REPORT ON THE SITUATION IN THE XAYSOMBOUN SPECIAL ZONE AND 1100 HMONG-LAO REFUGEES WHO ESCAPED TO PETCHABUN

CONTENT

++ Background of Hmong Lao/Lao PDR Conflict ++ Work Goals ++ Method of Work ++ Precipitating Factors for Migration to and Expectations of Refugees in Petchabun ++ Hmong Groups in White Water Settlement ++ Summary of Hmong Claims, by Rebecca Sommer ++ Voices of Hmong Lao Refugees from Conflict Zones in Laos: A Summary ++ Collective Statement: Hmong Lao Refugees in Petchabun ++ Selected Written Claims: Hmong Lao Refugees in Petchabun ++ Selected Videotaped Oral Claims: Hmong Refugees in Petchabun ++ Transcriptions of Recorded Satellite Telephone Calls from Conflict Zones in Laos ++ Summary of Claims, by Two Journalists and FFC ++ Eyewitness Reports ++ Translation Certificate ++ Endorsement Letters (NGOs and IPOs ++ Annex I: Probe International Case Study on Forced Infernal Resettlement *vliM'« ++ Annex II: List of Refugees from Conflict Zones in Laos ++

BASIS OF REPORT

The Report is about ethnic minority Hmong groups currently hiding in the mountain-top jungles of Laos and some 1100 refugees that escaped to Thailand during the two-year period of 2004 and 2005. At the present time, they are living in White Water, a temporary settlement in Petchabun, Thailand. The Hmong groups hiding in the jungle are descended from groups originally established by ex-CIA Secret Army soldiers and their families beginning in 1975, when the Pathet Lao took overthe Lao government.

The Report is based on personally observed findings and a variety of source materials, including the testimonies of the Hmong Lao refugees themselves, who Claim that in Laos they were continually attacked, without warning, by the Lao PDR Government and Vietnamese military forces.

Copies of these source materials can be provided on request:

• Original video recordings of refugees making their Claims or testimonies. :

• Texts of video-recordings translated into English by native Speakers of Hmong.

• Original Claims (individual and collective) written by refugees in Hmong,

• The same Claims (individual and collective) translated into English by native Speakers of Hmong.

• Testimonies of Hmong leaders who are still living in the Conflict area in Laos, recorded via satellite telephone, transcribed and then translated into English by native Speakers of Hmong.

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The Report has also been prepared in partnership with various United States-based Hmong organizations and individuals without whose contributions it could not have been completed. Most essential have been those Hmong organizations or individuals who continue to maintain constant and direct contact with the refugees and the Hmong Lao in the Conflict area via satellite telephone. They remain the most qualified experts on the subject. For these reasons, the Report must be viewed as the product of a collaborative effort.

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