Tensions rise in Huay Nam Khao camp

Tensions rise in Huay Nam Khao camp

Wednesday morning, Thai soldiers went to the home of blacklisted Hmong refugee Ka Pao Lor in order to arrest him for deportation to Laos. Knowing he was being targeted for arrest he was able to evade authorities. Frustrated soldiers confronted his 15 year-old son demanding that he tell them where his father was hiding. Due to lack of cooperation the soldier hit the child with the butt of his gun knocking him to the ground.

A large group of thirty or so concerned neighbors surrounded the boy protecting him from further attack and eventually the soldiers decided to back off. The Hmong leader of Huay Nam Khao camp, Chong Cher Lor, was also supposedly being targeted for arrest that day but was also able to evade Thai authorities. These two men, among many others, are reportedly on a Lao government blacklist which was given to Thai authorities earlier this year during a high level Lao delegation visit to the camp.

Ka Pao Lor is one of many Hmong listed on a Lao government political blacklist which has been posted inside the Thai military headquarters in camp. They are reported to be targeted for the upcoming repatriation this Sunday. The Hmong refugees believe that the Thai and Lao sides are cooperating to target key refugee leaders in order to break the will of the remaining population so that they cannot resist the upcoming forced deportations planned for next month.

Ka Pao Lor had come to Bangkok and registered with the UNHCR requesting asylum status several years ago. He was reportedly given the reference number NI 19477 but never interviewed. The Thai and Lao governments have jointly stated that there are no Hmong political refugees and that they are all "economic migrants", even those 400 or so who have already received UNHCR refugee status.

Both the Lao and Thai sides fervently claim that there is no fighting going on in Laos and that the Hmong have nothing to fear about returning. Meanwhile, recent reports by Hmong refugees claim that in mid-April the Lao military killed two young children who got lost while foraging for food in the Phu De Phao jungle area.

Maybe if one is really pessimistic about believing in the stories of Hmong refugees we can instead refer to a recent Lao military document dated January 24, 2009 [document attached] regarding a curfew warning in the Nam Jai area stating that "100 armed resistance fighters" are in the area.

ENDS

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