Hmong Suffer Religious Persecution in SE Asia

Hmong Suffer Religious Persecution in Thailand, Laos

Nong Khai, Thailand and Washington, D.C., May 7, 2009

The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR) has increased its persecution of Laos Christian, Catholic, Buddhist and animist believers who practice their faith independent of government monitoring.

"Many Thousands of Laotian and Hmong refugees, including Lao Hmong Christians, have fled religious and political persecution in Laos to seek asylum in Thailand at Ban Huay Nam Khao, Petchabun Province and Nong Khai, Thailand as well as other places," said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in Washington, D.C.. "Hundreds of Lao Hmong Christians and Catholics are at Ban Huay Nam Khao and Nong Khai in Thailand where the are faced with the prospect of forced repatriation back to Laos; The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's report released in Washington, D.C. recently, officially puts Laos and the LPDR on a ‘Watch List' as a result of the LPDR's religious persecution of the Laotian and Hmong people in Laos and its lack of transparency on religious freedom issues," Smith continued.

Vaughn Vang, Executive Director of the Hmong Lao Human Rights Council, Inc., stated:

"The Lao Hmong religious community in Ban Huay Nam Khao, Thailand, and its religious leaders are being targeted by the LPDR regime and Colonel Bounloune for persecution; the Lao Hmong religious believers are being attacked by him each day with threats, intimidation, and forced repatriation; he is taking away their families for torture, deportation, and he is overseeing and helping to direct the closing of the independent Hmong tradition animist and shaman shrines and house churches of Hmong Christians and Catholic believers; Colonel Bounloune is trying to destroy the faith and take away the hope and beliefs, of the Lao Hmong refugees in the refugee camp and replace it with a utopian Marxist belief in the LPDR regime and its leaders instead of traditional Hmong beliefs and any trust they may have in Jesus Christ and their churches and families and religious traditions."

"Laos Colonel Bounloune, a Lao Peoples Army and LPDR intelligence officer, has been secretly posted to Ban Huay Nam Khao refugee detention center in Petchabun Province, Thailand, in recent months with the full support of Royal Thai Third Army commanders and officers of the Thai Ministry of Interior (MOI), where he has personally overseen the forced closing of over one dozen Lao Hmong Protestant Christian and Catholic house churches as well as Hmong traditional animist shrines that the refugees had set up in the camp to worship, pray and conduct religious ceremonies," continued Smith. "Lao Hmong Christian leaders and house church lay leaders, as well as many Hmong shaman leaders, have been singled out and targeted for harassment, persecution and forced repatriation in Thailand, at Ban Huay Nam Khao camp, in Petchabun Province, and dozens have already been forced back to Laos in recent months where many have been persecuted, disappeared, imprisoned, of summarily executed by the LPDR military and security forces."

Mr. Smith observed further: "Colonel Bounloune of the Lao military has placed a high priority on identifying, threatening and persecuting Lao and Hmong Protestant Christian and Catholic leaders and traditional animist shamans, along with their families, in the refugee camp at Ban Huay Nam Khao, in Thailand, and is singling them out of persecution and deportation to Laos; the LPDR regime seeks to close the Lao and Hmong churches and animist shrines in the camp and persecute and kill those religious leaders who oppose the LPDR's policies, including freedom of religious belief and expression, and the right to freely assemble for religious services and ceremonies."

Lao Peoples Army and LPDR security forces have targeted Lao Hmong political and religious dissident groups hiding in the jungles and mountains of Laos with military attacks, mass starvation and ethnic cleansing operations, especially in Vientiane Province, Xieng Khouang Province, Luang Prabang, Khammoune Province. Thousands of unarmed Lao Hmong civilians, including women and children, have died in recent months at the hands of the Lao Army and LPDR regime, including hundreds of Christians and animists specifically targeted for their faith and independent religious practices, including membership in dissident independent churches and sects, or with independent animist shamans.

Laos Diaspora, and independent Lao and Hmong human rights and dissident organizations in France, the United States, Thailand, and Laos, have noted the recent report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) which raises serious concerns about the LPDR's record of religious persecution and lists it on watch list for monitoring its ongoing religious persecution of believers, especially Christians.

Laos is a one-party, authoritarian military regime closely allied with Burma and North Korea. During the Burmese crackdown and arrest of hundreds of Buddhist monks recent, the LPDR regime in Laos provided safe-haven and sanctuary to the families of Burmese generals and military officers responsible for the killing, arrest and disappearance of hundreds of Burmese Buddhist monks. The military junta in Burma sent specially tasked aircraft with the families of the Burmese generals to Vientiane, Laos, where they were given protection and official sanctuary by the LPDR military until the military crackdown against the Buddhist monks was complete and martial law measures were lifted.

Smith concluded: "Laos, under the LPDR regime, has targeted for assassination key independent, dissident Buddhist worshippers in Thailand, including several Lao American citizens who have been gunned down and murdered in Thailand in recent years, including at a key Thai temple in the area bordering Laos. The Lao government and LPDR security services closely monitor and control key temples in Laos, especially in Vientiane where some monks work as agents and informants for the LPDR security and intelligence services."

On May 1, 2009, following up on the USCIRF's report, the Lao Movement of Human Rights (LMHR) in Paris, France issued a major statement that was jointly recognized and cited by a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGO) and human rights groups, including Laotian and Hmong non-profit and civic organizations.

ENDS

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