Thailand Deports Hmongs Back To Laos

[gjones]

I just wish to draw attention to this thread again and keep most of us informed on what goes on.

[Krungthepian]

The Lao and Thai governments' latest act of bastardy is going on right now (9.20m) - several trucks and a team of Lao officials have arrived at Nong Khai Immigration Detention Centre.

It looks like they are set to forcibly deport the 155 Hmong who have been there for the past few months.

The trucks sent to transport the Hmong across to Vientiane have come despite repeated expressions of concern about the well-being of these people, all of whom are registered as 'people of concern' by the UN High Commissoner for Refugees.

Some 30 refugees - not illegal immigrants but jungle Hmong from groups headed by well-known jungle leaders Blia Shoua her and Moua Toua Ter - were allegedly sent back from Lom Sak police station late on Thursday (yesterday).

Senior UNHCR officials have said the Hmong at Nong Khai IDC are at risk of persecution and possibly even being killed (correct) because of recent conflicts with the Lao and Vietnamese military.

Two of the 155 are jungle Hmong leaders - Blia Shoua Her and Chong Lee Lor - who have a lot of information about alleged massacres in laos, including the slaughter of 26 mainly women and children near Vang Vieng on April 6 last year.

Reporters, including TV people, and Hmong activists from the US are flying to Nong Khai ASAP to try to record or even stop the deportation.

The scene could be similar to Jan 26 and the drama expressed earlier in this thread.

For me, I just want to know: Why does the Thai government allow this to happen?

If any of the 155 take their own lives today, Bangkok will have their blood on its conscience, if they know what such a thing is..

Lao officials reportedly there now for what looks like a long planned operation. Indeed, one that has been flagged on public radio in Laos.

Urgent appeals going out to press and Western embassies right now.

[Krungthepian]

3.40pm Friday - latest news is that frantic phone calls by activists supporting the Hmong - to western embassies in Bangkok and international news agencies - this morning may have succeeded in getting the deportation canned.

It did not save the 30 refugees who were deported from Lom Sak police station yesterday, of course. Those people reportedly had equal right to remain and try to find a better life given they were mainly "jungle Hmong" with genuine claims as refugees also (allegedly part of Moua Toua Ter and Blia Shoua Her's groups).

Meanwhile, the US govt has reported further incidents of fighting in northern Laos. A govt website notice posted today warns Americans not to travel overland between Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang, I think.

I hope Thailand can move the 155 Hmong out of Nong Khai IDC to somewhere further away from the border - to a facility less cramped. The UNHCR said they have about 90 kids in just a couple of big rooms at present. But the big thing is Vientiane seems preoccupied about snatching them back while they are just across the river. If Thailand doesn't have the moral strength to allow them to go to third countries at present, they must move them from the border. The stress those poor buggers go through on days like today must be appalling.

It's times like this you really wonder about the Thais and their lack of thought or apparent care for their neighbours.

[Jai Dee]

Thai deportation raises fears for 8,000 Hmong

The United Nations said on Monday it was "deeply concerned" about Thailand's deportation of 163 ethnic Hmong to communist-ruled Laos, where U.S.-based Hmong exile groups say they face persecution and torture.

Hmong groups are linking this weekend's deportation to the recent arrest in California of former guerrilla leader Vang Pao, 77, who led his people in an anti-communist jungle army trained by the Central Intelligence Agency during the Vietnam War.

Vang Pao, who was arrested along with nine others, including a retired U.S. Army officer and Vietnam War veteran, is accused of masterminding a plot to overthrow his lifelong foes in the Lao government.

The future of another 8,000 Hmong still in a makeshift refugee camp in Thailand now hangs in the balance.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it did not know whether any political fugitives were among the group deported as its officials had been denied access to conduct screening interviews.

"It is highly regrettable that such screening did not take place before the deportation," spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said.

A spokesman for Thailand's army-appointed government, which recently struck a deal with Vientiane to send back Hmong "no matter how many bullet wounds they have", according to the Nation newspaper, refused to comment on its future plans.

Human rights and exile groups accuse Vientiane of waging a campaign of vengeance against the Hmong, including sending in helicopter gunships against a ragtag band of rebels holding out in the landlocked southeast Asian nation's dense forest.

A Lao government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Source: Reuters - 11 June 2007

[Krungthepian]

Couple more stories here:

UN 'deeply concerned' at Thai deportation of Hmong to Laos

AFP 11-6-07

BANGKOK - The UN's refugee agency said Monday it was "deeply concerned" about Thailand's deportation of more than 160 ethnic Hmong back to Laos at the weekend.

The communist government in Laos confirmed that the Hmong had been sent back across the border by Thailand early Saturday as part of a resettlement process that has been criticised by human rights groups.

"We're deeply concerned about the deportation," said Kitty McKinsey, spokeswoman for the UN High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok.

More than 7,000 Hmong have lived for years in and around informal refugee camps, many of them hoping to eventually settle in the United States.

Vientiane and the military rulers in Bangkok recently agreed to repatriate those who are deemed illegal migrants and found to be Lao citizens in a process not supervised by the UN refugee agency.

The UNHCR has called for screening for the Hmong to see if any should be officially classified as refugees and granted international protection.

"We find it highly regrettable that such a screening did not take place before the deportation," McKinsey said.

London-based human rights group Amnesty International said last month that Lao troops were still hunting and killing scattered bands of Hmong hiding in the jungle and accused Thailand of forcibly repatriating refugees.

Many Hmong in the 1960s and 70s fought alongside US forces when the Vietnam War spilled into Laos. After the war ended in 1975, hundreds of thousands fled to Thailand and many were later resettled in the US.

