> Dej tshiab wrote:

>> The Hmong: An Uncertain Future in Thailand
>> Written by Will Baxter
>> Thursday, 21 September 2006
>> Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) was recently
>> assigned the task of repatriating 4,500 ethnic Hmong living in
>> Phetchabun province-and they were told by caretaker Prime Minister
>> Thaksin Shinawatra to find a solution to the problem as soon as
>> possible. Unfortunately, in this case, a 'quick fix' just isn't
>> feasible.
>> Approximately 6,500 Hmong live at the Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun,
>> 4,500 of which arrived in Thailand during the last year. Most paid
>> between bt6,000 and bt30,000 to human traffickers to help them reach
>> Phetchabun, situated in the heart of central Thailand.
>>
>> The remaining 2,000 Hmong are mostly 'leftovers' from the Wat Tham
>> Krabok camp in Saraburi, which closed down after 15,000 Hmong were
>> relocated to the U.S. in 2005.
>>
>> Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has issued a statement
>> warning that if the group is forced to return to Laos they could face
>> serious human rights violations including torture, ill-treatment and
>> possibility execution.
>>
>>
>> In December Thailand forcibly repatriated 26 Hmong children and one
>> adult who are still being detained by Lao authorities at an undisclosed
>> location.
>>
>>
>> Hmong seeking shelter in Thailand claim they or their relatives
>> supported a CIA-backed secret war in Laos from 1961 to 1975 and are
>> fleeing persecution by the communist Lao government.
>>
>>
>> Thailand has also expressed a strong interest in immediately
>> repatriating a group of 231 Hmong, many of whom are children, who were
>> arrested along the border with Laos on June 5. For the past two months
>> they have been held in squalid conditions at seven overcrowded jails in
>> Phetchabun Province.
>>
>>
>> I recently visited the Khao Kho jail where 82 Hmong are being held.
>> Inside the detention facility men, women and children are crammed
>> together in cells at night spreading out where they can and sleeping on
>> the cement floor and during the day they are allowed outside where they
>> sit on plastic mats under a small tent-covered area. When I asked to
>> speak with and photograph some of the detainees the authorities
>> objected, though I later returned when the detainees were unsupervised
>> and was able to photographs them while they were being held outdoors.
>>
>>
>> Unwanted
>>
>> The message coming from the governments of Laos, Thailand and the U.S.
>> is clear: the Hmong simply aren't welcome.
>>
>>
>> Laos refuses to admit that the Hmong refugees in Phetchabun originated
>> in Laos, and indeed, they have been quick to label the camp an
>> 'internal problem' of Thailand's.
>>
>>
>> The U.S. government, for its part, has no plans to relocate any
>> additional Hmong to the U.S., and Thailand feels that giving the Hmong
>> in Phetchabun refugee status would only encourage more to flood across
>> Thailand's borders.
>>
>>
>> So far it's proving problematic for Thai authorities to determine
>> which Hmong are from Laos, which are from Thailand, which have
>> legitimate ties to the CIA-backed secret war and which are simply
>> trying to capitalize on an opportunity to emigrate to the U.S.
>>
>>
>> Obstacles to Aid
>>
>> The major obstacle to providing aid to the Hmong in Phetchabun is that
>> the U.N. has no mandate in Thailand. Because the Thai government has
>> been unwilling to declare them as refugees-choosing instead to
>> classify the Hmong as illegal immigrants-UNHCR simply cannot
>> intervene. Consequently, there is a serious lack of food at Huay Nam
>> Khao.
>>
>>
>> There are only two NGOs with a long-term stake at the camp and only
>> one, Relief Logistics International (RLI), has a budget allocation for
>> food. RLI provides 1kg of rice per person every 7 to 10 days, but the
>> ration only lasts 2 to 3 days and then people are left to fend for
>> themselves.
>>
>>
>> Because the Thai government won't allow them to work residents at the
>> camp have no way to legally earn money. Some illegal trade and
>> 'secret' industries have sprung up, but security forces have been
>> cracking down on these lately. There has also been a crackdown on
>> residuals-money sent from Lao-American family members in the
>> U.S.-entering the camps, which many people counted on to supplement
>> their rations.
>>
>>
>> Choosing to remain anonymous, one high ranking military official
>> supervising the camp explained that the Thai government doesn't
>> provide food because officially the Hmong are viewed as criminals.
