Laos, Thailand Crisis: Eight Senators Urge Action on Hmong
Written by Other New Source
Thursday, 22 May 2008
The letter was sent to Secretary Rice by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT),
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI),
Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Senator Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA), Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Amy Klobuchar (D-
MN).

(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C., May 21, 2008, In response to
a series of recent events in Washington, D.C. and Southeast Asia,
eight Senators from across the United States have sent a letter
regarding the plight of some 8,000 Lao Hmong refugees in Thailand to
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to intervene with
Thai Prime Minister Samak to halt the forced repatriation of the
refugees back to the communist regime in Laos.

The letter was sent to Secretary Rice on May 16, 2008 by Senator
Patrick Leahy ( D-VT ), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse ( D-RI ), Senator
Russell Feingold ( D-WI ), Senator Herb Kohl ( D-WI ), Senator Barbara
Boxer ( D-CA ), Senator Dianne Feinstein ( D-CA ), Senator Norm
Coleman ( R-MN ) and Amy Klobuchar ( D-MN ).

“Given the current 7,000-strong Hmong hunger strike in Thailand and
relentless military attacks by the Lao regime , we applaud the recent
U.S. Senate letter, signed by eight Senators, urging Secretary Rice to
rapidly intervene with Thailand’s Prime Minister Samak to avert the
forced repatriation of some 8,000 Lao and Hmong refugees from Ban Huay
Nam Khao and Nong Khai, Thailand back to Laos,” stated Philip Smith,
Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis in
Washington, D.C. “The Senate letter helps to address the horrific
Hmong refugee crisis in Thailand and Laos by insisting on an
internationally monitored refugee screening program, possibly operated
by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees in cooperation
with Doctors Without Borders ( MSF ) and other NGOs,” Smith said.

Massive hunger strikes and demonstrations have reportedly rocked the
refugee camp in Petchabun, Thailand, after the arrest and imprisonment
of Mr. Cha Lee as well as fears by the Hmong refugees of forced
repatriation back to the communist regime in Laos that they fled. The
Lao military, in cooperation with Vietnam, has increased attacks
against the Hmong in Laos. http://media-newswire.com/release_1066833.html
http://media-newswire.com/release_1066895.html

“The Lao government is using food as a weapon against the Hmong
people,” stated T. Kumar, of Amnesty International at a U.S.
Congressional Forum session on Laos held earlier this year in the U.S.
Congress.

Prime Minister Samak was heavily criticized in Washington and
internationally for the use of Thai Army attack dogs against a group
of Hmong refugees at the refugee camp in Petchabun Province, Thailand,
earlier this year when a group were forced back prior to his visit to
Laos. http://media-newswire.com/release_1061830.html

“Today, the United States has both political and moral obligation to
reaffirm to the Royal Thai Government our special concern for the
Hmong and to ask for firm assurances that there will be neither direct
nor indirect pressures to force repatriation to Laos,” stated
Ambassador H. Eugene Douglas, Former U.S. Ambassador and Coordinator
for Refugee Affairs ( 1981 – 1985 ) under the Reagan Administration. “
I am confident that the Government of France, especially Foreign
Minister Kouchner, will work with the United States on this urgent
initiative.”

Ambassador Douglas continued: “At the same time, the US Government
must, without delay, deliver a clear and strong message to the
Governments of Vietnam and Laos that we will not tolerate punitive
actions or any nature of inhumane treatment against the Hmong, whether
they be current permanent residents inside Laos or in the status of
returned refugees from elsewhere in the region. Also, there must be
vigorous international monitoring of the current and future well being
of the Hmong inside Laos.”

Ambassador Douglas stated : “Administration support of the recent
action of the US Congress to remove barriers to the resettlement of
qualified Hmong refugees still in Southeast Asia is a key element in
finding a solution to the current crisis of the Hmong in Thailand and
Laos. Equivocation on the part of the Department of State would be
shameful. Without immediate US leadership and demonstrations of
meaningful concrete steps to work with the Thai Government on the
Hmong issue, the Hmong will suffer yet more tragedies. They have no
voice in their country of origin or in their country of temporary
refuge.”

