Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06VIENTIANE894
2006-09-14 10:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Vientiane
Cable title:  

CASE OF 26 MISSING HMONG CHILDREN STILL OF CONCERN

Tags:  KCRM KWMN LA PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG UNDP 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHVN #0894/01 2571042
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 141042Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0341
INFO RUEHLE/AMEMBASSY LUXEMBOURG PRIORITY 0025
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 6824
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0125
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0919
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0188
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0667
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1096
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 0066
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0112
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0566
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000894 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, EUR/ERA, PRM/ANE, IO/UNP, IO/RHS,
G-TIP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016
TAGS: KCRM KWMN LA PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG UNDP
SUBJECT: CASE OF 26 MISSING HMONG CHILDREN STILL OF CONCERN

REF: VIENTIANE 801

Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach per 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000894

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, EUR/ERA, PRM/ANE, IO/UNP, IO/RHS,
G-TIP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016
TAGS: KCRM KWMN LA PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG UNDP
SUBJECT: CASE OF 26 MISSING HMONG CHILDREN STILL OF CONCERN

REF: VIENTIANE 801

Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach per 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) This cable requests the Department pass an action
request to Embassy Luxembourg; please see paragraph 14. It
also has kudos for USUN and Embassy Sweden which we request
the Department pass on; please see paragraph 15.


2. (C) Summary: &Like-minded8 senior diplomats met to
discuss the case of the 26 missing children, a case that has
been unresolved since December 2005. There was concern that
the children may have been secretly deported back to Thailand
or even dispersed throughout the Lao countryside. Until
resolved, this case continues to be raised both in Vientiane
and abroad. Meetings held by UN Under Secretary General
Gambari, the raising of the issue at the recent UNICEF
Executive Board meeting, and a possible intervention by the
UN Secretariat during the UNGA are keeping the pressure on
the Lao government to &come clean8 about the whereabouts of
these children. End summary.

The &Like-Minded8 Gather
--------------

3. (C) The Ambassador hosted a working luncheon focused on
human rights issues September 13. Attending were the
Ambassadors of Australia, France, and Germany; Charges from
Poland, Sweden, and the European Union (EU); Representatives
from both the UN Development Program (UNDP) and UN
Children,s Fund (UNICEF); and additional officers from the
Australian, French, German, and Swedish Embassies who focus
on human rights.

The Missing 26 Children
--------------

4. (C) The case of the 26 missing Hmong children remained a
focus for the discussion. These children were detained by
the Lao after they were unofficially deported by local Thai
officials in December 2005. UNICEF Country Representative
Olivia Yambi reviewed for the group key points regarding the
August visit to Laos of UNICEF Regional Director for East
Asia and the Pacific Anupama Rao Singh (reftel). When

Director Singh raised the issue of the missing children in
her meeting with Lao Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister
Thongloun Sisoulith, Ms. Yambi noted that Thongloun responded
that he was &shocked that the issue keeps coming up.8
Director Singh repeated to the FM her view that UNICEF,s
mandate was to focus on helping all children but that the
fate of every individual was also of concern.


5. (C) Ms. Yambi pointed out that Director Singh,s visit
preceded the opening on September 5 of the annual UNICEF
Executive Board (EB) session, and Director Singh had
encouraged the FM to have the Lao Permanent Mission in New
York attend the meeting to be able both to listen to the
debate about renewing the UNICEF program for Laos and to
respond to any statements raised by EB members. In the end,
both the United States and Sweden, according to Ms. Yambi,s
information &gently8 raised the missing children on the
margins of the EB meeting, precipitating a predictable Lao
reaction that the government had no information.


6. (C) Ms. Yambi also told the group that, before the UNICEF
Board meeting, UN Under-Secretary General Gambari had met
separately with the Lao Permrep (August 29) and the Thai
Permrep (August 30) to try and help resolve this case.
Because the Lao continued to say they lacked precise
information about the children, and the Thais have said they
have provided sufficient information orally, Gambari asked
the Thais to put their information in writing for the Lao.
Ms. Yambi told the group she did not have any further
information on progress from the intervention of USyG Gambari.

UNICEF Note
--------------

7. (C) Note: UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman, in an
August 31 letter to the Ambassador said that, if the case of
the missing children remains unresolved in September, the
United Nations Secretariat intends to raise it at the highest
level with Lao and Thai representatives at the UNGA. End
note.

An Issue Of Confidence
--------------

8. (C) French Ambassador Maurice Portiche opined that, at
this point, the two parties need to be brought together at a
high level with a third party, such as the UN, present to
make progress. EU Charge Sandro Cerrato asked the group
whether its focus should remain on the 26 missing children or
whether this case should be combined with other larger issues
involving the Lao government,s treatment of its Hmong
minority. The Ambassador responded that highlighting the
children,s ethnicity may be counter-productive. German
Ambassador Dr. Peter Weinand pointed out that the passage of
so much time has made it harder for the Lao government to
release the children at this time. In response, Swedish
Counselor Jorgen Persson argued for keeping a special focus
on the children: resolving this case is an indication of
whether the Lao government is willing and able to keep its
commitments; if this is brought into the larger issue of the
Lao government,s treatment of the Hmong, it will be easier
for the Lao to dodge their responsibilities. UNDP
Resident Representative a.i. Setsuko Yamazaki affirmed the
need for the group to speak with one voice on this case.

