Laos, Thailand Crisis: US Congressional Forum on Ethnic Cleansing of Lao, Hmong Refugees

Jan. 24, 2008 - PRLog -- A U.S. Congressional forum and policy briefing on Laos and the Hmong people will be held on Capitol Hill to discuss recent developments in Laos and Thailand regarding the current human rights, refugee and humanitarian crisis facing thousands of Laotian and Hmong refugees.  The plight of persecuted dissident and minority religious and opposition groups will also be discussed.

The event will be held from 9:00 A..M.-12:00 P.M. on Thursday, January 31, 2008,  in the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C.

"Many in Washington and in the U.S. Congress are concerned about reliable and ongoing reports regarding the thousands of  unarmed Lao and Hmong civilians and refugees in Laos who have been killed or starved to death in recent years by Lao and Vietnamese military and security forces," stated Philip Smith, Executive Director for the Center for Public Policy Analysis.  "The killing of unarmed Lao and Hmong dissident and minority religious and opposition groups, including dissident Christians and the Hmong people, continues in Laos," continued Smith.

Current international efforts to stop the pending forced repatriation of some 8,000 Laotian and Hmong refugees and asylum seekers from Thailand back to the communist regime in Laos will also be detailed. Developments in the U.S. Congress and Washington to revisit the “material support” issue and status of the Hmong under the Patriot Act and REAL ID Act will be also be highlighted in the context of recent developments.

"We are urging the international community, including the United Nations and Royal Thai Government, to intervene with the help of the UNHCR and MSF, Doctors Without Borders, to put a permanent halt to the planned forced repatriation of over 8,000 Lao and Hmong refugees at Huay Nam Khao, Nong Khai and elsewhere in Thailand back to the brutal Lao Communist regime that they fled," said Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America, Inc.

The event will also seek to detail and illuminate recent U.S. Congressional policy actions and the efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), human rights and dissident groups to seek to stop the planned and pending forced repatriation of Laotian and Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers, including the 8,000 political refugees at Huay Nam Khao, Thailand, back to the Lao communist regime that they fled.

"Freedom-loving Lao people are concerned about the dozens of Lao student leaders and family members from the 1999 peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in Laos that are still jailed and missing after being arrested by Communist Pathet Lao secret police and military troops in Vientiane, Laos," stated Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc. "We want Vietnam's military and security forces to immediately withdrawal their troops from Laos and stop killing, persecuting and exploiting the Lao and Hmong people; and we want the Lao regime to release Mr. Hakit Yang and the Hmong-American citizens from St. Paul that they have illegally arrested along with the Ban Vang Thao patriots whom the communist continue to hold in prison," Mr. Rathigna continued.

Invited panelists and speakers include:  T. Kumar, Amnesty International; B. Jenkins Middleton, former Vice President, Export-Import Bank; Philip Smith, Executive Director, Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA); Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President, Lao Veterans of America; Bounthanh Rathigna, President, United League for Democracy in Laos, Inc.; Members of Congress and U.S. Congressional staff; United Nations and Administration officials; non-governmental and human rights organizations; Lao and Hmong community leaders; and policy experts.

Recent statements by Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Journalists Without Borders (JSF) the UNHCR and others will be discussed regarding the dire plight of Laotian and Hmong refugees in Thailand and Laos.

Issues and topics of discussion will include:

1. Emergency status and U.S. Congressional policy developments regarding the status of some 8,000 Hmong refugees in Huay Nam Khao, Phetchabun, Thailand as well as Lao-Hmong refugees at Nong Khai, Thailand;

2. Current issues of concern to U.S. and international policymakers regarding the nation of Laos and recent developments in Southeast Asia, including the political, economic and human rights situation in Laos and Thailand;

3. The arrest and disappearance of three Hmong-American citizens in Laos, including Hakit Yang of St. Paul, Minnesota;

4. The plight of Lao and Hmong civilians as well as unarmed opposition groups and resistance forces trapped in Laos by government security and military forces as documented in a recent New York Times article (NYT, December 17, 2007) and Amnesty International reports;

5. Increased military operations, ethnic cleansing and religious persecution in Laos by Lao government military and security forces in cooperation with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) and SRV troops and secret police;

6. “Material Support” issues and ongoing U.S. Congressional and Bush Administration regulatory and legislative efforts to revisit and amend the Patriot Act and REAL ID Act to address citizenship, immigration, asylum and national security concerns that relate to the Hmong and Laotian community diaspora members in the United States, Thailand and Southeast Asia.

News media and invited guests should RSVP to Anna Jones at the Center for Public Policy Analysis.

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The Center for Public Policy Analysis is a Washington, DC-base research and public policy think-tank focused on national security and foreign policy issues.