UN seeks access to Hmong deportees

The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, has asked the government of Laos to allow it access to the more than 4,000 Hmong asylum-seekers recently deported from Thailand.

The agency says some of those sent back to Laos have refugee status and need international protection.

In a statement, the UN also urged the Thai government to detail the assurances it recieved from the Laotian authorities on the treatment of the Hmong.

Thai officials, supported by hundreds of Thai troops, completed the deportation of the ethnic Hmong back to Laos on Tuesday.

The last members of the group crossed the border after the Thai army evicted them from a refugee camp the previous day.

Concerns 'groundless'

The UNHCR said the army had deported the Hmong from two camps, one in the northern province of Petchabun and another in the village of Nong Khai in Thailand's northeast.

UNHCR was given no access to people in the first camp, while those in Nong Khai were all recognised refugees," the agency said in a statement.

On Monday, Thailand also sent back a separate group of 158 Hmong with recognised UN refugee status, in a move the UNHCR said was a breach of international law.

A Lao government spokesman said the concerns were "groundless" and the Hmong being repatriated were illegal migrants who would be housed in resettlement villages.

Thailand and Laos reached an agreement in March to repatriate the Hmong.

'Humane' solution

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general has also voiced concern, saying in a statement that he regretted "that these deportations have taken place in the face of appeals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and despite the availability of third country resettlement solutions for those recognised as refugees".

Ban also called on the Thai and Laotian government "to take to take all necessary steps to respect the rights of those concerned and to facilitate humane solutions".

The Hmong had sought asylum after their alliance with the US during the Vietnam War, fearing they could be persecuted by the Lao communist government.

Known as America's "forgotten allies", the ethnic group from the remote mountains in Laos were recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to fight alongside US forces.

More than 300,000 Laotians, mostly Hmong, fled to Thailand citing political persecution after the Pathet Lao communists took power in 1975.

Most were resettled in third countries with many now living in the US.

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Laos tells UN it's too soon to visit Hmong

BANGKOK -- Laos denied the U.N. immediate access to 4,500 ethnic Hmong who were forcibly repatriated from Thailand, saying Wednesday it would "complicate" matters but that international observers could visit later.

Thailand deported the Hmong on Monday in a massive 24-hour military operation, ignoring pleas by the U.N., the United States and others that fear they could face persecution by the Lao government - particularly a group of 158 Hmong already recognized as refugees by the United Nations.

The repatriation all but ended the Hmong's three-decade search for asylum following their alliance with the U.S. during the Vietnam War.

The United States and rights groups have said the Hmong could be in danger if returned to the country that they fought, unsuccessfully, to keep from falling into communist hands in the 1970s.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees issued a statement late Tuesday saying it had formally asked the Lao government for access to the Hmong. It also called on the Thai government to make public the details of assurances it received from Laos regarding the treatment of the returnees.

Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing said it is too soon for visitors but that international observers would be welcome at a later date.

"If they came right now, it would complicate the process of resettlement," he told The Associated Press. "But after they are settled in their permanent place, then visitors will be allowed."

The Hmong were being held in a temporary camp where an interview process was under way to determine where they want to live, he said. For those without homes, two villages have been created, and each family is eligible for a house and a plot of land.

Among the Hmong deported was a group of 4,350 from a camp in Thailand's northern Phetchabun province that the U.N. refugee agency was never allowed to visit. A smaller group of 158 Hmong at a detention center in nearby Nong Khai had already been identified as "being in need of protection," the U.N. agency said in its statement.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday that the U.S., Canada, Australia and The Netherlands had offered to resettle the 158 refugees and it was now up to those countries and the Lao government to work out their future.

The United States and Australia both issued statements expressing concern about the deportation and called on Laos to allow U.N. access.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Thailand has no reason to doubt pledges by Laos that the Hmong would be well-treated.

"In the past few years, we have sent more than 3,000 Lao Hmong back to their country - 18 times before - and there was no problem," he said.

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Senators issue statement on Hmong repatriation

UNDATED (WSAU) Senators from Wisconsin and Minnesota are calling on the governments of Thailand and Laos to protest Hmong refugees who’ve been forced out of a refugee camp. Thai military officials closed the camp on Sunday. The people who lived there were seen being ordered onto busses bound for Laos.

Senators Russ Fiengold, Herb Kohl, Al Franken, and Amy Kloboocar have signed a statement calling for international monitors to oversee the repatriation, and strongly condemning the decision to close the camp.

Many Hmong family members in the U.S. say their loved ones will face religious and ethnic persecution because the Hmong helped U.S. forces in a secret war against the Communists in Laos in 1974 and 75.

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Hmong families fearful for deported relatives

Yang Vang (Nyiaj Yaj) in Craigieburn with his mother Mab Yai and children Ywj Pheej (in his arms), Tsha Lij and Pa Nub Wi.

UNTIL yesterday, Craigieburn man Va Yang, 56, was looking forward to a family reunion with two cousins waiting in a refugee camp on the Thai border to come to Australia.

Speaking to one of his cousins by phone last Friday, he excitedly told him that international officials were ''coming to help them get out of Thailand''.

The pair had already been recognised as refugees by the UNHCR, and granted visas two years ago by the Australian Government, he said.

But instead of taking up a new life in Australia, they were among 158 Hmong people herded out of the Nong Khai detention camp and put on buses to be deported to Laos on Monday.

Mr Yang is now fearful for his cousins' safety. Both are married, one with six children and the other with four.

Mr Yang fled Laos more than 30 years ago after his father was targeted by the communist government for working for the CIA.

He said that the Laotian Government had set up a camp for forcibly repatriated Hmong refugees last year, and some of them had since ''disappeared''.

Chai Vue, a committee member of the Hmong Australia Association in Melbourne, said he phoned Hmong living near the Thai border yesterday and learned that the refugees were caught off-guard by the sudden arrival of Thai soldiers who were there to deport them.

Mr Vue said that the Australian Government had a responsibility to press the Laotian Government to allow those deported to come to Australia, as it had already ''put up its hand to resettle them''.

The former Howard government agreed to accept 200 Hmong from Thai refugee camps under its offshore humanitarian program, Mr Vue said.

''About 40 0r 50 were supposed to come to Australia in March 2007, but their flight was cancelled because the Thai Government refused them exit permits,'' he said.

Yang Vang, president of the Hmong Australia Association in Melbourne, said he had been due to meet a friend from that flight, when he was told it was cancelled.

The Hmong are the third-largest ethnic group in Laos and mainly live in the mountains. About 600 Hmong live in Melbourne, mostly around the Craigieburn, Meadow Heights, Roxburgh Park and Greenvale areas, Mr Vang said.

A spokesman for the Immigration Department said last night: ''We are aware of the group and, subject to them continuing to meet the standard requirements for humanitarian visas including health and character requirements, they will be able to enter Australia.''

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U.N. Demands Access to Lao Hmong Deported By Thailand

GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday it had asked Laos to grant it access to more than 4,000 Hmong asylum-seekers deported from camps in Thailand.

In a statement, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees also urged the Thai government to detail assurances it had received from the Laos communist government on future treatment of the Hmong, who say they face oppression if sent back.

"The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has today formally approached the government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic seeking access to Lao Hmong who were deported from Thailand on Monday," the Geneva-based agency said.

Some of those sent back were recognized by the UNHCR as having refugee status and needing international protection, it said.

The expulsion sparked criticism from the United States and Europe.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was concerned about the expulsion of the Hmong, who "included individuals the Thai government had reportedly assessed to be in need of protection," his office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ban "regrets that these deportations have taken place in the face of appeals from the (UNHCR) and despite the availability of third country resettlement solutions for those recognized as refugees," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Ban urged Thailand and Laos "to take all necessary steps to respect the rights of those concerned and to facilitate humane solutions," Nesirky said.

Known as America's "forgotten allies," the Hmong sided with the United States during the Vietnam War and many fled Laos in 1975 when the communist Pathet Lao took power. Tens of thousands have since been resettled in the United States.

The UNHCR said that despite Thailand's "long history as a country of asylum," it had deported the Lao Hmong from two camps, one in the northern province of Petchabun and another in Nong Khai in the country's northeast.

"UNHCR was given no access to people in the first camp, while those in Nong Khai were all recognized refugees," it said.

A Lao government spokesman said on Monday the concerns were groundless and the Hmong being repatriated were illegal migrants who would be housed in resettlement villages.

Thailand and Laos reached an agreement in March to repatriate the Hmong.

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UN says Thailand breaches law deporting Hmong refugees

BANGKOK, Dec 29, 2009 (AFP) - Thailand has breached international law by forcing 158 recognised Hmong refugees, mainly children, back to Laos along with thousands of asylum-seekers, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Tuesday.

The group, which had been held in a detention centre in the border town of Nong Khai for three years, was sent back Monday despite offers of resettlement in third countries because of their fears of persecution in Laos.

"We would express our dismay that they have gone ahead with the group of 158 people in Nong Khai who had been recognised as refugees by the UNHCR," said the agency's spokeswoman Ariane Rummery, adding that almost 90 were children.


"The forcible return of refugees to their country of origin is a violation of international customary law. It's a departure from Thailand's longstanding humanitarian practice as a major country of asylum in the region and that's a very grave example internationally," she told AFP.

