Thailand Vows to Send Hmong Back to Laos
The government of Thailand confirmed on Wednesday it will soon repatriate more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to their home country of Laos, where they fear persecution and discrimination.
The Hmong group, currently held in a camp in Huay Nam Khao in northern Phetchabun province, are asking for political asylum, claiming they face persecution from the current Lao regime because they had fought alongside US forces during the Vietnam War of the 1960s.
“Thailand will complete repatriation of the Hmongs at Huay Nam Khao within 2009 because that is the government policy as discussed with Laos,” according to Thai defense ministry spokesman Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng.
US Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz, head of the department of population, refugees and migration, left Thailand Wednesday morning following a trip that included a visit to a Hmong camp.
Cynthia Brown, a U.S. embassy spokesperson, stated to reporters, “Part of what he was doing here was talking about the Hmong issue.”
Many Hmong have been allowed to settle in the U.S.
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