Nitya was in Laos yesterday for a two-day official visit and the Hmong migrants were one of major issues for discussion.

Vientiane would coordinate with Thai agencies to reunite the children with their families, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat, who was at the meeting.

The Lao minister did not say where they were, he said.

Police in Phetchabun's Khao Kho district arrested the 26 teenagers on November 29, 2005 when they came of out a shelter in Ban Huay Nam Khao to attend a church service. The Thai authorities quietly deported them on December 5 from Nong Khai without the acknowledgement of Vientiane.

They were part of some 7,000 Hmong being sheltered in Ban Huay Nam Khao who claim links with the CIA during the Vietnam War and say they fled Laos due to suppression.

Laos has dismissed the claims, saying there had been no suppression. The Hmong were merely illegal migrants seeking a better life in Thailand and a chance to be resettled in a third country.

Bangkok also deemed the group illegal migrants and not refugees who needed political protection.

The deportation raised international concerns about ill treatment of minorities by both countries.

Yesterday's meeting in Vientiane did not discuss the fate of another group of 153 Hmong being held at Nong Khai immigration detention centre. That group has put up fierce resistance to being deported.

Thailand is likely to change its policy toward this group as Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has said they may have the right to resettle in third countries, which have agreed to take them. Australia and the Netherlands have volunteered to take some of the Hmong and other countries are expected to take more.

Laos was insisting they be sent back and demanded Thailand honour an agreement made by the General Border Committee (GBC) on December 19, 2006. Thailand previously deported 53 Hmong in November 2006 and 16 others in January. 

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

Vientiane