Amid growing concerns for more than 4,000 Lao-Hmong claiming refugee status, the Thai government has already decided their fate
Last Wednesday, at 5am - the day before Christmas Eve and two days before the conclusion of the Hmong New Year festivities in the nearby village of Khek Noi - at least 30 six-wheel military trucks rumbled up the road to Huay Nam Khao, the military camp that since 2005 has been home to thousands of Lao-Hmong claiming to be refugees.
There are scant reports about what happened next, or what has happened since in the camp, which now holds more than 4,000.
What little information there trickled out over mobile phones, the fragile lifeline for the few Lao-Hmong who have managed to hold on to them by keeping them buried underground. Reports vary - Lao-Hmong human rights groups in the US, who claim to be in touch with a handful of people in the camp, said the calls were desperate, and that the convoy arrived with ambulances, officers in riot gear and a large quantity of electric stun guns. People in the camp said soldiers have told them they will be sent back, by force if necessary, and that no one in the international community will care.
There are also signs the camp is being dismantled. Callers said soldiers have chopped down their banana trees, crushed crops in the camp's garden and have searched for hidden mobile phones and potential weapons with metal detectors.
They claim the forces are jamming mobile phone signals, making it even harder to communicate what is happening to them.
Hours later, without referring to that morning's operation, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva confirmed Thailand's plans to deport all the Lao-Hmong seeking asylum in the country. Maintaining that the Lao-Hmong are illegal immigrants, he promised their repatriation would conform to international standards and that Thailand would adhere to human rights rules. He also said that past repatriations - about 3,000 have been sent back to Laos from Huay Nam Khao in the past few years - have occurred without rights violations.
Though he did not mention a specific time frame, defence ministry spokesman Col Thanathip Sawangsaeng said, as per the agreement with the Lao government, repatriation would be completed by the end of the year.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn confirmed that while the government agreed in principle with the timetable, the exact timing would be determined by officers on the ground, who are closely coordinating with their counterparts in Laos. He said that the operation is simply in accordance with Thai immigration law, and that officers have been instructed to make sure all Lao-Hmong are returned "safe and sound".
"We cannot, and would not send them back into harm's way," he said.
Yet these claims are at odds with those of human rights groups and the conditions under which the repatriation exercise is being conducted.
Sunai Phasuk, the head of Human Rights Watch, said: "Thailand's record on refugee protection is sinking to a new low as the army is now planning to use the Christmas and New Year holidays to cover up a massive repatriation of more than 4,000 Lao-Hmong, many of whom have escaped from political persecution, rights abuses and fighting in Laos."
Such concerns were discussed when diplomats in Bangkok met with Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya last Tuesday. Meanwhile, a high-level delegation of officials from the US, including Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz, was in Thailand earlier last week to observe the situation, and last Monday visited the 158 Lao-Hmong that for the past three years have been held in a detention centre in Nong Khai.
Access to Huay Nam Khao is restricted to military personnel and the handful of NGO workers who provide food and medical services in the camp. Those in the camp are not allowed to have mobile phones or other means to communicate outside the camp.
The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) has been denied access to the camp despite repeated requests since 2005 to screen the population for genuine refugee cases. Mr Panitan said that because the Lao-Hmong at Huay Nam Khao are not considered refugees, there is no reason for UNHCR involvement. Meanwhile the 158 Lao-Hmong detained in Nong Khai do have refugee status, but are considered illegal migrants by the Thai government and are also included in the repatriation plans. Mr Panitan said groups may be repatriated differently, based on their locations and circumstances.
The Thai government has conducted its own screening of the Lao-Hmong, but it has said little about the process or its findings.
Last week, UNHCR spokesperson Kitty McKinsey said: ''We understand that the Thai government's own screening process found a number of people had international protection needs, which means they may well qualify to be refugees.''
When Spectrum visited the area last week _ we were not allowed into the camp _ one military officer said some of those in Huay Nam Khao are refugees, and gave assurances that he had been trained in human rights. He also said that the ''refugee group'' would be treated the same way, and to the same standards as everyone else.
The lack of transparency and independent monitoring of the process has caused concern in diplomatic and human rights circles. In a letter sent earlier this month to Prime Minister Abhisit, nine US senators expressed concern over the system, saying: ''We believe the lack of transparency in the screening and repatriation process only exacerbates these difficulties and heightens international concern for these refugees.''
