Home Page : News: Letter from Hugh Tovar Last Updated March 29, 2009 Updates from Hugh Tovar Please contact your members of Congress - Help the Laos Hmong in Thailand ____________________ Greetings: As you can see - the thing gets stickier every day. If any of you get a reaction from the congressmen or senators you have contact with, please let us know. I would urge you to have a look at www.tragicmountains.org for lot more details. Just received: Thai authorities arrest BBC guide for deportation to Laos Around 8:30 pm Saturday night, Thai authorities in Huay Nam Khao camp arrested Joua Va Yang, a former guide for the BBC. Witnesses on the scene claim that authorities had beaten Mr. Yang very badly during the arrest. Back in 2004, Mr. Yang led a team of BBC journalists into the jungles of Laos to document the ongoing plight of the Hmong who claim to be hunted by the Lao military due to their past association with the United States Central Intelligence Agency during the Vietnam War. Currently, the Thai military is believed to be rounding up other Hmong refugee leaders for deportation. Those targeted are on a Lao government blacklist which was given to Thai authorities last month during an official delegation visit to the camp. Over the past several days, Thai authorities have been very crafty in scaring these blacklisted leaders, encouraging them to escape the camp by posting their arrest warrants at the=2 0camp headquarters. The Hmong refugees believe authorities want them to attempt escape from the camp so that they can later justify their forced deportation to Laos. Despite recent public assurances from the Thai Foreign Minister that there would be no forced repatriations, the Thai military seems to be playing hardball now by targeting those key refugee leaders on the Lao government’s blacklist. These types of scare tactics are a blatant violation of international refugee law. The United States and foreign diplomatic community need to show some outrage and publicly condemn the Thai government on how these Hmong are being singled out with no protection whatsoever. Best regards, Hugh ____________________ It was reported from Huay Nam Khao that a group of 150 people is in
Lomsak that ready to be deported to Laos. Greetings: More bad news of trouble at Huay Nam Kong dated 9 March. Most of this comes via telephone messages to interested Hmong in this country. More representations to members of Congress are in order, although there has been no forward movement on this to date. Secretary of State Clinton seems to have paid no attention to the letter Ron Kind sent to her asking for help. Likewise the 25 February letter signed by kind and 21 members of Congress. If you have not seen Kind's recent letter, take a look at www.tragicmountains.org. I think the important thing is to get the Thais to permit the UNHRC back into the refugee camp to keep the lid on and prevent mistreatment of the refugees, and above all prevent forced repatriation. Best, Hugh ____________________ Most veterans of Air America who worked in Laos and Thailand became very well acquainted with our Hmong allies who fought beside us and suffered greatly during years of warfare. Most of the Hmong were able to come to the US and are established here as new Americans. Others stayed behind in Laos and spent years trying to live in their own country, while suffering continuous harassment by the LPDR and their Vietnamese satraps. Finally, when the heat became to much for them to stand, great numbers of them made their way to Thailand, and now there are about 8,000 Hmong refugees in Thailand, many of them being old soldiers and their families The Thai military are currently trying to force them out and send them against their will back to Laos. A handful have actually gone back to Laos, and have not been heard from since. Those still in the camp are getting desperate, as the Thais are treating them brutally. There has been a lot of publicity, both in Thailand and here, focused on the fact that these old allies of the US are now apparently being left to their fate, as the State Department is doing little to help them in their plight. There has, however, been some support for the Hmong in Congress. A number of congressmen, mostly from Wisconsin and Rhode Island, are now pressing for action on House Resolution 1273 in support of the Hmong. A number of senators have signed a letter to the Secretary of State, urging them to take action I have been in contact with numbers of our own Agency alumni who served in Laos and are familiar with the sacrifices made by the Hmong, both in casualties suffered and in the disruption of their society, and have suggested that they weigh in on this issue. Many are now writing to their congressmen, urging support for HR 1273. The more voices who could add to this chorus, the better the chances that our government might be persuaded to act. I would hope that Air America veterans could give us a hand in supporting this worthy cause. For those who write to his congressman or senator about the Hmong predicament, I would appreciate an e-mail telling us which congressman and what if any response he might have given. Hughtovar@aol.com Sincerely yours, Hugh Tovar
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