[Tlc] TL-Hmong hunger strike

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Dear All,

There are several people on this list who have requested bing
kept to date on the latest in the Hmong refugee crisis in
Thailand. This unlike Thai political news, gets very little
space in newspapers outside of Southeast Asia. I include six
stories about the crisis below.

Best,
justin

2007-0817 - AP - Hmong caught between rock, hard place

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070817/FOREIGN/108170055/1003

Article published Aug 17, 2007
Hmong caught between rock, hard place

August 17, 2007

ASSOCIATED PRESS - BAN KHEK NOI, Thailand -- t was the fear of
perse- cution that drove Yang Pahua to flee her native Laos —
twice.

Yang Pahua, 17, is one of 21 girls and five boys whose stories
have drawn new attention to the plight of the Hmong, an ethnic
minority. Their families first fled Laos in 2004 for an
informal refugee settlement in the Thai province of
Phetchabun. The youths were sent back to Laos in December 2005.

In June this year, it emerged that a dozen of them ran away
again. They have since made it back to Phetchabun.

The youth share the tragedy of thousands of Hmong who are
hiding in the jungles of Laos or living in limbo in Thailand.
The Hmong are viewed with suspicion by Laos because they
fought in the CIA-backed "secret war" of the 1960s and 1970s
against the communists who are now in power. Some, including
the youth, also are Christian at a time when the government in
Vientiane views proselytizing as a challenge to its authority
in a mostly Buddhist country.

Yet the Hmong who escape across the border risk a hostile
reception in Thailand, which has deported more than 300 of
them over the past year. Thai officials reserve the right to
send back all the Laotian Hmong, whom they no longer consider
political refugees.

"Now, I am being sought after by both the Lao and Thai
governments," Yang Pahua said. "I would like to plead for help
from humanitarian agencies ... I can't continue to live like
this."

Yesterday, almost 150 Hmong refugees from Laos, including 90
children, went on hunger strike in a Thai detention center,
saying they would rather die than be repatriated to the
communist state.

"Asking for a free life," said one placard written in Thai and
hung on the bars of a cell at an immigration detention center
in the northeastern province of Nongkhai, near the Lao border.

The refugees were seen on close-circuit television, shouting
and shaking the bars before journalists were asked to leave.

The 149 refugees "decided to starve themselves and die in
prison due to the fact that they have been tortured for the
last eight months without a date to be released," said Laura
Lo Xiong of the U.S.-based Hmong International Human Rights Watch.

"The message they sent to the world is, if the Thai and Lao
governments desperately want to deport this group, they may
take the dead bodies," she wrote to reporters.

Yang Pahua, her mother and her four siblings were among the
Hmong who formed an early refugee community at Huay Nam Khao
village, about 60 miles south of the Lao border, in 2004.
Their numbers grew fast, with the latest survey by the Thai
military putting them at 7,700.

Yang Pahua first fled to Thailand after her father was killed
upon his return from a six-month visit to his brother in the
United States, she said. She claims Laotian security forces
suspected him of channeling funds from Hmong Americans to
anti-government rebels.

Shortly before Christmas 2005, the youths left the camp for
choir practice at a nearby church, and unwittingly strayed too
far. Thai officials jailed them, then secretly deported them
and their teacher back to Laos.

For more than a year afterward, neither Thai nor Lao officials
admitted knowledge of their whereabouts. Yang Pahua said she
and 20 other girls were detained for two months in Paksan, 125
miles east of Vientiane. Then they were transferred to
Khammouan province, where they were forced to do farming and
housework in harsh conditions.

The five Hmong boys and the female teacher were held in
separate locations, and their fate remains unknown.

Tears flowing, Yang Pahua charged that she was tortured and
sexually harassed by Lao police officers.

"He [a police officer] pushed my head against a cement wall
and took off my clothes," Yang Pahua said in an interview in
Thailand. "He touched and squeezed my breast and neck and
kicked me."

"He said to me that 'don't think that I dare not kill you. You
are just a minority group member living in this country. I can
kill you any time.' "

She said police beat her for several days, deprived her of
food and detained her in solitary confinement to make her
falsely confess she conspired with Americans and Thais in
anti-government activities, partly through spreading
Christianity. About two percent of Laos' 5.8 million people
are Christian.

In April, Lao officials said they found the missing girls and
sent them to live with relatives in various parts of the
country. The Lao government displayed the girls, aged 13
through 18, to U.N. officials, diplomats and journalists at a
ceremony marking their release.

But even while with relatives in Vientiane, Yang Pahua felt
her life was under threat from police.

About a dozen of the girls then fled Laos again for
Phetchabun. They are keeping a low profile for fear the Thai
government will send them back to Laos, but some talked to
outsiders in hopes of getting help.

Their stories cannot be independently verified, and the Lao
government said only that they were happily reunited with
their relatives.

Yang Pahua said she stayed in hiding with her friend, Vang
Paku, 17, who she claims suffers mental problems as a result
of police beatings. Her friend's answers to questions were at
times barely coherent.

