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Published on November 5, 2007

Aid workers with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors without Borders) appealed to the Surayud government last Wednesday, saying they were "strongly convinced" a considerable proportion of the 7,500 Hmong in a camp at Baan Huay Nam Khao had legitimate claims for refugee status.

MSF country director Gilles Isard, whose staff has provided the Hmong with food, shelter and medical care over the past two years, said Thailand's plan to forcibly return them to Laos was having a major psychological impact on thousands of people.

"We demand that Thailand stop the forced repatriation of the Hmong and that these people be given access to a proper and objective screening process carried out by an independent agency," Isard said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) must be involved, he said, because MSF staff were not qualified to screen the Hmong who had fled persecution and armed attacks in jungle areas by the Lao military, from those who were economic migrants who sneaked into Thailand hoping for a free ride to a third country.

After the press briefing, Isard warned that Thailand was playing with fire - many of the refugees were so deeply traumatised by their experiences in Laos it was highly likely there would be riots like the one that occurred at a Nong Khai immigration detention centre in January and another that erupted spontaneously months ago when the military had tried to return a group of refugees from Phetchabun.

Isard and field coordinator Daniela Abadi told of two suicide attempts and said they were indicative of how "hysterical" many Hmong were about being sent back.

"Most of the people we see are extremely traumatised by what they went through in the past in Laos," Abadi said. "It is difficult for us to give proper relief to people whose main symptoms are fear - fear to go back to Laos, fear to live every day. They are prepared to commit suicide rather than be sent back."

MSF planned to dispatch a psychologist to the camp in the next two weeks, she said.

"These people are presenting a lot of symptoms that are related to psychological stress. But we know that this psychological problem can't be addressed unless these people can finally feel safe, and they cannot feel safe in this current situation."

Isard said there were at least 1000 Hmong from Wat Tham Krabok at Saraburi - people who had "headed north" after failing to make the "last" intake to the United States two years ago.

Persecution of jungle Hmong groups in Laos stems partly from their fighting with US and Thai troops against the communist Pathet Lao during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and '70s. About a quarter of a million Hmong have been resettled in the US, but Washington has sought in recent years to break with the past and improve ties with Vientiane.

The initial reaction to MSF's appeal has been negative. Lt-General Nipat Thonglek, a Thai commander in charge of Hmong refugee affairs, was quoted by Associated Press as saying: "We are very clear about this. These people quite simply are illegal immigrants. They need to understand they are a burden on Thailand."

Nipat said Thailand had not set a deadline for the return of the Hmong at Phetchabun, but planned to repatriate them "as soon as possible - maybe a year, maybe longer".

The latter comment suggests the Thai military know full well that any move to start returning refugees without independent screening - as reportedly demanded by Lao authorities in middle of this year - would be highly controversial and could spark an international backlash, especially if there are riots or bloodshed.

Groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have spoken out strongly against the plan, saying Laos' communist government has a dismal record of transparency and has denied multiple reports of serious human-rights abuses despite first-hand testimonies, video and pictorial evidence.

The Thai military's current priority looks to be preventing Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, from returning to a position of influence after the election via the People Power Party. Better, surely, to fight one battle at a time, and leave the Hmong for the elected government due to take office early in the New Year.

Laos, meanwhile, has been trying to win support from the refugees at Phetchabun with a video of one of the sites they would reportedly be returned to.

Isard said most refugees refused to watch the video, simply because they didn't trust the Lao government to tell the truth.

"It shows some refugees who have gone back to a nice village in the Kasi region [in central northern Laos]. According to Laos, about 60 refugees live there. But there is no mention of the others - of the 200 who were returned in recent times - or the others who surrendered [from the jungle]. It's obviously no guarantee [they will be treated properly]," he said.

"The Lao government is not transparent at all. The 27 kids who were sent back in December 2005 disappeared for over one year. Eventually 12 girls came back to Huay Nam Khao. They said they had been treated very badly, claimed they had been beaten and questioned in a very harsh way. Some claimed they'd been raped. Others were sent to a re-education camp in the countryside with 80 other prisoners and forced to do hard labour every day.

"Their testimonies are in accordance with information given to international reporters who have visited Laos in those places and certain human-rights organisations.

"If the refugees go back we expect they could be very badly treated - maybe they will be killed or tortured. If people are sent back to Laos it should be on a voluntary basis.

Jim Pollard

The Nation