BBC Guide On Lao Deportation Blacklist
Joua Va Yang, the Hmong guide who risked his life leading a couple of BBC journalists into the jungles of Laos back in
2004, is among a select group of Hmong refugees singled out for forced deportation to Laos in the coming days.
He and some other key leaders in Huay Nam Khao camp, Petchabun province have been specifically targeted by the Lao
government in a blacklist submitted to Thai authorities last month during a Lao delegation visit to the camp. Those
targeted have a well-founded fear of persecution and are believed to be a major source of embarrassment to the Lao
government. The secretive communist state has always claimed that it has been at peace for the past 30 years, whereas
the Hmong jungle groups claim that the Lao military continues to hunt them down to this day.
It is believed that these Hmong leaders are being targeted in order to break the will of the remaining 5000 holdouts
still resisting deportation to Laos, where many face political persecution.
Among the roughly 300-400 Hmong scheduled for deportation today are a handful of forced deportees. At least five heads
of households in this group were reportedly coerced into returning. Previous to “volunteering” to return to Laos these
men were held under torturous conditions at Khao Kho district jail. This included being tied up for long periods of
time, withholding of food and water, and not being allowed to use the bathroom. They were told they would not be
released until they agreed to return to Laos voluntarily.
Claims by the Thai Foreign Minister that deportation is being made solely on a voluntary basis, seems to be far from the
truth.
Joe Davy
Hmong Advocate
Chicago
ENDS