149 Hmong may resume hunger strike

The Hmong from Laos detained at the Nong Khai Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) suspended their hunger-strike on the evening of August 19, after delegates of the United Nations visited them.

"They are weak and distressed; four women and one baby were taken to Nong Khai hospital," the Amnesty International (AI) said in its statement on Friday.

The group began their hunger-strike on August 16 in protest at their prolonged detention in the appalling condition. Medical care is now being arranged at the IDC, but conditions are still grim, and they may resume the huger-strike, it said.

The refugees, more than half of them children, are confined to tow hot, windowless and overcrowded cells, which they are not allowed to leave, the AI said.

The group, reportedly, has no access to clean drinking water and has not been allowed to wash their clothes adequately. Their mosquito netting and blankets have been removed, it said. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees described the conditions "deplorable" and "inhumane".

The Hmongs, part of more than 7500 refugees mostly from Laos being sheltered in Phetchabun's Ban Huay Nam Khao, were arrested since late last year after snaking out of the shelter to seek jobs and UN protection in Bangkok.

They were detained in Nong Khai since then pending to repatriation to Laos. Thailand failed an attempt to deport the group to Laos on January 30 as they strongly resisted the plan.

With a disappointment, Laos authorities who at the day dispatched a group of senior official to take them in Nong Khai insisted the get them back to their place of origin.

Military officers from joint-sub committee on border security would meet September 2-4 in Phetchabun to discuss the repatriation plan for the 7,500 Hmong, including the group of 149 in Nong Khai, according to Laos spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation