A spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said they believed the Hmong would be at "serious risk of persecution or loss of life" if returned to Laos.

The ethnic Hmong  most of whom are believed to be classed as "persons of concern" by the UNHCR  were trucked from the Suan Phlu immigration detention centre in Bangkok last night to Nong Khai.

The group was part of 194 people rounded up in the capital and held at Suan Phlu detention centre for the past three weeks.

Included in the group are Chong Lee Lor and Blia Shoua Her  both leaders of jungle Hmong groups who may be regarded as terrorists by Vientiane.

Hmong support groups in the US were lobbying the UNHCR and foreign missions in Bangkok yesterday to prevent the Hmong from being sent back across the Mekong.

"The UNHCR is talking with the Thai government and we have expressed our concern that these people should not be deported," spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said yesterday.

"The majority are under the protection of the UNHCR. We believe they are at serious risk of persecution or loss of life if returned to Laos," she said.

"We are discussing ways to prevent the deportation occurring. The UNHCR is grateful that the Thai government suspended a deportation of Lao Hmong that was scheduled for November 17 and we have expressed a desire that this decision not be reversed.

"We are trying very hard to stop any forced deportation."

McKinsey said the UNHCR "would view with great dissatisfaction the deportation of any recognised refugees or asylum seekers  that would be a violation of international law."

Thailand has faced a steady tide of "illegals" crossing from Laos to Huay Nam Khao in Phetchabun over the past two years.

Government officials have tried to crack down on gangs trafficking people to Phetchabun, amid fears that many of the arrivals are economic migrants, not genuine refugees.

Several groups of Lao Hmong have been sent back to Laos, including a few dozen last month.

But aid workers at Huay Nam Khao, which now houses more than 8000 people, say many of those arriving are genuine refugees fleeing persecution by the Lao military.

Vientiane denies ill treatment of ethnic Hmong and has been involved in talks with Thai officials regarding the possible return of people at Huay Nam Khao.

The Nation