"The communist Lao bar the Hmong from making a living and bar
Hmong children from studying," said Vang Paku. "They killed my
father."

The story of their group remains one of the saddest legacies
of the Vietnam War. Some 300,000 Laotians, many of them Hmong,
fled into Thailand after the communists took over in 1975.
Many resettled in the United States.

In the meantime, thousands of Hmong retreated to the jungles —
some in fear, some to fight a hopeless rear-guard battle
against the communists.

The desperate struggle for survival whittled their numbers
down to scattered bands of starving men, women and children
with a handful of rusty old guns who are constantly on the
run. Some surrender, and some make their way across the border
into Thailand.

The tale of these ragtag remnants from the war garnered rare
international attention in early June when Vang Pao, 77, who
formerly led the Hmong guerrilla force and fled to the U.S.
after the 1975 communist victory, was arrested in California
with 11 other Hmong for plotting the violent overthrow of the
Lao government. They denied the accusation.

2007-0817 - BKK Post - Returning Hmong may be forced to stay
in govt-designated site

http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=120925

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

ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT

Some 8,000 Hmong immigrants from Laos staying in a Thailand
holding centre could return home unpunished but some would
have to resettle at a prepared location near Vientiane, Lao
government spokesman Yong Chantalangsy said.

The issue will be addressed when the Thai-Lao general border
sub-committee co-chaired by Lt-Gen Nipat Thonglek and his Lao
counterpart Brig-Gen Buasieng Champaphan, meet from Sept 2-4
at the Ban Huay Nam Khao holding centre 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.

''The two countries will not allow the issue of Hmong illegal
immigration to undermine our good relations since we have
reached a conclusion that these people are not refugees and
must be repatriated back to Laos,'' Mr Yong said as he was
accompanying a group of Lao journalists to Bangkok.

During the sub-committee's visit, a video will be screened at
the centre showing how other Hmong had readjusted their lives
after returning to Laos, he said.

''If they want to come back home, 80% could be reunited with
their families where they used to live, but the rest would be
lodged at a government-arranged area near Vientiane,'' he said.

A group of US congressmen recently petitioned His Majesty the
King to stop the Hmong at the centre from being sent back for
fear of their safety.

But Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has said they must return
to Laos as the government does not want to entice more Hmong
immigrants to come to Thailand in the hope of resettling in a
third country.

After the end of the war in Laos in 1975, more than 300,000
Lao refugees, mostly Hmong, fighting the Lao People's
Revolutionary party, fled to Thailand and later were settled
in other countries, mainly the United States.

2007-0817 - The Nation - Laos rejects monitoring of Hmong return

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/16/regional/regional_30045390.php

Regional

Laos rejects monitoring of Hmong return

Published on August 16, 2007

Laos Thursday rejected an idea suggested by Prime Minister
Surayud Chulanont to have a "third party" monitor the
repatriation of more than 7,500 Hmong refugees.

Lao spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy said a joint subcommittee of
border security officials would discuss the issue at a meeting
from September 24 in Phetchabun's Ban Huay Nam Khao, where
nearly 8,000 Hmong refugees have taken shelter.

Yong was in Thailand Thursday to accompany a group of 25 Lao
media representatives to a meeting with their Thai
counterparts. He will also visit the 24th Universiade and
observe Sunday's referendum on the draft constitution.

Surayud suggested recently that Thailand and Laos should allow
a third party, possibly an Asean member, to monitor the
repatriation of the Hmong. This would demonstrate transparency
and respect for human rights in front of the international
community, he said.

However, Yong said: "As long as the two countries can solve
the problem together peacefully, we see no necessity for
another party."

Hmong groups in the US and members of the Congress have voiced
concern about plans to return refugees at Huay Nam Khao,
because there would be no independent screening to determine
who have legitimate claims to refugee status and wellfounded
fears of persecution or mistreatment if returned. Vientiane
has so far refused to allow any form of monitoring by the
UNHCR or outside parties.

Thai military officials in Phetchabun have begun screening the
7,653 Hmong refugees who have lived in Ban Huay Nam Khao since
late 2004. Many of them claim links to the United States
Central Intelligence Agency's "Secret War" fighters who
battled the communist Pathet Lao before the fall of Vientiane
in 1975 and say they subsequently fled from oppression in
their homeland.

Thai and Lao authorities regard them as illegal migrants who
have sneaked into the Kingdom for economic reasons.

Those believed to be Lao would be repatriated to their places
of origin. While those thought to be Thaiborn Hmong, or who
went to Ban Huay Nam Khao after the closure of Saraburi's Tham
Krabok camp in mid 2005, would be separated and the Thai
authorities would seek new places for them to stay, a military
officer said.

Yong said the repatriation would be conducted in a
humanitarian manner and they would be sent back to their
original homes.

"Some 1520 per cent of them might need assistance from the
government as they have no relatives and have already sold
their land and houses," he said.

