The evening edition or RFA reported different version of the news that
THanouxay refer to, esp about the repatriation of the 13? or 12? or 11
Hmong

Listen to the recorded program of:
07:00 of 29 Feb 2008: (from 2:09 - 7:37)

Furthermore, more report:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/02/29/regional/regional_30066899.php
MSF and UN question if Hmong going back to Laos voluntarily
There were bizarre scenes at the Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in
Phetchabun Friday after the Army's initial move to return a group of
Hmong back to Laos.

Refugees rushed to hide five young children split from their mother,
who was part of a dozen "volunteers" taken from the camp on Wednesday.

Some 11 Hmong were sent back to Laos late on Wednesday but both UN
officials and MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres), which funds the camp,
say they have serious doubts about whether the returnees went back
voluntarily.

One of the returnees trucked out of Huay Nam Khao on Wednesday was a
young mother separated from her five children, including a 2-year-old
baby. Yesterday, Thai officials sent the woman back from Nong Khai,
after apparently realising she really had been split from her baby and
kids.

But instead of returning the woman to the camp, she was held in an
adjacent facility and made to use a loud speaker to "call her children
to come to Laos with her", MSF national director Gilles Isard said.

However, refugees in the camp, apparently believing the woman was
reluctant to go to Laos, hid her children in the camp, which houses
nearly 8,000 people.

"Some Hmong are trying to hide the children, and we are trying to talk
to the woman, but the Thai authorities won't talk to our staff at
present," he said.

At the time of going to press, his staff believed troops were about to
enter the camp to search for the children.

"Relatives at the camp have said not all the people being returned
were volunteers. Some were loaded by force," he said.

"This mother was not willing to go but they took her [on Wednesday].
And all her children were left crying at home.

"The mood in the camp is very bad. Everyone is very anxious. They feel
really desperate.

"The (Thai) Army says eight families have been identified as
volunteers and four went on Wednesday but some of the other four
families say they don't know why they are on the list [to go back].
They are unlikely to be volunteers. It includes one person who was
shot [by Lao troops] in 2001."

The MSF chief said Army officers had given it no information on the
individuals being sent back and was operating "with no transparency at
all".

Kitty McKinsey, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, voiced concern. She said: "We have received a number of
reports that call into question whether everyone actually volunteered
to go back. Such returns should be strictly voluntary, conducted with
dignity and in accordance with international standards."

The return of the Hmong at the Phetchabun has been talked about by
Thai and Lao officials for months, but the matter is highly
contentious because both countries refuse to allow independent
monitors to screen genuine refugees from "economic migrants" hoping to
be resettled abroad.

MSF officials warned late last year many hundreds of Hmong in the camp
looked to have authentic claims to refugee status and that dozens
could even show bullet wounds from clashes with the Lao and Vietnamese
military.

The state of anxiety about forced repatriation was such they expect it
will spark riots.

Some officials monitoring the situation expect Thailand will begin
trucking groups of up to 200 Hmong back Laos in the near future - and
they predict the situation at Huay Nam Khao will descend into
bloodshed.

Hmong support groups in the US such as the Fact Finding Commission
claim some of the latest families may have been paid Bt10,000 to be
repatriated - possibly to "curry favour" before the official visit by
new prime minister Samak Sundaravej, who travelled to Vientiane early
Friday.

by Jim Pollard

The Nation

On Feb 29, 4:48 pm, thanouxay hotmail.com> wrote: