Refugee tragedy in Thailand: Hmong refugees from Laos threatened with starvation

In Thailand a new refugee tragedy is looming up. The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) warned on Tuesday of a new threat of starvation for the more than 5000 Hmong from Laos in the Phetchabun refugee camp. Constant problems with the Thai military and harassment from the authorities have caused the internationally renowned aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Frontiers) to decide to withdraw from the camp. The fate of the Hmong, who are dependent on humanitarian aid, is uncertain. The solution offered them by Thailand is cynical: a trip back to Laos free of charge. There the so-called "Jungle Hmong” are being mercilessly hunted by the military. They are becoming the victims of crimes verging on genocide. Since many Hmong fought as secret allies of the CIA against the Communists during the Vietnam War the Hmong are being persecuted to the present day by the Communist Laotian regime because of supposed contacts with the fighters of yesterday. The GfbV has documented serious violations of human rights of both Laotian and Vietnamese troops since 2006 against members of this indigenous ethnic group, among which are pregnant women and children.

Thousands of Hmong have fled in recent decades over the Mekong to Thailand. But there they are not safe. Thailand does not allow officers of the aid agency of the United Nations (UNHCR) to investigate the background of the flight of the individual refugee, regarding all refugees as economic migrants. They are all to be deported back to Laos, although according to information received from the GfbV expert, Rebecca Sommer (New York), at least one third of the Hmong in Phetchabun are survivors of the persecution in the Laotian jungle. She has visited the camp on many occasions. "Sending the refugees back to Laos would mean condemning them to death”, warned Sommer. "Most of the Hmong refugees, who in the past were deported by force, landed in prison, were tortured and mishandled – even girls who had not even reached teenage. Or else they simply disappeared.” The Hmong in Phetchabun are so desperate that many would rather kill themselves than return to Laos.

The dramatic development of the situation in Thailand is the reason for a delegation of the Hmong community in the US to fly last Sunday with the GfbV expert, Rebecca Sommer, to New York. At the United Nations the delegation will meet James Anaya, the UN Sondergesandte for the human rights situation and basic freedoms of the indigenous peoples. The Thai ambassador at the United Nations declined a meeting with the delegates. The delegation is also seeking the support of the EU, the USA, Canada and other countries with the object of setting up an emergency plan for the Hmong refugees.