The two yesterday blamed human trafficking for the refugee crisis.

"It's time to solve the Hmong problem. We have no hidden agenda because neither of us caused this migration but we, as well as the Hmong refugees, are the victims of human trafficking," said Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy.

Yong was in Thailand yesterday where he met with the news media and filmmakers. He was seeking to end cultural misunderstanding following tension in May sparked by the Thai comedy movie "Mak Te", or Football.

Thailand has sheltered some 6,000 Hmong at Ban Huay Nam Khao in Phetchabun since late 2004. They claimed to have fled political oppression at home.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Kitti Wasinondh echoed Yong's statements.

He agreed human trafficking caused the refugee crisis. The two governments would cooperate to solve the problem based on that conclusion, and not political issues.

A recent military-run survey found more than 4,000 of 6,058 Hmong at Phetchabun had come from Laos. The rest were long-term residents who drifted north following the closure last year of the Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Saraburi.

Most of the refugees claimed they fought for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during its "secret war" against the communist Pathet Lao in the 1970s.

But a Thai military official said only about 100 could be identified from documents as CIA fighters.

Yong said Hmong from across the region - including those from Burma and southern China - gathered in Thailand in the hope of being resettled in third countries like the United States.

"The resettlement programme for 15,000 Hmong [from Tham Krabok] last year caught the attention of Hmong from across the region in the hope they would get the same chance," Yong claimed.

But, the problem was exacerbated as these people fell into the trap of human traffickers, he added.

"So we should tackle the problem at its root cause by getting rid of human trafficking networks," he said.

Last week Thailand secretly deported 31 Hmong refugees at Phetchabun to Laos.

The agreement came as US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Affairs Ellen Sauerbrey was due in Thailand.

She is accompanied by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.

She was here to "examine refugee programmes and policy, including a number of high-profile refugee issues," a US statement said.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation