The government of Laos has been accused of committing genocide against that country's Hmong ethnic minority. [17] Some Hmong groups fought as CIA-backed units on the Royalist side in the Laos civil war. [18]
As many as 200,000 Hmong went into exile in Thailand, with some ending up in the U.S. A number of Hmong fighters hid out in mountains in Xiangkhouang Province for years, with a remnant emerging from the jungle in 2003. [19]
Hmong refugees and forced repatriation
After talks with the UNHCR and the Thai government, Laos agreed to repatriate the 60,000 Lao refugees living in Thailand, including some thousand Hmong people. [22] Pressure to resettle the refugees grew as the Thai government worked to close its remaining refugee camps. While some Hmong people returned to Laos voluntarily, with development assistance from UNHCR, allegations of forced repatriation surfaced. [23] Of those Hmong who did return to Laos, some escaped back to Thailand, describing discrimination and brutal treatment at the hands of Lao authorities. [24]
Following the Vue Mai incident, debate over the Hmong's planned repatriation to Laos intensified, especially in the U.S., where it drew opposition from American conservatives and some human rights advocates. In an October 23, 1995 National Review article, Michael Johns, the former Heritage Foundation foreign policy expert and Republican White House aide, labeled the Hmong's repatriation a Clinton administration "betrayal," describing the Hmong as a people "who have spilled their blood in defense of American geopolitical interests." [25]
In their opposition of the repatriation plans, Republicans challenged the Clinton administration's position that the Laotian government was not systematically violating Hmong human rights. U.S. Representative Steve Gunderson (R-WI), for instance, told a Hmong gathering: "I do not enjoy standing up and saying to my government that you are not telling the truth, but if that is necessary to defend truth and justice, I will do that." [25]
While some accusations of forced repatriation were denied, [26] thousands of Hmong people refused to return to Laos. In 1996, as the deadline for the closure of Thai refugee camps approached, and under mounting political pressure, the U.S. agreed to resettle Hmong refugees who passed a new screening process. [27] Around 5,000 Hmong people who were not resettled at the time of the camp closures sought asylum at Wat Tham Krabok, a Buddhist monastery in central Thailand where more than 10,000 Hmong refugees were already living. The Thai government attempted to repatriate these refugees, and the Wat Tham Krabok Hmong refused to leave and the Lao government refused to accept them, claiming they were involved in the illegal drug trade and were of non-Lao origin. [28]
In 2003, following threats of forcible removal by the Thai government, the U.S agreed to accept 15,000 of the refugees. [29] Some thousand Hmong people, fearing forced repatriation to Laos if they were not accepted for resettlement in the U.S., fled the camp to live elsewhere within Thailand where a Hmong population has been present since the 19th century. [30]
In 2004 and 2005, thousands of Hmong fled from the jungles of Laos to a temporary refugee camp in the Thai province of Phetchabun. [31]
Lending further support to earlier claims that the government of Laos was persecuting the Hmong, filmmaker Rebecca Sommer documented first-hand accounts in her documentary, Hunted Like Animals, [32] and in a comprehensive report which includes summaries of claims made by the refugees and was submitted to the U.N. in May 2006. [33]
The European Union, [34] UNHCHR, and international groups have since spoken out about the forced repatriation. [34] [35] [36] [37] The Thai foreign ministry has said that it will halt deportation of Hmong refugees held in Detention Centers Nong Khai, while talks are underway to resettle them in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States. [38]
For the time being, countries willing to resettle the refugees are hindered to proceed with immigration and settlement procedures because the Thai administration does not grant them access to the refugees. Plans to resettle additional Hmong refugees in the U.S. have been complicated by provisions of President George W. Bush's Patriot Act and Real ID Act, under which Hmong veterans of the Secret War, who fought on the side of the United States, are classified as terrorists because of their historical involvement in armed conflict. [39]
On December 27, 2009, The New York Times reported that the Thai military was preparing to forcibly return 4,000 Hmong asylum seekers to Laos by the end of the year: [40] the BBC later reported that repatriations had started. [41] United States and United Nations officials have protested this action. Outside government representatives have not been allowed to interview this group over 3 years. Médecins Sans Frontières has refused to assist the Hmong refugees because of what they have called "increasingly restrictive measures" taken by the Thai military. [42] The Thai military jammed all cellular phone reception and disallowed any foreign journalists from the Hmong camps. [41]
Laosportal 
