[Tlc] TL-Hmong News

Wed Sep 5 07:56:32 PDT 2007

FYI. Please see below 6 newspaper articles about the Hmong
refugee crisis and the disappearence of three Hmong-Americans.
Best,
justin

2007-0905 - The Nation - No independent observers, Laos says

http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/05/national/national_30047772.php

National

No independent observers, Laos says

Published on September 5, 2007

Laos and Thailand would proceed with the bilateral plan to
repatriate nearly 8,000 Hmong refugees now sheltered in
Phetchabun province to Laos - with no third party involvement,
a Lao senior official insisted yesterday.

Repatriation of the Hmong had been delayed over recent months
because international organisations "intervened" and accused
the process of being inhumane, Lao deputy chief of staff Brig
General Buaxiang Champapanh said.

Buaxiang was in Thailand to meet with Lt General Niphat
Thonglek, chief of the Supreme Command's Boundary Department
on repatriation of the Hmong.

Close to 8,000 Hmong from Laos have taken refuge in Huay Nam
Khao in Phetchabun since late 2004. Most claim ties to the US
CIA force that battled the communists before the fall of
Vientiane in 1975. They say they fled suppression in their
homeland.

But Laos and Thailand have rejected the claim and say they
consider the group merely illegal migrants who entered
Thailand with the hope of being resettled and eventually
enjoying a better life abroad.

Authorities of the two countries have agreed to repatriate
them to their place of origin.

"The repatriation process is not complicated as the group are
simply illegal migrants and from now on we can send them back
smoothly," Lt General Niphat told reporters after the meeting
in a Phitsanulok hotel.

Thailand had deported 191 Hmong since May, he said.

Moves to repatriate the Hmong at Phetchabun have been
interrupted over recent months because international
organisations claimed some Hmong had been harassed and harmed.

Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human
Rights Watch have strongly condemned the plan, along with
Hmong support groups in the US. They say Laos has an ugly
record of persecuting groups of jungle Hmong and the
"refugees" should be screened by UN officials so that those
with legitimate fears don't suffer a traumatic forced return.

In fact, Thailand has quietly repatriated more than 400 Hmong
since November 2004, when they initially gathered in Ban Huay
Nam Khao, according to a US-based Hmong group who noted some
of them were missing.

During the meeting in Phitsanulok, Thai and Lao officials
exchanged videos to show how they both treated the Hmong. The
Thai video showed the Hmong in Huay Nam Khao, while the Lao
video showed the Hmong who had been deported earlier.

Meanwhile, Hmong in Ban Huay Nam Khao said they had resisted
repatriation due to fear of punishment by Lao officials.

Le Su, a 48 year-old Hmong from Laos, said his group fled
suppression at home and would not return. Only 10 per cent of
the Hmong in Huay Nam Khao were willing to return, he said.

The Nation

Phitsanulok

Privacy Policy © 2006 Nation Multimedia Group Thailand

2007-0905 - BKK Post - Laos defends move to bring Hmong home

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/05Sep2007_news013.php

REPATRIATION ROW / INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY

Laos defends move to bring Hmong home

ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT

Phitsanulok - The international community has no right to
interfere in talks between Vientiane and Bangkok on returning
Hmong staying in Thailand's Phetchabun province to Laos, a
senior Lao official said yesterday.

Brig-Gen Buasieng Champaphan, co-chairman of the Thai-Lao
general border sub-committee, said the 8,000 Hmong at Huay Nam
Khao camp in Phetchabun's Khao Kho district were not refugees.
There were no war or anti-government activities inside Laos.

"It is a matter of making an arrangement between Thai and Laos
authorities. No one else should intervene," he said. "Neither
country is a signatory to the refugee convention, but we have
taken into account humanitarian concerns and therefore they
should respect our sovereignty," he said.

Brig-Gen Buasieng was speaking after talks with a Thai
delegation headed by Lt-Gen Nipat Thonglek. He reaffirmed the
Thai-Lao decision to resettle the Hmong in the Phetchabun camp
in Laos, along with about 150 Hmong detained at Nong Khai
immigration centre, despite an international outcry.

US lawmakers and the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees earlier called for the release of about half of the
150 Hmong at Nong Khai recognised as refugees, and also urged
the Thai government to speed up the screening process for the
8,000 Hmong to "allow the proper identification of different
needs and claims concerning all asylum seekers in Thai territory".

Brig-Gen Buasieng said about 200 Hmong had been sent back to
Laos in the past year and resettled in Xaiyaburi, Xiang
Khoung, Luang Prabang and Bolikhamxai.

Around 66 people who could not return to their homes were
lodged at Ban Pattana Phahak in Kaxi town of Vientiane province.

During talks yesterday the Lao delegation showed a 20-minute
promotion video of the repatriated Hmong at Ban Ban Pattana
Phahak, but abruptly cancelled plans to show it to Hmong
leaders at the Phetchabun camp to prevent a confrontation.

Lao government spokesman Yong Chantalangsy said the Hmong
living in Thailand would not be penalised when they returned home.

Lt-Gen Nipat, who is director of the Border Affairs Department
of the Supreme Command, said Thailand was screening the 8,000
Hmong to verify their nationality and where they came from.
The task would be completed as soon as possible.

© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2006

2007-0905 - AFP - US trying to confirm arrest of three
citizens in Laos

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?News%20Flash&p=54&type=2&sec=91&aid=2007090514

US trying to confirm arrest of three citizens in Laos
Wednesday, September 05 2007 (www.philstar.com)

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said Tuesday it was
trying to confirm with Laos reports that three US citizens of
Hmong descent had been arrested in the Southeast Asian state.

A US group, the Center for Public Policy Analysis, claimed the
trio were arrested on August 25 on unknown charges while on a
sightseeing and business trip.
Philip Smith, the center's executive director, said that the
American embassy in Vientiane had confirmed with a family
member of one of the three that Laotian police had in fact
arrested them.

The trio, whose names were not given, were held in Xieng
Khoang province and transferred to the capital Vientiane,
according to the US embassy, Smith said.
"A US embassy officer informed me that they would meet with
the Laotian foreign ministry on the issue on Wednesday," Smith
told AFP in Washington.
The US State Department could not confirm the reports as yet
but "we are talking to the Laotian Government to see what has
occurred," said Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman.

"If, in fact, these individuals have been arrested or taken
into custody in some way, we'll certainly be seeking consular
access from the Laotian Government," he said.
The State Department also has approached family members of
those reported detained, Casey said. "This is something we're
concerned about and we're looking into it to try and confirm
the facts."

A spokesman for the Lao government on Monday denied that any
US citizens were in custody in the country.
Smith identified the three as Hakit Yang, 29, Conghineng Yang,
31, and Trillion Yunhaison, 41. All of them, he said, were
from Minnesota.
He said they were reportedly whisked into what he called a
"notorious" prison after officials "gagged, handcuffed and
shackled" them.

"The Hmong-Americans have no known political or family ties to
opposition or dissident factions and had departed the United
States for travel to Laos on July 10," said Smith, also
director of the Lao Veterans of America.

Rights group Amnesty International says Lao forces are still
hunting scattered Hmong groups in hiding who are former
fighters of the US-backed irregular wartime army led by Hmong
General Vang Pao, or their descendants.

Vang Pao, now a US citizen, was arrested earlier this year in
the United States, accused of plotting a violent coup in Laos.

Copyright 2007. Philstar Global Corp. All rights reserved.
This article cannot be published or redistributed without the
permission of the publisher.

2007-0905 - Star Tribune - U.S. and Lao officials will meet
about missing St. Paul men

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1401350.html

StarTribune.com

U.S. and Lao officials will meet about missing St. Paul men

Today's meeting in the Lao capital of Vientiane will give U.S.
State Department officials a chance to find out if the three
men were detained by Lao authorities.

By Allie Shah and Chris Havens, Star Tribune

Last update: September 04, 2007 – 9:11 PM
Government officials from the United States and Laos are
scheduled to meet today to discuss the whereabouts of three
St. Paul men who have been missing for 11 days while visiting
Laos.

The men, Hakit Yang, 29, Cong Shi Neng Yang, 31, and Trillion
Yunhaison, 41, left on July 10. They haven't been heard from
since Aug. 25.

They were visiting relatives, sightseeing and looking at
business opportunities, said Hakit Yang's wife, Sheng Xiong.

Tom Casey, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said he
could not confirm reports that the men were detained by Lao
authorities. But U.S. officials will try to find out at the
meeting about the men's status. The meeting is scheduled to
take place today in the capital city of Vientiane, he said.

"One of the first things we'll do is go and visit them and
make sure they're being treated properly," Casey said. "But
the first thing we have to do is get the government to
acknowledge that they have them."

Xiong said her husband's older brother got a phone call on the
morning of Aug. 25 from Yunhaison saying that the men had been
arrested.

Philip Smith is executive director of the Center for Public
Policy Analysis, which has a long history of working on human
rights issues in Laos. Smith said his contacts there told him
that the men were first approached by Lao military and
security forces and accused of being spies for Gen. Vang Pao.

Pao led a CIA-backed guerrilla army that fought Lao Communists
in the 1960s and 1970s. Members of Laos' Hmong minority say
they face persecution in Laos because of that. Recently, Pao
was indicted by federal authorities on charges of plotting to
overthrow the Lao government.

Xiong and Smith insist that the men have no political ties to
Pao or any other dissident faction.

The offices of Minnesota's senators, Republican Norm Coleman
and Democrat Amy Klobuchar, said they are in contact with the
State Department and are closely monitoring the situation.

That the State Department is not confirming the arrests upsets
Smith.

"It's very troubling that the State Department is being very
tight-lipped about this," he said. "We expect that out of the
Lao government."

