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