Laos to Hmong : Return, you have no choice
PHETCHABUN : Hmong illegal migrants at a camp here have
no choice but to return to Laos, says a senior Lao official, in a
new campaign which seems to have failed. ''Don't dream that you
will be landed elsewhere,'' said deputy chief of staff of the Lao
armed forces Buaxiang Champaphan after talks with 20 Hmong leaders
yesterday.
''No country, including the United States, will receive you.
''And don't ever hope to put up any resistance, as no one will
support you. So think about it thoroughly again.''
The Lao officer initially planned to visit the camp at Ban Huay
Nam Khao in Khao Kho district but changed his mind and met with the
Hmong representatives at the nearby Khao Kho Task Force.
A heavy presence of soldiers around the small tents where the
meeting was held did not allow any of the Hmong to appear outside
or make any protest.
Brig-Gen Buaxiang accompanied Nipat Thonglek, head of the Border
Affairs Department, as well as other senior officials from both
sides to the meeting.
Since 2004, several thousand Hmong from Laos have migrated
illegally to the village to join others from Tham Krabok temple in
Saraburi who resettled there in the hope of being sent to a third
country.
They were relocated last year to a more restricted holding area
uphill under the vigilance of the army while Thailand and Laos
worked out ways to solve the problem.
The camp was originally intended to close at the end of last
year. But since May 2007, only 2,057 Hmong have been sent back
home, while 5,474 remain.
Lt-Gen Nipat said Thailand was still trying to convince the
illegal migrants to return home but has not set a new deadline.''It
might be considered a delay but we will keep doing so within the
humanitarian framework in which [repatriation] is on a voluntary
basis,'' said Lt Gen Nipat, co-chairman of the Thai-Lao general
border subcommittee.
- looks like the refugees are going to get royally f*cked
soon.
