Hmong repatriation to go ahead

Repatriation of the Hmong has been delayed over the past months as international organisations intervened and accused the process of being inhumane, said Lao deputy chief of staff Brig General Buaxiang Champapanh.

Buaxiang was in Thailand to meet with Lt General Niphat Thonglek, chief of the Supreme Command's Boundary Department on the Hmong repatriation.

Thousands of Hmong from Laos have gathered in Phetchabun's Ban Huay Nam Khao since late 2004. They claimed they were close associates of the United States Central Intelligence Agency's secret fighters who fought against the Communist before the fall of Vientiane in 1975. They had fled from suppression at home.

However, Laos and Thailand have rejected their claim and considered the group as merely illegal migrants who entered Thailand to seek better lives.

Authorities of the two countries have agreed to repatriate them to their place of origin.

"The repatriation process is not complicated as the group are simply illegal migrants and from now on we can send them back smoothly," Lt General Niphat told reporters after the meeting in a Phitsanulok hotel.

Thailand has deported 191 Hmong to Laos since May, he said.

The repatriation has been interrupted over the past three months as international organisations claimed some of the Hmong had been harassed and harmed.

In fact, Thailand has quietly repatriated more than 400 Hmong since November 2004, when they initially gathered in Ban Huay Nam Khao, according to a USbased Hmong group who noted some of them were missing.

During the meeting in Phitsanulok, Thai and Lao officials exchanged videos to show how they both treated the Hmong. The Thai video showed the Hmong in Huay Nam Khao, while the Laos showed the Hmong who had been deported earlier.

Meanwhile, the Hmong in Ban Huay Nam Khao said they have resisted the repatriation plans due to fear of punishment by Lao authorities.

Le Su, a 48 yearold Hmong from Laos, said his group fled from suppression at home to Thailand and would not return. Only 10 per cent of the Hmong in Ban Huay Nam Khao are willing to return home, he said.

The Nation