"Thailand is to deport 152 people of the Hmong minority back to Laos even though most of them are recognized as refugees by the United Nations, Laos officials and Amnesty International said Saturday.
The group of 152 were arrested in mid-November and detained at the Immigration Detention Center (IDC) in the border city of Nong Khai.Most of them have already been recognized as refugees by the UN High Commissionerfor Refugees (UNHCR). . .
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour last month condemned the repatriation plan, warning the 152 Hmong -- including 85 children -- were risking persecution.
According to Amnesty, "in Laos the group would be at risk of severe human rights abuses, including torture ... No international human rights organization would have access to the group in Laos to monitor their well-being."
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/01/20...es_30024638.php
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Thais dump Hmong back to Laos
Started by DollyLamma, Jan 20 2007 12:57 PM
1 reply to this topic
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Posted 20 January 2007 - 04:59 PM
The Hmong mountain tribes have become the "niggers" of SE Asia in the post-Vietnam war period, due to their colloboration with American forces during that war.
By all reports, they continue to be persecuted in Laos, one of the world's last communist governments, even though many of these folks who are now refugees weren't even born when the Vietnam war ended 30 years ago.
This is just the latest episode of the Thais showing how little they regard the United Nations' designation of refugee status when it interferes with their cozy relationships with other ASEAN dictatorships.
From what I have read, the Thais also routinely dump political refugees from Burma back into that imprisoned country where their fate in unknown. Same thing happened when Cambodians tried to flee the murderous Pol Pot regime.
It's interesting that there are now about twice the number of Hmong living in America than Thailand, one of the ASEAN countries where the Hmong settled centuries ago from southern China.
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By all reports, they continue to be persecuted in Laos, one of the world's last communist governments, even though many of these folks who are now refugees weren't even born when the Vietnam war ended 30 years ago.
This is just the latest episode of the Thais showing how little they regard the United Nations' designation of refugee status when it interferes with their cozy relationships with other ASEAN dictatorships.
From what I have read, the Thais also routinely dump political refugees from Burma back into that imprisoned country where their fate in unknown. Same thing happened when Cambodians tried to flee the murderous Pol Pot regime.
It's interesting that there are now about twice the number of Hmong living in America than Thailand, one of the ASEAN countries where the Hmong settled centuries ago from southern China.
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