# Thailand starts deporting Hmong to Laos **URL:** \ **Category:** Het laatste Thailand nieuws\ **Created:** [28 december 2009 om 15:13 UTC](https://forum.wereldwijzer.nl/t/thailand-starts-deporting-hmong-to-laos/64589 "2009-12-28T15:13:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Krung\_Thep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5e925/32.png) [@Krung\_Thep](https://forum.wereldwijzer.nl/u/Krung_Thep)\ **Post date:** [28 december 2009 om 15:13 UTC](https://forum.wereldwijzer.nl/t/thailand-starts-deporting-hmong-to-laos/64589/1 "2009-12-28T15:13:56Z")
Published: 28/12/2009 at 06:52 AM Online news: [World](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world) The army began Monday the forcible return of thousands of ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers to communist Laos despite international protests over fears they could face persecution. “The operation started at 5.30 am (2230 GMT Sunday),” Colonel Thana Charuvat, who is coordinating the repatriation, told reporters at an army centre about 12 kilometres (seven miles) from a camp in northern Thailand. > **[Bangkok Post - The world’s window on Thailand | Breaking news, Thailand news,...](https://www.bangkokpost.com/)** > > All the latest top stories and breaking news. Thailand’s most credible source of Thai and international developments. In-depth business and political news, leading Lifestyle trends, broad international sports coverage, plus English language learning _This handout photo released by the army shows ethnic Hmong refugees gathered ruing an operation to deport thousands of them to Laos from a refugee camp in Phetchabun on Monday._ He said 5,000 soldiers, officials and assisting civilian volunteers had entered the camp in Huay Nam Khao village in the province of Phetchabun to begin rounding up more than 4,000 Hmong being held there. “The operation is expected to take one day,” he added. Security forces were seen heading towards the camp by truck armed with batons and shields, according to an AFP photographer at the army centre in Khek Noi village. Media were not allowed beyond that point. The Hmong are seeking asylum in Thailand claiming that they face persecution by the Laotian regime for fighting alongside US forces during the Vietnam War and human rights groups have warned they could resist the expulsion. Thailand says they are illegal economic immigrants, but has come under fire from the international community for refusing to grant the UN Refugee Agency access to them to assess whether any are political refugees. Thana said the group would be removed from the Huay Nam Khao camp by truck and later transferred to 100 buses that carry 40 people each. “They will be transported from the camp to the army camp in Lom Sak district (in Phetchabun) before moving to immigration in Nong Khai (by the border) and going to Laos,” he said. Special forces members were among the troops entering the camp and 50 mobile prison trucks also arrived there last night, said Sunai Phasuk, a Thailand analyst at New York-based Human Rights Watch. “The army said they would first target group leaders and potential trouble makers. Those people would be snatched and sent out first,” he told AFP. He said local officials expected the Hmong to resist deportation attempts, warning that the situation could “turn ugly”. The Thai government has promised Laos, which insists the group will be safe after returning, that they would be sent back by the end of the year. “The Lao government confirmed that they will give amnesty to the Hmong leaders,” Thana said. But the United States has said it would be “deeply dismayed” by the deportation and made a last-ditch offer Sunday to help Thailand take an alternative path. “We have made it abundantly clear that we are prepared to roll up our sleeves and work with partners in Thailand for a solution that is humane and responsible,” said Eric P. Schwartz, Assistant Secretary of State for population, refugees and migration. “Even at this late date we’re fully prepared to do that,” he told AFP in a telephone interview from the United States. Diplomats have said several hundred Hmong could have valid fears of persecution and as such should not be forcibly returned. “It seems difficult to imagine there will be fully fledged international access to the Hmong community on arrival, given the past experiences of repatriation,” a Western diplomat in Bangkok said Sunday. Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN refugee agency, urged Thailand on Thursday to call off the expulsions, saying they would “set a very grave international example”. \*Bron: Bangkok Post / [www.bangkokpost.com](http://www.bangkokpost.com) \* ---
**Author:** ![Krung\_Thep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5e925/32.png) [@Krung\_Thep](https://forum.wereldwijzer.nl/u/Krung_Thep)\ **Post date:** [29 december 2009 om 08:35 UTC](https://forum.wereldwijzer.nl/t/thailand-starts-deporting-hmong-to-laos/64589/2 "2009-12-29T08:35:06Z")
\*\*Govt says deportation ‘is for their own good’ \*\* Published: 29/12/2009 at 12:00 AM Newspaper section: [News](http://www.bangkokpost.com/advance-search/?papers_sec_id=1) The Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun has closed its doors after it was cleared Monday of nearly 4,000 ethnic Hmong. Just over 100 Hmong were left Monday night awaiting deportation to Laos, said the Royal Thai Armed Force Headquarters’ deputy chief of joint staff, Worapong Sanganetra. Gen Worapong insisted all the Hmong had left for Laos voluntarily. The deportations began at 4am. About 110 trucks and buses joined together in convoys to carry the ethnic Hmong across the border to Laos. The first vehicles arrived at the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in Nong Khai about 5pm, while the last was expected to have arrived about 3am today, officials involved in the operation said. Thailand and Laos will hold a joint press conference on the operation this morning at Paksan town in Laos. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the deportations had gone smoothly and there had been no resistance from the Hmong. He stressed the need to send them all back to Laos given the peaceful situation along the Thai-Laos border. The prime minister said that if the US wanted to offer the Hmong third-country resettlement, it could contact Laos directly. Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said the government was confident Laos would keep its word to improve the Hmong’s quality of life. He rejected human rights groups’ claims the deportation would do them more harm than good. Thailand had not sent the Hmong to jail but set them on a path to a better life before they can be resettled in a third country, Mr Kasit said. Rights groups and some countries have voiced concern that the Hmong could be persecuted after their return to Laos. “Why not have trust in Laos?” Mr Kasit asked. "Western countries do not trust in the cooperation between Thailand and Laos and between the peoples of the two countries. "Don’t look down on us. “The Lao government has no intention whatsoever to kill its people.” The minister said it had been proved the 3,000 Hmong who had previously been deported to Laos now had a better life.He said Thailand was ready to provide financial support to improve the lives of the Hmong. \*Bron: Bangkok Post / [www.bangkokpost.com](http://www.bangkokpost.com) \* ---
**Author:** ![Krung\_Thep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5e925/32.png) [@Krung\_Thep](https://forum.wereldwijzer.nl/u/Krung_Thep)\ **Post date:** [29 december 2009 om 08:57 UTC](https://forum.wereldwijzer.nl/t/thailand-starts-deporting-hmong-to-laos/64589/3 "2009-12-29T08:57:29Z")
**In photos: The Hmong expulsion** Published: 29/12/2009 at 01:02 AM Online news: [Local News](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local) The army removed some 4,000 ethnic Hmong from their Thai camps on Monday and trucked them to Laos. Here are some photos of the drama. Photos by the Bangkok Post and Royal Thai Army > **[Bangkok Post - The world’s window on Thailand | Breaking news, Thailand news,...](https://www.bangkokpost.com/)** > > All the latest top stories and breaking news. Thailand’s most credible source of Thai and international developments. In-depth business and political news, leading Lifestyle trends, broad international sports coverage, plus English language learning _Hmong children leave Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun on a military truck bound for Laos. Photo by Surapol Promsaka na Sakonnakorn_ > **[Bangkok Post - The world’s window on Thailand | Breaking news, Thailand news,...](https://www.bangkokpost.com/)** > > All the latest top stories and breaking news. Thailand’s most credible source of Thai and international developments. In-depth business and political news, leading Lifestyle trends, broad international sports coverage, plus English language learning _Soldiers form a line as they begin repatriating the Hmong from Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun. (Photo courtesy of the Royal Thai Army)_ > **[Bangkok Post - The world’s window on Thailand | Breaking news, Thailand news,...](https://www.bangkokpost.com/)** > > All the latest top stories and breaking news. Thailand’s most credible source of Thai and international developments. In-depth business and political news, leading Lifestyle trends, broad international sports coverage, plus English language learning _Hmong pray before being sent out of Thailand. (Photo by Bangkok Post)_ > **[Bangkok Post - The world’s window on Thailand | Breaking news, Thailand news,...](https://www.bangkokpost.com/)** > > All the latest top stories and breaking news. Thailand’s most credible source of Thai and international developments. In-depth business and political news, leading Lifestyle trends, broad international sports coverage, plus English language learning _Hmong women, some in tears, are seen on board a military truck. (Photo by Surapol Promsaka na Sakonnakorn)_ > **[Bangkok Post - The world’s window on Thailand | Breaking news, Thailand news,...](https://www.bangkokpost.com/)** > > All the latest top stories and breaking news. Thailand’s most credible source of Thai and international developments. In-depth business and political news, leading Lifestyle trends, broad international sports coverage, plus English language learning _Authorities lead a group of Hmong with their belongings to the trucks and buses that took them to Nong Khai and across the border to Laos._ > **[Bangkok Post - The world’s window on Thailand | Breaking news, Thailand news,...](https://www.bangkokpost.com/)** > > All the latest top stories and breaking news. Thailand’s most credible source of Thai and international developments. In-depth business and political news, leading Lifestyle trends, broad international sports coverage, plus English language learning _Hmong children were led and carried to the trucks by soldiers._ \*Bron: Bangkok Post / [www.bangkokpost.com](http://www.bangkokpost.com) \*