From The Nation, a disturbing story about alleged mistreatment of Hmong refugees (from Laos) in a Thai immigration detention centre. Here is an extract:
Officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are talking with Thai authorities about 194 people rounded up in Bangkok about three weeks ago.
Most of the “illegals” held at the Immigration Detention Centre in Suan Phlu are Hmong who have fled brutal suppression in Laos. Almost all those in custody are believed to have UN documents declaring them to be “persons of concern”.
Given that, rights activists here and in the US are wondering why the 194 have to be locked up in the packed detention centre – where many are reportedly sick and fearful – while awaiting resettlement in third countries. The Hmong in Suan Phlu includes pregnant women and elderly. They claim to have been repeatedly threatened with being sent back and that Lao officials have been allowed into the IDC and given all their details.
“It is ridiculous and preposterous to have them penned up like they are,” one member of a major international group said this week.
The full article contains links to websites with even more disturbing claims of human rights abuses in Laos itself.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Damian Doyle // Dec 8, 2006 at 12:24 am
As someone who has visited Laos as a tourist, the fact that the alleged Hmong massacre took place near Vang Vieng really shocks me. I was in Vang Vieng only a week before it is said to have occurred – I would not have believed at the time that there was any kind of military activity nearby, and I cannot believe that it has taken me half a year to even hear about this event.
2 anon // Dec 8, 2006 at 5:31 am
Thais hate Hmong. That’s why all the Thaksin haters used to call Thaksin “Ai Maew”.
3 Andrew Walker // Dec 10, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Hmong mistreatment latest from The Nation of 9 December 2006:
Bangkok agrees to give details of Hmong to Laos
Published on December 9, 2006
Thailand yesterday agreed to provide Laos with detailed information on the 8,000 Hmong migrants who are now being sheltered in Phetchabun and the 150 currently being held in Bangkok, a step prior to deportation.
Vientiane agreed to take the Hmong back if information provided by Thailand clearly indicated they were Lao citizens, said Lao Deputy Chief of Staff Brig-General Buaxiang Champaphanh.
Buaxiang was in Thailand for a meeting of the Joint Boundary Sub-committee, of which the Hmong issue was a major topic.
There might be Hmong from Laos who were lured by human traffickers believing they had a chance to settle in third countries, the Lao officer told reporters.
They are not refugees seeking political asylum as claimed, he added.
Thailand shelters some 8,000 Hmong who claim they were associated with the CIA’s secret war in the 1960s-70s.
Around 150 Hmong who escaped from the shelter in Phetchabun’s Ban Huay Nam Khao are being held in the Immigration Bureau’s detention centre in Bangkok.
Thailand has already handed details of the identity of the 150 Hmong to Laos and is ready to deport them as soon as Vientiane confirms they are Lao nationals, according to Lt-General Niphon Thonglek, chief of the Border Affairs Department, who co-chaired the meeting with Buaxiang yesterday.
Meanwhile, officials from the United Nations refugee agency were involved in urgent talks in Bangkok yesterday to try to prevent the deportation of 152 Hmong back to Laos.
A spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said they believed the Hmong would be at “serious risk of persecution or loss of life” if returned to Laos.
The Nation
Udon Thani
4 Andrew Walker // Dec 14, 2006 at 3:51 pm
From today’s Bangkok Post:
EU commends move not to deport Hmong
ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT and dpa
The European Union yesterday commended Thailand’s reconsideration on the deportation of 152 ethnic Hmong from a Nong Khai detention centre but expressed concern about the plight of another group of 270 displaced Hmong in Phetchabun province. Finnish ambassador Lars Erik Backstrom, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, welcomed the government’s decision not to deport the Hmong so that the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, had a chance to verify their status.
“At least 104 of them are recognised by the UNHCR and if the rest of them are all refugees, the UNHCR can work further with third countries for resettlement,” Mr Backstrom said.
”Having the opportunity to get access to and dialogue with them is very important.”
Thailand has complained that the steadily increasing population of displaced Hmong that have crossed over into Thailand from Laos is posing a social and security threat, and that no country has offered to help the authorities with providing shelter or resettlement for them.
The United States’ policy towards Lao-Hmong refugees has been somewhat ambiguous given that Washington has stopped receiving family members of those who fought alongside the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Vietnam War for fear of being a pull factor for new immigrants, sources said.
But with the recent political shift in the US Congress towards the Democrats, America may reconsider taking in more Hmong and other refugees from the fallout of US foreign policy again, the sources said.
Finland’s annual quota for receiving refugees from Thailand has been filled, with 375 Burmese refugees from Mae Hong Son currently going through process of resettlement to the Scandinavian country.
Mr Backstrom said he also looked forward to hearing some positive developments of the situation of around 270 Hmong, including children, who have been detained in Phetchabun. He said he would continue to discuss the matter with the authorities.
Laos yesterday however, blasted the UNHCR for getting involved in the plan to deport the 152 Hmong back to Laos from Nong Khai, describing the deportation as a bilateral issue.
”The issue is related to Laos and Thailand and there is no reason third parties should interfere with this,” said Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanhthalousy.
The UNHCR and the New York-based Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on the government to stop the pending deportation, claiming it would be a violation of international law.
The granting of refugee status to many ethnic Hmong has irked Laos.
”There is no war, no conflict in Laos so on what criteria has the UNHCR included these people under its category of political refugees?” said Mr Yong.
”I want to know whether the UNHCR has extended its work to include economic refugees.”
Lao Defence Minister Douanggtay Phichith and his Thai counterpart Gen Boonrawd Somtas will meet Monday at the General Border Committee meeting in Bangkok.
The ongoing issue of Lao Hmong crossing into Thailand is expected to be discussed at the talks which were rescheduled from Sept 20 due to the coup.
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