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2009-0205 - Fresno Bee - Hmong seek administration's help with Laos

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1180852.html

Local section

Hmong seek administration's help with Laos

Thursday, Feb. 05, 2009
By Michael Doyle / Bee Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Wangyee Vang hopes to turn the Obama administration against the government of Laos.

The Fresno resident is not alone. A longtime soldier, currently head of the Lao Veterans of America Institute, Vang has allies on and off Capitol Hill. But as the last eight years have shown, their hard-line views do not always prevail.

“We want the administration to help us,” Vang said.

This week, Vang and other Hmong activists are making their case before lawmakers, congressional staffers and the media. They want the U.S. government to place a higher priority on improving human rights conditions in the socialist Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Technically, a forum Thursday at the National Press Club focused on the plight of an estimated 6,000 Hmong refugees now held in Thailand. The activists want the refugee camps monitored by the United Nations and the refugees themselves granted asylum in other countries, potentially including the United States.

When Hmong refugees come to the United States, many end up in the San Joaquin Valley. More than 35,000 Hmong now live in the Valley, giving the region one of the biggest Hmong populations in the country.

But with a new administration and a fresh Congress still taking shape, the Hmong activists have a broader agenda as well: They want a diplomatic change of direction, starting with a new ambassador to Laos.

“The Bush administration policy toward the Hmong was an unmitigated disaster,” said Philip Smith, executive director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, which works on human rights issues in Laos.

Over the objections Hmong activists like Vang, the Bush administration won congressional approval in 2004 for normalizing trade relations with Laos. Before Congress acted, Laos was one of only three countries in the world that did not have normal trade relations with the United States.

Lower tariffs helped Laos boost its exports to the United States from $4 million to $19 million between 2005 and 2007, International Trade Commission records show. United States exports to Laos have likewise increased.

“Americans are visiting Laos in increasing numbers and more and more U.S. businesses are coming to Laos to take advantage of expanding economic opportunities,” U.S. Ambassador Ravic Huso declared last year.

A nation of 6.7 million residents, Laos was not mentioned once during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing last month. Under a conventional diplomatic tour of duty, Huso could expect to remain in his post for another year or so.

Smith wants him replaced. A former congressional staffer, Smith formerly was a registered lobbyist for the Fresno-based Lao Veterans group. He is still the Washington representative for the Lao Veterans of America Institute, although no longer registered as a lobbyist.

Based on Fresno’s Minnewawa Avenue, the Lao Veterans of America Institute has been funded in part through government grants, the organization’s tax returns show. Its stated goal is to “assist Lao vets in their struggle to assimilate into the American society.” Veterans like Vang worked closely with U.S. Special Forces, Air Force and CIA personnel during the Vietnam War.

Since coming to the United States, starting in the mid-1970s, many Hmong community leaders have remained attentive to the condition of their countrymen who are still stuck in refugee camps. Congressional allies, including Reps. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, co-sponsored a resolution denouncing the Lao government and urging concern for the refugees now in Thailand.

“If the administration opened the door, we would like them admitted,” Vang said.
The reporter can be reached at mdoyle at mcclatchydc.com or (202) 383-0006.


______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu