Hmong want answers on deportations

Lee Youa Pao and other members of the local Hmong community bowed their heads during a moment of silence to remember the 4,500 Hmong who were forcibly repatriated by the Thai government back to Laos. Lee Youa Pao was a soldier who supported the United States during the Vietnam War.

About 400 from the local community packed a meeting to seek information about refugees forced from Thailand back to Laos.

By MARY LYNN SMITH, Star Tribune
Last update: January 6, 2010 - 12:14 AM

About 400 Hmong immigrants and their families gathered Tuesday night in St. Paul to stand as one in seeking answers about the forced repatriation of more than 4,500 Hmong from refugee camps in Thailand to Laos, a country they left for fear of persecution.

"There's a lot of anger, pain, confusion and shock" over the deportations, said Pam Xiong, who works with the Hmong Diaspora Leadership Council, a St. Paul group. "More than anything, we want to know they're safe ... because right now, [people] are afraid and uncertain about what will happen to these people."

About 46,000 Hmong immigrants live in Minnesota and about 31,600 live in Wisconsin.

Among those at the forum at the Lao Family Center were community leaders, including St. Paul's 18 Hmong clan leaders, and families of those forced back to Laos. A large contingent of former soldiers who aided the U.S. military during the Vietnam War came dressed in their green fatigues or dress uniforms. Organizers of the meeting also invited U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, but the lawmakers were not there. Organizers were told that some of them will meet privately with community leaders.

Hmong leaders are hoping that U.S. and United Nation officials will push for answers regarding the forced repatriation, work with the Thai and Lao governments to assure the refugees' safety, and investigate whether the Thai government violated an international law that protects refugees from being returned to places where their lives or freedom could be threatened.

Refugees inside one Thai camp, Huay Nam Khao, Petchubuan Province, called St. Paul Hmong leaders late last month, asking for international assistance as growing numbers of Thai soldiers surrounded the camp. Three days later, the Thai military reportedly cleared the camp and took about 4,500 refugees back to Laos. Nearly 160 refugees in a detention center in Nong Khai also reportedly were deported to Laos.

Various countries, including Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, had offered to take those eligible to seek political asylum for resettlement, but Hmong leaders say the Thai government blocked the process.

Victor Yang of La Crosse, Wis., said his father-in-law, who is about 80 years old and helped the CIA during the Vietnam War, is among those who was forced back to Laos even though he begged not to go back. "He was tied up and thrown into a car," Yang said through an interpreter.

Yang said he has no idea what will happen to him and the 40 family members who also were forced back into Laos.

Nhia Paul Mou of St. Paul wants answers regarding his brother, who was forced back into Laos with his wife and five children. His brother and family had lived in the jungles of Laos until 2004, when they entered a Thai refugee camp.

"We just want to know if he's still alive," Mou said through an interpreter.

For many left behind, they don't want to be forgotten.

In November, before the deportations, Song Vang of the Twin Cities spoke to a 22-year-old man whose family had helped Americans during the war and who was being held in the Nong Khai detention center. He had no idea at the time that he and the others would be forced back to Laos, she said. But he wasn't optimistic about his fate, and asked Vang to sing to him.

She did, she said, tears welling in her eyes. He wanted her to tell the Hmong in America not to forget those who were left behind. He told her: "We're afraid."

Various countries, including Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, had offered to take those eligible to seek political asylum for resettlement, but Hmong leaders say the Thai government blocked the process.

Victor Yang of La Crosse, Wis., said his father-in-law, who is about 80 years old and helped the CIA during the Vietnam War, is among those who was forced back to Laos even though he begged not to go back. "He was tied up and thrown into a car," Yang said through an interpreter.

Yang said he has no idea what will happen to him and the 40 family members who also were forced back into Laos.

Nhia Paul Mou of St. Paul wants answers regarding his brother, who was forced back into Laos with his wife and five children. His brother and family had lived in the jungles of Laos until 2004, when they entered a Thai refugee camp.

"We just want to know if he's still alive," Mou said through an interpreter.

For many left behind, they don't want to be forgotten.

In November, before the deportations, Song Vang of the Twin Cities spoke to a 22-year-old man whose family had helped Americans during the war and who was being held in the Nong Khai detention center. He had no idea at the time that he and the others would be forced back to Laos, she said. But he wasn't optimistic about his fate, and asked Vang to sing to him.

She did, she said, tears welling in her eyes. He wanted her to tell the Hmong in America not to forget those who were left behind. He told her: "We're afraid."

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