The Lao government had prepared areas for new homes, provided
construction material and would give them rice for up to 18
months after their return, he said.

Lao officials would film these preparations to show the Hmong
refugees when they go to the meeting in Huay Nam Khao next
month, Yong said.

[LISTEN TO YONG SPEAKS IN LAO LANGUAGE]
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/supalak/2007/08/17/entry-1

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation
Privacy Policy © 2006 Nation Multimedia Group Thailand Web Stat

August 17, 2007 05:28 pm (Thai local time)
www.nationmultimedia.com

2007-0817 - BKK Post - Hmong begin jail hunger strike

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=120933

Hmong begin jail hunger strike

(dpa) - 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.

Hmong advocate Joe Davy said the 149 Hmong, including women
and children, had decided to go on a hunger strike to protest
the worsening conditions of their detention, including a lack
of access to clean water and deprivation of mosquito nets and
blankets, in what appeared to be a deliberate effort on the
part of Thai authorities to force the refugees to return to
Laos ``voluntarily.''

Thai Army Colonel Pairoj Willailak, director of the Thai-Lao
Border Affairs Division, confirmed that the Hmong were on
hunger strike.

``These people have been there for a long time so they are
obviously getting frustrated,'' said Pairoj. ``They have
entered Thailand illegally so we have the right to deport them
but we haven't done so yet out of respect for their human
rights,'' he added.

``The Thai government has given its assurance that these 149
Hmong would not be deported, however, it is true that the
conditions inside the Nong Khai immigration centre are
deplorable,'' said United Nations High commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Kitty McKinsey.

The UNHCR has classified all 149 Hmong in Nong Khai as
``refugees,`` on the basis that they face persecution and
threats to their lives if returned to Laos.

``These people have not committed crimes, and all 149 of them
are recognized as refugees,'' said McKinsey. ``Four
resettlement countries have come forward and said they will
accept all these people so there is no reason to keep them
locked up for nine months when they can leave Thailand and go
start their lives in other countriues.''

2007-0818 - ABC - Aust to seek access to Hmong refugees on
hunger strike

http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/18/2008566.htm?section=world

Aust to seek access to Hmong refugees on hunger strike

By South-East Asia correspondent Karen Percy

Posted Sat Aug 18, 2007 9:01am AEST

Australian officials will try to get access to a group of
Hmong refugees who are on a hunger strike at a detention
centre on Thailand's border with Laos.

The United Nations (UN) is urging the Thai Government to act
after a group of 149 refugees stopped eating on Thursday.

The group includes 90 children and has been in the Nong Khai
centre since November of last year.

As many as 121 of them have been accepted for resettlement in
Australia.

Australia's ambassador to Thailand, Bill Paterson, would not
confirm the number of refugees who have been issued visas, but
says the Government would seek access to the centre.

The Hmong fear they will be persecuted if they are forced to
return to Laos.

2007-0818 - The Nation - Hmong detainees in Nong Khai on
hunger striken

http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/18/regional/regional_30045538.php

Regional

Hmong detainees in Nong Khai on hunger striken

Published on August 18, 2007

The 149 Hmong stuck in the Nong Khai immigration detention
centre since January have gone on a hunger strike to call
international attention to their alleged bad treatment at the
hands of Thai authorities.

"They decided to starve themselves and die in prison due to
the fact that they have been tortured for the last eight
months without a date to be released," a Hmong rights
advocate, who carried their message from the jaillike cen?tre
after they began fasting around lunchtime, said.

"The message they send to the world is, if the Thai and Lao
governments desperately want this group, they may take the
dead bodies when they become available; 149 Hmong refugees,
including 90 chil?dren will die in Nong Khai," he said on
condition of anonymity.

"They have been locked inside the prison cells since January
30 without seeing the sun. They have been forced to drink
dirty water from the bathroom for more than a month and the
food is not fit for human consumption.

"Women, children and men are alike; the Thai authorities treat
everyone like common criminals without a fair trial. If the
international and diplomatic communities ignore such harsh
treatment by the Thai authorities, then the refugees decide to
die," he said.

The Hmong group resisted an attempt to expel them to Laos on
January 30. Vientiane dispatched senior officials to the
border province to take them back home but many of the Hmong
locked themselves in their cells and threatened to commit
suicide if they were deported.

Representatives of human rights groups were there to observe
the drama. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont instructed
authorities to hold off the repatriation and explore the
possibility of their resettlement to third coun?tries.

Australia, the United States, Canada and the Netherlands
volunteered to take them, but the Hmong still remain in limbo
at the centre.

The group was part of more than 7,500 Hmong taking shelter in
Phetchabun‘s Ban Huay Nam Khao. They were arrested between
October and December last year after sneaking out of the
shelter to go to Bangkok. Some of them managed to get UN
protection as "persons of concern".

Laos has insisted they get together with others in Ban Huay
Nam Khao and opposed the idea of having a "third party"
involved in the repatriation.

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August 19, 2007 04:51 am (Thai local time)
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__._,_.___

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu