UN concerned about repatriation of Hmong

UN refugee officials have voiced concern about the return of more than 1,000 Hmong refugees to Laos on Sunday.

"We are very concerned about the lack of transparency because it's unclear if these are voluntary returns or involuntary returns," UNHCR spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said on Monday.

"If we had access to people in Thailand and Laos it would build confidence and help both governments and the people concerned in reaching appropriate solutions.

"We have made offers and stand ready to help the Lao government if they would like our help."

Comments by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees follow reports from Laos that 1,008 Hmong were "dumped" in Paksane late on Sunday, just east of Vientiane, then told this morning (Mon) to simply return to the areas they left three or four years ago.

Refugees called reporters and contacts in Thailand to appeal for United Nations officials to come to help them. They said Lao officials organised a meal for them last night but they had had no food today and were simply expected to disperse to villages or areas in the north of the country where they used to live.

Lao officials were taking photographs of everyone, but had given them nowhere to stay or any other form of assistance.

"We were told 'you must go the the places you come from'," one man said in a call from Paksane.

"The problem is many of us have no place to go. We are afraid have had no food today. We want the UN to come to help us." Yesterday's mass return of Hmong refugees followed a dramatic protest march out of the Huay Nam Khao camp on Friday.

More than 5,000 of the 8,000 people in the camp marched out of the camp with their babies and meagre possessions on their backs, saying they intended to walk to Bangkok to draw international attention to their plight.

Army troops and police in full riot-gear blocked the road on which the refugees were walking just outside the village of Khet Noi in Phetchabun, and the huge group was forced to stop and spend a night in the open.

Ironically, their protest in the North coincided with huge anti-government rallies in Bangkok and was barely noticed by the local media. On Saturday, troops and police blockaded the area and called the Phetchabun governor to help convince the refugees to return to the camp.

About two thirds of them were bused back to Huay Nam Khao, but hundreds were so emotionally exhausted by recent traumas at the camp - including a fire that burnt down many people's homes - they agreed to take a cash offer from Thai officials (of Bt15,000 to Bt18,000 for small or large families) to return to Laos.

About 500 to 600 others who refused to budge were detained at the Lomsak Army base or provincial jails. No details have been released about the the people jailed or whether any were injured during the crackdown.

More than 100 others - leaders of the protest march and others wanted by the Lao government - were forcibly deported early on Sunday via Nong Khai. Another 832 were driven to Nong Khai later on Sunday and straight across the Friendship Bridge, before being taken to Paksane.

Many of this group reportedly agreed to return to Laos, however some refugees claimed they were forcibly repatriated against their will. Some were so upset they phoned reporters to say they planned to commit suicide if cameramen were present at Nong Khai.

However, the buses avoided media teams and no incidents were reported. Thailand's controversial agreement to return Hmong refugees to Laos without screening by the UN or an independent third party has been strongly criticised by human rights groups, UN officials, US senators and the Hmong community in America. Legislation was introduced in the US Congress recently to try to force Bangkok to reconsider its bilateral agreement to return the Hmong - many of whom say they have fled persecution because their families were part of the CIA-funded force that battled the communists during the Vietnam War. 

Laos and Thailand claims the Hmong are simply economic migrants in search of a better life in the West. Analysts say the controversial handling of the latest repatriationcould backfire badly if the latest returnees decide to cross the Mekong and sneak back into Thailand. ends