

-The Noor Islamic Cultural Center in Columbus where her father attends is known for having ties to radical Islam.

-Taqiyya (pronounced tak-e-ya): is the Muslim practice of disinformation, deception and keeping one’s convictions secret. Taqiyya is widely practiced by Islamists like those connected with the Noor Islamic Cultural Center. Statements from those connected with Noor or groups like CAIR in regards to an inflammatory case like this need to be evaluated carefully.

Jeff King, ICC’s President, says, “We are extremely concerned about Rifqa. As of today, DCF has not filed any petition to keep Rifqa in Florida. This lack of a petition seems to indicate that DCF intends to turn her over to either her parents or Ohio officials. DCF has a long history of making the wrong decision in child endangerment cases. In fact, in some cases DCF has returned children to their parents who ended up killing the child. Will this happen again? Based on our extensive international experience with fundamentalist Islam, we strongly believe that Rifqa’s life will be in danger if FDCF decides to send her back to Ohio. We call upon authorities in Florida to retain custody of Rifqa.”Source: www.persecution.org / Email: icc@persecution.org

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Lao Soldiers Decapitate Two-Month-Old Girl Ahead of Senator Webb's Visit

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Infant used as target practice during military attacks that leave 26 civilians dead

8/20/09 Laos (International Christian Concern) Lao soldiers captured, mutilated and decapitated a two-month-old girl during recent military attacks against Hmong and Laotian civilians. Survivors of the attack said the infant was used for target practice.

“We are told, by some of the Lao Hmong survivors of the recent military attacks in Laos, that the LPDR (Lao Peoples Democratic Republic) soldiers of the LPA (Lao Peoples Army) used the … Lao Hmong girl, while she was still alive, for target practice … once she was captured and tied up; they mutilated her little body and continued to fire their weapons, over and over … until her head just eventually came off after so many bullets severed her head,” recalled Mr. Vaughn Vang, the Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council.

The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) reported the incidents, claiming that 8 children were captured and 26 Hmong and Laotian civilians were murdered during a series of four major attacks over the past month apparently designed to stifle “religious and political dissidents” ahead of a visit by U.S. Senator Jim Webb. Christian Hmong were mostly certainly among those attacked as they are often targeted specifically by the regime.

Ranging from two months to eight years old, the captured children remain a concern to Mr. Vang, who said that their whereabouts were unknown and that they would likely be tortured and killed by the soldiers. The decapitated child’s body was found next to her mother, who had also been tortured and killed by Lao soldiers. A number of the female victims were raped and tortured before they were killed. The most recent attack occurred last Thursday, August 13.



Unfortunately, this level of brutality against women and children is not uncommon for Lao soldiers. It is standard procedure for soldiers to surround and isolate pockets of Hmong people and starve them out to be killed when they venture out to forage. Philip Smith, the Executive Director of CPPA, told ICC of video footage smuggled out of Laos in 2004 that documents the aftermath of the killing and brutalization of five Hmong children, four of them girls, on May 19th of that year. That footage was used in an extremely graphic documentary, “Hunted Like Animals,” by Rebecca Sommer. Clips from the documentary can be viewed at rebeccasommer.org, but please be advised that the clips contain highly graphic content.

Natalia Rain, ICC’s Regional Manager for East Asia, said, “Rights groups have rightly called the acts the Lao military commits against children and civilians war crimes. Let the international community not be guilty of the same by its silence in the face of a regime who has already been allowed so much room that it has reached the heights of sadism in the torture and decapitation of a two-month-old little girl.”

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Hmoobfest this weekend aims to unite communities

By ROD STETZER
rod.stetzer@lee.net
Thursday, August 20, 2009 3:06 PM CDT

Hmoobfest ‘09 is kind of like a neighbor who brings over a hot dish after you moved into your new house.

The celebration Saturday and Sunday at the Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds in Chippewa Falls will be an opportunity to chat and get to know more about the Hmong culture that’s been part of western Wisconsin life since 1976.

“Even though we live together, we pretty much live in our own separate worlds,” said Evan Xiong, executive director of the Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association.

Hmoobfest (Hmoob is the Hmong spelling for Hmong) aims to change that with a family-oriented interactive festival.

Visitors can learn how to make traditional eggrolls, find out how to do Paj Ntaub (traditional Hmong embroidery), play the Qeej (a traditional wind instrument) or play Tub Lub (a top spin game) or Kab taub (bamboo foot volleyball).

“We want to build an authentic Hmong house,” Xiong said.

He explained the traditional houses can range from small to large, depending if it is intended to house an extended family of a couple of generations under one roof.

“We’re looking at putting up the house the first day,” he said. The construction will be in front of the fairgrounds’ grandstand.

There will also be family games, such as tug of war, a dunk tank and water balloon toss. Also planned are a Hmong spelling bee, a speech contest and a traditional Hmong dance competition.

Plus there will be traditional singing (kwv txhia), storytelling (dab neeg) and riddles (lus taum).

Traditional foods will be available, including chicken, egg rolls and a dessert called Navah. Laotian-style dishes will also be sold, Xiong said.

The Hmong came to the United States after fighting on behalf of the U.S. during the Vietnam War. The association said the first Hmong family moved to Eau Claire in 1976 and since then, more than 4,000 Hmong have come to live in Chippewa, Eau Claire and Dunn counties.

“A main focus of the event is to have the larger community come out and experience it with us,” Xiong said.

He said the association decided the buildings and available room at the fairgrounds made it the ideal place to hold Hmoobfest.

Xiong said perhaps over the next few years, Hmoobfest will evolve into a multi-cultural event. But the idea this year is for people to get together and have a good time.

“This is for the community to come out. And it’s a family-oriented event,” Xiong said.

