[Tlc] TL-Hmong crisis

[justinm at ucr.edu]

FYI.
Thanks,
justin



2008-0314 - BKK Post - Thailand must not tarnish its name over
Hmong crisis

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/14Mar2008_news23.php

REFUGEES

Thailand must not tarnish its name over Hmong crisis

LIONEL ROSENBLATT

The Thai government has launched a dangerous trial balloon in
its bid to repatriate several thousand Hmong from Laos. If the
international community does not weigh in rapidly and
effectively with the government, many Hmong will be forced
back to Laos where they will face possible persecution.

Most of the 8,000 Hmong from Laos are in Phetchabun province.

Also under threat of forced repatriation are 150 or more Hmong
recognised as refugees by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) who
are being held in wretched conditions for more than a year in
a detention centre in Nong Khai, perilously close to the
crossing point to Laos.

These refugees have all been offered opportunities to resettle
in third countries, but Thailand has refused to consider these
offers.

Several days ago, the government returned 10 Hmong from
Phetchabun to Laos _ all supposedly ''volunteers''. It seems
that in at least one case, a Hmong woman with five children
was ''repatriated'' without her children. Fortunately, Thai
authorities at the last moment took her off the bus. Several
Hmong told they were on the next list of volunteers did not
know they had ''volunteered''.Medecins Sans Frontieres, the
NGO in charge of the camp in Phetchabun, has expressed serious
concerns about the grim future facing the refugees there.

Thailand should immediately cease forced repatriation of the
Hmong to Laos. A significant proportion of the Hmong who fled
to Phetchabun have ties to that war effort or are fighters who
only recently abandoned their last ditch Hmong resistance in Laos.

Certainly such Hmong meet the key criterion for international
refugee status _ a well-founded fear of persecution, if
returned to their country of origin.

There are also non-refugees among the Hmong in Phetchabun who
crossed for a better life or to join relatives.

Following the fall of the US-backed governments in Laos,
Cambodia and Vietnam, Thailand has generally been tolerant of
Indochinese refugees fleeing and over a million crossed into
Thailand or given safe havens on its borders.

The international community responded to this generosity by
either resettling almost all of those who entered Thailand to
third countries or in assisting their voluntary return to
their homelands, as was the case with most of the Cambodian
refugees who return home.

Thailand deservedly has received much international acclaim
for its role as the leading country of asylum during the
Indochinese exodus. While the Thai government says it has
completed refugee screening of the 8,000 Hmong, this process
has not been transparent nor subject to any consultation or
monitoring to determine whether it conformed to international
standards of refugee protection.

Of particular concern for many involved with the US war effort
in Indochina is that some Hmong with war time ties to the US
as well as recent combatants against the repressive Lao
government have not been screened in as refugees; this may be
due to a flaw in the screening that did not consider or focus
on such individual histories.

So the most endangered Hmong are, in many cases, the most
likely to be subject to return to Laos. This is widely seen,
in part, as Thailand bowing to pressure from Lao officials,
especially those in the Lao military wishing to get such
refugees into their hands.

The Hmong crisis in Thailand can be resolved in an acceptable
manner if the following steps are taken _ true voluntary
repatriation can be put in place immediately with some form of
international access to the process and a fair and more
transparent review of screening for those Hmong who have been
screened out _ and who so request _ to insure that those with
a well-founded fear of persecution are not returned to Laos.
The international community, led by the US, should agree to
resettle the Hmong refugees.Thanks to UNHCR and other efforts,
several countries already have expressed a willingness to do so.

The US Congress, cognisant of the history of the Hmong,
recently acted to permit the resettlement of Hmong and some
other combatants struggling against non-democratic
governments, which now needs to be implemented.

Jump-starting this provision could save the lives of many
refugees at risk, like the Hmong. Forced return of
non-refugees to Laos can begin, when the Lao government
permits some form of international access.

For the future, the flow of refugees from Laos should wind
down sharply. About a thousand Hmong are still holding out.
Some of this number may well try to flee to Thailand and
perhaps some will continue to surrender; more would do so with
international monitoring.

A mechanism to leave Laos for such persons and for legitimate
migrants should be put in place; such an orderly departure
programme worked well in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government,
with its ties to Laos, could be helpful by prodding the Lao
government to action.

Meanwhile, international influence with Thailand should be
exerted immediately by governments to insure the Thai trial
balloon does not lead to further forced repatriation of Hmong
refugees. This would be a great shame for the refugees, and
for Thailand.

In the final chapter of the exodus from Indochina, Thailand
should not be seen around the world to be blotting its widely
praised refugee record.

Lionel Rosenblatt is president emeritus of Refugees International.

© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2006
Privacy Policy
Comments to: Webmaster
Advertising enquiries to: Internet Marketing
Printed display ad enquiries to: Display Ads
Full contact details: Contact us
__._,_.___

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