- Published: 24/12/2009 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
The prime minister yesterday said the repatriation would conform to international standards and Thailand would adhere to human rights rules.
Thailand had worked closely with the Lao government on the deportation and Vientiane would give access to other countries to visit the refugees upon their return to Laos, he said.His comments came after rights groups and diplomats expressed concern for the 4,000 ethnic Hmong from Laos held at the Huay Nam Khao camp in Khao Kho district of Phetchabun who are to be repatriated by the end of the year.
The rights groups and diplomats fear the Hmong could be persecuted after their return to Laos.
The ethnic minority Hmong in Phetchabun are seeking political asylum, claiming they face persecution from the regime in Laos because they fought alongside US forces during the Vietnam war.
But Thailand and Laos have insisted they are economic migrants.
Diplomats in Bangkok met Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya on Tuesday to voice their concerns about the imminent deportation of the Hmong, said Liselott Agerlid from the Swedish embassy, on behalf of the European Union.
She said they were "particularly concerned" that another group of 158 Hmong held in Nong Khai, who have already been screened and granted UN refugee status, could be returned to Laos.
This group has been offered resettlement in Western nations against objections from Thailand, although large numbers of Hmong have been resettled in the past, notably in the US.
A Western diplomat in Bangkok said they suspected several hundred would be classified refugees if properly screened, adding there was a "sense of urgency" in the international community about the deportation. "We have reports that in the last few weeks there has definitely been an increase in the deployment of troops. Previously we didn't think that they had the capacity or the readiness to do this," the diplomat said.
Sunai Phasuk, of Human Rights Watch, called on Mr Abhisit to make an emergency intervention to prevent the deportation. "Thailand risks sullying its reputation to allow the army to carry out this immoral and unlawful policy," he said.
EARLIER REPORT by AFP
Thailand confirmed Wednesday it will send more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos, where they fear persecution, by the year's end - despite serious international concerns about the move.
The group, held in a camp in Huay Nam Khao in northern Phetchabun province, are seeking political asylum based on claims they face persecution from the Lao regime because they fought alongside US forces during the Vietnam War.
"Thailand will complete repatriation of the Hmong at Huay Nam Khao within 2009 because that is the government policy as discussed with Laos," said defence ministry spokesman Col Thanathip Sawangsaeng.
The confirmation came despite recent ministerial talks on the issue with Bangkok-based diplomats and a senior US delegation to Thailand.
US Assistant Secretary of State for population, refugees and migration, Eric Schwartz, left the kingdom Wednesday morning after a visit that included a trip to a Hmong camp.
"Part of what he was doing here was talking about the Hmong issue," said US embassy spokeswoman Cynthia Brown.
On Tuesday European diplomats in Bangkok met Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to voice concerns about the deportation, said Liselott Agerlid, political counsellor at the Swedish embassy, on behalf of the European Union.
She said they were "particularly concerned" that another group of 158 Hmong held in Nong Khai province, who have been granted UN refugee status and offered resettlement in Western countries, could be sent back to Laos.
Thailand says the thousands held in Phetchabun are economic migrants and has refused access for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to assess if any are in fact political refugees.
The UNHCR and diplomats said they understand a number could qualify as refugees and as such should only be returned on a voluntary basis.
Asked about the repatriations on Wednesday, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters Thailand would "take law and humanitarian principles into consideration".
"If we look back at repatriations in the past there has been no harsh treatment. There is no fighting or conflict in Laos," he said.
In May when aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) pulled out of a camp in Phetchabun, they said the fleeing Hmong recounted killings, gang rape and malnutrition inflicted by Laotian forces.
MSF accused Thailand of trying to repatriate the group forcibly.
Although Col Thanathip said Thailand would not use force to return the remaining Hmong, there were reports Wednesday that the army had significantly boosted troop numbers in Phetchabun overnight.
"They came on about 20 buses and after that more than 29 big trucks. Now there are about 4,000 soldiers," a 35-year-old Hmong man told AFP by mobile phone from within the camp, asking not to be named.
"The people are worried and afraid the military is going to force everyone to go back to Laos," he said.
Sunai Phasuk, a Thailand analyst at Human Rights Watch, said he had also received reports of the troop increase.
"It is worrying that while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seems to feel international pressure, the army is doing the opposite," he said.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/29870/pm-defends-deportation-of-hmong |