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Hmong refugees forced back to Laos

On Tuesday, Thai soldiers from BAT 28 unit in Lom Sak, Petchabun province forcibly deported a group of about 18 Hmong refugee women and children to Laos, along with a group of volunteer returnees. The soldiers reportedly hit the women and children with batons rounding them onto the deportation vehicle. The Thai military had separated these women from their husbands back on August 9, when they were taken from Huay Nam Khao camp. Since then, the women had been refusing to eat until they were reunited with their spouses.

It has since been learned that their husbands were forcibly deported to Laos on August 12 or 13 and are currently being held in Paksan jail, awaiting interrogation by Lao officials. Their wives and children have now joined them there. The heads of households of this group are Shoua Lor, Nao Va Yang, Ka Choua Lee, Toua Vang, Lee Yang, Nhia Shong Yang, and Hue Cheng Vang (aka: Lee Pao Vang). Thai authorities had dealt with these men very harshly, tasoring one in the head and beating four of them severely in order to get them to return to Laos.

In 2003, Shoua Lor’s wife, children, and parents were captured during a Lao military attack in the Phu Pha Thi jungle area and have not been heard from since. A couple years later, due to continuing military attacks Shoua Lor fled to Thailand. When the Thai military began blanket-labeling the whole Hmong population in Huay Nam Khao camp as economic migrants and threatening to forcibly deport the group Shoua Lor began protesting this, which led to his being targeted by the Thai military.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when he attempted to put up a sign protesting the August 7 visit of Lao General Bouasieng Champaphanh, who is reportedly behind the continuing unacknowledged military attacks against the jungle Hmong. During the visit, General Bouasieng told one refugee leader, reportedly within earshot of American Embassy officials, that the Lao government knows how to deal with Hmong trouble-makers like him and that they get sent to “seminar” – a direct reference to the harsh re-education camps where so many died in the years following the war.

General Bouasieng has repeatedly told the news media that these Hmong returnees have absolutely nothing to fear from the Lao government yet on the other hand threatens those who claim to have legitimate fears of returning. As soon as the refugees said they had photos and documents for the General to look at to prove their persecution stories he became irate and began accusing all the Hmong of leaving Laos because they were drug dealers, wife-killers, and common criminals involved in illegal businesses.

Somehow, this voluntary repatriation scenario seems quite absurd.

Joe Davy
Hmong Advocate
Chicago

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Beyond words: The Hmong Arts and Music Festival is Saturday

By Susannah Schouweiler


Kao Lee Thao, "Ying" (from the "Inner Passion" collection), watercolor, 2009.

Did you know there's no Hmong word for "art"? I didn't either, until I ran across the press information about this Saturday's Hmong Arts and Music Festival in St. Paul. That linguistic blank spot is all the more surprising given the creative abundance in Hmong culture, which is notable for its vividly hued textiles, lively musical and theatrical forms, and a rich variety of visual-arts traditions.

The 8th annual incarnation of this festival, presented by the Center for Hmong Art and Talent (CHAT), celebrates these cultural traditions, old and new, with a daylong line-up of exhibitions and events showcasing the diverse talents of local Hmong artists.

The festival, playfully themed "No Word for Art," includes a parade to kick things off, a juried visual-arts exhibition, live performances throughout the day (featuring music, dance, and theater in both traditional and contemporary styles), a singer/songwriter competition, art-making workshops, and a number of games and activities for families and youth. I'm particularly eager to see the display of community-designed murals created for the "We Are Art" project.
Of course, you can't have a festival like this without the requisite food and drink vendors; plenty of bubble tea and other Hmong specialties will also be available on the festival grounds to keep you amply supplied with refreshments. (Speaking of food, apparently there's a cake-decorating contest, too -- something I find both mystifying and irresistible.)

The 8th Annual Hmong Arts and Music Festival will be held in the Western Sculpture Park (on Marion Street in St. Paul, across the street from Sears) on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

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Eleven Families of Hmong Return to Laos

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Eleven Families of Hmong Return to Laos
45 Hmong refugees, members of eleven families who had entered Thailand illegally, have been returned to Laos under a voluntary repatriation program yesterday.
Each of the families was given 15,000 baht to help them resettle. To date 2,949 Hmong from Laos have been returned to Laos under the program.
These Laotian Hmong tribespeople had entered Thailand illegally hoping to be sent to live in a third country. Up until Tuesday, they had been held at Huay Nam Khao village in Phetchabun province. The repatriation followed an accord between Thailand and Laos.
They crossed the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge at Nong Khai and are now being given new homes in Laos.

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Hmong craftswomen |in Chiang Mai revive an ancient art for a brighter tomorrow

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

For the Hmong people of the North, keeping their traditional art of batik-making alive is a key to survival.

Each piece of cloth, coated in beeswax then dyed with an exquisite design, sells for between Bt1,500 and Bt1,800 at the Doi Pui community in Chiang Mai.

"It takes me at least one week to paint the pattern on each piece," Pra Fuangfukij-jakarn says.

Expertly drawing an intricate design on white cloth, this 58-year-old woman reveals that she has practised the art since the age of seven.

"Our ancestors have passed on the batik-making tradition to younger Hmong for generations. It's a useful money-spinner," Pra explains.

Switching from opium

The Hmong around Doi Pui used to grow opium poppies, says Pra. They switched to farming several decades ago after His Majesty the King visited the area and offered them advice and Bt200,000 to fund the development of their land.

"Since then, my family has grown fruits and vegetables. We've also promoted our village as an eco-tourism destination. That's when we began to focus more on the batik making."

Repertoire of designs

The local artisans have built up a repertoire of more than 100 designs.

