Thailand to Deport Hmong Refugees Back To Laos

Thailand is to deport 152 people of the Hmong minority back to Laos even though most of them are recognized as refugees by the United Nations, Laos officials and Amnesty International has said.

The group of 152 were arrested in mid-November and detained at the Immigration Detention Center (IDC) in the border city of Nong Khai.

This is how most people see the Hmong
in Laos: Kids looking for spare change
from tourists during stops at villages
to buy trinkets and take photos.I cannot speak to the specific details of the 152 refugees in Nong Khai, but I can speak to the Hmong people I have met in Laos. My impression of these people when I visited a Hmong villiage in Luang Prabhang is that they are economic outcasts, and therefore an impoverished and probably neglected population. However, in an entire country of bamboo dwellings, their existance didn't seem particularly — if at all — severe. I did meet Hmong people on my last trip to Laos (Tip's family specifically) who were exceptionally well-off compared to the average Lao citizen.

That's what I saw... as a tourist, on the beaten path, as it were. Laos, however, is a heck of a lot larger than a single highway which ferries tourists from Vientienne and Luang Prabhang. There is a lot of jungle out there, with a lot of people doing a lot of things that nobody ever hears about. All I can do is to hope that these 152 repatriated people aren't mistreated.

(I probably shouldn't be optimistic, eh?)

Amnesty International strongly condemns the massacre of ethnic Hmong people by Lao government troops in northern Vientiane province last month. The deadly attack, which took place some 20 kilometres northeast of the tourist town of Vang Vieng on 6 April 2006, claimed the lives of at least 26 people, mostly women and children. Another four people were wounded.

This is a good quick read on the modern history of the Hmong people. This is an in-depth long read on the complete Hmong history.