US congressmen visit Lao Hmong returnees
Visiting US congressmen said they had found no evidence of mistreatment of Hmong who returned to Laos from Thailand, as claimed by some groups.
“There is no indication of discrimination or harassment or mistreatment of the people in Phalak village,” Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment, US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Eni Faleomavaega, said at a press conference in Vientiane on Saturday.
Mr Faleomavaega and two other congressmen, Mr Mike Honda and Mr Anh Joseph Cao, made the statement after paying a visit to Phalak village in Vientiane province where the Lao government has settled about half of the illegal Lao Hmong migrants who were repatriated from Thailand last month.
The visit of the US congressmen to Phalak village to seek out the facts concerning the returnees follows widespread speculation in the media that returning Lao Hmong were being executed.
The Thai and Lao governments agreed to release and repatriate over 4,000 Lao Hmong from Thai detention camps at the end of last month after learning they were not refugees but victims of people smuggling.
The Lao Hmong were tricked into believing they would have the chance to travel to the US if they first went to a camp in Phetchabun province, Thailand.
The Lao government has allocated a large amount of money to build shelters and give farmland to the returnees so they can have better living conditions. Many of the returnees said they were happy to be back in their motherland after several years of waiting for nothing in the detention camp in Thailand.
They reported that conditions in the camp were very bad, with inadequate food, poor health conditions and housing, and little or no education for their children. There were also significant family and social conflicts due to their crowded and prolonged confinement.
Mr Faleomavaega said at the press conference “Right now there’s a lot of misinformation. There have been accusations made that the Hmong people coming from Thailand are being executed by the government of Laos. Our purpose is not to come to criticise and pass judgement on something we do not have enough information on.”
“That’s a very serious accusation, one that affects the media or whoever is promoting this kind of information. This is sad because it causes a lot of tension. There are 100,000 Hmong in the US so some may have relatives and so may make up these stories just to get the attention of our two governments or just to find out what is going on here.”
The US congressmen said they would share the information they had gained during their visit to Laos with US Congress members and the public as well as the Hmong community in the US so that everyone understood the true situation in Laos.
“Mr Honda represents the 15th Congressional District. Many Hmong and Lao people live in this district and when he goes back to California he will meet with them to let them know he visited Laos ,” Mr Faleomavaega said.
The congressmen thanked the Lao government for facilitating their visit and allowing them to see the situation for themselves.
They also wanted to learn more about the UXO problem in Laos as well as to explore ways to strengthen trade between Laos and the US .
They said they learned that UXO was a barrier to economic development in Laos and they recognised the need for its clearance so that people could grow more crops.
The congressmen said that although they were unable to make any promises about US aid, they would tell the story of UXO to their compatriots.
They also said they wanted to encourage Lao students to study in US colleges, saying this was a long term investment that would help Lao people to develop their country.
Officials said the visit of the US congressmen to Laos from January 7 to 9 was to discuss bilateral relations. The delegation is in Laos to learn more about unexploded ordnance clearance operations, as well as to explore ways to strengthen ties between Laos and the United States.
Lao and US relations have been strengthened in the past several years. In 2004, the US government granted Laos Normal Trade Relations status, which allowed Lao businesses to export products to the US at lower import tariff rates.
Last year, the US government lifted the ban on EXIM Bank’s provision of loans for US citizens to invest in Laos. The move will encourage US investment in Laos.
Source: Vientiane Times
By Ekaphone Phouthonesy
January 11, 2010