"Beginners have to follow traditional patterns but more experienced craftswomen can create their own designs."

The patterns on the fabric are drawn using a small brush and liquid beeswax. The wax-painted fabric is then dipped into indigo dye. As the dye doesn't penetrate the wax, the pattern appears after the wax is removed.

"For a cloth of a metre and a half square, the whole task takes me 15 days," Pra explains.

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45 Hmong repatriated to Laos

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 18/08/2009 at 02:54 PM
Eleven families of 45 Hmong, who had illegally entered Thailand, were returned to Laos under a voluntary repatriation programme on Tuesday.

Seeing them off over the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in Muang district of Nong Khai was Col Kamron Kruewichayacharn, director of the Thai-Lao Border Affairs Division, and officials of the Internal Security Operations Command and Khao Kho Civilian-Police-Military Task Force.

Each family was given a 15,000 baht provident allowance. So far 2,949 Hmong tribespeople have been sent back to Laos under a voluntary repatriation programme.

These Hmong tribespeople illegally entered Thailand in the hope of being sent to resettle in a third country. They had been confined at Huay Nam Khao village in Khao Kho district of Phetchabun province. The repatriation has been carried out following an agreement between Thailand and Laos.

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Senator Jim Webb’s Meeting With Laos General Raises Concerns About War Crimes, Atrocities

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2009-08-18 07:35:53 - U.S. Senator Jim Webb’s recent meeting in Laos with a senior Lao military official has raised serious concerns about ongoing war crimes, and crimes against humanity, in Laos under the LPDR military junta which continues to engage in military attacks against civilians according to human rights and refugee organizations.


Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia and Nong Khai, Thailand, August 18, 2009

U.S. Senator Jim Webb’s recent meeting in Laos with a senior Lao military official involved with war crimes, and crimes against humanity, has raised concerns in Washington, D.C. and in the Laotian and Hmong community in Virginia and across the United States.

On August 13-14, 2009, Senator Webb met in Laos
with Brigadier General Sisophonh Bangonesengdet of the Ministry of National Defense in Laos of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) a known war criminal that may be investigated and indictment soon by the International Tribunal in the Hague for his role in atrocities against civilians, war crimes, using food as a weapon against civilians and crimes against humanity.

Laos is a staunch ally of Stalinist North Korea and the military junta in Burma.
http://www.pr-inside.com/laos-north-korea-hold-rally-prior-r1402606.htm

The LPDR has launched intensified military attacks against Laotian and Hmong civilians prior and during Senator Webb’s visit to Laos and Southeast Asia. Eight (8) Hmong children and 26 civilians were killed recently.
http://www.pr-inside.com/laos-8-lao-hmong-children-captured-r1434824.htm

“We, the Lao community in Virginia, want Senator Jim Webb to help to work to bring human rights and an open society to Laos, and to seek to release the peaceful pro-democracy Lao Student Leaders for Democracy of the October 1999 Movement for Democracy in Vientiane who are still being imprisoned by the LPDR regime,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy, Inc. (ULDL) in Virginia. http://fra.controlarms.org/library/Index/ENGASA260042000?open&of=ENG-LAO

Bounthanh Rathigna continued: “We want General Sisophonh and other LPDR military and corrupt communist party officials in Laos to be brought to justice for their ongoing persecution and killing of peaceful Laotian and Hmong people, including independent religious believers; We want Vietnam’s military and security forces to withdrawal from Laos immediately and we are appealing to Senator Webb, while on his trip to Southeast Asia, to urge the military generals in Hanoi stop their current military intervention and occupation of key areas in Laos, and end their oppression and human rights violations against the Lao and Hmong people.

“We also want Senator Webb to help stop the forced and involuntary repatriation of the Lao and Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand back to the communist LPDR regime they fled in Laos,” Mr. Rathigna said. “Lao and Hmong refugees continue to flee religious and political persecution in Laos because Laos is a one-party, corrupt communist regime.”

“Unfortunately, Senator Jim Webb may not be aware that Stalinist General Sisophonh Bangonesengdet has been involved in planning and directing bloody and ongoing military attacks and horrific atrocities against unarmed Lao and Hmong civilians and political and religious dissidents, including ethnic cleansing operations and a campaign of mass starvation, in Xieng Khouang Province, Luang Prabang Province, Vientiane Province, Khammoune Province and elsewhere in Laos,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.

Smith said further: “Senator Webb may not have been informed by the U.S. Embassy in Laos, and U.S. Ambassador Ravic Huso, that General Sisophonh has slaughtered and starved to death innocent women and children in Laos in recent years by the thousands; Senator Webb may also have not been informed that General Sisophonh is a highly corrupt LPDR official and military general and is closely linked with key corrupt and sinister Ministry of Defense officials in Hanoi who have recently intervened at the highest levels in Laos to seek to reassert hegemony over Laos and to ruthlessly exploit Laos’ natural resources and economy for personal gain as well as the purposes of corrupt elements of the Peoples Army of Vietnam and the Lao Peoples Army ( LPA ). General Sisophonh and many of his colleagues in the Lao military and LPA are engage in the widespread rape and illegal logging of Laos’ ancient forests, with Vietnam Peoples Army-owned companies of the SRV, which is a serious environmental issue and violation of international law.”

“General Sisophonh is an infamous war criminal engaged in planning and implementing Bosnia and Darfur-like military attacks and crimes against civilians and unarmed political and religious dissidents in Laos, including the Hmong people,” stated Smith.

Smith continued: “Many people are concerned about Senator Webb’s recent meeting and photos taken with this brutal Lao military general who should instead be tried for crimes against humanity, and war crimes, in the Hague along with several other key Lao LPDR military commanders and party officials; we are hopeful that Senator Webb will help to bring General Sisophonh Bangonesengdet to justice, and seek to have him extradited to the Hague, for his role in planning recent ‘Einsatzgruppen and Einsatzkommando-like’ special hunter-killer operations that have resulted in the deaths and mass starvation of thousands of unarmed Laotian and Hmong civilians, including the brutal rape and mutilation of Lao Hmong children, as documented by many independent human rights groups, journalists and non-governmental organizations.”

“The New York Times, Time Magazine, the British Broadcast Corporation ( BBC ), Al Jazeera and other independent newsmedia and journalists have documented the plight of Laotian and Hmong civilian and dissident groups in Laos and the LPDR regime’s military and security force attacks against them,” said Smith.

Smith observed in conclusion: “In addition to war crimes and crimes against humanity, General Sisophonh Bangonesengdet is also involved in facilitating the recent high-level military intervention in Laos of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) and the deployment of increased levels of Vietnamese troops and special forces in Laos to participate in attacks and coercive operations against the Laotian and Hmong population in Laos; SRV and Vietnam Peoples Army signals intelligence, military advisors, special forces and SRV Peoples Army troops have been increasing deployed in Laos by Hanoi to hunt and kill Laotian and Hmong civilians and political and religious dissident groups living independently of the LPDR regime; General Sisophonh is a brutal instrument of Hanoi’s ruthless proxy generals in Laos, and its puppet military regime in Vientiane, that is largely involved in widespread illegal logging and other illicit effort to exploit the natural resources of Laos; Senator Webb may not be aware that General Sisophonh is a notorious ‘Adolf Eichman-like’ symbol of well-document atrocities and egregious Bosnia and Darfur-like attacks against the Laotian civilian population, especially the Hmong people, and has also allowed Vietnamese military-owned companies to engage in large-scale, illegal logging in Laos, driving thousands of minority peoples off the land as they are attacked by the LPDR and SRV security forces and military troops seeking access to timber, land, minerals and other natural resources.”

The Laotian and Hmong community in Virginia, and nationally in Washington, D.C., recently appealed to Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) to raise key human rights and refugee issues with senior Laotian, Thai and other officials during Senator Webb’s trip to Laos, Thailand and Southeast Asia. http://www.pr-inside.com/virginia-laos-hmong-appeal-to-senator-r1436647.htmv

“Doctors Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières ( MSF ), denounces the growing pressure applied by Thailand’s army to force the 5,000 Hmong refugees living in Huai Nam Khao camp, in northern Thailand, to return to Laos. Increasingly restrictive measures have forced MSF to put a stop to its assistance activities after some four years of presence in the camp,” MSF stated in a press release and report issued on May 20, 2009. http://doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=3627&cat=press-release

In 2004, the U.S. Congress unanimously passed H. Res. 402 regarding its opposition to LPDR regime’s military attacks, and campaign of mass starvation, against the Laotian and Hmong people. The legislation also urge the Lao government to release Lao student pro-democracy leaders of the October 1999 Students Movement for Democracy and other political and religious dissidents in Laos.

In 2007, H.R. Res. 1273 was introduced in the U.S. Congress by Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and a bipartisan coalition in the U.S. House of Representatives addressing many of the same very concerns regarding attacks by the LPDR regime on civilians, mass starvation and egregious human rights violations.

Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders ( MSF ), Human Rights Watch ( HRW ), the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council, Inc. (LHHRC), the Lao Veteran of America Institute (LVAI), United League for Democacy in Laos , Inc. (ULDL), Laos Institute for Democracy (LIFD), Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA), CPPA and others have issued recent reports and statements regarding the LPDR regime’s military attacks and atrocities against the Laotian and Hmong people.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/003/2007
http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/aidoc/ai.nsf/Index/ENGASA260042004

In Geneva and Washington, D.C., non-governmental organization, Freedom House, has listed Laos, under the tyrannical LPDR military regime, in its recently release “2009 Worst of the Worst Report,” regarding egregious political and religious oppression.
http://www.live-pr.com/en/laos-study-by-freedom-house-cited-r1048305272.htm

The Foreign Prisoner Support Service, and Australia author and human rights advocate Kay Danes, have repeatedly raised concerns about egregious human rights abuses against foreigners and others imprisoned in Laos, including political prisoners.

Since August, 2007, three American citizens continued to be jailed in Laos without charge, including St. Paul Hmong-American Mr. Hakit Yang.
http://www.live-pr.com/en/laos-lpdr-gulag-foreign-prisoners-dissidents-r1048308187.htm
http://www.live-pr.com/en/secret-prisons-in-laos-hold-hakit-r1048311013.htm

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Editorial: Drive to succeed led him to MIT

Monday, August 17, 2009

Doua Yang, born behind the barbed wire of a refugee camp in Thailand, has come a long way to achieve the American dream. He's another of Sacramento's Hmong success stories.

Now beginning his sophomore year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he is majoring in electrical engineering. He's currently the only Hmong student at this No. 1-ranked undergraduate engineering school in the country, where the first Hmong student graduated only the year before he arrived.

I sat down with him and talked about his journey.

He is a little shy and circumspect. Still, it doesn't take long to see his ethic of self-reliance and hard work – and willingness to take risks. His success also is a clear tribute to his family's high expectations and to teachers and schools that recognized his talent and nurtured it.

And it serves as an inspiration to others – not least to his younger sister and three younger brothers born in this country.

Too often we hear stories of the difficult transition of Hmong immigrants to America (including poverty, high dropout rates and gang activity).

The Hmong in America came from rural villages in Laos with no electricity, running water or schooling – living as farmers and herdsmen. They also suffered the trauma of war. In the strategic mountain border region between North Vietnam and Laos, the United States recruited the Hmong to fight in the Vietnam conflict in the 1960s.