Where Are The Children?
--------------

9. (C) The Ambassador pointed out that the last information
on the group indicated the girls may have been moved from
Bolikhamsai Province to a detention facility in Savannakhet
Province this past February. Ambassador Portiche said he had
&intelligence8 from Thailand that the entire group of
children had already been trafficked back to Thailand. In
contrast, Australian Ambassador Alistair Maclean said he had
received information during the past week that, rather than
having been trafficked back across the river into Thailand,
the children had been dispersed within Laos ) the older ones
possibly married off as part of breaking up the group.
(Comment: we have had no information from our usual sources
to confirm either report since hearing that the girls had
been moved from Bolikhamsai to Savannakhet. End comment.)
In either case, the intent of both sides seems clear: if/when
any members of the group emerge, the Lao and Thai can both
avoid being deemed as complicit in the original deportation
(the Thai side) as well as the extended detention (the Lao
side) by saying that this had been a trafficking case all the
time.


10. (C) The Ambassador noted a major Buddhist celebration in
Savannakhet Province in July attracted a large number of
visitors going back and forth from Thailand for several days
and may have been an ideal opportunity to sneak members of
this group across the border to Thailand a few at a time. We
alerted the Department and Embassy Bangkok of our concern at
the time, and Embassy Bangkok in turn alerted the Thai
government.

Human Rights Activities
--------------

11. (C) Two upcoming bilateral activities will provide formal
venues for raising the case of the missing children. EU
Charge Cerrato noted that a joint EU-Lao Commission at the
end of September would address human rights issues. This
group, which meets every two years, mainly deals with
development assistance. It will be led by the EU,s Deputy
Director of External Relations. Ambassador Maclean also told
the group Australia would have its first bilateral Human
Rights Dialogue October 2-5 in Vientiane. The first day
would be for discussing the formal agenda; the next day would
be for calls at various ministries and organizations; and
then the delegation would go to a province, possibly
Bolikhamsai, to look at local conditions. Ambassador Maclean
said he hoped the group would also be able to visit a local
prison while in the province.

Luxembourg PM Visit
--------------

12. (C) However, the group was somewhat concerned to hear
that the Prime Minister of Luxembourg is planning to visit
Vientiane later this month. Apparently Luxembourg is
planning a large grant of assistance for Laos. The group
consensus was that it would be important for the Luxembourg
Prime Minister to at least refer to the missing children in
the context of human rights issues of concern during the
visit. Otherwise Lao officials could come to believe,
despite for example the strong role being undertaken by USyG
Gambari, that international interest in the case is waning
and that only the Lao-based diplomatic community is
concerned.

Future Action
--------------

13. (C) For the moment, the group is focused on whether any
progress can be made via USyG Gambari,s dialogue or possibly
a higher-level dialogue during the UNGA which brings the two
sides together. The Ambassador briefed the group about
planned October visits by DRL A/S Lowenkron and EAP DAS Eric
John. Both visits will provide opportunities to discuss the
missing children. DAS John,s visit is designed to open a
U.S.-Lao dialogue on a range of issues; up to this point most
visits by senior U.S. officials have been program-focused on
issues such as POW/MIA accounting or unexploded ordinance for
example. The Swedish Charge noted that Stockholm will host a
Sweden-Lao meeting beginning November 6; the Lao delegation
will be led by MFA Permanent Secretary Somphet Khousakoun who
has been designated to head the new Lao delegation to be
established in Geneva in the near future.

Action Request
--------------

14. (C) Embassy Vientiane asks the Department to pass the
following action request to Embassy Luxembourg: Please
contact the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and ensure officials
in the Prime Minister,s party visiting Laos are aware of the
importance of this humanitarian case and our strong
recommendation that at least some reference to the importance
of resolving this case be made during this visit.

Kudos
--------------

15. (C) We also ask the Department to pass on kudos to USUN
and Embassy Stockholm to be extended to those involved in
raising the issue of the missing children during the UNICEF
Executive Board meeting. We believe it was an important
marker of continued international concern for the Lao.

Comment
--------------

16. (C) We are pleased that the like-minded group remains
strongly focused on resolving the case of these missing
children. As the Swedish Counselor pointed out, this has
become a symbol of how the Lao government operates, and
whether the Lao government can be trusted to keep its
commitments. The support from the international community
remains vital to keeping the pressure on the Lao, so USyG
Gambari,s efforts, those of the UNICEF leadership, and a
possible intervention by the UN Secretariat during the UNGA
are most welcome.
HASLACH