The former Hmong commander of a CIA-funded "secret army," General Vang Pao, now a 77-year-old US citizen, was arrested in California last week with eight others, accused of plotting a violent coup against the Lao government.

gs/jw Thailand-Laos-migrants-Hmong-UN AFP 110913 GMT JUN 07

Thailand deports 163 ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers back to Laos

AP 11-6-07 Photo TOK108, by Ambika Ahuja

BANGKOK - Thailand has expelled 163 ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers in the first major repatriation since the United States charged one of their tribal leaders with planning an insurrection in Laos, Thai and Lao officials said.

The officials, as well as Hmong rights activists, said the 163 who were deported Saturday had been held for illegal immigration at four police stations near a large Hmong refugee settlement in Thailand's Phetchabun province, 300 km north of the capital, Bangkok.

One of the most prominent Hmong exiles, former guerrilla leader Vang Pao, was charged in US federal court last Monday with plotting a violent overthrow of Laos' communist government.

# Tharit Charungvat, a spokesman for Thailand's Foreign Ministry, said the expulsions were not related to the charges against Vang Pao.

"There is no link to this case whatever. ... It's the policy to send back illegal immigrants, that's all," he said.

The Hmong claim they are persecuted by the Lao government, which distrusts the tribal group because it sided with a pro-American government against the communists during the Vietnam War.

They say they fear for their safety if forced back to Laos.

In March, Amnesty International drew attention to the plight of thousands of Hmong tribespeople still in Laos, whom it said are being hunted down in the jungles by the country's communist regime - an allegation denied by the government.

Some 8,000 other Hmong at the Huay Nam Khao camp remain there, even though the Thai government also considers them illegal immigrants and subject to deportation.

Most of those expelled Saturday had been caught trying to get into the refugee camp in the past couple of years.

A Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yong Chanthalansy, confirmed by phone that about 160 Hmong were sent back to Laos.

"We had a handover ceremony this morning at the border," he said, adding that it was not a forced

repatriation and the handover was peaceful.

# Tharit, the Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman, also said the deportation took place without resistance.

# However, a group that lobbies for the rights of the Hmong, the California-based Fact Finding Commission, said sources in Huay Nam Khao "reported beatings and the use of tear gas and stun guns by the Thai military" in the repatriation process.

The group, whose information has been reliable in the past, said when several Hmong began to fear on Wednesday that they would be repatriated, two of them - Lee Pao Vang and Wa Meng Lee - tried to kill themselves by taking poison, and that an unconfirmed report said one of them subsequently died.

The little-publicized plight of the Hmong was high-lighted recently with the arrest in California of Vang Pao, now 77, who led CIA-backed Hmong forces in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s as a general in the Royal Army of Laos.

He emigrated to the US in about 1975 and is generally acknowledged as the leader of the Hmong community there. Seven other prominent members of the Hmong community were arrested with him.

More than 300,000 Laotian refugees, mostly Hmong, fled to Thailand after the communist takeover. Most later resettled in the United States and elsewhere, but thousands of others stayed behind, some adjusting to the new hard-line regime and others staying in the jungle, where they faced continuing attacks.

Many lingered in Thai refugee camps. In May 2005, the last major camp was closed, and in what was supposed to be the final big movement of Hmong refugees, some 15,000 were relocated to the US.

But thousands more slipped through the cracks, coming to join the unofficial refugee settlement at Huay Nam Khao.

==========

[Krungthepian]

Lao authorities have posted pics online of the deported 160 returning to Laos - presumably for US community.

The link is:

Photos with the caption "160 misled hmong handover"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkj-hmong/

The pics look quite tame.. but only had a quick squiz at them.

There have been unconfirmed reports of about five people being beaten unconscious by Thai police prior to this return.. and a similar number of relatives of known jungle Hmong or their relatives being tortured in a certain jail back in Laos (in stocks and mistreated).. and serious injuries and one death.. 2 men reportedly attempted suicide in Khao Khor a day or two before the mass deportation, one supposedly by drinking pesticide and the other by sitting or running in front of a car.. curiously, this was after Nation report they were badly beaten for refusing to sign a form consenting to their return to Laos.

Other reports not confirmed. Hard to make out truth and exaggeration. The lady who sends reports from the US said they were hysterical on Friday and Saturday, and she gets affected by that too (being part Hmong).

Some people commenting also that the Thais have forgotten that the Hmong were their front-line allies during the Vietnam War and that thousands of Thais fought alongside them. Problem is, with all the domestic mayhem - court verdicts and former PM having his assets frozen (painful process one can only hope), is doesn't always get the attention it deserves.

[Jai Dee]

7,000 Hmong relocated

Security officials in Phetchabun Sunday relocated more than 7,000 Lao-born Hmong immigrants to a new residential site four kilometres away from where they had lived with Thai-born Hmongs.

The operation stemmed from complaints by Thai-born Hmongs that routine body and material searches and ID checks by officials - to differentiate between the two groups for security reasons -made their lives and farming difficult.

The new site is in Tambon Kheg-Noi, north of their previous site in Tambon Wang Ban in Khao Kho district. Of the 7,653 Laoborn Hmongs relocated, 40 per cent are children.

Another two groups of Lao-born Hmong immigrants will soon be relocated to the new site - those moving from Phoo Da Phor and those calling themselves "The Peace Group" who had lived at Tambon Wang Ban.

Source: The Nation - 25 June 2007

[katana]

Saw this link on another forum:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1xngfvVN6k

[Krungthepian]

Reports from Hmong in the US say the 163 who fled to Thailand who were forcibly returned to Laos recently have been resettled at a site off Route 13 (the main highway north).. not far from areas where they say there have been "rebel" attacks.

Or that is what the Lao authorities are saying.