>> "Our mission is to control and contain them until they are sent back
>> to Laos. We are just here to supervise," he said.
>>
>>
>> But many of the police and military personnel charged with the
>> responsibility of providing security at the Huay Nam Khao camp admit
>> they also feel sympathy for the Hmong.
>>
>>
>> "I feel a great deal of pity for them," one officer said,
>> "because many have fled from a bad situation...from being killed in
>> Laos. But I'm not happy that they've come and tried to set up a
>> camp [in Phetchabun]."
>>
>>
>> Most likely, ISOC will try to find a new temporary location to transfer
>> the Hmong within Thailand until a plan can be devised to send them back
>> to Laos. At the moment there is still some freedom for the Hmong to go
>> in and out of the camp, but as one aid worker put it, "[The new camp]
>> will be like a prison."
>>
>>
>> Cracking Down
>>
>> In March security forces set up a checkpoint to restrict movement and
>> have been cracking down on what, and who, goes in and out of the camp.
>>
>>
>>
>> The checkpoint is allegedly meant to reduce the trafficking of drugs,
>> illegal materials, and money sent from Lao-American families. The
>> government also claims the checkpoint is in place to protect national
>> security though it is more likely there to protect the 'national
>> image' as cameras, visiting family members from the U.S. and foreign
>> journalists have all been banned.
>>
>>
>> In the end, their justifications seem like empty covers, dramatic
>> fabrications to justify censorship and the recent crackdown.
>>
>>
>> In one incident at the camp a video camera given to a Hmong pastor so
>> he could record sermons was confiscated after he was seen recording
>> footage outside the church. The camera was eventually returned to the
>> NGO that provided it to him. For his offence, the pastor was sentenced
>> to community service.
>>
>>
>> Health Concerns
>>
>> According to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), health conditions in the
>> camp have been improving, but are far from ideal. In addition to the
>> serious lack of food, space is inadequate and the housing situation is
>> dire.
>>
>>
>> "In some cases there are three to four families under one roof,"
>> said one MSF worker. "With people living so close together it's
>> easy for diseases to spread."
>>
>>
>> MSF conducts approximately 500 consultations per week. The more
>> complicated cases get referred to nearby hospitals, but most medical
>> care is administered at a temporary facility in the camp.
>>
>>
>> "We try to focus on the vulnerable people...those under age five and
>> pregnant women." There are between 1,500-1,700 children under the age
>> of five at the Huay Nam Khao camp, and there have been approximately
>> 200 births there during the last year.
>>
>>
>> According to MSF, approximately 10%% of children in the camp are
>> malnourished. "We've had some cases with children who are under
>> weight. For a long time they just weren't receiving the proper
>> diet."
>>
>>
>> Skin, lung and eye infections, as well as diarrhea and viral rashes are
>> all common problems in the camp. "It's difficult to do bacteria
>> control in an environment like this...the camp is susceptible to a
>> variety of outbreaks. TB could be a problem in the future. The
>> conditions are right here."
>>
>>
>> But for the Hmong, even tuberculosis is a small risk to take given the
>> potential abuses that await if they were to be forcibly returned to
>> Laos. In fact, most would much prefer to undertake the arduous task of
>> waiting out the U.S. government. It's an ambitious goal given the
>> number of years the Karen-another minority ethnic group with ties to
>> armed militants-have been lingering in refugee camps in Thailand.
>>
>>
>> Yet, if we are to learn anything from the Karen it is that hope is
>> inherently imbedded in perseverance. Many of the Karen have spent over
>> a decade in refugee camps, but recently U.S. lawmakers waived an old
>> law preventing thousands of Karen from being resettled in the U.S. for
>> supporting the armed Karen National Union. Now, up to 2,700 Karen are
>> scheduled to be resettled this year.
>>
>> It may just be wishful thinking, but if it can happen once it could
>> happen again. The Hmong are a patient people. After all, patience and
>> perseverance, it could be said, are the only things that have gotten
>> many of them this far.

>
>
> Dej tshiab,
>
> This must be old writing, right! Thaksin in now in America and he and
> his family can't even return to Thailand until all business
> investigations are clear. So, what can he do to help the Hmong
> situation in Thailand?
>
> csy