Thai army Lieutenant General Niphat Thonglek said the group left "voluntarily" on Monday night along with more than 4,000 Hmong asylum-seekers from another camp in northern Phetchabun province.

Members of the larger group expelled on Monday claimed they faced persecution in communist Laos for fighting alongside US forces in the Vietnam War.

But Thailand said they were economic migrants and did not allow the UNHCR to assess if any were political refugees.

However the 158 Hmong in Nong Khai were properly screened by the UNHCR and found to be refugees in need of protection. But Thailand said they must return to Laos before they can take up offers of resettlement in Western countries.

"The Thai government has told UNHCR that it had received assurances from Laos that the group of 158 recognised refugees will be allowed to be resettled in third countries after their return to Laos," said Rummery.

"We certainly hope Thailand remains engaged in the issue to ensure that these can take place."

Niphat said the larger group from Phetchabun had been taken to the central province of Bolikhamsay, while the Hmong from Nong Khai were transported to the Lao capital Vientiane.

"The Lao government pledges to take care of them well while waiting for third countries to contact and take them," he said.

But a Western diplomat in Bangkok told AFP they had "much more ambiguous" signals directly from officials in Laos.

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Scars that remain after 40 years for the Hmong who fought in Vietnam

It is one of the world’s most obscure places, a landlocked jungle where communist guerrillas and US special forces fought a “secret war” during the doomed struggle against communism in Indo-China. Forty years on the fate of the Hmong, key participants in that struggle in Laos, remains unresolved.

As the Thai Government has begun to repatriate more than 4,000 Hmong refugees, an extraordinary court drama has been unfolding in California. It features exiled insurgents, mercenaries, a US military officer-turned-arms broker and a plot to topple one of Asia’s last remaining communist dictatorships.

Prosecutors in California have charged nine people with conspiring to overthrow the Government of Laos. The arrests put the US authorities in the ironic position of leaping to the defence of communist leaders whom they spent 13 years, and many lives, fighting to destroy.

The members of the group are accused of raising funds to form and equip a mercenary army in violation of the Neutrality Act, which forbids American citizens from plotting against countries with which the US is at peace. The plot was discovered by an officer of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who posed as an arms dealer offering to sell them automatic rifles, anti-tank weapons, Stinger surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled and Claymore grenades, and plastic explosives.

Chief among those arrested was General Vang Pao, 77, a leader-in-exile of the Hmong and a former protégé of the US in the secret war between 1962 and 1975. Among his community General Vang is regarded as a hero — after vehement protest charges against him were dropped in September.

According to prosecutors, the plotters had dispatched spies to the Lao capital, Vientiane, and taken photographs of government buildings and the historic Royal Palace, which they allegedly planned to destroy with explosives.

The American accused of acting as a middleman for the arms deal is Lieutenant-Colonel Harrison Jack, a former US soldier and member of the California National Guard, who served as a covert operative in South-East Asia during the Vietnam War.

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Thailand sends 4,371 Hmong asylum-seekers back to Laos

A Thai policewoman holds a Hmong child refugee at the Ban Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun province, about 416 km (258 miles) northeast of Bangkok, yesterday. The Thai army began the forced repatriation of thousands of ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers to Laos, yesterday, defying international concerns that some would be persecuted back home.

PHETCHABUN -- Thailand sent army troops with shields and batons to evict more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers Monday and send them back to Laos despite strong objections from the U.S. and rights groups who fear they will face persecution.

Under tight security, all 4,371 of the Hmong were loaded onto covered military trucks and driven out of the camp by late afternoon toward buses waiting near the Lao border, Thai authorities said. Journalists kept at a distance from the camp could see many children inside the trucks.

Col. Thana Charuwat said Thai troops “didn't even touch” the Hmong who offered no resistance as they were taken from the camp.

With the eviction under way, the United States called for it to stop.

“The United States strongly urges Thai authorities to suspend this operation,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement, noting that the United Nations and Thailand in the past had deemed that many of the Hmong in this group were “in need of protection because of the threats they might face in Laos.”

The Hmong, an ethnic minority group from Laos' rugged mountains, helped U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. Many Hmong fought under CIA advisers during the so-called “secret war” in Laos before it fell to the communists in 1975.

Since the communist victory, more than 300,000 Laotians, mostly Hmong, are known to have fled to Thailand. Most were either repatriated to Laos or resettled in third countries, particularly the United States. Smaller numbers found refuge in France, Australia and Canada.

The Hmong claim they have been persecuted by the Lao government, but Washington has said it has no plans to resettle more of them in the U.S.

The Thai government claims most of the Hmong are economic migrants who entered the country illegally and have no claims to refugee status. The group was being held at an overcrowded camp in northern Thailand that the government wants to close.

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Do Hmong deported by Thailand face danger in Laos?

Hmong returnees from Thailand settle in a temporary shelter in Laos' Paksan district, Bolikhamsai province, Tuesday. Thousands of ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers were forcibly repatriated from a camp in Thailand despite concerns they may be persecuted in their home country.

In a defiant move, Thailand has sent back to Laos more than 4,500 ethnic Hmong who fled their homeland in recent years and many of whose elders fought for the CIA during the Vietnam War.

The US government has strongly condemned the mass deportation of displaced Hmong, who have claimed persecution at home and sought refugee status. Thailand says that the vast majority are economic migrants and are assured fair treatment by Lao authorities.

The expulsions began early Monday at a military-run camp in northern Thailand. Truckloads of Hmong were later driven to a bridge over the Mekong River that divides the two countries, and handed over to Laos. All have now been returned, according to Thai and UN officials.

Human rights groups say Thailand’s refusal to allow UN officials to visit the camp and interview asylum seekers means that many Hmong may have been sent back to a country where they have a well-founded fear of persecution – the legal definition of a refugee.

While it has hosted large refugee populations along its borders, including in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Thailand has never signed the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. Security officials are wary of lenient policies that could attract more refugees from its unstable neighbors.

Successive groups of Hmong who fled Laos after the Communist takeover in 1975 have resettled in the US, mostly in St. Paul, Minn., and central California. The largest recent program in 2003 accepted around 14,000 Hmong who had taken shelter at a Buddhist temple in Thailand.

After that program ended, Thai authorities took a tougher line on Hmong living in Thailand, some of whom claimed kinship with pro-US fighters and sought unsuccessfully to join the US resettlement program. More than 3,000 have been deported to Laos since 2005.

Monday’s expulsions included a group of 158 Hmong, held separately in a border town, who were granted UN refugee status in 2006. The US and other countries had agreed to resettle members of this group, says Ariane Rummery, a spokesperson for the UN High Commission on Refugees.

But Thailand insisted that the 158 refugees must be sent back to Laos along with the other, larger group, despite last-ditch efforts by US officials to stall the process. UN officials and human-rights activists said that the deportations were involuntary and defied humanitarian norms. Around 5,000 unarmed soldiers took part in the operation, according to Thai press reports, though most news media were barred from the site.

“The forcible return of refugees to their country of origin is a violation of international law,” Ms. Rummery says.

Thailand: West slow to take on refugees themselves

Thai officials say genuine asylum seekers, including the 158 deportees, can be processed in Laos and resettled in the US and other countries. The Lao government has said that this can happen within 30 days, says Thani Thongpakdi, a spokesperson for Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We’ve been given assurances by the Lao government that the Hmong who have returned to Laos will not be persecuted,” he says.

A senior Thai military official said that Western countries critical of Thailand's treatment of displaced Hmong had been slow to offer solutions, prompting Thailand to take matters into its own hands. "Nobody has paid attention to looking after them or taking them to their own countries," he says.

Human rights groups say the treatment by Communist-ruled Laos of Hmong is questionable, particularly in the case of groups of Hmong insurgents still fighting in remote mountain areas under military control. Some of the deportees are linked to the insurgents, who have support from exiled Hmong in the US and are believed to be only a few hundred-strong.

“There needs to be some sort of credible monitoring process on the Lao side of the border,” says Benjamin Zawacki, a researcher in Bangkok for Amnesty International.

Thailand screened the 4,300 Hmong at the camp and found that a small number belonged to a “sensitive group,” says Mr. Thani, who declined to classify them as refugees. The remainder were economic migrants who would be given land and housing in Laos according to an agreement between the two countries.

But Ms. Rummery said Thailand’s decision to deport asylum seekers who had already been approved for resettlement could be problematic, as UNHCR has until now been unable to open an office in Laos.

Critics say Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva, who took office a year ago with military backing after royalist protests against the previous government, is reluctant to stand up to the military on sensitive issues like national security and refugee camps.

In January, Thailand’s military was accused of pushing several boatloads of Muslim refugees from Burma out to sea on ships without motors or adequate food and water. Hundreds were later rescued after their vessels washed up India and Indonesia, while others drowned at sea. Under international pressure, Mr. Abhisit promised an enquiry but failed to reprimand any of the military officials implicated in the program.

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Klobuchar, Franken condemn Hmong repatriations

In a nod to the growing Hmong populations in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the states’ four U.S. senators teamed up in a joint statement Tuesday opposing the Thai government’s plans to forcibly repatriate more than 4,000 Hmong refugees back to Laos.