Communist-backed forces took over Laos after the United States left in 1975 and targeted the Hmong for retribution. Many fled to Thailand, where they languished in refugee camps, often for years, awaiting resettlement.

By the mid-1990s, more than 100,000 Hmong had been admitted to the United States – including Doua and his family.

Doua arrived in Sacramento at age 2 in 1992 with his mother and five sisters. None spoke English. An uncle had come a few years earlier. Doua doesn't know what happened to his father. His mother has struggled to support the household, which remains poor.

Doua's older sisters pursued a traditional life for themselves, marrying young, but they drummed into him that "education is what makes someone successful."

His mother, too, put pressure on the eldest male in the family to achieve.

"They expect a lot out of you as the son," Doua says. "And I was not wanting to disappoint them."

He was the go-to fix-it guy in the household and began tinkering with electronic devices at a young age. In elementary school, Doua says, teachers told him he was good at math. So off he went.

His interest in engineering and computer electronics was sparked at Sacramento Charter High School when he took the introduction to engineering course and then did an internship with the information technology department.

Children of college-educated parents often take navigating the college entrance process for granted. For kids whose parents had no schooling and don't speak English, the process is daunting at best – preparing for college entrance exams, deciphering applications, writing essays.

Here, again, high schools can make a difference. Sacramento High paid for Doua's college entrance exam prep class – and he earned 700s on the SAT II science and chemistry tests. He also got the highest mark possible on the advanced placement calculus test.

The school also organizes college visits for students, and Doua did a number of them. Seniors take a class where they learn how to complete college applications, and they write and rewrite personal essays. The school also has a full-time college counselor who builds personal relationships with students and is able to write strong, individualized letters of recommendation.

What about the cost of an MIT education, which tops $50,000 a year? MIT tells students that if they get accepted, they will get the money they need to come. Doua has all expenses paid.

So how is he doing? In his first year, he took chemistry, biology, calculus, physics and writing. He did best at math. Physics was hard, he says. And he struggled with biology, which he will take again.

MIT was the "right choice," he says. "It's hard but good."

As he looks to the future, Doua says he wants to have his own life and, at the same time, to be a good sibling, "somebody to look up to."

His mantra is, "Work hard. Study hard. This is a land of opportunity. Try your best."

Doua is yet another example of how individual discipline and drive, plus family ambition and concerted school efforts, provide a winning combination to succeed in this country.

Postscript: The hardships of life in a tough neighborhood don't disappear for a student going away to college. Doua noted in parting that "someone broke into our home on Aug. 10" and took a box that contained his high school diploma.

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Virginia Laos, Hmong Appeal to Senator Webb To Release Lao Students, End Hmong Abuses

Friday, August 14, 2009

2009-08-14 06:57:51 - An urgent action appeal letter and statement to U.S. Senator Jim Webb by many of the Laotian and Hmong organizations in Virginia, was sent just prior to his departure to Laos, Thailand, Burma and Southeast Asia on behalf of the Center for Public Policy Analysis and many in the Virginia Laotian and Hmong-American community.

Vientiane, Laos, Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C., August 14, 2009

The following are excerpts of an urgent action appeal letter and statement to U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) issued jointly by the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) and a coalition of Virginia and national Laotian and Hmong organizations to request his assistance in ending the current human rights,
refugee and humanitarian catastrophe in Laos and Thailand facing the Laotian and Hmong people.

“An urgent action appeal letter and statement to U.S. Senator Jim Webb by many of the Laotian and Hmong organizations in Virginia, was sent just prior to his departure to Laos, Thailand, Burma and Southeast Asia on behalf of the CPPA and many in the Virginia Laotian and Hmong-American community,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.

“The letter appeals to Senator Webb, while visiting Laos and Thailand, to raise key issue regarding the plight of jailed Lao Student Leaders (of the peaceful October 1999 Students Movement for Democracy protests in Vientiane, Laos) and the terrible forced repatriation of thousands of Lao Hmong refugees from refugee camps in Thailand back to the Stalinist regime in Laos that they fled,” Smith said.
www.pr-inside.com/secretary-of-state-clinton-end-laos-r1427935.h ..

“The appeal letter and statement request that U.S. Senator Jim Webb raise key issues in Laos to seek to end the horrific religious persecution of Christians, Animists, independent Buddhists and other religious believers and political dissidents who continue to be persecuted and killed; It also asks the Senator Webb’s help in stopping the ongoing brutal military attacks and bloody atrocities against unarmed civilians in Laos, including the Hmong people,” Smith concluded.

During Senator Webb’s trip to Laos and Southeast Asia, eight Hmong children where captured by LPA forces in Laos during a recent attack on civilians that left 26 dead. www.pr-inside.com/laos-8-lao-hmong-children-captured-r1434824.ht ..

In recent days, elements of the Thai Third Army and Ministry of Interior (MOI) used tear gas, electric cattle prods and tazer-like guns to forced back 24 Hmong political refugees from Thailand to Laos following the visit of a Lao communist official to the camp at Ban Huay Nam Khao.

Foreign prisoners and dissidents continue to be jailed in Laos as well as three Hmong Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota.
www.live-pr.com/en/laos-lpdr-gulag-foreign-prisoners-dissidents- ..
www.live-pr.com/en/secret-prisons-in-laos-hold-hakit-r1048311013 ..

