Thailand and Laos delay deportation of Hmongs
Thailand and Laos agreed on Tuesday to delay deportation of 153 Hmong detained in Nong Khai to Laos as they resisted and threatened to commit mass suicides, officials of both sides said.
Thailand and Laos's joint committee on border security Tuesday morning has already signed a document of repatriation in preparation to deport the group, including a new born infant, across the Mekong River back to Laos.Women and children were seen dragged into buses and trucks at Nong Khai Immigration's Detention Center as they refused to be repatriated while men tied their wrists with ropes in the cells. "As some of them were willing to go while many others were not ready, officials on both sides agreed to delay the plan and work on the matter later," said Lao Foreign Ministry's spokesman Yong Chanthalansy in a phone interview. Yong together with senior Lao delegation led by Colonel Siphanh Boudthavong head of Lao Defense Ministry's Boundary Department crossed the Mekong River on Tuesday to receive the Hmongs in Nong Khai. The deportation process began at about 8am as the Thai authority informed the minorities they were going to be deported to Laos. About 20-30 Thai police were deployed at the immigration detention office during the deportation process. More police were reinforced into the venue. As Hmongs refused to comply and Thai authority started forcing their way into the cells, dragged the women and children out of the cells at about 10am and loaded them onto the truck. Two Hmong women who refused to get on the trucks were severely beaten by the Thai authority, according to Yong Lee, a Hmong detainee who spoke on the phone from his cell. "As we run away from suppression. Unless Thai people help us, it's better to die here rather than going back to cruel punishment in Laos," he said. Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong said Vientiane would take them back to their original places without punishment for their illegal departure from the communist ruled state. The group is a part of some 7,000 Hmong migration being sheltered in Phetchabun's Ban Huay Nam Khao who snaked out of Lao to seek asylum in Thailand. They claimed they were associates of the United States Central Intelligence Agency's fighters since a secret war against communist in 1960s1970s and fled from suppression at home. Thai and Lao authorities considered the group as victims of human trafficking syndicates who lured them to seek better lives in Thailand and perhaps resettlement the US. Supalak Ganjanakhundee The Nation
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