Published on June 06, 2005

NGO members who monitored the hand-over have likely been arrested and are being held in Vientiane

Four Americans helping with the surrender of the first batch of 173 ethnic Hmongs to the Laos government went missing on Saturday afternoon and are believed to have been arrested by the authorities, according to diplomatic sources monitoring the event.

The missing four – members of the Fact Finding Commission (FFC), a US-based human rights organisation focusing on Hmong issues – were Georgie and Ed Szendrey from California, and two Hmong-Americans, Sia Cher Vang and Nhia Vang Yang.

The 173 Hmong are among the families of CIA-backed insurgents who fought the Communists in Laos during the Indochina War.

They are the first to surrender of more than 14,000 ethnic Hmong who are spread through out Xaysomboune military special zone and Bolikhamxai province and have been on the run from the Lao authorities.

The four Americans entered Laos about three days ago to witness the historic surrender and to guarantee of the safety of the Hmong when they handed themselves over to Vientiane officials at a designated “drop off” point on Route 7 in Xiang Khuang province.

Georgie Szendrey is a television producer in the US, while Ed Szendrey is a retired police officer.

The first batch of 173 Hmong was made up of women and girls, with many elderly and sick, while half were children.

An FFC officer monitoring the situation through satellite phone from the Thai border said they had lost all contact with the four Americans at 3pm on Saturday, about 10 hours after the Hmong surrendered.

The last call from the group was made by Ed, who said they would be arrive in the capital, Vientiane, at 4pm. They were then about 52 kilometres from Vientiane, in an area with a major military checkpoint.

“The surrender went smoothly and food was provided by villagers at the request of the local government authorities,” the FFC quoted Ed as saying.

According to other FFC sources, US and other diplomats were aware of the planned surrender. The FFC officer said he would ask the US government to demand an explanation from Vientiane today about the disappearance of the four Americans.

Cyril Payen, a French journalist

who has been with the Hmong in recent months filming a documentary, said

he had his doubts about the FFC initiative.

“The whole thing just seems too easy for the Lao government . . . to give into the three-decade old enemy and whose existence they continue to deny,” he

said.

“During our visit, we saw wounded people and children on the run, fleeing attacks from the Lao military.”

Don Pathan

The Nation

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