Former U.S. Ambassador H. Eugene Douglas, B. Jenkins Middleton, Esq., Distinguished U.S. Foreign Service Officer Edmund McWilliams, U.S. Department of State, Ret., and others have again recently issued appeals and statements regarding the dire plight of the Lao Hmong in Thailand and Laos facing persecution and forced repatriation.
www.pr-inside.com/honorable-h-eugene-douglas-urges-help-r1430464.htm
www.pr-inside.com/secretary-of-state-clinton-end-laos-r1427935.htm

The following are excerpts of the appeal letter and statement sent to U.S. Senator Jim Webb prior to his departure to Laos, Thailand, Burma and Southeast Asia, by Mr. Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong community organizations in Virginia, and nationally.

”On behalf of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. (ULDL), the Lao Veterans of America, Inc. (LVA), the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), the Lao Veterans organization and association (LVOA), Hmong Advance, Inc.(HA), Hmong Advancement, Inc., the Lao Students Movement for Democracy (LSMD); the Lao Students Association; the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council (LHHRC), the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong non-profit organizations in Virginia, and nationally in Washington, D.C., we would like to request that you, Senator Webb:

I. While on your trip to Thailand, urge the Royal Thai Government, and officials you meet with in Thailand, to:

1.) Allow international access to some 5,500 Lao Hmong political refugees being imprisoned in Ban Huay Nam Khao Camp (Petchabun Province) and Nong Khai Detention Center, Thailand and urge the Thai military and Royal Thai Government to cease repatriating them back to the communist regime in Laos they fled;

2.) Urge the Royal Thai government and Thai military to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to have unfettered access to the Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers at Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai Detention Center for the purpose of screening the refugees so that they can be resettled in third countries such as France, Australia, New Zealand and other countries that have agreed to take the refugees;

II. When you travel to Laos, we request that you urge the communist Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) regime, and officials that you meet with, to:

1.) Work to immediately seek the release, by the LPDR military junta, of the Lao Student Movement for Democracy pro-democracy dissidents (of the October 1999 Movement for Democracy) who the Lao Communist regime continues to imprison in Laos (as reported by Amnesty International and other independent human rights organizations);

2.) Urge the LPDR regime to provide unfettered access to the Hmong political refugees, and refugee camp leaders, forcibly repatriated from Thailand in June/July 2008 from Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in Petchabun Province, Thailand; many of the Lao Hmong camp leaders forcibly repatriated have disappeared or are imprisoned --or have disappeared in Laos;

3.) Work to immediately urge the LPDR regime to release three (3) Hmong-American citizens from St. Paul, Minnesota, including Mr. Hakit Yang, who were arrested and imprisoned in Laos in August, 2007, while engage in tourism and a business investment trip to Laos; they have since been moved from Vientiane, Laos, to a secret prison in Sam Neua Province;

4.) Urge the LPDR regime and Lao Peoples Army (LPA) to stop its horrific and bloody military attacks largely directed at unarmed Laotian and Hmong civilians, and political and religious dissidents, in hiding at Phou Da Phao mountain and Phou Bia Mountain areas as well as elsewhere in Luang Prabang Province, Vientiane Province, Khammoune Province, Xieng Khouang Province, Savanakhet Province and elsewhere in Laos; Urge the LPDR regime LPA to cease its campaign of starvation against Laotian and Hmong civilians and stop using food as a weapon of war like its ally in North Korea; Amnesty International and other human rights organizations and independent journalists, including reports by the New York Times, have documented this humanitarian and refugee crisis in Laos under the brutal LPDR regime that should warrant the attention of you, Senator Webb. and your colleagues in the U.S. Congress.

5.) Urge the Lao LPDR regime to respect religious freedom and cease its campaign of religious persecution, imprisonment and killing of Lao and Hmong Christians; Urge the LPDR regime in Laos to cease its confiscation of the property of Laotian and Hmong Christians, Animist and Buddhist believers who wish to practice their faith independently from the LPDR regime's close monitoring and oversight.

Again, the Lao and Hmong community in Virginia and nationally, including many of the Laotian and Hmong veterans and their families who served with U.S. clandestine and military forces during the Vietnam war, would appreciate your leadership and your assistance in raising these issues at the highest levels with officials in Thailand and Laos that you meets with on your trip, including Royal Thai and LPDR officials in Thailand and Laos.”

(--End excerpts of the August 2009, appeal letter and statement sent to U.S. Senator Jim Webb prior to his departure to Laos, Thailand, Burma and Southeast Asia, by Mr. Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA and a coalition of Laotian and Hmong community organizations in Virginia, and nationally --)

Center for Public Policy Analysis
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www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

Tele. (202) 543-1444

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Doing geography the Hmong way

Livelihoods and trade across the Vietnam-China border

By Sarah Turner


Chi becomes an enthusiastic geography student. / Photo courtesy Sarah Turner

“Wow, China’s big eh!?” Chi exclaims. I’m humbled as a geography professor to witness the excitement on this young Hmong woman’s face when she sees for the very first time on a map where Vietnam is and how big China – 35km from where we’re standing – is in comparison. We’re scrutinizing a freshly purchased world map that I’ve brought up from Vietnam’s capital Hanoi to the upland Northern Vietnam market town of Sa Pa, a day away by train and bus. Chi’s even more amazed at how far I’ve travelled from Canada to come and talk to her. But she quickly cottons on to the fact that the map is indeed a bad image of a round globe. “It’s not really flat, it’s more like this” I try to explain as I crumble up the map to form a messy ball, thinking to myself “got to bring some inflatable globes next year…”


Typical Hmong hamlet surrounded by terraced rice fields, northern Vietnam. / Photo courtesy Sarah Turner

Hmong people like Chi, as well as Yao, Tày, Nung and other ethnic minority groups, live in Lào Cai province, a remote upland region in Northern Vietnam where I’ve been undertaking fieldwork with colleagues and graduate students for the past ten years. This time I’ve come to Vietnam and China for five months of my sabbatical and as one of my current projects I’m keen to listen to a number of Hmong elders recount their histories of the past and how their livelihoods have changed over time.