The four Democrats, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken of Minnesota and Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, say they “strongly condemn” the Thais’ decision, which they say ignores the objections of the United Nations, the U.S. Government, and international human rights groups.

The statement reads in part: “We share the concern of many of our Hmong-American constituents whose loved ones have been forced to return, and we will be paying close attention as the Hmong are resettled in Laos. We urge the Government of Laos to ensure the safety and well being of these individuals and to allow immediate and ongoing monitoring by international observers at all stages of the resettlement and reintegration process.”

A quick history lesson to understand why this is good politics: The Hmong tribesmen of Laos were notoriously helpful to the CIA and U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War. After the fall of Saigon, many ended up in refugee camps in Thailand, from there to immigrate to the United States, with the Twin Cities as a major welcoming destination.

Earlier this month, Klobuchar and Franken were among several senators who wrote directly to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, expressing their concerns.

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Thailand to deport 4,000 Hmong to Laos

Hmong refugees sit in a military truck during the operation to deport thousands of Hmong to Laos near the ethnic Hmong refugee camp in Huay Nam Khao, in northern Phetchabun province on December 28, 2009.

Thailand deported about 450 Hmong refugees to Laos Monday and plans on evicting 3,900 more from a refugee camp, the government said.

The forced repatriation prompted concern from human rights groups who say the refugees risk persecution in Laos.

Many Hmong sided with the United States during the Vietnam War when the conflict spread to Laos.

When the Communists assumed power in 1975, thousands of Hmong fled to neighboring Thailand.

The U.S. State Department said Monday that the Thai government had determined that many of the Hmong were in need of protection, and that such returns would "imperil the well-being of many individuals."

The Thai government says the Hmong at the Huay Nam Khao Camp in Petchabun province in the north had left Laos not for fear of persecution but for financial reasons. They entered Thailand illegally and could not claim political asylum, the government says.

On Monday, the Thai army put 448 Hmong on buses that were headed for Laos.

Many refused to leave peacefully, Army Col. Thana Jaruwat said on national television. If they did not comply, the army will have to "enforce the law," he said without elaborating.

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Thai troops raid camp, deport 4,000 Hmong to Laos

Ethnic Hmong refugees sit inside a police truck during an operation to deport thousands of Hmong from Thailand. The Thai army has begun the forcible return of thousands of ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers to communist Laos despite international protests over fears they could face persecution

PHETCHABUN, Thailand – Thailand sent army troops with shields and batons to evict more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers Monday and send them back to Laos despite strong objections from the U.S. and rights groups who fear they will face persecution.

Under tight security, all 4,371 of the Hmong were loaded onto covered military trucks and driven out of the camp by late afternoon toward buses waiting near the Lao border, Thai authorities said. Journalists kept at a distance from the camp could see many children inside the trucks.

Col. Thana Charuwat said Thai troops "didn't even touch" the Hmong who offered no resistance as they were taken from the camp.

With the eviction under way, the United States called for it to stop.

"The United States strongly urges Thai authorities to suspend this operation," U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement, noting that the United Nations and Thailand in the past had deemed that many of the Hmong in this group were "in need of protection because of the threats they might face in Laos."

The Hmong, an ethnic minority group from Laos' rugged mountains, helped U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. Many Hmong fought under CIA advisers during the so-called "secret war" in Laos before it fell to the communists in 1975.

Since the communist victory, more than 300,000 Laotians, mostly Hmong, are known to have fled to Thailand. Most were either repatriated to Laos or resettled in third countries, particularly the United States. Smaller numbers found refuge in France, Australia and Canada.

The Hmong claim they have been persecuted by the Lao government, but Washington has said it has no plans to resettle more of them in the U.S.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, commending the smooth operation Monday, said that Thailand had received "confirmation from the Lao government that these Hmong will have a better life."

The Thai government claims most of the Hmong are economic migrants who entered the country illegally and have no claims to refugee status. The group was being held at an overcrowded camp in northern Thailand that the government wants to close.

Thana, the Thai army's coordinator for the operation, denied an allegation of brutality by one human rights group, which said callers from inside the camp had used their mobile phones to report violence and bloodshed.

"There has been no violence and nobody has been injured," Thana said, noting it was impossible for anyone in the camp to call outside because the military had jammed mobile phone signals.

Thana said 5,000 soldiers, officials and civilian volunteers were involved in the eviction. He said the troops carried no firearms and that their shields and batons met international standards for dealing with situations in which people are being moved against their will.

"There was no resistance from the repatriated Hmong because we used psychological tactics to talk with them, to assure them that they will have a better life in Laos as the Lao government has confirmed," he told reporters.

Journalists and independent observers were barred from the camp and were allowed no closer than a press center about 7 miles (12 kilometers) away.

The Hmong were driven out of the camp in military trucks and were then to be put on 110 buses going to the Thai border town of Nong Khai, and then across to Laos, heading to the Paksane district in the central province of Bolikhamsai, Thana said.

Laos Foreign Ministry spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing rejected international concerns, saying the government has a "humanitarian policy" for resettling the Hmong.

He told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the group would initially be placed in a temporary shelter and then housed in two "development villages" — in Bolikhamsai province and in Vientiane province — where each family will receive a house and a plot of land that international observers will be welcome to inspect.

New York-based Human Rights Watch on Monday called the deportation "appalling" and a low point for Abhisit's government.

"As a result of what Thailand has done to the Lao Hmong today, Prime Minister Abhisit sinks Thailand's record on contempt for human rights and international law to a new low," said Sunai Phasuk, a Thai representative for Human Rights Watch.

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Thai move to kick out asylum-seekers angers West

HUAY NAM KHAO, Thailand (Reuters) - Thailand expelled thousands of ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers from a refugee camp on Monday before their planned deportation to Laos, sparking angry criticism from the United States and Europe.

About 5,000 troops armed with batons and shields were sent to a mountain camp in Huay Nam Khao, 300 km (186 miles) north of Bangkok to clear the 4,400 Hmong, who say they face oppression by Laos' communist government if sent back.

There was no violence, said Thai Colonel Thana Charuvat, who is in charge of the repatriation. Some 300 Hmong who had initially refused to leave the camp had agreed to end their resistance after several hours of negotiations, he said.

Reporters were barred from the camp during the operation and no independent confirmation was immediately available.

More than 4,000 had already been taken out of the camp in army trucks on the way to an immigration center in Nong Khai bordering Laos, prior to being handed over to Lao authorities, the colonel told reporters.

Known as America's "forgotten allies," the Hmong sided with the United States during the Vietnam War and many fled Laos in 1975 when the communist Pathet Lao took power. Tens of thousands have since been resettled in the U.S.

The United States said the Thai operation was a "serious violation of the international humanitarian principles that Thailand has long been known for championing."

France said it "deplored" the Thai decision and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres urged Bangkok to stop the deportations.

Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said it was deeply dismayed.

Lao government spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing said the concerns were groundless and the Hmong being repatriated were illegal migrants who would be housed in resettlement villages.

Thailand also regards the Hmong in Huay Nam Khao as economic migrants with no claim to refugee status. Thailand and Laos reached an agreement in March to repatriate the Hmong.

Rights groups and UNHCR say some of the Hmong could qualify for refugee status and should not be sent back. Thailand has denied UNHCR requests to visit the camp to assess their status.

Thailand fears that by facilitating their resettlement in a third country, it could encourage more illegal migrants.

Thailand has been a key transit point for more than 1.5 million refugees from Myanmar and the Indochina region.

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Thai army starts deporting Hmong to Laos

Despite global outcry, some 4,000 to be returned to communist country


The first batch of ethnic Hmong people are guarded by the military on a truck on the way out of the Ban Huay Nam Khao camp to the border with Laos on Monday

PHETCHABUN, Thailand - Thailand sent army troops with shields and batons to evict some 4,000 ethnic Hmong asylum seekers Monday and send them back to Laos despite strong objections from the U.S. and rights groups who fear they will face persecution.

Under tight security, more than 1,000 of the Hmong were loaded onto covered military trucks and driven out of the camp toward buses waiting near the Lao border, Thai authorities said. Journalists kept at a distance from the camp could see many children inside the trucks.

With the eviction under way, the United States called for it to stop.

"The United States strongly urges Thai authorities to suspend this operation," U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement, noting that the United Nations and Thailand in the past had deemed that many of the Hmong in this group were "in need of protection because of the threats they might face in Laos."

The Hmong, an ethnic minority group from Laos' rugged mountains, helped U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. Many Hmong fought under CIA advisers during the so-called "secret war" in Laos before it fell to the communists in 1975.

The Hmong claim they have been persecuted by the Lao government ever since.

More than 300,000 Laotians, mostly Hmong, are known to have fled to Thailand since 1975. Most were either repatriated to Laos or resettled in third countries, particularly the United States — but Washington has said it has no plans to resettle more Hmong.

‘It went very well’
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva commended the smooth start of the operation.

"It went very well. There was no resistance from the Hmong, and we will try to send them all back," Abhisit told reporters, adding that Thailand had received "confirmation from the Lao government that these Hmong will have a better life."

The Thai government claims most of the Hmong are economic migrants who entered the country illegally and have no claims to refugee status. The group was being held at an overcrowded camp in northern Thailand that the government wants to close.

The Thai army's coordinator for the operation, Col. Thana Charuwat, said 5,000 soldiers, officials and civilian volunteers were involved in the eviction. He said the troops carried no firearms and that their shields and batons met international standards for dealing with situations in which people are being moved against their will.

Two dozen trucks with about 20 soldiers each could be seen heading toward the refugee camp early Monday. A large contingent of troops already were inside the sealed-off camp. Journalists and independent observers were barred from the camp and were allowed no closer than a press center about seven miles away.

The army hoped to complete the operation within 24 hours, Thana said Monday, adding that 2,100 of the Hmong had agreed to leave voluntarily and the army was trying to persuade the rest.

‘These are our citizens’
The Hmong were being driven out of the camp in military trucks and would then be put on buses going to the Thai border town of Nong Khai, and then across to Laos, heading to the Paksane district in the central province of Bolikhamsai, Thana said.

Laos Foreign Ministry spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing rejected international concerns about the Hmong's well-being saying the government has a "humanitarian policy" it will adhere to for their resettlement.

"These are our citizens and we have to take care of them," Khenthong told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

He said that the group would initially be placed in a temporary shelter and then housed in two "development villages" — in Bolikhamsai province and in Vientiane province — where each family will receive a house and a plot of land. He said international observers will be welcome to visit the villages once the resettlement is completed.

In the past, Lao officials were quoted as saying that the Hmong are not Lao citizens, comments that Khenthong dismissed as individual opinions that were not government policy.

Deportation called ‘appalling’
Human rights groups had expressed fear that the Hmong would resist, as they have during smaller-scale repatriations, and that the eviction could turn violent.

New York-based Human Rights Watch on Monday called the deportation "appalling" and a low point for Abhisit's government.

"As a result of what Thailand has done to the Lao Hmong today, Prime Minister Abhisit sinks Thailand's record on contempt for human rights and international law to a new low," said Sunai Phasuk, a Thai representative for Human Rights Watch.

In recent days, troops had confiscated mobile phones and jammed mobile phone signals inside the camp, complicating efforts to monitor the deportation, Sunai said.

"It never happens smoothly," Sunai said. "If the Hmong resist it and there is an eruption of violence, the army may react in full force."

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Thailand Begins Repatriation of Hmong to Laos

Hmong refugees leaving their refugee camp in Phetchabun Province on Monday morning.

BANGKOK — Armed with riot shields and batons, Thai military officers began early on Monday to forcibly return 4,000 Hmong asylum seekers to Laos in a lingering echo of the Vietnam War.

A government spokesman, Panitan Wattanayagorn, said in a telephone interview that the repatriation had started and would be completed within days.

Members of a mountain tribe that aided the United States in its secret war in Laos, the asylum seekers have said they fear retribution by the Laotian government, which continues to battle a ragged insurgency of several hundred Hmong fighters.

Thailand moved ahead with the repatriation despite complaints from the United States, the United Nations, and human rights and aid groups. It was doing so although it has determined that some asylum seekers were eligible for refugee status, human rights groups said.

“This forced repatriation would place the refugees in serious danger of persecution at the hands of the Lao authorities, who to this day have not forgiven the Hmong for being dedicated allies of the United States during the Vietnam War,” Joel R. Charny, acting president of Refugees International, an advocacy group in Washington, said in a statement.

Close to 5,000 troops and security officers entered the Hmong camp at 5:30 a.m. and opened the operation by rounding up “potential troublemakers,” said Sunai Pasuk, the Thailand representative of Human Rights Watch. Reporters were not allowed inside, but there were no reports of resistance.

They were to be processed at a military headquarters, then bused across the Mekong River into Laos.

In advance of the eviction, the military removed residents’ mobile telephones and halted medical services and food provided by aid groups, apparently “to physically and mentally break their resistance to their deportation,” Mr. Sunai said.

“Such coercive, intimidating and brutal measures are clearly the opposite of the concept of ‘voluntary repatriation,’ ” he said.

The remote Hmong encampment in Phetchabun Province, about 200 miles north of Bangkok, is a remnant of an Indochinese refugee population that once numbered 1.5 million. That included boat people from Vietnam, survivors of the brutal Khmer Rouge government in Cambodia and hundreds of thousands of Hmong who crossed the Mekong River from Laos.

Since the war ended in 1975, the United States has processed and accepted about 150,000 Hmong refugees in Thailand for resettlement in the United States. But in the past three years Thailand has not allowed foreign governments or international agencies to interview the Hmong.

Refugee experts say the camp residents are a mix of refugees who fear persecution and economic migrants who have left Laos over the past few years. They have included dozens who display what appear to be battle scars, as well as some older refugees who fought on the American side during the war.

A separate group of 158 asylum seekers has been interviewed by the United Nations, which has labeled them “people of concern” who could face persecution if returned. But the Thai government says these asylum seekers will be forcibly repatriated eventually.

The government has said that the deportations will be completed by Thursday, under an agreement with Laos.

Mr. Panitan said Laos had said that the returnees would be treated well and that the United Nations could interview them within 30 days of arrival to determine if any were eligible for resettlement elsewhere. “There is no reason to believe that they will be harmed,” he said.

“We have been repatriating Laotian Hmong in the past few years,” he said. “I think this is the 19th time, and they seem to be fine. Their living conditions seem to be better when they return.”

Reporters have not been permitted into Hmong camps since 2007, and last May the main aid group assisting the Hmong in Phetchabun, Médecins Sans Frontières, withdrew from the camp in protest of the conditions there.

“We can no longer work in a camp where the military uses arbitrary imprisonment of influential leaders to pressure refugees into a ‘voluntary’ return to Laos, and forces our patients to pass through military checkpoints to access our clinic,” the group said.

Speaking by telephone from Washington on Sunday, Eric P. Schwartz, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, said that he had met with officials in Thailand last week and that the United States was prepared to assist both with questions of third-country asylum and with the return to Laos of economic migrants. He said Thailand had rejected this offer.

“We recognize the challenge of irregular migration that the government of Thailand faces, but there is absolutely no need to resort to these kinds of measures,” he said.

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Govt boots out Hmong to world fury

HUNDREDS OF TROOPS CONVERGE ON CAMP DESPITE US, UN ANGER
Published: 27/12/2009 at 12:00 AM

In the face of international condemnation, the government will start an operation to clear a refugee camp in Phetchabun and repatriate more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong to Laos this evening.

More than 100 buses and trucks will be used to deport the ethnic Hmong to Laos, said a security source involved in the operation.

The government will press ahead with the forced deportation, despite opposition from the United States, the United Nations and human rights groups.

The government has insisted the repatriation plan will be carried out humanely.

Security authorities said the deportation of the ethnic Hmong is going according to plan and the people held at the Huay Nam Khao camp in Khao Kho district of Phetchabun will be moved according to schedule.

"More than 100 trucks and buses will take the Hmong from the camp to Laos on Monday morning. The first moves to clear the camp will occur on Sunday evening," a source said.

Hundreds of security officers wearing bullet-proof vests have been assigned to secure the camp since yesterday.

Mobile phone signals have been jammed to prevent the Hmong from contacting outsiders.

Third Army chief Thanongsak Apirakyothin yesterday visited the camp to inspect preparations to deport the Hmong. He said he was satisfied with the preparations.

The Hmong will be taken to Nong Khai and be driven across the Friendship Bridge into Laos.

Democrat Party spokesman Buranaj Smutharaks said the government's decision to repatriate the Hmong was based on human rights principles and international cooperation agreements and added that the government did not intend to prevent the Hmong from travelling to other countries.

"If any third-party countries agreed to receive these migrants, we would have no need to do this," he said.

Villagers at Huay Nam Khao were pleased that the camp would be closed.

They said the existence of the camp has slowed development in the village and made it difficult to make a living.

The US has asked the government to delay the deportation, but has refused to agree to a large-scale resettlement for the Hmong.

A spokesperson from the US embassy in Bangkok said the US had expressed its concern about the forced deportation, as it would involve the involuntary return of people whom both the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Thai government have identified as having concerns for their protection.

"We have encouraged the government to delay plans to proceed with a large-scale repatriation," the spokesperson said. "We have also urged the government to provide greater transparency in its screening process and emphasised that those with protection concerns should not be forced back to their homeland.

"The US has no plans for any large-scale resettlement of the Lao Hmong. However, we will consider referrals made on an individual basis by international organisations like the UNHCR," she said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva earlier said Thailand's plan to deport the Hmong to Laos will not violate human rights issues. The repatriation would conform to international standards and Thailand would adhere to human rights rules.

Thailand had worked closely with the Lao government on the deportation and Vientiane said it would let other countries visit the Hmong upon their return to Laos, he said.

The ethnic minority Hmong in Phetchabun are seeking political asylum, claiming they face persecution from the regime in Laos because they fought alongside US forces during the Vietnam War. But Thailand and Laos have insisted they are economic migrants.

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Thailand to begin Hmong deportation Monday

BANGKOK: Thailand will begin repatriating more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong refugees to Laos on Monday despite strong international opposition to the move, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Saturday.

The New York-based international rights group said that armed forces had been mobilised for the deportation from a camp in northern Phetchabun province where the Hmong are being held.

"The first wave of action to clear the camp will happen on December 27 night, and the deportation can start on December 28 morning," according to an email sent to AFP by HRW Thailand analyst Sunai Phasuk.

"During that (period), mobile phone (signals) will be jammed to prevent the Hmong from contacting outsiders. More than 100 buses and trucks are put on standby," he said, adding that the army would be in charge of the operation.

A spokesman for the Thai government could not immediately be reached for comment.

The 4,000 Hmong are seeking asylum based on claims that they face persecution from the Laotian regime for fighting alongside US forces during the Vietnam War.

Thailand has promised Laos, which insists the group will be safe after their return, that they would be sent back by the end of the year.

Thailand said the Hmong are economic migrants and refused to grant the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to them to assess whether any are, in fact, political refugees.

The United States said it was "deeply concerned about reports of the imminent and involuntary deportation" and Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN refugee agency, on Thursday urged Thailand to call off the deportation.

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US lawmakers concerned at possible Hmong expulsion

WASHINGTON — Nine US senators have written Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to protest the possible expulsion of more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos, where they fear persecution.

Thailand confirmed Wednesday the move would take place by year's end despite international outcry.

"While we recognize that the Kingdom of Thailand is burdened by the large number of refugees it hosts on its territory, we encourage you not to take steps to repatriate any individuals to Laos at this time," the US lawmakers wrote Vejjajiva in a letter dated December 17.

The group of ethnic Hmong, held in a camp in Huay Nam Khao in northern Phetchabun province, are seeking political asylum based on claims they face persecution from the Laos regime because they fought alongside US forces during the Vietnam War.

Democratic senators Russ Feingold, Patrick Leahy, Barbara Boxer, Sheldon Whitehouse, Mark Begich, Amy Klobuchar, Al Franken and their Republican colleagues Richard Lugar and Lisa Murkowski denounced the Thai government's "lack of transparency" in screening the refugees.

"We believe that the lack of transparency in the screening and repatriation process only exacerbates these difficulties and heightens international concerns regarding these populations," the letter said.

The lawmakers urged Thailand to work with an independent third party to conduct a "transparent" screening process that complies with international norms.

Leahy said on the Senate floor Wednesday that "no one with a valid (refugee) claim should be returned to Laos except on a voluntary basis," and compared the situation in Laos with Cambodia's repatriation to China last week of 20 Uighur Muslim refugees.

"Should the Hmong be treated similarly," Leahy said, "it could badly damage the Thai military?s reputation, and put our military collaboration at risk."

Laos has systematically denied the charges of persecution, while Thailand says the thousands held in Phetchabun are economic migrants and has refused access for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to see if there are political refugees.

The UNHCR and diplomats said they believe some could qualify as refugees, and as such should only be returned on a voluntary basis.

Although the defense ministry has said Thailand would not use force to return the remaining Hmong, there were reports Wednesday that the army had significantly boosted troop numbers in Phetchabun overnight, further stoking fears Bangkok would abide by the December 31 deadline.

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Thailand firm on returning 4,000 Hmong to Laos

Hmong refugees are seen at a Thai detention centre in Nongkhai province, northeastern Thailand near the Thai-Laos border, in 2008. Thailand confirmed Wednesday it will send more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos, where they fear persecution, by the year's end -- despite serious international concerns about the move.

Thailand confirmed on Wednesday it will send more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos, where they fear persecution, by the year's end -- despite serious international concerns about the move.

The group, held in a camp in Huay Nam Khao in northern Phetchabun province, are seeking political asylum based on claims they face persecution from the Lao regime because they fought alongside US forces during the Vietnam War.

"Thailand will complete repatriation of the Hmongs at Huay Nam Khao within 2009 because that is the government policy as discussed with Laos," said defence ministry spokesman Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng.

The confirmation came despite recent ministerial talks on the issue with Bangkok-based diplomats and a senior US delegation to Thailand.

US Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz, head of the department of population, refugees and migration, left the kingdom Wednesday morning after a visit that included a trip to a Hmong camp.

"Part of what he was doing here was talking about the Hmong issue," said US Embassy spokeswoman Cynthia Brown.

On Tuesday European diplomats in Bangkok met Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to voice concerns about the deportation, said Liselott Agerlid from the Swedish embassy, on behalf of the European Union.

She said they were "particularly concerned" that another group of 158 Hmong held in Nongkhai province, who have been granted UN refugee status and offered resettlement in Western countries, could be sent back to Laos.

Thailand says the thousands held in Phetchabun are economic migrants, and has refused access for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to assess if any are in fact political refugees.

The UNHCR and diplomats said they understand a number of them could qualify as refugees, and as such should only be returned on a voluntary basis.

Although Colonel Thanathip said Thailand would not use force, there were reports Wednesday that the army had significantly boosted troop numbers in Phetchabun overnight.

"They came on about 20 buses and after that more than 29 big trucks. Now there are about 4,000 soldiers," a 35-year-old Hmong man told AFP by mobile phone from within the camp, asking not to be named.

Sunai Phasuk, a Thailand analyst at Human Rights Watch, said he had also received reports of the troop increase.

"It is worrying that while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seems to feel international pressure, the army is doing the opposite," he said.

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Don't just voice concerns, offer solutions

Instead of just expressing their concerns, countries should start offering solutions to resolve the problems faced by the thousands of Hmong being sheltered in Phetchabun's Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai. If nothing is done soon, this will only develop into another never-ending story.

More than 4,000 ethnic Hmong from Laos have been living in Ban Huay Nam Khao in Phetchabun's Khao Koh district since late 2004. Some of them claim to be close associates of militiamen the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) supported to fight the communists before the fall of Vientiane in 1975. They say they are fleeing suppression back home.

Some of them sneaked out of the Phetchabun shelter to seek protection from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) in Bangkok. However, they were rounded up in late 2006 and sent off to the Nong Khai detention centre. Yet, when the group was close to being repatriated, they started resisting and some international agencies raised objections. Now, there are more than 158 of them, including newborns, at the detention centre.

As for their story about CIA connections, Lao and Thai are not buying it. As far as Thailand is concerned, the Hmong are normal economic migrants and should be sent home.

Thailand began repatriating Hmong refugees from May 2007, with the most recent group sent back just last month.

In addition, Thai authorities want to shutdown the shelter in Ban Huay Nam Khao as soon as possible, because it doesn't have the funds for its upkeep. Even though food and medication is provided by non-governmental organisation Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees, Thai authorities still need to spend a lot on security and the funds have run dry since September.

The repatriation efforts have not been going too well either because it is against human-rights practice to force them to leave against their will. Most Hmong do not want to return home, and are instead holding out for resettlement in a third country, preferably the United States, where many of their friends and relatives moved to after the Vietnam War.

Meanwhile many countries in the West and international organisations, including the UNHCR, are urging Thailand not to repatriate the Hmong for fear they will be severely punished in Laos. In fact, some countries like Australia have even offered to resettle some 20 Hmong, provided they can obtain the UN "people of concern" status. However the resettlement process has not yet started, and the offer is not much compared to the large population.

On the other hand, Laos insists that ethnic Hmong have never been suppressed and that they will be welcomed back with open arms. Lao deputy chief-of-staff Brig-General Buaxieng Champaphan visited Ban Huay Nam Khao twice this year to guarantee their safety back home.

The general told Hmong representatives that they would not be punished for fleeing the country, but instead will each be given 300,000 kip (Bt1,800), a house and a plot of land for farming upon their return. In fact, he even invited diplomats and journalists to visit the area marked out for Hmong people in Ban Pa Lak in Vientiane province.

Though western countries have officially voiced concerns in a letter sent to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, repatriation will most likely not be stopped because the letter did not offer any clear solutions or even commitment to move some of the refugees.

Of course, some, if not all, Hmong refugees are qualified to resettle in a third country, yet no agency has said who would be given the chance to resettle, nor has anybody guaranteed if the influx of Hmong refugees to Thailand will ever be stemmed.

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Thailand Set to Repatriate Lao Hmong Despite Concerns of Political Persecution

Many Hmong fought with the United States against communist forces during the Vietnam War and say Lao government has discriminated against their families ever since.


Hmong refugees walk outside their makeshift bamboo shacks at Huay Nam Khao village in Petchabun province, northeastern Thailand (June 07 file photo)

Thai military authorities say they will send about 4,000 Hmong living in a Thai refugee camp back to Laos by the end of the year, despite concerns they may face political persecution.

A military spokesman on Wednesday confirmed to VOA that Thailand will repatriate the Hmong within about a week.

They have been living at the Huay Nam Khao camp in Thailand's northern Petchabun province.

Many of the Hmong at the camp fear persecution by Lao authorities if they are sent back and are believed to want political asylum.

Thailand says they will be repatriated on a voluntary basis, but has never allowed the United Nations' refugee agency or any third party to assess their refugee status or monitor their return.

Giuseppe de Vincentis is the U.N. refugee agency's deputy representative for the region.

"The whole process of identifying and processing these cases lacks some transparency so far. So, UNHCR has always requested, of course, to be given access to these people to ascertain both, of course, to look into their status, as well as to ascertain the element of voluntariness in their return," he said.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders pulled out of the camp, earlier this year, blaming Thai military pressure to coerce the refugees back to Laos.

Thai authorities deny any pressure.

Many Hmong fought with the United States against communist forces during the Vietnam War and say Lao government has discriminated against their families ever since.

Joua Va Yang says his father fought against the Lao communists. He escaped from the Huai Nam Khao camp, fearing he would be sent back to Laos.

He says he would never return to Laos but he is also wanted by Thai authorities. He says he will hide with his family, but if the Thai authorities see him they will send him to jail or back to Laos. He asks that the U.N. help him and his family leave Thailand so they can have a better future.

Panitan Watanayagorn is Thai government spokesman.

"We listen to these complaints quite closely. We also have our own fact-finding. And, our fact-finding indicated that people who have been sent back are very happy," said Panitan Watanayagorn.

The Thai and Lao governments agreed they would repatriate the Hmong before the end of 2009

Another group of about 158 Hmong with refugee status are being held at Thailand's Nong Khai detention center. Refugee activists fear they, too, could be sent back to Laos.

That group has been in custody for more than three years. Despite offers from the United States and other countries to give them asylum, Thailand has refused to let them leave.

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US lawmakers concerned at possible Hmong expulsion

Nine US senators have written Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to protest the possible expulsion of over 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos, where they fear persecution.

Nine US senators have written Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to protest the possible expulsion of over 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos, where they fear persecution.

Thailand confirmed Wednesday the move would take place by year's end despite international outcry.

"While we recognize that the Kingdom of Thailand is burdened by the large number of refugees it hosts on its territory, we encourage you not to take steps to repatriate any individuals to Laos at this time," the US lawmakers wrote Vejjajiva in a letter dated December 17.

The group of ethnic Hmong, held in a camp in Huay Nam Khao in northern Phetchabun province, are seeking political asylum based on claims they face persecution from the Lao regime because they fought alongside US forces during the Vietnam War.

Democratic senators Russ Feingold, Patrick Leahy, Barbara Boxer, Sheldon Whitehouse, Mark Begich, Amy Klobuchar, Al Franken and their Republican colleagues Richard Lugar and Lisa Murkowski denounced the Thai government's "lack of transparency" in screening the refugees.

"We believe that the lack of transparency in the screening and repatriation process only exacerbates these difficulties and heightens international concerns regarding these populations," the letter said.

The lawmakers urged Thailand to work with an independent third party to conduct a "transparent" screening process that complies with international norms.

Laos has systematically denied the charges of persecution, while Thailand says the thousands held in Phetchabun are economic migrants and has refused access for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to see if there are political refugees.

The UNHCR and diplomats said they believe some could qualify as refugees, and as such should only be returned on a voluntary basis.

Although the defense ministry has said Thailand would not use force to return the remaining Hmong, there were reports Wednesday that the army had significantly boosted troop numbers in Phetchabun overnight, further stoking fears Bangkok would abide by the December 31 deadline.

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Defenseless Laos, Hmong Refugees Face Overwhelming Force, Transport Caravan in Thailand

Defenseless Laos, Hmong Refugees Face Overwhelming Force, Transport Caravan in Thailand

2009-12-23 07:41:04 - The Lao Human Rights Council, the Center for Public Policy Analysis and Lao Hmong-Americans in the United States have received distressing reports today from refugees in Thailand about a large military convoy of between 50-80 vehicles that has been deployed to the main Hmong refugee camp at Huay Nam Khao in Petchabun Province, Thailand.

Washington, D.C., Bangkok and Ban Huay Nam Khao, Thailand, December 23,2009

The Lao Human Rights Council, the Center for Public Policy Analysis and Lao Hmong-Americans in the United States have received distressing reports today from refugees in Thailand about a large military convoy of between 50-80 vehicles that has been deployed to the main Hmong refugee camp at Huay Nam Khao
in Petchabun Province, Thailand, where between 4000-5000 Lao Hmong refugees are being detained by the Thai military.

“Multiple sources inside the Hmong refugee camp have reported that a large Thai military convoy with dozens of buses and army trucks has arrived in the early morning of December 23 and assembled outside the camp in Petchabun with additional special troops and transport vehicles,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director for the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. “A frenzy of dozens of clandestine telephone calls and communications from the main Hmong refugee camp in Thailand, and surrounding areas in Petchabun Province, have sought to relay to Washington, D.C., and the world, what is a clear emergency appeal by the refugees to save them from being sent back to the communist regime in Laos they fled as more and more Thai military trucks, buses and soldiers arrive today at the camp.”

“Despite the outcry of international human rights and humanitarian organizations, the Thai military convoy was deployed this morning in an apparent attempt to seek to intimidate and force thousands of Hmong refugees and asylum seekers at the Petchabun camp back to Laos where many fled political and religious persecution as well as attacks by the Lao army,” Smith continued.

“Unfortunately, the Thai military appears to have run out of Hmong volunteers to return to Laos and, in violation of international human rights and refugee law, is deploying new forces to facilitate the potential mass forced repatriation of Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers back to Laos against their will, ” Smith stated. “The timing of the arrival today of the Thai military convoy, and this display of overwhelming military force to the defenseless refugees, appears to have been carefully planned to repatriate the Hmong back to Laos just before the American Christmas and New Year holidays in an effort to catch Western and American policymakers supportive of granting asylum to the Hmong refugees, flatfooted and off guard.”

Smith concluded: “Distressed Hmong-American family members in the United States are also telephoning and reporting to us in Washington, D.C., that they are receiving alarming reports today from their relatives in Huay Nam Khao, and elsewhere in Thailand, about the arrival of the Thai Army convoy that they believe has been sent to the Hmong camp to push their loved ones and the refugees back to Laos by coercive means.”

“At this very moment the Thai government is implementing a mass forced repatriation of all Hmong refugees at Huaj Nam Khao Refugee Camp to return to Laos. Reports came in from representatives in the refugee camp at approximately 5:00 am on December 23, 2009 (Indochina/Thailand time), to the Lao Human Rights Council (LHRC) that more than 80 army trucks and buses have arrived at the Huaj Nam Khao Refugee Camp and military soldiers are preparing to gather all Hmong refugees in the camp by 12:00 pm on December 23, 2009 to be repatriated back to Laos,” Vaughn Vang, Director of the LHRC said.

“These types of soldiers have not been seen before by the Hmong refugees as they are described to be wearing green uniforms with green helmets. At this very moment, all Hmong refugees are refusing to return to Laos and have grouped together in refusal to board the trucks and buses.

“The Thai soldiers have threatened these Hmong refugees that all persons refusing to board the vehicles to be returned to Laos will be brutally beaten or killed tonight without interference from other countries or authorities as the Hmong refugees are of no importance to the world. They further stated that the world community would not care for these Hmong refugees’ lives and will not respond to the mass forced repatriation and the mass killing that will occur in a few hours.

“These Hmong children, women, elders, and civilians are desperately calling upon the United States, United Nations, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), European Union, International League of Human Rights, all international human rights organizations, all countries, and the world community to rescue them.

“It will only be a few hours before their lives may come to an end and the world needs to open their eyes and ears to see and hear the desperate cries of these innocent human beings. There is no time for the world to continue denying the atrocities against these innocent children, women, elders, and civilians. It is time for the world to answer their cries and give them a voice. It is time for the world to grant them the life, liberty, and human rights that they, as human beings, deserve.
“In just a few hours, 4,532 lives of innocent children, women, elders, and civilians may be killed or forced repatriated to Laos and the world needs to take responsibility for these innocent lives.”


###

Contact (s):
Maria Gomez or Juan Lopez
Tele. (202) 543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Suite No. #212
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA

www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

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Thailand firm on returning 4,000 Hmong to Laos

BANGKOK — Thailand confirmed Wednesday it will send more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos, where they fear persecution, by the year's end -- despite serious international concerns about the move.

The group, held in a camp in Huay Nam Khao in northern Phetchabun province, are seeking political asylum based on claims they face persecution from the Lao regime because they fought alongside US forces during the Vietnam War.

"Thailand will complete repatriation of the Hmong at Huay Nam Khao within 2009 because that is the government policy as discussed with Laos," said defence ministry spokesman Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng.

The confirmation came despite recent ministerial talks on the issue with Bangkok-based diplomats and a senior US delegation to Thailand.

US Assistant Secretary of State for population, refugees and migration, Eric Schwartz, left the kingdom Wednesday morning after a visit that included a trip to a Hmong camp.

"Part of what he was doing here was talking about the Hmong issue," said US embassy spokeswoman Cynthia Brown.

On Tuesday European diplomats in Bangkok met Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to voice concerns about the deportation, said Liselott Agerlid, political counsellor at the Swedish embassy, on behalf of the European Union.

She said they were "particularly concerned" that another group of 158 Hmong held in Nongkhai province, who have been granted UN refugee status and offered resettlement in Western countries, could be sent back to Laos.

Thailand says the thousands held in Phetchabun are economic migrants and has refused access for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to assess if any are in fact political refugees.

The UNHCR and diplomats said they understand a number could qualify as refugees and as such should only be returned on a voluntary basis.

Asked about the repatriations on Wednesday, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters Thailand would "take law and humanitarian principles into consideration".

"If we look back at repatriations in the past there has been no harsh treatment. There is no fighting or conflict in Laos," he said.

In May when aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) pulled out of a camp in Phetchabun, they said the fleeing Hmong recounted killings, gang rape and malnutrition inflicted by Laotian forces.

MSF accused Thailand of trying to repatriate the group forcibly.

Although Colonel Thanathip said Thailand would not use force to return the remaining Hmong, there were reports Wednesday that the army had significantly boosted troop numbers in Phetchabun overnight.

"They came on about 20 buses and after that more than 29 big trucks. Now there are about 4,000 soldiers," a 35-year-old Hmong man told AFP by mobile phone from within the camp, asking not to be named.

"The people are worried and afraid the military is going to force everyone to go back to Laos," he said.

Sunai Phasuk, a Thailand analyst at Human Rights Watch, said he had also received reports of the troop increase.

"It is worrying that while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seems to feel international pressure, the army is doing the opposite," he said.

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Statement by the President on the Hmong New Year

Michelle and I extend our warmest wishes to those who are celebrating the Hmong New Year. Over the course of decades, Hmong have come to this country in times of great difficulty, often as refugees escaping persecution. In Southeast Asia, many helped the people of the United States, and immigrated here in a period of great strife. Through struggle and sacrifice they built communities and families, and have reminded us of what is best about America. Hmong men and women have come to this country to build a better life, and through their culture and contribution, they have enriched America as well.
The Hmong New Year is traditionally celebrated at the end of the harvest season, and marks a time filled with great food, colorful clothes, the music of the qeej, and enjoyable games. It is a time for family and community as people gather to bring good luck for the New Year.  With that spirit in mind, I wish those celebrating Hmong New Year a prosperous and healthy New Year -- Nyob zoo xyoo tshiab.

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Obama sends New Year's greetings to Hmong

President Barack Obama has wished "Xyoo Tshiab" to the Hmong community in the US celebrating their new year

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama wished "Xyoo Tshiab" to the Hmong community in the United States celebrating their new year, and thanked them for enriching America's cultural life.

First Lady "Michelle and I extend our warmest wishes to those who are celebrating the Hmong New Year," Obama said in a statement released by the White House on Friday as the president was on his return flight from the Copenhagen climate summit.

Obama said many Hmong came to the United States "in a period of great strife... to build a better life, and through their culture and contribution, they have enriched America as well."

With the festive spirit in mind, Obama said, "I wish those celebrating Hmong New Year a prosperous and healthy new year -- Xyoo Tshiab."

The US Hmong community was outraged two years ago by the arrest in California of aging warlord Vang Pao on charges he was plotting to overthrow the communist government of Laos.

The charges were dropped this September, restoring good relations with Hmong-Americans, although 12 other defendants in the case are still being prosecuted as a result of what many in the community believe was an unfair government sting operation.

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President Obama sends Hmong New Year wishes

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE PRESIDENT:

Statement by the President on the Hmong New Year

Michelle and I extend our warmest wishes to those who are celebrating the Hmong New Year. Over the course of decades, Hmong have come to this country in times of great difficulty, often as refugees escaping persecution. In Southeast Asia, many helped the people of the United States, and immigrated here in a period of great strife. Through struggle and sacrifice they built communities and families, and have reminded us of what is best about America. Hmong men and women have come to this country to build a better life, and through their culture and contribution, they have enriched America as well.

The Hmong New Year is traditionally celebrated at the end of the harvest season, and marks a time filled with great food, colorful clothes, the music of the qeej, and enjoyable games. It is a time for family and community as people gather to bring good luck for the New Year. With that spirit in mind, I wish those celebrating Hmong New Year a prosperous and healthy New Year -- Xyoo Tshiab.

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Hmong:Refugees Facing Human Rights Violations

Raised concern about the plight of hundreds of Lao Hmong political refugees from Ban Huay Nam and other asylum seekers forcibly repatriated from Thailand to Laos


Below is an article published by Media Newswire:
Thailand, December 15, 2009 - In recent months, hundreds of Lao Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers forcibly repatriated from Thailand to Laos from 2007-2009 have been summarily executed, imprisoned, tortured, or have disappeared at the hands of Lao military and security forces, according to sources in Laos as well as non-governmental and human rights organizations ( NGOs ) familiar with the situation facing returnees. The Lao Hmong Human Rights Council ( LHHRC ) and the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) as well as other NGOs and non-profit organizations have raised concerns about the plight of thousands of Lao Hmong political refugees from Ban Huay Nam Khao who have suffered violent forced repatriation to Laos where they have been killed or have suffered persecution and human rights violations. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders ( MSF ) and others have expressed repeated concerns about human rights violations and persecution directed against Lao Hmong refugees forced by Thailand back to the communist regime in Laos they fled.

“According to reliable sources in Laos, as well as our own research, hundreds more Lao Hmong political refugees, who have fled religious and political persecution in Laos as well as Lao military attacks, have been forced from the Huay Nam Khao camp in Thailand back to Laos, where they have been imprisoned, tortured, killed or simply disappear in recent months and years at the hands of Lao military and security forces,” said Philip Smith, Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.

"Thailand’s Defense Prawit Wongsuwon and Minister of Interior ( MOI ) Chavarat Charnvirakuland and Army Chief Anupong Paochinda have ordered additional Royal Thai Third Army and special MOI troops to prepare for the mass forced repatriation of over 5,100 Lao Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers at Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai at the apparent orders of Prime Minister Abhisit according to sources in Thailand," Smith explained. http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1106722.html

Vaughn Vang, Executive Director of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council ( LHHRC ) in Green Bay, Wisconsin said: “We have also been receiving more reports from sources in Laos and their family members in the United States about the many Lao Hmong refugees from Huay Nam Khao refugee camp who have disappeared, or have been tortured or killed in Laos, including Zoua Zang, along with five young children, who disappeared after they were forced from Thailand to Laos recently.”

Mr. Vang continued: “Some of the Lao Hmong returnees from Ban Huay Nam Khao arrested by the Lao military upon their forced return to Laos include Mr. Chia Yang , who is 60 years old, and was arrested on June 22,2009; Others Lao Hmong refugee returnees arrested include Nhia Khang Vue, 45, Neng Zoo Xiong 24, Xai Thao, 25, , who were all arrested in the Km 20 area of Laos.”

“Lao police in LPDR killed Chai Fwj Yang and Neng Lor on October 28, 2009, the Lao military and security forces killed Neng Lor, 16 in Bolikhamsai as well as Niam Lor See, 28 in Vientiane Province; Koua Lee, 28, was also killed on November 1, 2009 in the Vientiane Province; Ntxhai Xiong, 34, was killed on November 12, 2009 by Lao military and security forces,” Vang explained.

“These are just some examples of the hundreds of Lao Hmong refugees arrested, jailed or killed in Laos who were forcibly repatriated from Ban Huay Nam Khao in Petchabun Province, Thailand back to the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ),” Vang said.

Human Rights Watch, and others, have raised repeated concerns about Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers from Thailand’s Huay Nam Khao who have been forcibly repatriated back to Laos where many have suffered political and religious persecution or have disappeared or been killed. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/ea049ac4d12cc47a0f08e37151bcc9d7.htm
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/12263-1258758068-abhisit-anupong-order-thailand-soldiers-to-block-religious-ceremonies-burial-of-laos-hmong-refugees.html

Amnesty International has issued a recent report regarding peaceful Laotian protesters arrested in November 2, 2009, in Laos who have disappeared in Sam Khe prison and the Lao gulag system after being imprisoned by the LPDR. http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1107568.html
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/004/2009/en
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1105478.html

Former political prisoner and author Kay Danes, and the Foreign Prisoners Support Service ( FPSS ), have documented torture, human rights violations and the deplorable situation in Lao prisons where Lao Hmong refugees, prisoners of conscience, political and religious dissidents as well as foreign prisoners are often held without charge and due process. Danes illuminates the dark plight of Lao prisons in two of her books “Standing Ground” ( New Holland Publishers, 2009 ) and “Nightmare in Laos.” http://www.newholland.com.au/product.php?isbn=9781741107579

On November 26, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the plight of Laotian political and religious prisoners and urging the emancipation of Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1106783.html

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Mpls police chief blames economy for recruit layoffs

Minneapolis — Twenty Minneapolis Police officers graduated from the academy on Thursday and the new officers will hit the streets this weekend. But by the end of next week, they'll be out of work because police department will lay off the officers because it can't afford to pay their salaries.

The 20 members of the police recruit class of 2009 entered the ceremony to the melancholy serenade of a bagpiper. Dressed in crisply-pressed blue uniforms and white dress gloves, they sat like statues in front of an auditorium full of family, police brass and the media.

There was also an elephant in the auditorium; that this group of recruits will soon become among the first Minneapolis police officers ever to be laid off.

Police Chief Tim Dolan didn't try to avoid the elephant. He blamed the bad news on tough economic times. However, Dolan said despite the lay-offs the new recruits have earned something that can't be taken from them.

"You're going to be police officers today," Dolan said. "You'll be sworn in and you'll be police officers for the rest of your career."

The question is where they will be police officers. If Minneapolis can't afford them, the new officers can work at any state law enforcement agency that's hiring. But Dolan said he hopes the department will get a federal grant that will allow him to rehire some of them.

A total of 25 sworn officers - including the new class -- will be laid off. With the grant and some shifting of funds, Dolan said he could keep 15.

