"Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Defense Minister Prawit Wonguwon and Army Chief of Staff, General Anupong Paochinda, have launched a massive campaign of armed abuse, intimidation and threats to seek to seek to force some 4,000 Lao Hmong political refugees in Thailand back to the communist regime in Laos that they fled," said Philip Smith of the CPPA in Washington, D.C.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Thailand, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, October 30, 2009 - Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Defense Minister Prawit Wonguwon and Army Chief of Staff, General Anupong Paochinda, have launched a massive campaign of armed abuse, intimidation and threats to seek to seek to force some 4,000 Lao Hmong political refugees in Thailand back to the communist regime in Laos that they fled. Hundreds of additional new troops from the Thai Third Army and Ministry of Interior are being deployed inside the camp to harass, intimidate, beat and arrest refugees on a daily basis.
Despite an international outcry, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and General Anupong Paochinda seem determined to force Lao and Hmong refugees back to the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) regime that the refugees fled to avoid persecution.
The new bloody campaign in Thailand’s Nong Khai and Petchabun Provice, by Prime Minister Abhisit, Defense Minister Prawit Wonguwon and General Anupong Paochinda, comes in the wake the recent Association of South East Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) summit in Thailand and prior to the start of the South East Asia Games ( SEA Games ) in Vientiane in December in Vientiane, Laos.
Thailand’s Defense Minister Prawit Wonguwon, General Anupong and Prime Minister Abhisit have ignored repeated appeals by Members of the U.S. Congress to His Majesty, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand, to grant the Lao Hmong refugees political asylum in Thailand until they can be resettled in third countries that have agreed to resettle them including New Zealand, Canada, France, Australia and others. http://media-newswire.com/release_1098681.html
Paris, France, based Doctors Without Borders ( MSF – MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES ) was the sole non-government organization ( NGO ) in Thailand feeding the Lao Hmong refugees at Huay Nam Khao. The humanitarian organization left the camp in protest in May because of the Thai Military and Prime Minister Abhisit’s policy of forced repatriation of the Lao Hmong refugees. http://www.msf.org.hk/public/contents/news?ha=&wc=0&hb=&hc=&revision_id=32565&item_id=32564
http://media-newswire.com/printer_friendly_1091798.html
MSF has called on Thailand to halt the forcible repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees back to Laos. MSF has denounced the forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees from Thailand back to Laos by the military and government of Thailand. http://doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=3627&cat=press-release
“Clearly, it is the height of hypocrisy that in the wake of the recent ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, and discussions of the establishment of new human rights body for ASEAN, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Defense Minister Prawit Wonguwon and Army Chief of Staff General Anupong Paochinda have now launched an aggressive and renewed brutal military campaign to seek to force Lao Hmong political refugees from a camps in Petchabun Province and Nong Khai, Thailand back to the communist regime in Laos that the refugees fled,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) in Washington, D.C.
“The Lao military supported by elements of the Peoples Army of Vietnam continues to launch brutal and deadly military attacks against Lao and Hmong civilians as well as political and religious dissidents; this merciless campaign of ethnic cleansing and persecution against the Laotian and Hmong people inside Laos cannot be ignored especially since it involves widespread atrocities and an ongoing campaign of mass starvation aimed at dissident Buddhists, Christians, political dissidents and ordinary civilians in key provinces who seek to live independently of the LPDR regime, or who oppose the Lao military regime’s corruption, oppression and monopoly on political power.” http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/003/2007
http://media-newswire.com/release_1094929.html
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGUSA20070323001
Smith explained further: “Now, in addition to the large-scale daily intervention by armed Thai Third Army and Ministry of Interior troops in the Lao Hmong refugee camp, a massive campaign of propaganda and psychological operations are also being used by the Thai authorities at the apparent direction of Prime Minister Abhisit and General Anupong in order to bombard the Lao Hmong refugees with threats about the use of armed force against them. This new policy by Prime Minister Abhisit and General Anupong, is in clear violation of international human rights and refugee law, and is being used to seek to force the Lao Hmong refugees to volunteer to return to the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) regime in Laos where they fled political and religious persecution.”
http://media-newswire.com/release_1100183.html
“Unfortunately, Royal Thai Army General Anupong Paojinda, Thailand’s Military Chief of Staff, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, Chaovarat Chanvirakul, the Thai Minister of Interior, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and other Thai policymakers in Bangkok have plotted a detailed strategy that, while temporarily delayed, is now being secretly implemented to seek to force some 4,000 Lao Hmong refugees back to Laos over the coming days and weeks,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) in Washington, D.C.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1091673.html
“Unfortunately, despite an international outcry against the repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees by Members of the U.S. Congress and international humanitarian organizations, as well as Thailand’s new pledge to support human rights at the recently concluded ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and General Anupong seem determined to force Lao and Hmong refugees back to the Stalinist LPDR regime in Laos prior to the start of the South East Asia Games ( SEA Games ) in Vientiane in December in Vientiane, Laos,” Smith said.
“Members of the U.S. Congress, MSF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ), the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council, Lao Veterans of America Institute, Lao Veterans of America, Inc., Lao and Hmong student organizations, Ambassador H. Eugene Douglas, Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Edmund McWilliams and other refugee and human rights organizations and advocates have issued repeated appeals and detailed reports about the horrific persecution of the Lao Hmong refugees in Laos and their forced repatriation from Thailand to Laos,” Smith concluded. http://doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=2131
http://www.tragicmountains.org
In recent days, the Association of Southeast Asia Nations ( ASEAN ) has concluded a major summit in Hua Hin, Thailand. ASEAN has ten ( 10 ) member nations, which include Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
“In violation of human rights and international law, Thai soldiers are now conducting daily intimidation and abuse of Lao Hmong refugees in Huay Nam Khao to force them to volunteer back to Laos,” said Vaughn Vang of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council ( LHHRC ) in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Mr. Vang continued: “Groups of heavily armed Thai soldiers are entering the Lao Hmong Refugee camp in Huay Nam Khao twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Sometimes they enter later in the afternoon at the times of 6 or 7 pm at night. There is an estimated 100 plus soldiers entering the refugee camp daily.”
Vaughn Vang concluded with the following statement:
"With their machine guns pointed, the soldiers in striped uniforms yell, shout, threaten and abuse the Lao Hmong refugees more in the Thai language. The soldiers in the black uniforms are very mean, aggressive, abusive and nasty towards the Hmong refugees.
Once the troops enter the refugee camp, they divide into groups of seven to invade the seven districts ( groups of houses ) in Huay Nam Khao refugee camp. They aimed their fully loaded guns as if preparing to attack an enemy camp."
The soldiers in black uniforms carried… semiautomatic rifles while the soldiers in striped uniforms carried black colored guns that use live bullets.
The Thai black uniformed soldiers divided into groups of two or three and walked alongside the striped military uniformed soldiers.
According to the daily public announcement ( PA ) in the refugee camp as well as letters sent to all refugees in Huay Nam Khao, these Hmong refugees must prepare their belonging and get ready for return back to Laos.
The repeated daily public announcement by the Thai military over the Huay Nam Khao PA system broadcast to refugees is also repeatedly stating that these Lao Hmong refugees must prepare their belongings into a carry bag while the Thai military and authorities conduct the ( forced ) repatriation. The Thai soldiers will permit them to carry these bags onto the Army trucks. Refugees who refuse to prepare their belongings will be forced to repatriate without their belongings that Thai military broadcasts are stating to the refugees in the camp to intimidate them .”
U.S. Senators have written a series of letters to the U.S. Secretary of State urging intervention with the Royal Thai Government to stop the forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees back to Laos from Ban Huay Nam Khao, Phetchabun Province, and Nong Khai, Thailand. The letters were signed by Senator Russ Feingold ( D-WI ), Senator Herb Kohl ( D-WI ), Senator Amy Klobuchar ( D-MN ), Senator Barbara Boxer ( D-CA ), Sheldon Whitehouse ( D-RI ), Senator Patrick Leahy ( D-VT ) and others.
In August of 2007, U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf ( R-VA ), U.S. Congressman Ron Kind ( D-WI ) and U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher ( R-CA ) and a bipartisan coalition of Members of Congress sent an letter appealing to His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand, to seek his help to intervene and halt the repatriation of the refugees back to the Communist regime in Lao that they fled until the Lao-Hmong could be resettled in third countries. Hundreds of the Hmong at Ban Huay Nam Khao are minority Christians and animists who fear persecution or abduction in Laos, including many Hmong children.
http://www.media-newswire.com/printer_friendly_1062628.html
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1061830.html
In 2008, U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy ( D-RI ), U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin ( D-WI ), U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf ( R-VA ), and U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher ( D-CA ), U.S. Congressman Dennis Cardoza, U.S. Congressman George Radanovich ( R-CA ) and others introduced H. Res. 1273, appealing to His Majesty the King of Thailand regarding the need to end the repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees back to Laos.
Earlier, H. Res. 402 passed the U.S. Congress, unanimously, in bipartisan fashion, condemning the Lao LPDR communist government for its military attacks on Lao and Hmong people as well increased religious and political persecution, including Lao student leaders and minorities, including the Hmong people and dissident Christians.
