The Hmong, The Last Casualties Of A War Are Still Dying.

[Rinrada]

Maybe time to consider BOYCOTTING Laos

No way out

The Hmong, the last casualties of a war that officially ended in 1975, are still dying.

Not just dying: they are being wiped out. Hunted, shot, bombed, blown up by landmines, starved to death – by the Lao military, possibly with the help of the Vietnamese. Why?

They are officially traitors – and, by grotesque extension, so are their children and grandchildren.

In the past few years, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Hmong have fled Laos; many are now in refugee camps in Thailand, from where they are sometimes forced back to Laos and likely death.

Amnesty International reports that a group of 27 Hmong, 22 of them children, mostly girls aged between 12 and 16, were arrested in Thailand while they were visiting a church last November and deported; they are now in prison and are believed to be being treated badly, possibly tortured.

The Lao authorities deny responsibility, but “Disturbing reports of repression, arbitrary detention and violent attacks continue to emerge from the Lao jungle,” says Kate Allen, Amnesty’s UK director.

I raised the matter with Soutsakhone Pathammavong, the Lao ambassador in Paris. His reply was to deny that any Hmong were being killed by his government’s army........more.....

with thanks to Philip Blenkinsop .....

and ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,...2278657,00.html

[Mossfinn]

I remember reading this article when it first appeared three years ago..... doesn't surprise me nothing more has been done to help them, they have nothing more to offer, nothing of note to barter, no threat to trade oil in euros instead of dollars..... I wonder how it will end.

Moss

[udon]

I have posted news items abt the Hmong in Laos & the Karen in Burma and there was very little response from members, which I find very sad.

[bmanly]

From the story: "In the past few years, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Hmong have fled Laos; many are now in refugee camps in Thailand, from where they are sometimes forced back to Laos and likely death".

I too am saddened by these stories and whilst I understand nobody wants refugees I feel that the Thai government could do more to help. Couldn't the UN help with refugee camps?

[Rinrada]

To quote Blenkinsop (again) who is a seasoned photojournalist with 17 years’ experience and knows and has reported from the area[/i] ......

In a recent report, the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated that it was “concerned” by the persistent allegations of conflict between the Lao government and “certain members of the Hmong minority”, and recommended that UN agencies provide emergency humanitarian assistance.

“The committee was also concerned about reports of violence that had been perpetrated against members of this group… ” How comforting for the remaining Hmong holed up in the Lao jungle to know that the western world’s largest and supposedly most influential political body is “concerned

meanthinks a very BAD SMELL from Lov-lay little LAOS......

[udon]

SBS Documentary Archives

Scroll down to

Hmong video: Archives - October 19, 2005

February 22 2006

Feature:The Karen:

Death or Democracy

As an aside, check out the local's problems in Bali:

March 15 2006

Feature:Bali Goes Bust

If the link doesn't work correctly, click on "transcripts & video" and then "Asia" on the map to take you to the archives..

[TokyoT]

I have posted news items abt the Hmong in Laos & the Karen in Burma and there was very little response from members, which I find very sad.

People with problems all over the world; generally speaking no country/ organization (UN) will step up to the plate to help unless there is something to be gained by them. Too much politics in the world today, and not likely to change in the near future.

[Losangels]

I have posted news items abt the Hmong in Laos & the Karen in Burma and there was very little response from members, which I find very sad.

People with problems all over the world; generally speaking no country/ organization (UN) will step up to the plate to help unless there is something to be gained by them. Too much politics in the world today, and not likely to change in the near future.

Yes indeed it is very sad it is happening and not much is being done.

There is an article in today's BKK post editorial section about the plight of the long-neck Burmese along the Thai border that the authorities are taking advantage of. Don't they realize that these are human beings not animals that are forced into human zoos?

[bmanly]

Yes indeed it is very sad it is happening and not much is being done.

There is an article in today's BKK post editorial section about the plight of the long-neck Burmese along the Thai border that the authorities are taking advantage of. Don't they realize that these are human beings not animals that are forced into human zoos?

About 10 years ago my wife and I went to Mae HongSon. We decided that we would like to visit the Karen "long neck" people. We went about 30 kms out of town to a camp. It was guarded by the Thai soliders. We had to pay a fee to go in to see them. I had no idea that was the set up. To this day I feel ashamed of myself for going there, I had no idea it was a human zoo, if I had known I would not have gone.

[Rinrada]

Bit of Info filed by Kylie Morris about a year ago...

Hmong refugees receive Thai aid .By Kylie Morris (with thanks)

BBC, Phetchabun, Thailand

The Hmong claim to have fled Laos because of continuing persecution and Aid groups in Phetchabun, in northern Thailand, have begun distributing blankets and medicine to as many as 5,000 Hmong refugees.

The Hmong claim to have fled Laos because of continuing persecution by the communist government.

But there is no indication they will be allowed to stay in Thailand.

While a decision has yet to be made on their future, thousands of them are living by the roadside, using plastic sheeting and bamboo to build shelters.

It is now rainy season (last year) in Thailand, and nights in the mountains are cool. Doctors working for the aid agency Medicins Sans Frontieres say half the patients they have seen are children, and the majority of them have pneumonia or bronchitis.

There is no sanitation and a shortage of clean drinking water.

Many of the refugees say they undertook the arduous journey across the border because they believed the United States was taking in Hmong from Laos.

They have arrived to learn that is not true. The US has no plans to allow more Hmong refugees to migrate, after concluding a programme to resettle 12,000 Hmong who had been living in Thailand.

Desperate

I spoke to one woman who was waiting for medical treatment for her feverish baby son.

She told me that going back to Laos meant death for her and her family, and they would rather die in Thailand than go back.

Local Thai traders have been told not to sell supplies to the newly arrived refugees.

The government has threatened land owners who shelter the families with fines.

There is still debate in Bangkok as to whether the refugees should be sent back en masse into Laos, but the United Nations Refugee Agency has cautioned against any mass deportation, and has asked instead that each case be assessed individually.

Up to 300,000 Hmong fled to Thailand from Laos, after the country fell under communist rule in 1975.

The Hmong fought for the US army during the Vietnam War and have feared reprisals ever since.....

[belidofan]

Yes indeed it is very sad it is happening and not much is being done.

There is an article in today's BKK post editorial section about the plight of the long-neck Burmese along the Thai border that the authorities are taking advantage of. Don't they realize that these are human beings not animals that are forced into human zoos?

About 10 years ago my wife and I went to Mae HongSon. We decided that we would like to visit the Karen "long neck" people. We went about 30 kms out of town to a camp. It was guarded by the Thai soliders. We had to pay a fee to go in to see them. I had no idea that was the set up. To this day I feel ashamed of myself for going there, I had no idea it was a human zoo, if I had known I would not have gone.

Laos : homeland to some of the most peaceful and loveable peoples of SE Asia; in the 1960ies it became the most intensive bombed country EVER by the Satanic Would-Be Invaders who were helped and supported by one certain local tribe that ended being left cowardly abandoned after the Great Defeat. Surely it is a regrettable situation de Hmong are in now but, honestly : how would you feel if all this had happened to your own country? May the Lao PDR remain to be a haven in this devilish "globalised" world...i will spend my savings there where i still feel welcome .... and this sure isn't LOS anymore.

[sabaijai]

A boycott would most likely be highly counterproductive, just like the US embargo of Cuba (and formerly, of Iraq) and the attempts at tourism boycotts in Myanmar.

The problem with blanket boycotts is they target the entire country and typically end up harming innocent civilians trying to make a living more than they hurt the totalitarian governments, who already have a lock on all the most profitable businesses.

If the Lao government controlled all tourism in Laos it might have an effect, but in Laos anyone can open a tourism-related company, guesthouse, restaurant, noodle stand, etc.

[lannarebirth]

Maybe time to consider BOYCOTTING Laos

No way out

The Hmong, the last casualties of a war that officially ended in 1975, are still dying.

Not just dying: they are being wiped out. Hunted, shot, bombed, blown up by landmines, starved to death – by the Lao military, possibly with the help of the Vietnamese. Why?

They are officially traitors – and, by grotesque extension, so are their children and grandchildren.

In the past few years, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Hmong have fled Laos; many are now in refugee camps in Thailand, from where they are sometimes forced back to Laos and likely death.

Amnesty International reports that a group of 27 Hmong, 22 of them children, mostly girls aged between 12 and 16, were arrested in Thailand while they were visiting a church last November and deported; they are now in prison and are believed to be being treated badly, possibly tortured.

The Lao authorities deny responsibility, but “Disturbing reports of repression, arbitrary detention and violent attacks continue to emerge from the Lao jungle,” says Kate Allen, Amnesty’s UK director.

I raised the matter with Soutsakhone Pathammavong, the Lao ambassador in Paris. His reply was to deny that any Hmong were being killed by his government’s army........more.....

with thanks to Philip Blenkinsop .....

and ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,...2278657,00.html

Very little of what one reads has any basis in fact. Yes, the Vietnamese are pushing this genocide agenda, but it's not because of the Hmongs assistance to the US during the Vietmnam war(which was for their own defense as well); it's because Lao has such a small population that if the Hmong were allowed to stay, they would be the majority population in only a couple generations, being as how they start having children at about 13 years of age. That is unaceptable to the Vietnamese, the defacto leaders of the Lao PDR. Lao is having a lot of turmoil of late as different Vietnamese and Chinese factions withing the government jockey for power. Any way you look at it the Hmong come out losers. The USA took in 14,500 Lao Hmong last year, most of whom weren't even alive during the Vietnam conflict. I think they just agreed to take 8,500 Burmese Karen. These are VERY difficult cultures to assimilate, but in time they will.

Those who have made comments about the UN doing something don't seem to know how they operate. The UN never does anything without a sponsor. The US calls the UN and says we'll take 8,500 Karen. The UNHCR and IOM then go into action to process "registered" refugees for their client the US. The UN has never done anything on it's own, ever, as far as I know.