Diplomats and human rights groups estimate that at least several hundred of the Lao-Hmong in Huay Nam Khao qualify for refugee status. There are scores within the camp who are known to bear bullet and shrapnel wounds or other scars of physical abuse, allegedly caused by fighting with the Lao government.
Mr Sunai said: ''Thailand has long maintained that the Lao-Hmong are illegal migrants and claim the right to deport them. But, this should be done within a framework which ensures that any individuals among them who may have protection concerns are screened in line with international standards. The screening mechanism at Huay Nam Khao camp was implemented by the Thai army, not the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the main purpose of such a mechanism appeared to be for denying asylum claims of the Lao-Hmong. Many Lao-Hmong, who would typically qualify as refugees under international standards, have been deported over the past years by the Thai army.''
The media has also been shut out of Huay Nam Khao since 2007, and even the Thai-Hmong farmers in Huay Nam Khao village with fields bordering the camp know to keep a distance and their heads down when they walk along the fence.
Last Thursday, soldiers removed a Channel 7 TV crew that had been there to film Hmong New Year celebrations from the area. They were reportedly followed and encountered tense military checkpoints.
Security at Huay Nam Khao village was also tight when the Bangkok Post visited the area last Tuesday. There's a military checkpoint several kilometres from the camp, at the entrance to Huay Nam Khao village, and all visitors are monitored. While buying bananas at a local shop, one member of our team was approached by a man and asked to give his name and phone number.
We were allowed several minutes to speak with military officers, who told us that everything in the camp was, as ever, just fine. People get adequate water and food, and when they're sick they get taken to the hospital.
I asked if that happens often, and the military officer enthusiastically volunteered: ''Every day!''
While the military officer regarded this as generosity, villagers in Khek Noi say it points to the chronic malnutrition there. Villagers who are familiar with the situation in the camp, through friends who work there, remarked on the level of hunger and lack of food apart from rice. One villager also remarked that military officers sell goods that they buy in the village in the camp, with steeply marked-up prices.
While Unicef has provided humanitarian assistance in the form of food and health services in the past through Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) and now through the Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees, the groups have struggled with their humanitarian mission.
MSF withdrew from the camp in May, claiming that military restrictions were hindering their operations to an unacceptable level. According to MSF officers, the military had set up checkpoints in an effort to scare patients out of seeking medical services, and called on the organisation to coerce those in the camp to return to Laos both directly and indirectly by tactics such as stopping food distribution.
''We can no longer work in a camp where the military uses arbitrary imprisonment of influential leaders to pressure refugees into a 'voluntary' return to Laos, and forces our patients to pass through military checkpoints to access our clinic,'' said Gilles Isard, the MSF head of mission in Thailand, at the time.
Since MSF's withdrawal, those with contacts in the camp say the coercion, scare tactics and psychological operations designed to pressure the Lao-Hmong to voluntarily return have escalated. One man in Khek Noi familiar with conditions in the camp said soldiers have built a small prison inside the camp which they use to threaten those who resist. Group leaders are often targeted and are given little leeway, while those who have volunteered to return are allowed greater freedom. One recalled that one such volunteer was allowed to drive a truck to the nearby town of Lomsak.
'?The Thai army has barred access to food and medical services, provided by NGOs, and created a perception that repatriation can happen anytime in order to mentally break the Lao Hmong and pressure them into giving up their hopes of refuge in Thailand or resettlement elsewhere.?
The military officer I spoke with said they do what they can to inform the Lao-Hmong of the benefits of repatriation, which includes promises of amnesties as well as land, food and 5,000 baht from the Lao government. Delegations of previously repatriated Hmong have also visited the camp to tell of their experiences, visits which Lao-Hmong and human rights groups contend are forced and stage-managed.
Mr Panitan claimed that this is not the case, and said the Lao government ''has dedicated different places for these groups'', and promised to allow those that have been repatriated the opportunity to migrate to a third country if they return first. (Third countries may be less amenable to this plan)
While he didn't guarantee all returns would be voluntary, Mr Panitan said that ''officers are working hard to ensure the group that their living conditions will be better when they return to Laos'', although he did admit that the conditions in the camp were poor.
He also said the government has looked into cases reported in the media and by human rights groups of persecution of Hmong who have been repatriated in the past, but nothing has been found to substantiate such reports. He said it was a priority to make sure the Lao-Hmong have safe returns. ''This issue will factor into both our reputations.''
Lao-Hmong human rights groups in the US say they have documented cases where those that have been repatriated have been imprisoned or killed, and that the land and villages to which the Lao-Hmong are repatriated are closely monitored by the government, making it hard to speak the truth.
''The Lao government is notorious for treating deported Lao-Hmong harshly upon their return, targeting those with anti-government activity,'' said Mr Sunai. ''The arbitrary arrests and mistreatment of Lao-Hmong deportees are in stark contrast to efforts by the Lao government to showcase the generous and benevolent welcome given to Lao-Hmong deportees. The international community has raised serious concerns for the safety and security of those being deported to Laos. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other agencies do not have access in Laos to the Lao-Hmong community, particularly those who were returned against their will.''
Thai-Hmong in Khek Noi are less strident. While sympathetic to the conditions faced by the Lao-Hmong in Huay Nam Khao, many of the Thai-Hmong villagers have come to believe the Lao-Hmong would be better off if they went home, and that many remain in the camp due to the pressure of a few leaders.
The villagers say they communicate with some who were repatriated in the past, and say every now and then they come across a Lao-Hmong in Khek Noi who has already been repatriated from Huay Nam Khao, selling CDs or doing business. ''They travel freely,'' said Xiong Peng, a Thai-Hmong man who formerly worked on refugee issues at both the Thai-Laos and Thai-Burma borders.
Last Tuesday, a few of them were said to have made their way back for this week's New Year's celebrations, and in contrast to their fellow Hmong, only a few miles up the road in Huay Nam Khao, were among the large crowds singing, eating and playing games. We looked for them, but the story, like the fate of the repatriated Lao-Hmong or those still in Huay Nam Khao, was impossible to confirm.
International appeals for halt to Thai deportation plans
LAST THURSDAY, the United Nations refugee chief called on the Thai government not to deport around 4,000 ethnic Hmong to neighbouring Laos. Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said a halt to the planned expulsions is needed to explore alternatives, including voluntary repatriation to Laos or resettlement in a third country.
The Thai government has said it plans to deport the Hmong - including at least 150 recognised refugees - before the end of the month, in line with a bilateral agreement with Laos.
But Mr Guterres stressed the need to uphold the international legal principle of non-refoulement, which means refugees and asylum-seekers cannot be forcibly returned to countries or areas where they could face persecution.
"In accordance with international law, Thailand has the responsibility and international obligation to ensure that any return of recognised refugees or other persons in need of international protection to their country of origin is undertaken on a strictly voluntary basis,"he said.
"To proceed otherwise would not only endanger the protection of the refugees but set a very grave international example."
Many Hmong living in the highlands of Laos took part in the conflict that engulfed their homeland in the 1960s and 1970s. When the Pathet Lao came to power in 1975, tens of thousands of Hmong fled to Thailand in search of asylum, while others were resettled in Western countries, especially the United States.
Mr Guterres noted that the estimated 4,000 Hmong who are scheduled for deported include 158 recognised refugees currently held in detention in the northeastern province of Nong Kai, and a larger group being held at a camp in Petchabun province without access to UNHCR staff.
Last Friday, an official from the US Embassy in Bangkok said: "We have been told by the Royal Thai Government [RTG] that they plan to honour an MoU with the Lao government for the return of Lao-Hmong detained in Petchabun and Nong Khai. We have expressed our concern with this action, as it will likely involve involuntary return of people whom both UNHCR and the RTG have identified as having protection concerns.
"We have encouraged the RTG to delay plans to proceed with a large-scale repatriation. We have also urged the RTG to provide greater transparency in its screening process and emphasised that those with protection concerns should not be forced back to their homeland.
"The United States has no plans for any large-scale resettlement of the Lao-Hmong; however, we will consider referrals made on an individual basis by international organisations like the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
"Some 3,000 Lao-Hmong have been returned by the RTG over the last 18 months. We have not heard of reports of persecution for this group. However, it is possible that this group constitutes economic migrants without protection concerns, as they were not physically forced to return.
"[US] Assistant Secretary Schwartz was in Thailand earlier this week to discuss general US-Thai cooperation on refugee issues, one aspect of which concerns the forced repatriation of the Lao Hmong. During his visit, Assistant Secretary Schwartz met with officials from the RTG and travelled to Nong Khai, where he visited a US-funded project working to alleviate the difficult living conditions of the group there."
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