A few days later my graduate student Christine Bonnin and I hop on the back of Hmong motorbike taxis and together with our young Hmong interpreter for the day, Be (who has taught herself spoken English from backpacker tourists visiting the area), head down the narrow valley road that snakes between rice terraces, hemp crops for making cloth, indigo patches (to dye the hemp), small family vegetable plots, and wooden Hmong houses. After we manage to run over a rather long snake en route and then trek by foot up the other side of the valley, we finally arrive at Be’s family house. Here we offer the pig fat and vegetables we’ve carried down from the local town market to Be’s father, Lue. Even though it’s just after Hmong New Year and Lue has recently slaughtered a pig in celebration, he’s happy to receive our gifts to boost his family’s food supplies.


Ethnic minority Hmong traders, northern Vietnam, selling indigo dyed hemp fabrics. / Photo courtesy Sarah Turner

Our timing is good and Lue has time to sit and chat for a while since it’s not yet the season to plough the fields for the rice and corn crops. Today Lue is keen to talk about the days when they grew opium poppies in the valley. The lowland Vietnamese and Chinese nearby were enthusiastic customers for this crop that grew well in the upland areas on the Chinese border. While often marginalized as opium producers throughout Southeast Asia, it’s got to be remembered that ethnic minority groups like the Hmong were introduced to this crop by the Chinese and French colonialists (and British elsewhere in Southeast Asia) so it’s hardly the fault of the minority residents of these mountainous areas that the trade thrived there for many years and still does in some areas. While Lue is not aware of how the opium arrived in the area, he certainly remembers the trade negotiations between local Hmong growers and eager lowland customers.

Also on Lue’s mind is the rice crop that his family will be planting shortly. He’s worried that the rice seeds that he’s just purchased from the state supplier are of poor quality and even if it’s a ‘high yield variety’ that the government has been trying to encourage ethnic minorities to plant for the past decade, Lue is very apprehensive that the crop will do well. Last year his cousin’s crop in another village nearby hardly germinated at all because the government seeds were not suitable for local climatic conditions.

The government did nothing to help those with failed crops and some families had to resort to eating food collected from the forest “like in the old days during the China war” recounts Lue, referring to the 1979 war when China invaded northern Vietnam to “teach Vietnam a lesson” for its military incursions into Cambodia. Lue would much prefer to plant ‘traditional’ Hmong rice as it tastes far better, if only he had enough land. After hearing a number of troubling stories like this Christine and I begin to realise that there is a worrying lack of dialogue and understanding between a government bent on improving rice output and upland ethnic groups struggling to maintain parts of their customary lifestyle. We feel it is important to raise awareness of these differences among the local non-governmental organisation community and soon start talking of such a project…

The next day back in the local market town I run into Chi – the new geographer – selling Hmong textiles in the market. These textiles were originally those made by her family, but these days enterprising Hmong scour the countryside to gain supplies as the demand from tourists for ‘authentic cultural artefacts’ has grown, a topic that I’ve been researching for a number of years. Chi explains how a lot of these textiles are now coming over the border from China, brought across by both China-based and Vietnam-based Hmong. This factors into another aspect of my research in the highlands, analysing the small-scale, cross-border trade of ethnic minorities who navigate the political realities of an international border that cuts their historical homeland in two.


Checking out the best buys: an upland buffalo market on China-Vietnam border. / Photo courtesy Sarah Turner

A month later and I’m just across the border in Yunnan province, China, with another graduate student, Steeve Davieu; a colleague from anthropology at Université Laval, Jean Michaud; and our local research partner Bai Tingbin. After an hour on a winding gravel road in a minibus from the regional main town of Mǎ Guān, we get to a small border town. We make this trip because earlier, in a border market in Vietnam, I’d met a lot of traders from this Chinese town, many of whom are Han Chinese speaking excellent Hmong. This fact completely surprised my Hmong research assistant in Vietnam, who repeatedly exclaimed “but Kinh [lowland Vietnamese] people never learn Hmong!”

Once in this small Chinese town, not quite knowing what to do next as the heavy fog swirls around us, we soon meet Zou, a Han Chinese man who is very curious to know why on earth there are foreigners here on such a miserable day, or indeed on any day. Zou has lived here all his life, and quickly invites us back to his house on the main street for a chat. A cross-border smuggler for twenty years, to my amazement he starts to detail the tricks of the trade. What do people in China usually take across the border from this town to sell? “Oh mainly cigarettes, batteries, matches, textiles, medicine, flashlights, those sorts of things,” he says. Where would you cross the border and what would happen if you were caught? “We crossed at the local checkpoint, and if we were caught then the police would take our goods, so we’d run like crazy and try to hide.”

Knowing that there is a large buffalo market in the vicinity, I ask about the cross-border trade of these precious beasts of burden, used by ethnic minorities to plough their rice and corn fields. Zou recalls that until two years prior, most of the buffalo trade went from China to Vietnam, but since two years it’s switched around, and people from Vietnam, mainly ethnic minorities, are bringing buffalo to China to sell. This correlates exactly with what Hmong buffalo traders had told me earlier that month in Can Cau, a border market over in Vietnam, where one buffalo trader had had to cut short our conversation because he and his buffalo were heading over to China ‘via a secret route.’

When I talk with ethnic minority people in Vietnam and China I find that their livelihood decisions are not always those that outsiders such as local government officials, aid agencies, or academics think they would or should be, be it about rice supply choices, trade preferences, border-crossing decisions, or local environmental judgements. But once you talk to and understand these ethnic minorities as individuals, households and communities, you find that their choices are often entirely rational based on their own, culturally rooted understandings of what success and failure, and ‘development’ are. The challenge is to get these voices heard.