"It's no idle promise when we say that we are working very, very hard to try and make sure we rehire every one of these people," he said.

One by one the new officers came forward to pick up their badges. Each one brings a family member with them to pin the badges on their uniforms. As the procession continues, the ethnic diversity of the new officers becomes apparent.

Kong Moua is one of three Hmong officers in the class. Moua hopes he'll be rehired because he said it's important for Hmong residents to have representation on the police force.

"I think definitely it's going to be a big help to our Hmong community," he said. "For our Hmong officers to speak Hmong and help the community out here; especially on the north side."

Over the last several years, Hmong community members have been particularly vocal about the lack of cultural diversity on the police force. The rift between the community and department became especially prominent after a white police officer shot and killed a 19-year-old Hmong man three years ago.

Nearly all the new officers entered the department through the Community Service Officer program. Under the program, students who are studying law enforcement can work as civilians in the department part time. Police officials say the program has helped bring more women and minorities to the force.

According to the latest department data, 18 percent of sworn officers are people of color - 16 percent are women.

Abubakar Muridi was born in Somalia and said he's wanted to be a police officer all his life. He's holding out hope that he'll still be able to do that in Minneapolis.

"Right now I'm happy that I'm here. I'm blessed. I'm here," Muridi said. "I just want to go out and have fun those four days and just see what happens. This is a great department and I'm pretty sure we'll be back - if we get laid off - we'll be back real soon."

There are six women joining the force and one of them, Yolanda Wilks, is also one of several new African-American officers. She's got mixed feelings about the graduation.

"I'm sad -- kinda sad," Wilks said. "But also we're happy of the accomplishments we made this far."

Wilks said she struggled at times through the training, but credits her family with helping her make it through. To help show her appreciation, Wilks had her mom pin her badge on during the ceremony.

"It made me feel good. I'm the oldest of eight," she said. "And just to be doing something to encourage them -- it made me feel to have my mom right there by my side."

The officers' last day on the job will land just a few days before Christmas. Police officials hope they will get word about the status of the federal grant soon, so the newly laid off officers won't have to sit in limbo for too long.

They are also hoping that older officers decide to take early retirement incentives. The senior officers have larger salaries and Dolan said he can hire three new officers for every two more experienced officers who leave the force.

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HMONG Hairstyles From Around The World

MIAO

THE WOMEN: Miao women, also known as Hmong, are an ethnic minority in China numbering 9.6 million. Within the Miao, the hairstyle of one subgroup has earned them the name "Long Horns."

THE LOOK: Long Horn Miao women place U-shaped pieces of wood on top of their heads and wrap their hair around it, simulating the effect of a giant set of horns. The coif is secured with a white cord. If it looks like all this hair is too much for one head to grow, well, it is. "Frequently, the girls and women will weave their ancestors' locks into their own hair," says Dru C. Gladney, Ph.D., professor of anthropology at Pomona College in California. "Up to four generations of ancestral hair may be incorporated." Linen and wool are added to fill out the hairpiece, which is bound around the horn in figure-eight fashion.

THE MEANING: In rural China, water buffalo and oxen are an integral part of Miao life. A hairstyle reminiscent of these animals pays homage to the power of nature and the animal kingdom. "The Long Horn tra-dition is probably about 2000 years old," Gladney notes. "Female family members help weave the hairpieces, with younger women's hair generally being the most elaborate."

WHERE THEY STAND: Though they are not equal to men in the tribe, Miao women enjoy certain perks, like the right to refuse a suitor's marriage proposal until he proves (through betrothal gifts of cattle and silver) that he is worthy of her.

BEAUTY QUIRK: In the past, Miao men also wore similar horn hairstyles. Says Gladney: "This gave rise to the idea that the wearer of such a hairstyle had the 'strength of an ox.'"

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SEA Games: Laos, Hmong Arrested Prior To SEAG of Concern to Amnesty International

"Amnesty International, and other international organizations and institutions, including the European Parliament, are calling for the immediate release of the Laotian political dissidents and protesters," said Philip Smith of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. "These Laotians arrested and imprisoned by the LPDR military regime prior to the SEA Games are clearly prisoner of conscience..."

(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Thailand and Vientiane, Laos - December 9,
2009 - Amnesty International has issued a public statement and appeal on the crisis facing Laotians jailed by Lao military and security officials on November 2, 2009, and its aftermath. Over one-thousand Laotian and Hmong political and religious dissidents, protesters and activists, as well as ordinary Laotians, were arrested in the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) prior to the start of the Southeast Asia Games in Laos ( SEA Games ). The Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) has also issued recent statements about the crisis facing Lao and Hmong political and religious dissidents and protesters in the LPDR as well as thousands of Lao Hmong refugees facing forced repatriation from Thailand to Laos.

“This year Laos is host for the Southeast Asian Games, a regional bi-annual sports event. The authorities have carried out meticulous preparations, but the recent arrests and enforced disappearances of peaceful petitioners risks tarnishing the occasion,” Amnesty International said in a December 7 public statement. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/004/2009/en

“Amnesty International, and other international organizations and institutions, including the European Parliament, are calling for the immediate release of the Laotian political dissidents and protesters,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA in Washington, D.C. “These Laotians arrested and imprisoned by the LPDR military regime prior to the SEA Games are clearly prisoner of conscience as Amnesty International and others have rightly pointed out.” http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1106783.html
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/12936-1259340801-ep-thailand-urged-to-free-hmong-refugees-laos-urged-to-free-students.html

Smith explained: “Out of the various political and religious dissident, activist and protest groups of Laotians, some as large as 300, who were seeking reform and change in the communist nation in November of 2009, Amnesty International has express concern that at least nine Laotians ( 9 ) continue to be imprisoned for seeking to peacefully protest in the LPDR. The Laotian groups from Vientiane as well as other parts of Laos were seeking change and reforms in Laos, including expressing solidarity and concerns about imprisoned Lao students, religious persecution, the military intervention of Vietnam security forces and troops from Hanoi, and very high-levels of corruption by the one-party military regime in the LPDR.” http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1105230.html
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1105478.html

“Amnesty International calls on the Lao authorities to release, immediately and unconditionally nine peaceful protesters who have gone missing since their arrest on 2 November 2009. Amnesty International considers them prisoners of conscience, arrested solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression…” Amnesty said in its recent public announcement.

“The nine should never have been arrested in the first place, let alone subjected to enforced disappearance. They are at high risk of torture or other ill-treatment. The Lao authorities must make their whereabouts known immediately and guarantee their safety…” Amnesty stated.

“The nine people, reportedly identified by the authorities as “leaders”, were first taken to Samkhe Prison in Vientiane, but according to information provided to Amnesty International, a special unit of the armed forces has since moved them to unknown locations. Sources in Laos have reported that family members have not been able to contact them since they were moved from Samkhe prison. They include two women, Kingkeo and Somchit, and seven men, Soubinh, Souane, Sinpasong, Khamsone, Nou, Somkhit and Sourigna,” Amnesty International continued in their public announcement.

“These recent arrests and disappearances have taken place within days of the 10-year anniversary of the last known attempt to stage a public peaceful protest in Vientiane in October 1999. At least three former students arrested at that time remain imprisoned today, while one died in detention following torture by prison guards. Since then, the Lao authorities have continued to deny its citizens the rights to peaceful protest and assembly guaranteed under international human rights law,” the Amnesty statement explained.

Amnesty International explained further in its public announcement: “Enforced disappearance is a human rights violation and a crime under international law. In addition, it violate a wide range of other human rights: the right to liberty and security of person; the right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the right to be recognized as a person before the law; as well as the rights to fair trial and to family life. Ultimately, it can violate the right to life, as victims of enforced disappearance are often killed…Since the first arrests in early November, Amnesty International has received unconfirmed reports about more petitioners taken into custody in Vientiane and other provinces.”

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the European Parliament, Doctors Without Borders ( MSF ), the United Nations, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ), the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom ( USCIRF ), Freedom House, the Foreign Prisoners Support Service ( FPSS ), Lao Movement for Human Rights ( LMHR ), the Lao Students Movment for Democacy ( LSMD ), the United League for Democracy in Laos ( ULDL ), Lao Hmong Human Rights Council ( LHHRC ), the Laos Institute for Democracy ( LIFD ), Lao Veterans of America, Inc. ( LVA ), Lao Veterans of America Institute ( LVAI ), Hmong Human Rights ( HHR ), Hmong Advance, Inc. ( HA ), Hmong Advancement, Inc. ( HAI ) and others have raised repeated concerns about human rights violations in Laos and the plight of Lao and Hmong refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand and Laos facing persecution.http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/002/2006/en
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/005/2000/en
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/004/2007/en

Over 5,100 Lao Hmong political refugees are facing now facing abusive and violent forced repatriation from Ban Huay Nam Khao, in Petchabun Province, and Nong Khai, Thailand back to the LPDR communist regime in Laos they fled. http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1106722.html
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/001/2007/en
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/010/2003/en

Many Laotian and Hmong Americans, as well as overseas Laotians, are boycotting the SEA Games in protest to the recent crackdown and arrests in Laos.
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1107410.html

###

Contact: Ms. Maria Gomez or Mr. Juan Lopez

info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org

Tele. ( 202 )543-1444

Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Suite No. # 212
Washington, DC 20006

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