The information minister reportedly placed the following post on a chat site on Saturday:

thanouxay View profile

More options Jun 23, 11:23 am

Newsgroups: soc.culture.laos, soc.culture.hmong, soc.culture.thai

From: thanouxay <[email protected]>

Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2007 10:23:44 -0700

Local: Sat, Jun 23 2007 11:23 am

Subject: Re: New Hmong Settlement

Reply | Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original | Report this message | Find messages by this author

Cwjmen and all,

"As I told you that a mini-irrigation dam located about half a Kilometre from the new village has been completed. Yes this is where, the kids will love to swim and fish while the adult can find water for

gardening.

The old Ponglak village which is about two kilometres from the settlement has a dispensary where sick people can be treated and Muang Med and Kasy where there are district hospital are about

25 kilometres range.

"Yes, they will be free like horses therefore the local authorities estimated that they (the new settlelers) will move within 20 kilometres radius along the valley and uphill. They are so free to the

extend that among the newly rapatriated from Thailand in the group of 31 and 160, there are about ten families who were resettled in 2006 in Muang Med. They paid about 10 silver bars to traffickers

to bring them to Thailand with the hope to go to third country and ended up in the same area again and once again, the burden is on the shoulder of the Government.

"Sok dee."

============

# Photos have also been posted of this new settlement at:

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture...907cf3072ae960f

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkj-hmong

The interesting thing is how Vientiane is using the Net to try to placate Hmong in the US, who, like many observers in Thailand, seem convinced that their fellow Hmong are being persecuted.

Why doesn't Vientiane just let diplomats and independent international observers inspect these sites and speak to those being resettled there (without the presence of government officials to intimidate them, as happened when the 21 "missing" Hmong girls were unveiled in mid-April)? It makes one think the government is being tricky and attempting to cover its tracks in various ways ..

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has voiced concern re Thailand's forced retrun of Hmong seeking asylum..

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Public Statement

AI Index: ASA 39/009/2007 (Public)

News Service No: 121

26 June 2007

Thailand: Forcible returns of Lao Hmong must end

Amnesty International is deeply concerned by the unlawful and forcible return from Thailand to Laos of 163 Lao Hmong individuals, who had not been able to claim asylum, on Saturday 9 June 2007. The organization calls on the Thai authorities to immediately halt any returns of asylum seekers who have not yet had access to a fair and satisfactory asylum determination procedure. Amnesty International is particularly concerned that those returned are at risk of torture, arbitrary and indefinite detention and other serious human rights violations in Laos. This serious gap in protection must come to an end.

The group of 163 were reportedly transported in four police trucks at around 6 am across the river Mekong over the Friendship Bridge linking the Thai border town of Nong Khai and the Lao capital Vientiane. The evening before, they had been picked up at police detention facilities in the towns of Khao Kho, Lomsak, Na Chaliang and Tha Phon in the northern Thai province of Phetchabun, where they had been held for varying periods of time.

Official Lao media reported that the group of 163, who were referred to as "victims of human trafficking", had been handed over to Lao authorities in accordance with a bilateral agreement signed on 18 May 2007. Their current whereabouts are not known.

Some of those forcibly returned were recent arrivals from Laos, including a group of 48 people, 30 of whom were children. This group was arrested in a makeshift refugee camp of Huay Nam Khao on 31 May 2007 just after their arrival at the camp. Until they were returned they had been held in police detention in Lomsak, where they had reportedly been forced to sign a document accepting the deportation.

Amnesty International is seriously concerned that this forcible return took place in breach of international human rights law and standards. The organisation believes that individuals among the 163 are at risk of grave human rights violations, including torture and arbitrary and indefinite detention. These concerns are further aggravated by the lack of access to Laos for international human rights monitoring bodies, including NGOs, to monitor the well-being of returnees.

The forcible return on 9 June also highlighted the serious situation of insecurity and uncertain future facing up to 8,000 Lao Hmong at Huay Nam Khao in Thailand, all of whom are at risk of forcible return. UNHCR has not been allowed access to this group to determine their protection needs. The Thai authorities have not introduced any fair and satisfactory procedure to enable individuals to claim asylum. Amnesty International is extremely concerned at the precarious situation in which these asylum seekers find themselves.

Thailand's humanitarian role in providing temporary protection to hundreds of thousands of people who have fled persecution and conflict in neighbouring countries is widely recognized. The recent forcible return, which is the second in less than a month, underscores Amnesty International's growing concerns that the Thai government may be changing its policies towards people who enter Thailand to seek asylum and protection from human rights violations.

The organisation calls on the Thai government to uphold its obligations under international law and halt any plans for the return of any Lao Hmong asylum seekers until a fair and satisfactory procedure has been put in place in order to allow these individuals to exercise their human right to seek and enjoy asylum. In line with international law and standards, those who are granted refugee status must also be provided with protection inside Thailand or allowed to resettle in third countries. Amnesty International reminds Thailand of its obligation under international law not to return any person, regardless of their status, to a situation in which they would face torture or other serious human rights violations.

Background

Under international law states are under an obligation not to forcibly return any person in any manner whatsoever to a country where they risk torture or other serious human rights violations (the principle of non-refoulement). This principle, which is provided for in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and several other international instruments, is widely regarded as a rule of customary international law and is therefore binding on all states, including Thailand, regardless of its treaty obligations. Furthermore, in line with Thailand's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a state party, Thai authorities may not return anyone to a country where they would be subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. See Human Rights Committee, General Comment 20, Article 7 (Forty-fourth session, 1992), UN Doc. HRI\GEN\1\Rev.1 at 30 (1994), para. 9 which states that "In the view of the Committee, States parties must not expose individuals to the danger of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment upon return to another country by way of their extradition, expulsion or refoulement."

The total number of Lao Hmong seeking asylum in Thailand is unclear. Some 8,000 asylum seekers who have fled Laos live in the informal refugee settlement in Huay Nam Khao in Phetchabun province. Much smaller numbers live in other places across the country, notably in the border areas and the greater Bangkok region.

