Dec. 21 2006
 
HMONG REFUGEE CRISIS: Film on Hmong Lao Refugees Lays to Rest Thailand, Laos Misinformation
 
By David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network
 
Thousands of ethnic Hmong Lao refugees in Thailand could be forced to return to Laos under a deal announced on Monday, Dec. 18, 2006, between the two countries – despite international concerns that they would face political persecution.
 
During the General Border Committee meeting on Monday while discussing the forced deportation of the 152 Hmong refugees (which came to a halt), Thailand’s Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtas and Laotian Major General Douangchay Phichith once again reaffirmed their position -- that the Hmong Lao refugees which have crossed from Laos into Thailand since 2004 are illegal immigrants -- not refugees.
 
Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, sent a letter dated Dec. 8, 2006 from Geneva, Switzerland to Foreign Minister Nitya Pibunsonggram, expressing concern over the forced repatriation of the 152 -- urging Thailand to comply with the international principle of refoulement, which has been the cornerstone of the country's policy towards refugees stranded inside its territory.
 
The UN Human Rights Council and the EU agreed that Thailand was no longer following international norms of conduct.
 
Thai Ambassador Virasak Footrakul was summoned to the State Department in Washington, DC on Dec. 8, 2006, with the State Department stating its concerns about the possible forced repatriation of the 152 Hmong refugees. US ambassador Ralph Boyce lunched next day with Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to press the importance of the issue once again, sources told HNN.
 
Gen. Boonrawd announced that Thailand will begin photographing the refugees in Huay Nam Khao, and send the photos to Laos for verification. If the refugees are found to be Lao nationals, Vientiane would take them back, he said.
 
But sources said that – acting secretly -- Thailand has already finalized the documentation on the refugees during the last weeks. The Thai military commandment registered and took pictures of all the refugees, family by family, and briefly interviewed most of them.
 
Most likely they already forwarded the completed documentation on the refugees during the General Border Committee meeting to Laos, says Vaughn Vang, executive director of U.S.-based Hmong Lao Human Rights Council, adding: “We assume that they try to speed up the process during Christmas and New Year – when many European governments and UN agencies are running their offices with limited staff.”
 
Thousands of Hmong Lao refugees have crossed from Laos into Thailand since 2004; they are currently living along the roadside in makeshift shelters near Huay Nam Khao village in Phetchabun province.
 
Many of them fled and continue to flee from remote Laotian jungle areas, were they have lived in hiding -- some of them for more than 30 years -- isolated, displaced and constantly on the run from ever increasing military aggression.
 
The violence dates back to the Viet Nam war. Coerced into joining the CIA’s anti-communist efforts, the Hmong ethnic minority was the CIA’s Secret Army. When the U.S. pulled out of Southeast Asia in 1975 and the Lao kingdom was overthrown by the communists, the Hmong became targets of retaliation and persecution, Hundreds of thousands fled Laos, others ran to remote mountainous regions. Less than 20,000 are estimated to still survive.
 
The increased Laotian military crackdown on the Hmong Lao groups-in-hiding, with usage of chemical weapons, rockets and bombs, is vehemently denied by Laos to the public.
 
Two weeks ago, the remaining Hmong Lao groups hiding in Bolikhamxay province were reported to have been eliminated, with only a handful surviving, sources told HNN. In other Laotian provinces, recent military attacks killed hundreds of Hmong civilians, most of them half starved women and children. Survivors either surrendered, while others are on their way to Thailand. See previous article in HNN: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/national/061209-staff-hmong.html
 
Despite repeated requests by politicians, diplomats and the media, Laos denies the international community access to Laotians military training areas, were isolated Hmong Lao groups report to the outside world to endure merciless military massacres, which can only be described as genocide.
 
Human rights advocate and filmmaker Rebecca Sommer visited and video taped 2005 and 2006 testimonies of Hmong refugees who fled Laotians military aggressions to Thailand. Her comprehensive Report was submitted to the UN system and Thailand. To download the Report, click here: http://www.rebeccasommer.org/REPORT-Hmong.pdf
 
With the situation of the Hmong Lao refugees in Thailand reaching a crisis, Rebecca Sommer announced the early release of her human rights documentary “Hunted Like Animals.” For more information see: http://www.rebeccasommer.org/HLA/release.html
 
In this 75 min. long film, the Hmong Lao refugees explain what nightmares they experienced before they fled from Laos to Thailand’s refugee camp Huay Nam Khao. Interwoven into the documentary Hunted Like Animals is film footage shot and narrated by the Hmong Lao themselves, from groups who live in hiding, surrounded and enduring ever increasing military attacks with modern weapons and chemical poison, in the mountains of Laos. “The footage gives us just a glimpse of the atrocities the Hmong Lao groups are going through in the jungles of Laos,” Sommer told HNN.
 
Even though the UN has no access to the over 8,300 current Hmong refugees in the camp, and no access to the conflict areas inside Laos — this film brings the words and testimonies of the Hmong Lao out to everyone. “No one can deny [what is happening] -- after seeing this film.” Said Sommer, from the Society for Threatened Peoples International.
 
“Hunted like Animals shows shocking graphic evidence of the ongoing and increasing systematic military aggression against the Hmong ethnic minority hiding in the jungles of Laos,” Sommer told HNN. “We mailed in the last weeks thousands DVDs of the film to governments, NGOs, the UN system, and the media. Thailand’s National Security Council, Interior Ministry and Foreign Ministry already received it,” Sommer says.
 
“The interviews with the refugees lay to rest misinformation efforts by the Thai and Lao governments to conveniently label the Hmong refugees in Thailand economic refugees looking for a better life,” says Chue Hue Vang, from US based United Hmong International.
 
“Such claims are becoming unspeakable falsehoods when seeing and hearing the Hmong Lao talk for themselves,” says Cue Chou Tchang, President of the Hmong America Mutual Assistance Association, “We are convinced that ‘Hunted like Animals’ will be our most effective tool for telling the true story of our people and their plight. The Hmong refugees in Huay Nam Khao want the world to know about the genocide they have endured for over 30 years, and they want the world to help them and their relatives who are still hiding in the jungle.”
 
“Hunted Like Animals is a must-see not only for politicians, diplomats and human rights activists, but for anyone whose heart is in the right place... I wholeheartedly recommend this documentary both for its strong message and for its skillful cinematography, " said Alexander Nowak, German Consul General in New York City in a letter to New York-based Sommer.
 
In Huay Nam Khao’s Hmong refugee camp, the Thai military commandment of the camp was replaced a couple of weeks ago. The commander of the camp is now a colonel, assisted by a lieutenant colonel and both stay permanently right in the village of Huay Nam Khao.
 
It appears, that the Hmong refugee crisis takes more and more importance in the hierarchy of Thailand’s national priority, Sommer said.
 
But pressure by the alarmed international community is increasing, and it remains to be seen if Thailand is willing to lose face by violating international norms of conduct, Sommer told HNN.
 
Donor countries should assist with financial aid for the refugee camp, food, sanitation, and housing, Sommer told HNN. It is not enough to raise concerns and expect that Thailand is carrying the financial burden alone, she said.