Contact:
Ms. Maria Gomez or Mr. Juan Lopez
Tele. ( 202 ) 543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite No.#212
Washington, D.C. 20006
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Thailand, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, October 30, 2009 - Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Defense Minister Prawit Wonguwon and Army Chief of Staff, General Anupong Paochinda, have launched a massive campaign of armed abuse, intimidation and threats to seek to seek to force some 4,000 Lao Hmong political refugees in Thailand back to the communist regime in Laos that they fled. Hundreds of additional new troops from the Thai Third Army and Ministry of Interior are being deployed inside the camp to harass, intimidate, beat and arrest refugees on a daily basis.
Despite an international outcry, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and General Anupong Paochinda seem determined to force Lao and Hmong refugees back to the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) regime that the refugees fled to avoid persecution.
The new bloody campaign in Thailand’s Nong Khai and Petchabun Provice, by Prime Minister Abhisit, Defense Minister Prawit Wonguwon and General Anupong Paochinda, comes in the wake the recent Association of South East Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) summit in Thailand and prior to the start of the South East Asia Games ( SEA Games ) in Vientiane in December in Vientiane, Laos.
Thailand’s Defense Minister Prawit Wonguwon, General Anupong and Prime Minister Abhisit have ignored repeated appeals by Members of the U.S. Congress to His Majesty, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand, to grant the Lao Hmong refugees political asylum in Thailand until they can be resettled in third countries that have agreed to resettle them including New Zealand, Canada, France, Australia and others. http://media-newswire.com/release_1098681.html
Paris, France, based Doctors Without Borders ( MSF – MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES ) was the sole non-government organization ( NGO ) in Thailand feeding the Lao Hmong refugees at Huay Nam Khao. The humanitarian organization left the camp in protest in May because of the Thai Military and Prime Minister Abhisit’s policy of forced repatriation of the Lao Hmong refugees. http://www.msf.org.hk/public/contents/news?ha=&wc=0&hb=&hc=&revision_id=32565&item_id=32564
http://media-newswire.com/printer_friendly_1091798.html
MSF has called on Thailand to halt the forcible repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees back to Laos. MSF has denounced the forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees from Thailand back to Laos by the military and government of Thailand. http://doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=3627&cat=press-release
“Clearly, it is the height of hypocrisy that in the wake of the recent ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, and discussions of the establishment of new human rights body for ASEAN, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Defense Minister Prawit Wonguwon and Army Chief of Staff General Anupong Paochinda have now launched an aggressive and renewed brutal military campaign to seek to force Lao Hmong political refugees from a camps in Petchabun Province and Nong Khai, Thailand back to the communist regime in Laos that the refugees fled,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) in Washington, D.C.
“The Lao military supported by elements of the Peoples Army of Vietnam continues to launch brutal and deadly military attacks against Lao and Hmong civilians as well as political and religious dissidents; this merciless campaign of ethnic cleansing and persecution against the Laotian and Hmong people inside Laos cannot be ignored especially since it involves widespread atrocities and an ongoing campaign of mass starvation aimed at dissident Buddhists, Christians, political dissidents and ordinary civilians in key provinces who seek to live independently of the LPDR regime, or who oppose the Lao military regime’s corruption, oppression and monopoly on political power.” http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA26/003/2007
http://media-newswire.com/release_1094929.html
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGUSA20070323001
Smith explained further: “Now, in addition to the large-scale daily intervention by armed Thai Third Army and Ministry of Interior troops in the Lao Hmong refugee camp, a massive campaign of propaganda and psychological operations are also being used by the Thai authorities at the apparent direction of Prime Minister Abhisit and General Anupong in order to bombard the Lao Hmong refugees with threats about the use of armed force against them. This new policy by Prime Minister Abhisit and General Anupong, is in clear violation of international human rights and refugee law, and is being used to seek to force the Lao Hmong refugees to volunteer to return to the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic ( LPDR ) regime in Laos where they fled political and religious persecution.”
http://media-newswire.com/release_1100183.html
“Unfortunately, Royal Thai Army General Anupong Paojinda, Thailand’s Military Chief of Staff, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, Chaovarat Chanvirakul, the Thai Minister of Interior, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and other Thai policymakers in Bangkok have plotted a detailed strategy that, while temporarily delayed, is now being secretly implemented to seek to force some 4,000 Lao Hmong refugees back to Laos over the coming days and weeks,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) in Washington, D.C.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1091673.html
“Unfortunately, despite an international outcry against the repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees by Members of the U.S. Congress and international humanitarian organizations, as well as Thailand’s new pledge to support human rights at the recently concluded ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and General Anupong seem determined to force Lao and Hmong refugees back to the Stalinist LPDR regime in Laos prior to the start of the South East Asia Games ( SEA Games ) in Vientiane in December in Vientiane, Laos,” Smith said.