Citing reports from the State Department and Amnesty
International, Smith said arbitrary arrests and "enemy of the
state" accusations are commonly made by the Lao government.

Not hearing anything for the past 11 days has been the
toughest part for Xiong and the other families.

"I'm just thinking positive and trying to focus," Xiong said.
The men were to return to Minnesota on Sept. 9 -- Xiong and
Yang's ninth anniversary.

"I was hoping, but I don't know that he'll be home," she said.

The writers are at ashah at startribune.com and
chavens at startribune.com

2007-0905 - The Nation - Hmong repatriation to go ahead

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/04/regional/regional_30047725.php

Regional

Hmong repatriation to go ahead

Published on September 4, 2007

Phitsanulok--Laos and Thailand will go ahead and repatriate
nearly 8,000 Hmong refugees being sheltered in Phetchabun
province to their homes without any third party involvement, a
Lao senior official said Tuesday.

Repatriation of the Hmong has been delayed over the past
months as international organisations intervened and accused
the process of being inhumane, said Lao deputy chief of staff
Brig General Buaxiang Champapanh.

Buaxiang was in Thailand to meet with Lt General Niphat
Thonglek, chief of the Supreme Command's Boundary Department
on the Hmong repatriation.

Thousands of Hmong from Laos have gathered in Phetchabun's Ban
Huay Nam Khao since late 2004. They claimed they were close
associates of the United States Central Intelligence Agency's
secret fighters who fought against the Communist before the
fall of Vientiane in 1975. They had fled from suppression at home.

However, Laos and Thailand have rejected their claim and
considered the group as merely illegal migrants who entered
Thailand to seek better lives.

Authorities of the two countries have agreed to repatriate
them to their place of origin.

"The repatriation process is not complicated as the group are
simply illegal migrants and from now on we can send them back
smoothly," Lt General Niphat told reporters after the meeting
in a Phitsanulok hotel.

Thailand has deported 191 Hmong to Laos since May, he said.

The repatriation has been interrupted over the past three
months as international organisations claimed some of the
Hmong had been harassed and harmed.

In fact, Thailand has quietly repatriated more than 400 Hmong
since November 2004, when they initially gathered in Ban Huay
Nam Khao, according to a USbased Hmong group who noted some of
them were missing.

During the meeting in Phitsanulok, Thai and Lao officials
exchanged videos to show how they both treated the Hmong. The
Thai video showed the Hmong in Huay Nam Khao, while the Laos
showed the Hmong who had been deported earlier.

Meanwhile, the Hmong in Ban Huay Nam Khao said they have
resisted the repatriation plans due to fear of punishment by
Lao authorities.

Le Su, a 48 yearold Hmong from Laos, said his group fled from
suppression at home to Thailand and would not return. Only 10
per cent of the Hmong in Ban Huay Nam Khao are willing to
return home, he said.

The Nation

Privacy Policy © 2006 Nation Multimedia Group Thailand Web Stat

September 5, 2007 05:03 pm (Thai local time)
www.nationmultimedia.com

2007-0905 - BKK Post - Laos denies Hmong-Americans arrested

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=121379

Laos denies Hmong-Americans arrested

(dpa) - The Lao government on Wednesday denied reports that
authorities had arrested three US citizens of Hmong decent in
Vientiane, the capital.

"I've checked with security authorities and they assured me
that none of these people are being kept under custody in
Laos," said Lao foreign ministry spokesman Yong Chanhthalousy,
in a telephone interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

According to press reports from the US, three Hmong-Americans
identified as Hakit Yang, 21, Conghineng Yang, 31, and
Trillion Yunhaison, 41, were allegedly arrested in Vientiane
on August 25 by security personnel.

A US Embassy source in Vientiane confirmed that they had
obtained reports of the arrests.

"We have local sources who inform us that the arrests took
place on August 25 but we don't have confirmation from the
central government," said an embassy spokesperson in Vientiane.

News of the alleged arrests coincided with a Thai-Lao Border
Committee meeting in Phitsanulok, Thailand, concerning the
fate of some 8,000 Hmong refugees who have been living in
Thailand for decades.

Thailand has classified the Hmong living at Huay Nam Khao camp
as "illegal migrants," while the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and various human rights
groups claim they are refugees who will face persecution if
they are repatriated to Laos.

The current Thai government is trying to find an acceptable
way to repatriate the Hmong as part of their long-term
solution to problem of Lao-Hmong fleeing to Thailand.

Laos is also seeking their repatriation, primarily to prove
that the ongoing Hmong resistance struggle is a myth.

"These people are illegal migrants, and you can see how
illegal migrants are treated in the West, for instance African
migrants in Europe," said Yong of the Hmong in Thailand. "This
is a global problem."

The New York based Human Rights Watch last week blasted
Thailand's efforts to repatriate the 8,000 Hmong in Huay Nam Khao.

"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.

© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2006

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