"The signatory Senators of this letter to Secretary Rice should be
congratulated for their significant step to rescue the Hmong trapped
in Ban Huay Nam Khao refugee camp and Nong Khai Immigration Detention
Center. Their leadership is vital to create a will to rescue these
innocent Hmong refugees who have been suffering from extreme fear of
persecution if forcibly returned to Laos," said Dr. Jane Hamilton-
Merritt, author of Tragic Mountains which details the Hmong
association with the U.S. under three U.S. Presidents: Kennedy,
Johnson and Nixon. http://www.tragicmountains.org

"Aware of the extraordinary efforts by the current government of Laos
'to wipe out' the Hmong who allied themselves with the U..S in the Lao
theater of the Vietnam War, " said Hamilton-Merritt, speaking in
Washington at the Vietnam Memorial, "forcing these vulnerable people
back to Laos is unconscionable and immoral."

The killing of innocent Hmong in Laos by the Lao authorities over the
years and the threatened Thai repatriation of Hmong refugees back to
their tormentors and torturers in Laos is unacceptable. An honorable
nation can not allow its former staunch allies to be so victimized,"
added Hamilton-Merritt, a Nobel Peace Nominee for her human rights
works on behalf of the Hmong and others in Laos.

Doctors Without Borders ( Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF ) currently
provides medical and humanitarian relief to the 8,000 Lao Hmong
refugees in Petchabun, Thailand and has raised concerns about the
forced repatriation and plight of the Hmong refugees.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/pr/release.cfm?id=2131

Schuyler Merritt, Research Director for the CPPA stated: “This letter
is a historic opportunity for the U.S. Department of State to help
provide amnesty for people suffering from the aftermath of aiding U.S.
military interests in Southeast Asia; Clearly, this letter helps give
the Hmong refugees of Ban Huay Nam Khao, Phetchabun Province, Thailand
a fighting chance to avoid forced repatriation and a strong voice in
the American decision making process.”

“Our meetings in the U.S. Congress, and our letters to our elected
officials, this past week and in recent months have stressed the need
for the United States Senate and House of Representatives to intervene
to urge to immediately stop the forced repatriation of the Hmong
refugees at Nong Khai and Huay Nam Khao back to Laos,” stated Colonel
Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America
Institute.

On May, 15, 2008, a special session of the U.S. Congressional Forum on
Laos and Congressional staff briefing was held in the U.S. Congress
regarding the crisis facing Hmong refugees in Laos and Thailand. The
Lao Veterans of America, and Colonel Wangyee Vang, participated and
spoke along with other organizations and Members of Congress and their
staff.

On May 16, 2008, Lao Veterans of America National Recognition and
memorial ceremonies were held at Arlington Cemetery and the Vietnam
Memorial to honor Lao and Hmong veterans and their American advisors
who served during the Vietnam War and to remember those still left
behind in Thailand and Laos. Congressional meetings and briefings were
concluded on Monday, May 19 on Capitol Hill. http://media-newswire.com/release_1066798.html

“We are appealing to Prime Minister Samak and the Thai government to
heed the recent letter of the U.S. Senate and immediately stop the
forced repatriation of the Lao Hmong people at Nong Khai and Ban Huay
Nam Khao so that they can be resettled in third countries,” stated
Vaughn Vang, Executive Director of the Lao Human Rights Council in
Green Bay, Wisconsin and St. Paul, Minnesota.

“We have testified, spoken and written to our Senators and Members of
Congress urging that efforts be made to save our suffering Lao and
Hmong people from forced repatriation and military attacks in Laos and
Thailand,” stated Chong Toua Kue, Lao Hmong Community leader and
refugee advocate in Rhode Island.

The UNHCR and nearly a dozen third countries, including Canada,
Australia, France and others have offered to assist with humanitarian
aid, refugee screening and resettling the Hmong refugees and asylum
seekers. __

Contact:

Anna Jones or Philip Smith

Center for Public Policy Analysis
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Suite #212
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Tele. ( 202 ) 543-1444
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Washington, D.C.
Contact: Anna Jones or Philip Smith
Tele. ( 202 ) 543-1444