=========

[Jai Dee]

Blind justice for the Hmong of Laos

On June 4, about 200 law-enforcement agents in California launched what initially appeared to be a spectacular raid, arresting nine in an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Laos. Eight of those arrested originally came from Laos.

They are members of the Hmong hilltribe, and their leader is a man who is legendary in CIA circles, Vang Pao.

Vang Pao rose to become a major-general in Laos, thanks to his CIA mentor, a soft-spoken Texan named Bill Lair. Starting in 1961, the Hmong and the CIA operative created a tribal guerrilla army that fought successfully against Lao and North Vietnamese communists - for a while. Later, when Laos became a side-show of the bigger war in neighbouring Vietnam, the programme started falling apart. In 1975, when the US pulled out of Laos and Vietnam, over 10,000 Hmong were slaughtered by Laos' new communist regime. Many survivors fled the country and went to the US as refugees. Today there are about 200,000 Hmong-Americans; and although Vang Pao, now 77, is no longer their undisputed leader he is still their most famous name.

I have spent many hours recently with both Bill Lair and Vang Pao for a documentary-film project. The two men are not close, but they recognise that their legacies are intertwined; and Lair has volunteered to testify for Vang Pao at his upcoming trial.

Lair and I have also travelled to Southeast Asia, to visit the sites of his covert war, and to look into claims that Hmong are still fighting against their old enemies in Laos. We found those reports true on a small scale. Scattered bands of ragged fighters subsist off wild plants, trying to evade the Laotian army … and almost every day, the leaders of these Hmong bands talk on satellite phones with their Hmong-American relatives.

There is no doubt that some Hmong-Americans have been up to their eyeballs in supporting and guiding the Hmong resistance in Laos, but there are different ways of interpreting this fact. Some might say it is heroic and steadfast for old allies to continue the fight for years after the US forces went home. (After all, which of our Iraqi and Afghan allies will do that?) Others might say that the old Hmong-American leaders are like exiled White Russians in Paris after World War I, plotting and scheming to return to power and not doing a good job of it. Human-rights workers have another angle: go to the Amnesty International Website, they say, search under "Hmong" and start reading about all the violence done against tribespeople by the Lao regime, which adds up to borderline genocide. You can frame the arguments any way you want, but for me, the more I learn about the Hmong resistance in Laos, the more I find it ambiguous and troubling. There's a cycle of violence in the boondocks of Laos, and all sides are keeping it going. I put the blame first and foremost on the Lao People's Democratic Republic, which is doing the actual killing; the Hmong-Americans rank a distant second.

But almost everyone I've talked to who is deeply knowledgeable about Laos is dismayed by the indictments and accompanying press releases coming out of the US Attorney's office in Sacramento. The feds boast about stopping a massive attack on the Lao government, as though the Hmong are capable of that. The Hmong resistance in Laos is too scattered and beaten-down for that, and the Hmong-Americans are simply too disorganised.

The government's case is typical of the post-9/11 John Ashcroft-Alberto Gonzales at the Justice Department. You've seen the pattern before: at first, big, ringing announcements of a clear victory over evil are made. Later it turns out the charges have been exaggerated or distorted. Months or years later the cases are dismissed or the charges are greatly reduced. And that is probably what is going to happen with Vang Pao and the Sacramento Nine.

The government's case against the Hmong suffers from two weaknesses. The first is that the feds' undercover operative, who works for the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, was the co-creator of the so-called plot. A former Navy Seal, he offered a stupendous array of weapons, including Stinger missiles, and American-trained mercenaries. He brainstormed extensively with the only non-Hmong defendant, a retired Army colonel named Harrison Jack, who stood to benefit financially if the deal went through. The Hmong-Americans didn't hatch the idea for this plot, or at least nothing this ambitious. They just made the mistake of liking the sound of it when the others proposed it.

The second weakness in the feds' case is that it does not take into account the cultural reality of the Hmong. Though many younger Hmong-Americans are US college graduates today, the elders of Vang Pao's generation still don't speak fluent English. They don't know how to "read" the intentions or sincerity of mainstream Americans and they don't fully understand US government rules. Whether they have been smart to support and guide the resistance in Laos or not, the Hmong-Americans are going to claim the right of ethnic self-defence against their old enemies. Who else would help the Hmong in Laos? The US government abandoned the Hmong in 1975 and has shown no interest in supporting them since then. Rumour has it that the Hmong-Americans who were recently arrested hoped the undercover agent worked for the American government - and he did, just not for the right agency.

This case is already causing collateral damage abroad. Laos and its neighbour, Thailand, have cited Vang Pao's arrest as a so-called terrorist to end a tradition of sanctuary for Hmong refugees in Thailand. About a thousand legitimate war refugees are at risk of being forcibly repatriated, including women who have been raped and tortured by Laotian forces and others who have seen family members killed. The first 160 were repatriated soon after Vang Pao's arrest. Nobody has heard from them since. They will not get trials, or visits from neutral international monitors.

By contrast, I suppose, the Sacramento Nine are lucky. They will get trials, and the worst they can expect is prison for life. The shame is that much of the problem could have been avoided if the US government had taken a radically different approach 20 or 30 years ago. Bill Lair says he would have gladly worked with the Hmong elders to keep them on the straight-and-narrow once they came to this country, but the CIA doesn't provide long-term counselling to refugees, and neither does any other branch of the US government.

What these Hmong-Americans are most guilty of is acting like Hmong, instead of acting like Americans. But they don't deserve prison for that.

Roger Warner is the author of "Shooting at the Moon: the Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos".

