Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:43 am Post subject: UNHCR concerned about deportation of 53 Lao Hmong from Thail
Quote:
BANGKOK, Thailand, November 16 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said Thursday it was seriously concerned about Thailand's deportation to Laos of 53 ethnic Hmong, including a newborn baby.
Describing the deportation as "most regrettable," a UNHCR spokesperson said the group was handed over to Lao authorities at a crossing in north-east Thailand's Nong Khai district.
"Every government has the right to deport irregular migrants, but UNHCR is seriously concerned that there may have been within this group genuine refugees who were in need of international protection and could face persecution in Laos," said Giuseppe de Vincentis, UNHCR's acting representative in Thailand.
"We have no access to these people once they are returned to Laos, and there have been no guarantees that they will be properly treated on their return to Laos," he added.
The forced return of the 53 Hmong is tantamount to refoulement, contrary to international humanitarian law. The principle of "non-refoulement" says that no refugee or asylum seeker whose case has not yet been properly assessed can be forcibly returned to a country where their life or liberty could be in danger.
UNHCR has repeatedly asked the Thai government for access to the Lao Hmong in detention in Thailand to determine whether any were in need of international protection.
"The UN refugee agency has made several representations to the Royal Thai Government not to carry out deportations of Lao Hmong and has renewed its offer to assist the Thai government to find viable solutions for the roughly 6,000 Hmong living in makeshift camps near Huay Nam Khao village in [Thailand's] Petchabun province," de Vincentis said.
UNHCR does not have access to this mixed group, which has been in Thailand for almost a year and a half.
De Vincentis also recalled that Thailand deported 26 Hmong children to Laos in December last year, and there has been no trace of them since, despite efforts by UNHCR and the Thai government to determine their fate.
(dpa) - Thailand on Tuesday began deporting 153 Hmong refugees from a border detention centre to Laos, despite repeated claims by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that the group would be under "serious risk" if forced to return.
"The deportation is still going on," said Giuseppe de Vincentis, deputy regional representative for the UNHCR in Bangkok. "Most of the women and children have been loaded on the buses but the men are resisting and are still inside the detention centre."
Unconfirmed news reports said that some of the Hmong men had threatened to commit suicide rather than face deportation to communist Laos across the Mekong River.
The Hmong were arrested in Bangkok on Nov 17, and later trucked to Nong Khai on the Thai-Lao border 500 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, where they have been awaiting deportation.
Although the number of Hmong refugees was originally 152, it rose to 153 on Monday with the birth of a baby in detention, said Vincentis.
The UNHCR has classified all 153 Hmong as "refugees," claiming they could face persecution and possibly death if forced to return to Laos.
Thailand sees the refugees as "illegal immigrants," and as part of their bigger problem with some 9,000 Hmong who have been living in the country for years awaiting in vain for resettlement abroad or a change in government in Laos that would allow them to return without fear.
Laos refuses to acknowledge the "refugee status" because it denies there is ongoing persecution of the Hmong, an ethnic minority group that sided with the US military in the Indochina War.
The fate of other Hmong who have previously been deported to Laos remains unknown, since the Lao government has thus far refused to allow the UNHCR a presence in the country to monitor the repatriation process.
Given the high profile the Nong Khai refugees have received, Laos is considering allowing "third party" surveillance of this repatriation, Thai sources said.
"They have agreed in principle that they might adopt some sort of third-party reassurance, although they clearly don't mean the UNHCR or any other international organization," said Kitti Wasinondh, spokesman for the Thai Foreign ministry.
"It could be some foreign embassy, but of course they haven't officially announced this yet," Kitti told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
The Hmong are a sensitive issue for the Lao government. During the Vietnam War, the US military recruited tens of thousands of Hmong in Laos' mountainous areas, to serve as a guerrilla force against the Vietnamese and Lao communist troops.
When the United States lost the war in 1975, the Hmong were left to fend for themselves. They were eventually defeated by the Lao and Vietnamese forces in 1975 to 1976, prompting hundreds of thousands of Hmong to flee Laos and seek resettlement abroad, primarily in the United States.
Remnant Hmong resistance groups remained in Laos, financed primarily by the overseas Hmong.
Although they do not pose a serious threat to Vientiane, periodical reports of atrocities and heavy-handed tactics in suppressing the Hmong are a frequent embarrassment for the regime.
(dpa) - Thailand on Tuesday suspended its effort to deport 153 Hmong refugees from a border detention centre to Laos, after meeting stiff resistance from the men in the group who claim their lives are at risk if they are forced back to communist Laos.
"The deportation has been suspended due to the fact that we have gotten some assurances that this group will be resettled abroad," said Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Kitti Wasingondh.
An effort to deport the 153 Hmong from Nong Khai, a city on the Thai-Lao border, succeeded in getting the women and children on buses to be taken across the Mekong River on the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge but failed to get the men on board.
Several of the Hmomg men, who claim to be former resistance fighters against Laos' communist government, threatened to commit suicide if they were forcibly repatriated.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has classified the 153 Hmong as refugees who would face political persecution and personal risks if deported back to Laos. The UN agency has repeatedly appealed to Thailand not to repatriate the refugees, who were arrested in Bangkok two months ago.
Thailand, fed up with the 9,000 Hmong living in the country who have failed to be resettled for more than a decade, has been seeking a long-term solution with Laos to the problem.
Kitti claimed that the 153 Hmong were saved by a last-minute UNHCR committment to resettle them in third countries.
"Before there was no real assurance from third countries," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The Hmong were arrested in Bangkok on November 17, and later trucked to Nong Khai, a city on the Thai-Lao border 500 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, where they have been awaiting deportation since.
Although the number of Hmong refugees was originally 152, it rose to 153 ten days ago with the birth of a baby in detention.
Laos has also refused to acknowledge the "refugee status" of the group because it denies there is ongoing persecution of the Hmong, an ethnic minority group that sided with the US military in the Indochina War.
The fate of other Hmong who have previously been deported to Laos remains unknown, since the Lao government has thus far refused to allow the UNHCR a presence in the country to monitor the repatriation process.
"They have agreed in principle that they might adopt some sort of third-party reassurance, although they clearly don't mean the UNHCR or any other international organization," said Kitti. "We need to settle this issue in the long run," he added, in reference to the 9,000 other Hmong still languishing at a Thai camp in Petchburi province.
The Hmong are a sensitive issue for the Lao government. During the Vietnam War, the US military recruited tens of thousands of Hmong in Laos' mountainous areas, to serve as a guerrilla force against the Vietnamese and Lao communist troops.
When the United States lost the war in 1975, the Hmong were left to fend for themselves. They were eventually defeated by the Lao and Vietnamese forces in 1975 to 1976, prompting hundreds of thousands of Hmong to flee Laos and seek resettlement abroad, primarily in the United States.
Remnant Hmong resistance groups remained in Laos, financed primarily by the overseas Hmong.
Although they do not pose a serious threat to Vientiane, periodic reports of atrocities and heavy-handed tactics in suppressing the Hmong are a frequent embarrassment for the regime.
The Thais see them as migrant workers competing on the labour market, driving the wages down - just like the Americans feel towards the Mexicans.
An argument the Americans cannot escape so easily is that the Hmong were very helpful in the monging in Vietnam and Laos; they went down together. So why not take care of the old allies? Easier to let them just live or better die out the US engagement in Vietnam and Laos! _________________ Thailand Forum - Korat Forum..
Im sure they are all willing to work hard and earn their way
You can already relax a little; the Netherlands have agreed to take 22 of them. Now comparing the size of the Netherlands with the US: they'll hardly be noticed if the US takes them. And since they're building a fence to keep the Mexicans out . . . _________________ Thailand Forum - Korat Forum..
. . . a good example by the Netherlands is followed by Australia:
Quote:
Australia to take 200 Lao refugees from Thailand
BANGKOK – Australia plans to give refuge to 200 of about 8,000 Lao ethnic Hmong refugees currently in Thailand, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Tuesday.
'We'll take about 200 of them at this stage,' Downer told reporters in Bangkok when asked how many Hmongs, an ethnic minority who fought alongside America in the Vietnam War, Canberra planned to take.
Advertisement Downer, who made a brief stopover in the Thai capital to meet his counterpart, Nitya Pibulsonggram, said Canberra would start relocating the Hmongs after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had completed the legal process on them.
Australia was one of four Western countries that pledged to repatriate 153 Hmong refugees, due last month to be deported to Laos, where rights groups say they face persecution.
Before suspending their attempt to deport the Hmong from the border town of Nong Khai on Tuesday, police fired tear gas into an immigration detention cell to try to force out men and boys barricaded inside, Amnesty International said.
Bangkok then halted the deportation, saying it had received assurances from the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands that they would take the refugees.
Apart from the 153, a further 8,000 Hmong were living in Thailand, and were being treated at the moment as victims of human trafficking, Thai officials said.
It remained unclear how many of them would be repatriated to third countries and how many more the other three western countries would take.
'Whether we'll take them more, that remains to be seen,' Downer said, adding Canberra wanted to see how many other countries would repatriate them, too.
Human rights groups accused Laos of waging a 30-year campaign of vengeance against Hmong guerrillas still hiding out in the forests. Vientiane denies the accusations.
Since the war, the United States has granted asylum to thousands of Hmong, although it has indicated in the last few years it will accept no more.
Laos: Destitute jungle-dwellers living on run from military
2007-03-23 | Thousands of men, women and children from the Hmong ethnic minority are living on the run from the military in Laos' mountainous jungle, according to a new report from Amnesty International. The Lao army continues to mount violent attacks on them, even though the jungle-dwellers' military capacity is all but depleted decades after some Hmong fought in the CIA-funded "Secret Army" in Laos during the Viet Nam war.
The groups frequently move camp to evade the Lao military, who have attacked them with AK-47s and grenades both inside their camps and outside when they search for food. Large numbers of Hmong, including children, have scars and wounds from bullets and shrapnel.
Fighting starvation, the groups spend 12-18 hours a day foraging for roots and husks. Children display the distended bellies and bleached hair of malnutrition. They have no access to healthcare, leaving the people open to diseases and infection from untreated wounds.
"The Hmong groups living in the jungle are destitute -- the Lao authorities have a responsibility to protect them, not least because of the children involved. Instead, their regular attacks mean the groups live in perpetual danger of their lives," said Natalie Hill, Deputy Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty International.
"The Lao authorities must end all attacks against the Hmong people living in the jungle and allow access to international organisations who can provide humanitarian aid and monitor human rights abuses."
Despite numerous reports of killings and attacks by Lao security forces, Amnesty International is aware of only two cases that have been 'investigated' by the authorities -- and in both instances the authorities concluded the information about the attacks was fabricated and issued blanket denials. In one of the incidents, in April 2006, 17 children were among the 26 people who had been killed while foraging for food. Survivors said around 15-20 soldiers from the Lao People's Army had ambushed them with rocket-propelled grenades.
One young woman named "Pakou" described how her family was captured in the jungle when she was 18. She was taken alone to a police post where she was locked in a room for a year with two other Hmong women. They were repeatedly gang-raped by the police and made to do housework. After a year, "Pakou" managed to escape, traumatised, across the border to Thailand.
Many others who flee to Thailand face unlawful deportation by the Thai authorities, before they have been assessed by the UN refugee agency. Even those who have been recognised as refugees are at risk of deportation to the violence and abuse they fled in Laos. Around 350 Lao Hmong men, women and children are currently in Thai detention, at imminent risk of forcible return.
The Lao authorities refuse to allow human rights organisations unfettered access to areas of concern and only limited information is available about the fate of those Hmong who are deported back from Thailand or who choose to come down from the jungles to try to integrate into Lao society.
In December 2006, 420 people emerged from the jungle in the north-eastern province of Xieng Khouang, apparently seeking to join mainstream society. Some 370 people had similarly left the jungle near the northern tourist town of Vang Vieng two months earlier. Nothing has been heard from either group since and Amnesty International is concerned for their safety.
"The Lao authorities must help any Hmong who want to move out of the jungle to reintegrate with mainstream society -- and they must allow UN bodies to monitor this process", said Natalie Hill.
Background
The predominantly Hmong groups in the Lao jungles are the remnants and descendents of the "Secret Army", a CIA-funded faction who fought the Communist Lao forces alongside the USA in the early 1960s when the Viet Nam war spilled across the border. When the Communist forces won in 1975, small numbers of soldiers from the losing side launched armed resistance against the government, based in the jungle.
Relatives of these insurgents remain in the jungle to this day. Hungry and destitute, they no longer appear able to pose a military threat against the Lao government.
Amnesty International interviewed Hmong asylum-seekers and refugees in Thailand in March 2006 and early 2007.
Names have been changed to protect the identity of individuals.
Now I know why the USA doesn't let all the Hmongs it had promised to into the country: their government caught itself 22: "the U.S. itself has raised a new hurdle to their migration. Post-9/11 anti-terrorism laws have disqualified many Hmong refugees for resettlement, since their guerrilla activity, originally in support of U.S. aims and later in self-defense, technically qualifies them as terrorists."
( http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/05/17/thailand.hmong.ap/ ) _________________ Thailand Forum - Korat Forum..
Attitude of the thai military installed government is now that they announce to be fixed at "repatriating" all 7.000 - 8.000 Hmong in refugee camps here. A few guys from congress in the US wrote a letter to the king reminding him that a lot more thai soldiers had died if the Hmong had not helped to contain communism from spreading into Thailand. Response of the thai government seems to be "We don't mind!" No statement on behalf of the king though.
Let's see how long it takes for the US to fulfill a little more of the promise to take them all off Thailand's hands. _________________ Thailand Forum - Korat Forum..
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Album
FAQ
Quizzes
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
