MORE DETAILS ON LOCATION OF MISSING HMONG CHILDREN

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000321 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, PRM, S E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREF PHUM PREL KCRM TH LA SUBJECT: MORE DETAILS ON LOCATION OF MISSING HMONG CHILDREN REF: VIENTIANE 316 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Embassy spoke to two sources today who provided additional details about the location of the missing group of 27 Hmong deported from Thailand (reftel). Although there are inconsistencies between the two reports, together they lead us to believe that the 22 girls in the group are likely still in Paksane, Bolikhamsai province, while the five boys are probably being held separately in a remote part of the country. ¶2. (C) A Hmong contact in Bolikhamsai province who is related to several of the children told us today that he had recently visited the detention facility in Paksane where he believed the girls were being held in order to deliver food and supplies. Guards did not allow him to see the children, but on this visit, in contrast to his past several visits to the center, the guards admitted that the children were still there. He said he understood from the guards that both the boys and the girls were in the same facility, the Nong Songkha detention center. He also mentioned that guards said the group would be released after the April 30 National Assembly elections. He had no information on the condition of the children. ¶3. (C) The second source, a missionary in Thailand with Relief Logistics International, reported by telephone that he had heard from family members of the children in Petchaboon province that the group was to be released on March 27. According to the family members, Petchaboon police had called several of the parents late last week to ask if the children had arrived home. The police said that Lao authorities had told them the children would be sent across the Mekong River on March 27 and should arrive in Petchaboon sometime afterward. The contact told us that parents were at first thrilled to hear the children would be sent back, but when they did not show up by the weekend had concluded the report was a baseless rumor. ¶4. (C) This same contact said that he heard from a parent of one of the five boys in the group that the boys were being held in a prison facility in Phongsaly province. The parent had been called two days ago from Laos by a Lao Hmong man who said that he was jailed in Phongsaly's prison number 4 last month and was kept in a cell right next to that of the five boys. The man told the parent that the boys were still there when he was released a few weeks ago. The boy had given him the number of the parent in Petchaboon and had begged him to call his parents to tell them where he was. The released man said the boys were being held in ankle chains and manacles, which were only removed for a short time to allow them to eat. ¶5. (C) The same parent had pieced together the boys' movement based on various phone calls. The parent told our missionary contact that the boys had been in Phonetong jail in Vientiane until February 4, when they were moved to "Vientiane," perhaps referring to Vientiane province. On March 2 they were moved to Thalat, in Vientiane province, and on March 3 were taken to Phongsaly. ¶6. (C) Comment: We find it highly believable that Lao authorities have moved the group of five boys to Laos' far north while leaving the girls in Paksane. Lao suspicions about the group centered on the boys from the beginning: their ages led Lao police to believe they may have been spies or insurgents. The reported mistreatment following their incarceration may have led Lao officials to want to move them as far away as possible to prevent word of their condition from leaking out. The girls, who were not subject to similar suspicions, have probably been kept in Paksane to facilitate their quick return to Thailand. End comment. HASLACH