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Published on October 15, 2007

The Laos-born Hmong and their relatives without Thai citizenship made the plea at a question-and-answer session during a visit by Khunying Amphorn Meesuk.

They said most of them feared reprisals from Laos' communist government if they were repatriated and asked Amphorn to coordinate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Bangkok for their relocation to the US.

The US Central Intelligence Agency recruited the Hmong in Laos to fight against communist Lao forces during the Vietnam War.

Most of the 7,990 residents of the camp in tambon Kheg Noi of Khao Khor district are descendants of Laos-born Hmong or those without Thai nationality despite their marriage to Thai-born Hmong or Thai citizens

They dismissed as propaganda a video released by the Lao government showing Hmong families that were recently sent back to Laos living happily.

Colonel Kitt Khimwongsa, a senior military official running the camp, said the Thai-born and Laos-born Hmong residents were not barred from meeting each other or developing relationships, especially couples planning to wed or having children together.

The officer said, however, that those without Thai nationality would not obtain it through marriage or the naturalisation process.