Sarah Turner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at McGill University. Her research focuses on understanding how people who live ‘on the margins’, whether this be economically, politically, and/or culturally make a livelihood in Asia. This includes research on ethnic minority livelihoods in northern Vietnam and southwest China, as well as on street vendor survival tactics in Southeast Asian cities. She has recently co-edited the book: ‘Agrarian Angst and Rural Resistance in Contemporary Southeast Asia’ published by Routledge 2009.

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Seven Hmong Families Forced to Laos Amid Tear Gas

Thursday, 13 August 2009, 5:52 pm
Press Release: Center for Public Policy Analysis

Seven Hmong Families Forced to Laos Amid Tear Gas

Washington, D.C. and Nong Khai, Thailand, August 12, 2009 Contact: Maria Gomez, DCD
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org United States Senator Jim Webb, of Virginia, is visiting Burma, Thailand, Laos and Southeast Asia this week and, like U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, is expected to seek to urge the Thai military to stop forcing Laotian and Hmong refugees back to the communist regime in Laos that they fled.

Prior to Senator Webb's visit to Southeast Asia, a senior level Lao communist official visited Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand seeking to persuade them to return to Laos voluntarily, which they refused. In response to the refusal of the Lao Hmong go back to Laos, elements of the Royal Thai Third Army and Thai Ministry of the Interior are reportedly using electric tazer-like guns, electric cattle prods and severe beatings to seek to "volunteer" and force Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers at Ban Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in Thailand.

The visit of the Lao communist official to the camp follows discussions in Thailand by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit about the Laos, Hmong refugee crisis.


"During the last four months, the Thai army, present in the camp, has introduced increasingly restrictive measures with the aim of pressuring the Hmong into dropping their demands for refugee status and returning ‘voluntarily' to Laos. The refugees talk of arbitrary arrests and cases of forced repatriation," Doctors Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières ( MSF ) stated in a press release and report issued on May 20, 2009. http://doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=3627&cat=press-release
"Unfortunately, now, with adapted and cruel tactics and strategies, elements of the Royal Thai Third Army and Ministry of Interior troops have launched a new bloody and brutal campaign to force Hmong refugees from Thailand to Laos," said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. "Twenty-four Lao Hmong political refugees at Ban Huay Nam Khao were brutally attacked in recent days, and forcibly repatriated back to Laos, by Thai Third Army and Ministry of Interior troops who used electric tazer-like guns, electric cattle prods and tear gas against the refugees who spoke out in opposition to their repatriation to Laos after the visit of Lao Communist official Buaxieng Champaphan to the refugee camp."

"Indeed, sadly, Twenty four (24) Lao Hmong political refugees were forced back to Laos in recent days. Thai and Lao officials are also reportedly seeking to openly and secretly bribe, and buy off key, Hmong clan and group leaders in the camp with promises of large amounts of cash, millions in Thai Baht and Lao Kip currency, to return to Laos if they will also agree to 'volunteer' significant numbers of their fellow Hmong refugees at Huay Nam Khao to return to Laos against their will, or by force if necessary," Smith said.

Smith concluded: "Following MSF's, Doctors Without Borders,' protest withdrawal from the Hmong camp in May, 2009, because of forced repatriation, there clearly appears to be a renewed and gruesome bloody carrot, and bloody stick, policy that has emerged in Thailand this month, in August, against the Lao Hmong refugees, especially following the visit to the camp of Lao communist officials, including Buaxieng Champaphan. Tear gas, electric cattle prods, electric tazer-like guns and millions in blood money bribes are now reportedly being used in the Lao Hmong camp as well as other stepped-up coercive measures by elements of the Thai Third Army and Ministry of Interior in order to force the refugees to return to Laos against their will as bogus volunteers; Hmong children of the seven families were severely beaten by the Thai military guards and Ministry of the Interior troops, to force them on the trucks back to Laos."

"Direct sources report that seven (7) Hmong refugee families at Ban Huay Nam Khao camp have courageously and openly opposed Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) Communist official Buaxieng Champaphan's attempt to persuade these refugees to return to Laos during a recent visit on August 7, 2009, and refused to be repatriated," said Vaughn Vang, Executive Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council of Green Bay, Wisconsin

Vaughn Vang stated further: "The Lao communist official Buaxieng declared that all Hmong in-hiding and asylum seekers from the jungle of Laos are uncivilized and do not know the laws; therefore, he plans to place these people in a 're-education camp' located in Laos and named Borikhamxai Military Camp."

"Sadly, following the LPDR official's remarks and visit to the Hmong camp, over thirty (30) Thai soldiers sprayed tear gas and other toxic chemical gases onto these seven families, totaling 24 individuals, and used electric guns and cattle prods to taser and electrocute them. All seven men were brutally beaten, severely bleeding, and carried, almost lifeless, onto military trucks driven by the Thai soldiers," Vang continued. "Hmong women and children (of the Hmong refugee men who refused to return to Laos) were also captured and carried like animals onto these military trucks. All seven men and their families, with their eyes blindfolded and their mouths covered, were forced repatriated directly to Laos.," said Vang.

Vang concluded: "The Hmong refugees at Ban Huay Nam Khao Camp are appealing to the United States, United Nations, international human rights and humanitarian organizations, and world community to stop the Thai government's forced repatriation policy against the 4,700 remaining Lao Hmong refugees. They do not want to return to the Stalinist regime in Laos; We are horrified that the Lao government is continuing to hunt and kill many innocent Laotian and Hmong civilians and political and religious dissidents in Laos; therefore, many of these Lao Hmong refugees will likely face political and religious persecution, torture, and death once they arrive in Laos."

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