BBC guide flees camp

BBC guide flees camp

Last weekend, Joua Va Yang, a Hmong refugee and former jungle guide for the BBC, escaped from Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in northern Thailand due to continuing threats and mounting fears of being deported to Laos.

He and the rest of his family had been held in jail over the past 3-4 months being pressured to return to Laos . Due to what seems to have been the result of international pressure and media coverage, a small group of U.S. Congressional and Embassy staffers were allowed to tour the camp and visit him on July 3.

Just two days before the planned visit, Thai authorities had personally warned Joua Va Yang not to mention any type of mistreatment or his unwillingness to return to Laos . Otherwise, he and his family would be sent back to rot in Khao Kho jail where they were previously held for refusing to “volunteer” to return to Laos . Joua Va Yang’s wife has been very sick lately so he was very afraid about what to say fearing the consequences.

Since Joua Va Yang speaks very little Thai the U.S. officials had to speak with him through a Thai military interpreter who speaks the Hmong language. This ensured that Joua Va Yang could not speak freely, as there were also other Thai military officials present monitoring his every move.

In April, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Amnesty International both issued public statements of concern regarding the alleged treatment of Joua Va Yang, who claims he was beaten by Thai authorities and told he would not be released from jail until he “volunteers” to return to Laos, the country he fled political persecution from. Ever since then, his case has been very high profile making it difficult for the Thais to deport him to Laos.

Instead, Thai authorities have used rough handed measures incarcerating his wife and young children and isolating them from the outside world in order to break their will. Camp authorities even began circulating rumors among the Hmong refugee population that Joua Va Yang’s family had agreed to return to Laos . Yet they continued to hold his family in isolation making the rest of the camp population very suspicious whether or not this was really true.

Joua Va Yang is now making a personal plea to the BBC and other journalists, human rights groups and the rest of the international community. He asks that you intercede quickly before he is captured and forced back to Laos stating “Tell me, if you can’t help I’ll just kill myself.”

ENDS

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