Editorial Opinion by Roger Warner

Published by The Nation - 28 June 2007

[jomama]

I think this is reprehensible:

MADISON, Wis. -- Supporters of former Hmong Gen. Vang Pao rallied on Monday in three states -- including Wisconsin -- demanding his release from jail.

Pao remains held without bond on federal charges in connection to an alleged plot to overthrow the government of the southeast Asian country of Laos.

Hundreds of Pao's supporters showed up at the federal courthouse in Madison to protest Pao's arrest and demand his release. They said that he's a freedom fighter who in the past helped the CIA and U.S. military during the Vietnam war. Pao's supporters have often compared him to American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Rallies were also held in Minneapolis and Sacramento, Calif., on Monday, WISC-TV reported.

Houa Vang, one of the rally leaders, spoke at the Madison rally and asked for Pao's release.

"The Hmong people are now asking the lawmakers and the leaders of this great nation to enforce these beliefs to free Vang Pao, your loyal ally. The one who saved more than 30,000 American soldiers," Houa Vang said. "The general should be released immediately and help you find resolutions to these evil crimes against the Hmong people for years. He has done no crime against mankind but love and search for justice and peace. He must be released."

Pao was among 10 Hmong leaders arrested on June 4 and charged in federal court in California with conspiracy to overthrow the communist Laotian government by killing officials and leveling government buildings.

Pao's attorney is expected to argue for bond at a July 12 hearing scheduled in federal court in Sacramento.

The 77-year-old was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat over the weekend, WISC-TV reported. A spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento said that Vang Pao appeared in court on Monday and requested the July bond hearing.

Prior to his arrest, Pao was to be honored by having Madison's newest school named after him. Last week, the Madison Metropolitan School District's Board of Education voted to select another name for the school.

Pao led CIA-backed Hmong forces in Laos against communists in the 1960s and 1970s.

[Jai Dee]

Army says Hmong duped by evil gangs

Human traffickers 'sell them on lies'

According to Third Army commander Chiradet Kacharat, human trafficking gangs are the driving force behind the steady increase in the Hmong population at a refugee camp in Phetchabun's Khao Kho district. Lt-Gen Chiradet said Ban Huay Nam Khao camp is now overcrowded, with more than 7,500 Hmong refugees, up from less than 2,000 who originally fled their homes in neighbouring Laos four years ago.

The army commander said that called into question where 5,000 or more Hmong in the camp had come from over the years and for what reasons. He put the lion's share of the blame for the rise in population at the camp on human trafficking gangs, which he said often employed ethnic Hmong to work as agents.

More from the Bangkok Post here.

[geriatrickid]

I know the Human Rights Commission may be very busy now with the horrible crushing of human rights at the Novotel, but this tragedy will work it's way up the agenda for sure. After all it's all about human rights and that's what they care about over at the commission.

[Krungthepian]

The situation at Nong Khai has deteriorated badly. The stress of being so close to Laos and living with the daily fear of deporation - and what the Lao military might do if these people are deported (despite supposed promises by Thailand not to do so, and UN "protection" in the form of registration as "people of concern") - five of the refugees have fled over the past month. Three escaped on June 12 (but two were recaptured shortly after). And another four fled on June 29.

The timing of the escapes if interesting - the relate to crises at other centres where Hmong were deported from.

The escapes have put additional pressure on the local police chief and IDC officials - to the point where observers feel they just want to get rid of the Hmong.

Thailand should let these people be resettled abroad. Get the foreign embassies and UNHCR off their backs and focus on larger concerns.

Huay Nam Khao is changing - most of the 8000 have been moved to the new camp. And there is talk of mass resettlement of these people eventually. Laos and the Thais are talking aboutreturns of 200 at a time, but the most it can apparently manage is 2000 or less a year.

Thing is, UNHCR should screen these people. About 1500 should not go back.

Vientiane needs to do its bit also. International reps should be able to visit the 163 who recently returned to verify they are well. There have been reports this grouip is in a military prison in Paksan with the men held in leg stocks, etc, and being interrogated about their "colleagues" at Nong Khai (with the Lao authorities showing photos of the Hmong leaders there, etc.

Surely, this in itself shows those at Nong Khai should not be returned.

Thailand is earning itself a very scummy reputation by its pathetic treatment of these people.

Its treatment of those on the Burmese side is often no better, but reporting of these matters is pretty pathetic also.

If Thailand wants to be part of the modern world with Western investment and business it badly needs to lift its game.

Get the UN and international bodies in to help and lift standards.

[Jai Dee]

MFA receives copy of letters from US House of Representatives on hilltribe deportation issue

The Spokesperson to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that he has received a copy of letters from 13 United States House of Representative members urging His Majesty the King to prevent the deportation of 8,000 Hmong hilltribemen back to Laos.

The Director General of Information and Spokesperson to the Ministy of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tharit Charungwat (ธฤต จรุงวัฒน์ ), revealed that 13 United States House of Representatives members recently sent letters to His Majesty the King urging His Majesty to intervene in the case of 8,000 Hmong people who were about to be deported to Laos. Mr. Tharit said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had received a copies of the letters.

Mr. Tharit expressed his belief that illegal immigrants were an economic, and not a political issue for the Thai government. The Foreign Affairs Spokesperson said that since the incident in which 10,000 Hmong hilltribesmen in Thailand were granted asylum in the United States, a large number of minority groups have been attempting to follow suit.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 09 August 2007

[Jai Dee]

Laos and Thailand to cooperate closely in bringing back Hmong immigrants to Laos

The Spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Laos, Mr. Yong Chanthalangsy (ย้ง จันทะลังสี), insists that the Hmong immigrants in Thailand will not be penalized when they return to Laos.

Mr. Yong says about 8,000 Hmong immigrants are living in Phetchabun (เพชรบูรณ์) province. He says Thailand and Laos are working together closely on this issue to prevent it from deterring the cordial relations between both countries. He says the authority of Laos is contacting the relatives of the Hmong immigrants so they can bring them back to their homeland.