“Members of the U.S. Congress, MSF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ), the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council, Lao Veterans of America Institute, Lao Veterans of America, Inc., Lao and Hmong student organizations, Ambassador H. Eugene Douglas, Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Edmund McWilliams and other refugee and human rights organizations and advocates have issued repeated appeals and detailed reports about the horrific persecution of the Lao Hmong refugees in Laos and their forced repatriation from Thailand to Laos,” Smith concluded. http://doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=2131
http://www.tragicmountains.org
In recent days, the Association of Southeast Asia Nations ( ASEAN ) has concluded a major summit in Hua Hin, Thailand. ASEAN has ten ( 10 ) member nations, which include Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
“In violation of human rights and international law, Thai soldiers are now conducting daily intimidation and abuse of Lao Hmong refugees in Huay Nam Khao to force them to volunteer back to Laos,” said Vaughn Vang of the Lao Hmong Human Rights Council ( LHHRC ) in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Mr. Vang continued: “Groups of heavily armed Thai soldiers are entering the Lao Hmong Refugee camp in Huay Nam Khao twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Sometimes they enter later in the afternoon at the times of 6 or 7 pm at night. There is an estimated 100 plus soldiers entering the refugee camp daily.”
Vaughn Vang concluded with the following statement:
"With their machine guns pointed, the soldiers in striped uniforms yell, shout, threaten and abuse the Lao Hmong refugees more in the Thai language. The soldiers in the black uniforms are very mean, aggressive, abusive and nasty towards the Hmong refugees.
Once the troops enter the refugee camp, they divide into groups of seven to invade the seven districts ( groups of houses ) in Huay Nam Khao refugee camp. They aimed their fully loaded guns as if preparing to attack an enemy camp."
The soldiers in black uniforms carried… semiautomatic rifles while the soldiers in striped uniforms carried black colored guns that use live bullets.
The Thai black uniformed soldiers divided into groups of two or three and walked alongside the striped military uniformed soldiers.
According to the daily public announcement ( PA ) in the refugee camp as well as letters sent to all refugees in Huay Nam Khao, these Hmong refugees must prepare their belonging and get ready for return back to Laos.
The repeated daily public announcement by the Thai military over the Huay Nam Khao PA system broadcast to refugees is also repeatedly stating that these Lao Hmong refugees must prepare their belongings into a carry bag while the Thai military and authorities conduct the ( forced ) repatriation. The Thai soldiers will permit them to carry these bags onto the Army trucks. Refugees who refuse to prepare their belongings will be forced to repatriate without their belongings that Thai military broadcasts are stating to the refugees in the camp to intimidate them .”
U.S. Senators have written a series of letters to the U.S. Secretary of State urging intervention with the Royal Thai Government to stop the forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees back to Laos from Ban Huay Nam Khao, Phetchabun Province, and Nong Khai, Thailand. The letters were signed by Senator Russ Feingold ( D-WI ), Senator Herb Kohl ( D-WI ), Senator Amy Klobuchar ( D-MN ), Senator Barbara Boxer ( D-CA ), Sheldon Whitehouse ( D-RI ), Senator Patrick Leahy ( D-VT ) and others.
In August of 2007, U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf ( R-VA ), U.S. Congressman Ron Kind ( D-WI ) and U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher ( R-CA ) and a bipartisan coalition of Members of Congress sent an letter appealing to His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand, to seek his help to intervene and halt the repatriation of the refugees back to the Communist regime in Lao that they fled until the Lao-Hmong could be resettled in third countries. Hundreds of the Hmong at Ban Huay Nam Khao are minority Christians and animists who fear persecution or abduction in Laos, including many Hmong children.
http://www.media-newswire.com/printer_friendly_1062628.html
http://www.media-newswire.com/release_1061830.html
In 2008, U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy ( D-RI ), U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin ( D-WI ), U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf ( R-VA ), and U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher ( D-CA ), U.S. Congressman Dennis Cardoza, U.S. Congressman George Radanovich ( R-CA ) and others introduced H. Res. 1273, appealing to His Majesty the King of Thailand regarding the need to end the repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees back to Laos.
Earlier, H. Res. 402 passed the U.S. Congress, unanimously, in bipartisan fashion, condemning the Lao LPDR communist government for its military attacks on Lao and Hmong people as well increased religious and political persecution, including Lao student leaders and minorities, including the Hmong people and dissident Christians.
Contact:
Ms. Maria Gomez or Mr. Juan Lopez
Tele. ( 202 ) 543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Center for Public Policy Analysis
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite No.#212
Washington, D.C. 20006
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