NEWS ANALYSIS: Alleged Plot By U.S. Hmong Leaders: Does It Stem from Indifference by the Global Community to Act On Genocide In Laos?
By David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network
Shock and disbelief was the first reaction in the U.S.-based Hmong community, after learning that their leader Vang Pao, and 9 others were incarcerated – charged of violating the U.S. neutrality act by conspiring to invade and overthrow the Southeast Asia communist country of Laos.
They could face a lifetime in prison if they are found guilty.
But sources told Huntington News Network that the motivation might have been more than a quest to turn their homeland into a democracy, and to return home, as most of the older generation of Hmong Lao in exile never ceased to dream for.
Even though the Hmong community does not condone the alleged conduct, voices are growing louder, reminding the public that their leaders, many of whom were arrested, “have wasted many pairs of shoes to walk to the United Nations, Washington DC and other governments from around the world -- urging for help to rescue their desperate people back home in communist Laos.”
For nearly three decades, vanishing numbers of internally displaced Hmong Lao groups are hiding in the remote jungles of Laos, hunted by military troops with long range missiles, heavy artillery weapons, including chemicals. If they surrender, they face an uncertain fate, many are reported to be gang raped, tortured, others are killed. Refugees who fled to Thailand say, that they were too afraid to come out of hiding, and decided instead to flee through the jungles to find safety in Thailand.
“The Pathet Lao has systematically attempted to eliminate all those Hmong Lao who had sided during the Vietnam War with the United States and became a CIA secret army to assist the US affords to hinder the spread of communism throughout South East Asia,” said Ruhi Hamid, an independent journalist who went into the jungles and documented for the BBC a Hmong Lao group living in hiding 3 years ago.
After the Vietnam War ended, thousands of Hmong Lao fled their homeland, and followed their leader, General Vang Pao, to the United States as refugees. But thousands stayed behind in Laos and have been hiding and running from military aggressions ever since, a story unknown to the public.
"Hmong community leaders and Hmong NGOs -- including some of those arrested -- have reached out again and again to governments and UN agencies, with the hope that the international community may intervene with Laos, and ensure that our people can come out safely out of the jungles” said Kue Xiong, from the Lao Human Rights Council. “But we basically met indifference, nobody offered serious help,” Xiong added.
We are deeply shocked, that our leader VP, and other prominent figures from the California-based Hmong community - disturbed by the plights of our people back home decided to take matters in their own hands, which led to their recent arrests," said Lia Vang, from Minnesota. “It is terrible that after promoting peaceful resolutions they would feel so helpless by the indifference by the UN, US and other nations of the world -- that they would resort to violence. “
"Gen. Vang Pao is like a father figure to our people," said Xao Lo of Wichita, Kansas. "If you are a father, and every day people are being killed, wouldn't you take any means to help your children? He might have thought this could be the last straw."
To watch an interview with Vang Pao, in a excerpt video clip of “Hunted Like Animals”, a documentary by filmmaker and rights advocate Rebecca Sommer, based on interviews with refugees, interwoven with footages filmed by the Hmong in the jungles themselves,
Click:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtW08-HrGPI
Since 2004, more than 10,000 of Hmong Lao have fled the conflict zones and flooded ino Thailand, many thousand settled in a temporary refugee camp in Thai’s Petchabun province.
Since 2006, growing numbers of Hmong Lao who fled from the jungles were forced to return to Laos by the government of Thailand, after attempting to seek asylum.
Thailand never permitted the UNHCR access to the asylum seekers to determine - and possibly grant them their refugee status. As recently as May 16, 2007, Thailand requested the UNHCR to close its doors completely to any asylum seekers, leaving the people in limbo.
We are loosing hope,” said Kue Xiong. “ We are simply overwhelmed with human rights abuse reports – our people in the jungle are dying and starving, our panicking refugees are deported, it is unbearable to deal with this day by day, and nobody cares, those who could, don’t help.”
“Many Hmong from the jungles, who are recent arrivals to Thailand are held in crowded prisons and detention centers, many of them who are women and children. They await the same fate as the other groups which got forcefully deported in the last weeks, many of whom fled a real nightmare in the Laotian military zones”, said Rebecca Sommer, from the Society for Threatened Peoples International.
“We received reports that there are already vehicles waiting outside of Detention Center Nong Khai, to forcefully deport 157 Hmong Lao and 2 newborn babies, most of them have actually a document for protection as persons of concern from the UNHCR, but it seems that Thailand simply doesn’t care. ” Sommer added. “In Khao Kho Detention center, a group of 40 refugees were kicked and hit with bamboo sticks by Thai authorities, to force them to sign that they want to go back to Laos. Apparently one man had signed already. Two others are reported to be in hospital since wednesday. Theng Lor, one of the Hmong man of the group had previously tried to commit suicide by stabbing himself in order to avoid being send back alive."
"The UN system should be much more proactive; it is unbelievable that the situation in the Laotian jungle, and the merciless and illegal deportations of refugees are to this day not efficiently addressed and stopped - we need to see things moving in a positive direction now," said Sommer from the STP. "We urge governments to strongly intervene with Laos and Thailand - the military aggressions in Laos must stop, and the refugees cannot be forced back to Laos- they will be persecuted, we have credible reports on that."
Through the act of repatriation, the Thai government is complacent to any human rights violations that are committed by the government of Laos upon its citizens,” Anselmo Lee, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA, told Huntington News Network.
“In the jungles of Laos, one of the Hmong Lao groups which is surrounded by military, and hiding in scattered small groups for over two weeks, found the mutilated bodies of two of their women, and four of their children," said Kue Xiong. “Another group was reported to have lost 25 of their people during an ambush last week.”
This Thursday, the incarcerated 10 Hmong men who were charged of a plot to recruit insurgents and to carry out attacks that would take out the Lao government met for the first time with their families.
“I haven’t spoken to my husband, it hurts too much, but today I will see him,” said one of the wives, “I will never forgive him if the allegations are true, but I don’t believe they are.”