Mr. Yong says Laos has set up a special subcommittee responsible for the Hmong immigrants, and the subcommittee members will take care of their accommodations. He says about 15 to 20 percent of the immigrants will be provided with new accommodations in Laos. He says representatives and media members from Thailand will also be invited to observe the Hmong immigrants’ new homes in Laos in the middle next month.

Meanwhile, Mr. Yong says the subcommittee is considering Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont (สุรยุทธ์ จุลานนท์)’s proposal for a third country to help deal with this issue. Nevertheless, Mr. Yong says it is an issue between two nations, and it can be solved through peaceful means. He says a third country should not be involved in this matter.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 17 August 2007

[Jai Dee]

LAOS / TALKS WITH THAILAND SET FOR SEPTEMBER

Returning Hmong may be forced to stay in govt-designated site

About 8,000 Hmong immigrants from Laos staying at the Ban Huay Nam Khao holding centre could return home unpunished but some would have to resettle at a prepared location near Vientiane, Lao government spokesman Yong Chantalangsy said yesterday. The issue will be tabled for talks when the Thai-Lao general border sub-committee, co-chaired by Lt-Gen Nipat Thonglek and his Lao counterpart Brig-Gen Buasieng Champaphan, meets on Sept 2-4 at the Hmong camp site in Phetchabun.

Mr Yong said the Lao government would not let the immigration problem derail bilateral ties, and would guarantee the safety of the Hmong after their return.

More from the Bangkok Post here.

[Mid]

Asia-Pacific News

Hmong refugees go on hunger strike in Thai jail

Aug 17, 2007, 5:07 GMT

Bangkok - A group of 149 Hmong refugees who have been detained in a two-room immigration jail in northern Thailand for the past nine months went on hunger strike Friday to protest their 'inhumane' living conditions and uncertain future, sources said.

The Hmong have been detained at an immigration jail in Nong Khai, 500 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, since December 8, 2006, after Thailand's attempt to forcibly deport them back to Laos across the Mekong River sparked an international outcry.

snip

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

monstersandcritics.com

[Mid]

Hmong refugees go on hunger strike in Thai jail

Friday, August 17, 2007 at 07:05

snip

The group includes former members of the Hmong guerrilla forces that were recruited by the US to wage a guerrilla war against communism in Laos. They lost.

snip

eux.tv

[Jai Dee]

UNHCR calls for Lao Hmong refugees to be released after hunger strike

The UN refugee agency is relieved that 149 Hmong refugees held in a detention center in Thailand have now called off their hunger strike, but the agency remains alarmed at their living conditions and their health and wellbeing. UNHCR calls on the Thai government to release them – all recognized refugees – from detention.

The Lao Hmong began their strike last Thursday at the Nong Khai Immigration Detention Center in a protest over the deteriorating conditions under which they have been held since early December last year. After a UNHCR team visited and counseled them on Sunday evening, they began taking food again. Among the 149 recognized refugees are 90 children, including some babies born in the detention centre which is run by the Thai Immigration Ministry.

"We are alarmed and deeply concerned about the steadily deteriorating detention conditions of the refugees over the last weeks," said Janet Lim, Director of UNHCR's Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. "They are being held in truly inhumane conditions – including innocent children – confined to two small cells into which daylight does not even shine and they are not allowed to leave." They also have no water source other than a water tap in the cells.

"There is absolutely no reason for these 149 people to be detained, especially as other countries have come forward and offered them resettlement places if they are only allowed to leave Thailand," Lim added. "They have committed no crime; on the contrary, they have been recognized as refugees in need of international protection. It is particularly disturbing to us that young children and babies are being subjected to these deplorable conditions."

The group was rounded up for deportation in Bangkok on 17 November 2006. After UNHCR intervened, the deportation was called off and the group was transferred on 8 December to the Nong Khai detention centre on the border with Laos. Thai authorities attempted to deport them on 30 January 2007, but backed down when the refugees put up fierce resistance.

Since then, UNHCR has been urging Thai authorities to release the refugees. "We appreciate the assurances given by the Thai government that these 149 will not be deported, but now we need to move forward to end their detention, particularly as there is a solution at hand," Lim said.

UNHCR is also concerned about conditions faced by other asylum seekers and refugees in detention in Thailand, particularly as children are also in custody.

UNHCR continues to urge the Thai Government to conclude its discussions on a screening mechanism which meets international standards that would allow the proper identification of different needs and claims concerning all asylum seekers on its territory.

Source: UNHCR- 20 August 2007

[Jai Dee]

Human Rights Watch criticises Thai govt over Hmongs

The Thai government should not forcibly repatriate thousands of Hmongs currently detained in Thailand to likely persecution in Laos, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

"It is shocking that Thailand is even considering the return of refugees fleeing from political persecution, rights abuses and fighting in Laos," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"The Thai government's threatened return of the Lao Hmong refugees shows a brazen contempt for the most basic principle of refugee law."

The Thai-Lao border committee will meet from September 2-4 to decide the fate of Hmong refugees at a camp in Petchabun province.

Human Rights Watch called for the Thai government to accept offers from other countries to resettle some Hmongs and to allow others to remain in Thailand until their cases can be resolved.

The New York-based organization is particularly concerned because of previous forced repatriations by the Thai government earlier this year. In addition, it was because of the statement on August 16 by the Lao Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy rejecting the idea of independent monitoring of repatriations to Laos, claiming it was a bilateral issue between Thailand and Laos

According to its press release, the organization has received credible reports of abuse and detention of individuals repatriated to Laos from Thailand in the past.

It criticized the Thai government of pressing the UNHCR to stop conducting refugee status determinations in Thailand in May.

"This has put thousands of Hmong asylum seekers in limbo and limited the protection provided by UNHCR. The suspension of refugee status determinations allows the Thai authorities to summarily classify Lao Hmong asylum seekers as illegal migrants," making them subject to arrest, detention and deportation."

Source: The Nation - 31 August 2007

[Jai Dee]

Human rights group voices fears Hmong repatriation plans

A leading human rights group on Friday appealed to the Thai government to refrain from forcibly repatriating 8,000 Hmong refugees to neighbouring Laos where they face "likely persecution."

The Thai-Lao border committee will meet Sunday to Tuesday to decide the fate of 8,000 Hmong refugees at a camp in Petchabun province, 290 kilometres north of Bangkok.

"It is shocking that Thailand is even considering the return of refugees fleeing from political persecution, rights abuses and fighting in Laos," said Brad Adams, Asia director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"The Thai government's threatened return of the Lao Hmong refugees shows a brazen contempt for the most basic principle of refugee law," he added in a statement made available in Bangkok.

Thailand and Laos have set up a joint committee to seek a long-term solution to the "never-ending problem" of Hmong refugees fleeing into Thailand.

Source: DPA - 31 August 2007

[Jai Dee]

Lao government to welcome back Hmong immigrants

The government of Laos is ready to welcome back the Hmong immigrants at Huay Nam Khao village in Phetchabun province, and has assured them of their safety upon their return.

The committee responsible for maintaining order along the Thai-Lao border led by Lt. Gen. Nipat Thonglek, the Director of the Thai Supreme Command's Military Border Affairs, and a committee from the Lao army held a meeting in Phitsanulok province to discuss ways to take care of the Hmong refugees from Laos who illegally immigrated to Thailand.

At the moment, there are 700,709 Hmong refugees in Phetchabun province. According to the refugees, the human traffickers deceived them that they will be transported to the United States once they arrived in Thailand.

So far, the Thai authority has delivered 200 Hmong immigrants to Laos, and the Lao government has prepared accommodations for them at Muang Kasi, Laos. The government of Laos has also assured them of their safety upon their return.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 04 September 2007

[Krungthepian]

Latest word re the Hmong at Huay Nam Khao is the video that the Lao government produced to try to reassure them that they would be well treated after being returned has failed .. partly because there were no Lao reps available to answer questions when it was showed to the refugees in Phetchabun, and because they didn't recognise any of the returnees in the video.

[bulmercke]

Human rights group voices fears Hmong repatriation plans

A leading human rights group on Friday appealed to the Thai government to refrain from forcibly repatriating 8,000 Hmong refugees to neighbouring Laos where they face "likely persecution."

The Thai-Lao border committee will meet Sunday to Tuesday to decide the fate of 8,000 Hmong refugees at a camp in Petchabun province, 290 kilometres north of Bangkok.

"It is shocking that Thailand is even considering the return of refugees fleeing from political persecution, rights abuses and fighting in Laos," said Brad Adams, Asia director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"The Thai government's threatened return of the Lao Hmong refugees shows a brazen contempt for the most basic principle of refugee law," he added in a statement made available in Bangkok.

Thailand and Laos have set up a joint committee to seek a long-term solution to the "never-ending problem" of Hmong refugees fleeing into Thailand.

Source: DPA - 31 August 2007

Shame on the Thai government.

[kat]

Agreed. Also, shame on the US Government and others who could have resettled these people to a third country.

[Jai Dee]

Hmong to be sent back to Laos

About 8,000 Hmong refugees living in Thailand are to be repatriated within 12 months to Laos, the two countries announced Thursday, despite warnings from human rights groups that the refugees faced persecution back home.

The deal meant that the refugees from the ethnic group that battled communist forces in Laos during the Vietnam War would be returned home, by force if necessary, the government-run Thai News Agency said.

The return of the Hmong - who currently live in a camp in Petchabun province, 290 kilometres north of Bangkok - would be conducted on "humanitarian principles," Thai Lieutenant General Niphat Thonglek said.

His Lao counterpart, General Bunakleang Champapan, said communist-ruled Laos accepted that monitors should ensure the Hmong were fairly treated on their return.

It was not clear, however, whether third-party monitors would be permitted. The two countries have balked in the past at involving other parties to their talks on the refugees, calling it a bilateral issue.

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights group, last month called it shocking that Thailand was even contemplating returning refugees "fleeing from political persecution, rights abuses and fighting."

It accused Thailand of showing "brazen contempt for the most basic principles of refugee law" and argued that the Hmong should be allowed to remain in Thailand until they are resettled in third countries.

The group said it has received reports of abuse and detention of repatriated individuals.

Thailand repatriated 31 Hmong to Laos in May and 163 more in June. Human rights organizations have complained that no outside monitors can find out what has happened to them since.

Bunakleang said he hoped the refugees at Petchabun would return voluntarily, but he added that if they would not, then "force may be necessary."

Officials from Thailand have argued that the Hmong refugees remain a source of bilateral friction and a burden on the host country while Lao authorities have long resisted taking in people they suspect are hostile to its rule.

Refugee experts said Thailand is concerned that the mere presence of the Hmong - even in a camp surrounded by barbed wire - is attracting an endless flow of people leaving Laos for the relative wealth of Thailand. Some of the refugees have been there for decades, but some are recent arrivals.

Thailand stopped the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from screening arrivals for political refugee status in May, allowing Thailand to tag all refugees as "illegal immigrants."

Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said in August that without firm action, the refugees would become a "never-ending problem."

The Petchabun camp is guarded by armed soldiers and served by one relief agency, Doctors Without Borders.

Human Rights Watch complained that although many of the camp's inhabitants are children, the Thai authorities have provided no schooling for them. It was also denied access to the camp in July.

