(New York) - Thailand should stop the deportation of Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said today.
A group of 152 Hmong refugees and asylum seekers, including 77 children and eight infants, face grave danger of persecution due to Thailand’s decision to forcibly return them to Laos. At least 104 members of this group have been recognized as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The rest are in the process of having their refugee status determined. Most of them claimed to flee persecution at the hands of Lao authorities because of their alleged connection with ethnic Hmong resistance groups in Laos.
“Thailand should not forcibly return Hmong who may face persecution when they go back to Laos,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Rather than breaching its international obligations, the Thai government should ensure that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is able to identify and protect those who have a well-founded fear of persecution in Laos.”
Human Rights Watch learned that the 152 Hmong – who were arrested on November 17 in a police round-up after they escaped from Ban Huay Nam Khao shelter in Phetchabun province – were transferred from the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Bangkok on December 7 to a detention facility in Nong Khai province, on the border with Laos. According to sources in the Thai-Lao Joint Boundary Subcommittee, Thai authorities have already handed over details of the identity of members of this group to the Lao government, and are reportedly ready to deport them as soon as Vientiane confirms they are Lao nationals.
On December 8, Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote to Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont urging the Thai government to respect its international obligations vis-à-vis these Hmong refugees and asylum seekers. She urged Thailand to work closely with UNHCR to find appropriate and durable solutions for Hmong refugees.
Human Rights Watch pointed out that on November 3 Surayud’s government announced that it would continue to cooperate with the international community on the basis of “transparency, democratic values and an adherence to international law – especially the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
“Prime Minister Surayud has stated clearly that his foreign policy will be based on human rights principles,” said Adams. “He should not contradict himself by abandoning Thailand’s commitment to the protection of refugees and asylum seekers from neighboring countries.”
While Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, Human Rights Watch noted that under customary international law the Thai government has an obligation of “non-refoulement” – not to return anyone to a country where his or her life or freedom is at risk.
Human Rights Watch said that it had serious concerns about the fate of individuals forcibly returned to Laos. In December 2005, the Thai government of Thaksin Shinawatra forcibly returned 27 Hmong asylum seekers – most of them children separated from their parents – to Laos. Similar deportation took place again after Prime Minister Surayud came to office. On November 15, 2006, 53 Hmong asylum seekers were handed over to Lao authorities. The whereabouts of these returnees remains unknown, as no international human rights organizations have access to them in Laos. But given the reports of Lao official media that the groups would go through “re-education,” there are fears that they may be subject to the kinds of human rights violations that have been a feature of “re-education” camps in Laos, such as arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment.
