Thai Military Using Food Deprivation

Thai Military Using Food Deprivation Against Hmong Refugee Family

In a desperate attempt to force Joua Va Yang, a former BBC jungle guide, back to Laos the Thai military is using food deprivation against his wife and children, including his four year-old child.

Two days ago, Thai authorities transferred Mr. Yang’s wife and children from Khao Kho district jail back to Huay Nam Khao camp jail. Ever since then, authorities have been depriving Mr. Yang’s wife and children of food until they “volunteer” to return to Laos. This harsh treatment by camp authorities is due to a huge amount of pressure from the Lao government who reportedly has singled-out this family for deportation.

It is believed that once Mrs. Yang and her children finally cave-in and volunteer to return that the Lao government will hold them hostage forcing the husband to return. This type of strategy has been successful in previous “voluntary” repatriation instances whereby deported family members have been held by Lao authorities until their remaining family members agree to return to Laos.

Mr. Yang’s father, a former jungle leader who is a UNHCR-recognized refugee living in Thailand, will most likely be singled out in the near future for deportation as he is reportedly on a Lao government blacklist.

It is very disturbing to see how both the Thai and Lao governments can get away with such blatant violations of international refugee law. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be visiting Laos on Friday for the opening of a UN house there. I hope he takes this opportunity to confront the Lao government on their handling of the Hmong situation.

ENDS

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