Source: DPA - 21 September 2007

[lazeeboy]

Hmong to be sent back to Laos

About 8,000 Hmong refugees living in Thailand are to be repatriated within 12 months to Laos, the two countries announced Thursday, despite warnings from human rights groups that the refugees faced persecution back home.

The deal meant that the refugees from the ethnic group that battled communist forces in Laos during the Vietnam War would be returned home, by force if necessary, the government-run Thai News Agency said.

The return of the Hmong - who currently live in a camp in Petchabun province, 290 kilometres north of Bangkok - would be conducted on "humanitarian principles," Thai Lieutenant General Niphat Thonglek said.

His Lao counterpart, General Bunakleang Champapan, said communist-ruled Laos accepted that monitors should ensure the Hmong were fairly treated on their return.

It was not clear, however, whether third-party monitors would be permitted. The two countries have balked in the past at involving other parties to their talks on the refugees, calling it a bilateral issue.

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights group, last month called it shocking that Thailand was even contemplating returning refugees "fleeing from political persecution, rights abuses and fighting."

It accused Thailand of showing "brazen contempt for the most basic principles of refugee law" and argued that the Hmong should be allowed to remain in Thailand until they are resettled in third countries.

The group said it has received reports of abuse and detention of repatriated individuals.

Thailand repatriated 31 Hmong to Laos in May and 163 more in June. Human rights organizations have complained that no outside monitors can find out what has happened to them since.

Bunakleang said he hoped the refugees at Petchabun would return voluntarily, but he added that if they would not, then "force may be necessary."

Officials from Thailand have argued that the Hmong refugees remain a source of bilateral friction and a burden on the host country while Lao authorities have long resisted taking in people they suspect are hostile to its rule.

Refugee experts said Thailand is concerned that the mere presence of the Hmong - even in a camp surrounded by barbed wire - is attracting an endless flow of people leaving Laos for the relative wealth of Thailand. Some of the refugees have been there for decades, but some are recent arrivals.

Thailand stopped the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from screening arrivals for political refugee status in May, allowing Thailand to tag all refugees as "illegal immigrants."

Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said in August that without firm action, the refugees would become a "never-ending problem."

The Petchabun camp is guarded by armed soldiers and served by one relief agency, Doctors Without Borders.

Human Rights Watch complained that although many of the camp's inhabitants are children, the Thai authorities have provided no schooling for them. It was also denied access to the camp in July.

Source: DPA - 21 September 2007

rules are rules ,lets hope they go peacefully without bloodshed .......

[Jai Dee]

Meeting to discuss Hmong graves

St. Paul group looked into desecration

A fact-finding delegation from St. Paul that traveled to Thailand last month to investigate the desecration of Hmong graves will hold a community meeting at 6 p.m. today to discuss its findings.

The meeting will be at the Hmong American Center, 1075 Arcade St. in St. Paul.

The privately funded visit was coordinated by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. The four members of the delegation, which included state Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul, and Va-Megn Thoj, a mayoral aide, met with Thai officials and those involved in digging up graves.

At the meeting, the delegation will answer questions about its investigation and discuss solutions. The delegation also will provide details about its meeting with Thai officials and what they have agreed to do about the graves.

The group found, among other things, that Buddhist gravediggers who exhumed hundreds of Hmong graves thought they were acting in the best interests of the dead when they mutilated the remains and cremated their bones.

The bodies were buried on a hillside near the Tham Krabok Buddhist monastery, home to tens of thousands of refugees before they were given passage to the United States, starting in 2004. Several thousand refugees ended up in Minnesota.

The following year, those newcomers were horrified when relatives at the Wat Tham Krabok camp called with news - and video - that Thai crews dug up the bodies and chopped the bones, presumably for cremation.

Some Hmong feared work crews were singling out the Hmong graves. Rumors at the time suggested non-Hmong graves were left alone.

Thai officials estimate 691 bodies were disinterred, but the Minnesota delegation said the number could exceed 900.

Reasons for the excavations varied from source to source.

The abbot at the monastery cited issues with water supplies. However, one gravedigging group said the monastery was planning to plant herbs for use in a drug-recovery program, while another explanation was development pressures.

Source: Pioneer Press - 10 October 2007

[Jai Dee]

UNHCR urges Thailand to free Hmongs detained in Nong Khai

The United Nations' refugee agency is calling on Thailand to free 149 ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers from Laos whom it has detained at an immigration center for more than a year.

They should be let go to third countries—many countries have agreed to accept them, Radio Free Asia reported.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokeswoman Erika Feller said the group of 149 minority Hmong should be released to third countries.

"These 149 Hmong refugees are not criminals. They [have been] detained for 400 days," she said.

"The Thai authorities have no reason to detain them any longer. International organizations recognize their status of refugees," Feller said.

"They should be let go to third countries—many countries have agreed to accept them."

The 149 Lao Hmong have been housed at an immigration center in Nong Khai since December 2006, the UNHCR has said.

The Hmong, who claim to have fled persecution in neighboring Laos, are recognized as refugees in need of protection and should be allowed to leave Thailand to resettle elsewhere, another UNHCR spokesman, Ron Redmond, later told the Associated Press in Geneva.

RFA reported that Australia, Canada, the United States and the Netherlands have offered to receive some of the refugees for resettlement, Redmond said.

The agency was particularly concerned about the fact that 90 children, including five born in detention, are being held in conditions that fall short of international standards.

"They should not be locked up and should be getting a proper education," he told reporters. The Hmong say they fear political persecution in Laos.

Many Hmong fought on the side of a pro-U.S. Laotian government in the 1960s and 1970s before the communist takeover of their country in 1975.

The 149 Hmong in Nong Khai were on the verge of being repatriated to Laos in January last year when international pressure halted the move.

Source: The Nation - 16 January 2008