Rush to deport the Hmong could be an ugly mess

Rush to deport the Hmong could be an ugly mess

Rush to deport the Hmong could be an ugly mess
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
Published on March 12, 2009


The Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc) is waiting for new instructions from the government over Hmong refugees being held in Phetchabun as the military's budget for the camp is running out.

If no more money comes in, the shelter for more than 5,000 Hmong from Laos will be shut down by the end of September, according to a military officer who oversees the camp.

The Isoc spends some Bt20 million annually on the camp in the far Northwest. Most of the budget is for military operations. The Hmong get no Thai funds - they receive food and medical care from Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), the French non-government group.

Closing the camp at Ban Huay Nam Khao would mean that having to repatriate all the Hmong to Laos against their will.

Groups of Hmong have been sneaking across the Mekong River from Laos to Thailand since late 2004. They mixed in with Hmong who went north after being forced to leave Tham Krabok monastery in Saraburi, where thousands of Hmong lived since the end of the Vietnam War.

The closure of Tham Krabok and a resettlement program to the United States in 2004-2005 is seen as a major reason for the influx of Hmong from Laos, who have been accused of seeking to be resettled in the US as refugees.

The Hmong wandered around the mountains in Phetchabun's Khao Kho district for a period before gathering in Ban Huay Nam Khao. From early 2005 they lived along a road to the village, until being evicted and the military built a new shelter for them in mid-2007. This site kept them a few kilometres away from Ban Huay Nam Khao village.

Thailand and Laos agreed in early 2007 to repatriate all of the Hmong to their places of origin in Laos, as they were regarded as illegal migrants, rather than asylum seekers, as they claimed.

In practice, repatriation of the Hmong had already begun. A first group of 29 was quietly sent back in December 2005. This deportation led to a minor conflict with Laos as Vientiane said Bangkok sent the group without notifying any Lao authority.

Screening Hmong refugees is complicated and having to deport them is not a sweet job.

The Hmong at Huay Nam Khao camp could be classified in three groups. Most - more than half - are regarded as normal migrants from Laos. Some 100 or so have a strong connection to the "secret" army funded by the United States' CIA to battle the Communist Pathet Lao before the fall of Vientiane in 1975. Some claim to be ex-fighters while others say they were their relatives left in the jungle.

The last group is ethnic Hmong living or born at Tham Krabok who missed the US resettlement program in 2005.

Aside from those in the camp at Phetchabun, some managed to sneak into Bangkok and obtain legal protection as "persons of concern" from the United Nations refugee agency before being arrested and nearly deported. This group has been detained at Nong Khai since late 2006. With 11 new-born babies, the number of Hmong at Nong Khai's detention centre now stands at 158.

Initially, Thailand planned to shut down the Hmong camp by the end of 2008, but grouping them together for deportation was seen as unfair and a tough task to manage, as they have always resisted repatriation.

A total of 2,057 Hmong have been repatriated since May 2007, but 5,474 remain at Ban Huay Nam Khao. And some 25 babies are born every month, an official said.

Trying to deport 5,000 human beings within the next six months, before the military's budget runs out, is a tall order given many appear determined not to be sent back. The task is impossible unless Thai authorities are willing to violate their basic rights.
from : nationmultimedia