Jungle Hmong prevented from going to press conference

The "jungle Hmong" leaders had wanted to speak to Western journalists - who are unable to get access to the settlement in Phetchabun - and confront Lao officials about how safe it would be for them to return, USbased Hmong advocates Joe Davy and Laura Xiong said.

Blia Pao Yangxu and three other Hmong leaders were taken from the refugee camp in Phetchabun early on Tuesday, under the impression they were going to the Army base in Phitsanulok. But Thai officials took the four to a restaurant - not the press conference, as had been promised, Davy said.

"These men all have scars and bullet wounds on their bodies. Plus they had other documents and photos they wanted to present to the media," he said.

"But it looks like the Thais don't want to agitate the Lao officials, because Laos is preparing to taking thousands of people back."

Rights advocates wondered why the Lao government went to the expense of making a 20minute video about the sites where the Hmong will be repatriated - "but won't talk openly about the situation", Davy said.

"People living in the jungle all those years don't have a home to return to," he said.

Laura Xiong, from Hmong International Human Rights Watch group in Nebraska, strongly condemned the Lao plan to "forcibly repatriate" the 7,800 Hmong at Phetchabun.

She feared the move "will cause further casualties" due to lack of trust in the Lao regime.

"Evidently, the Lao PDR government is not ready to truly resolve the conflict with the Hmong from the jungle.

"Sugarcoating from afar to lure the Hmong refugees to return home is obviously not an honest resolution, and forced repatriation is even worse. The Hmong refugees should be protected," Xiong said.

Meanwhile, Davy said another 15 Hmong had been rounded up in Bangkok recently and taken to the Immigration Detention Centre at Suan Phlu. These people included families with refugee status from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

"For Thailand and Laos to just decide this on their own seems unfair - surely the UNHCR should have some involvement," he said.

Jim Pollard

The Nation