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Published on August 21, 2007

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it was "deeply concerned" about the conditions under which the Hmong have been held. The Lao Hmong began a hunger strike last Thursday over conditions at Nong Khai Immigration Detention Centre, where they have been since late last year. They began taking food after a UNHCR team visited them on Sunday evening.

The 149 refugees include 90 children.

Janet Lim, director of  UNHCR's Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, said: "They are being held in truly inhumane conditions - including innocent children - confined to two small cells into which daylight does not even shine and not allowed to leave.

"There is no reason for these 149 people to be detained, especially as other countries have come forward and offered them resettlement places if they are only allowed to leave Thailand. They have committed no crime. On the contrary, they have been recognised as refugees in need of protection.

"It is particularly disturbing to us that young children and babies are being subjected to these deplorable conditions."