MFA'S YONG DISCUSSES GOL EFFORTS TO END HMONG

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000228

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS (BESTIC)
PACOM FOR POLAD
BANGKOK FOR POL AND REFCOORD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2018
TAGS: PHUM PREF PGOV LA TH
SUBJECT: MFA'S YONG DISCUSSES GOL EFFORTS TO END HMONG
INSURGENCY

REF: A. 08 VIENTIANE 157

B. 07 VIENTIANE 0761

C. 07 VIENTIANE 0639

D. 07 VIENTIANE 0364

E. 07 VIENTIANE 0110

Classified By: AMBASSADOR RAVIC R. HUSO. REASON: 1.5 B AND D.


1. (C) Summary: In an April 2 conversation with Poloff,
MFA spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy, who oversees Hmong returnee
issues within the GOL, discussed the remaining Hmong
insurgent groups within Laos. He predicted that situation of
the final two groups would be resolved within months, noting
that "clemency" and ensuring the livelihood of former
insurgents is the key. He said that a group of four families
in Luang Prabang had recently surrendered. Yong acknowledged
that efforts to bring about the surrender of Hmong in the Phu
Bia area have been complicated by a "bad experience" -- an
implicit recognition of an incident in which three members of
this group were killed by government forces. He confirmed
the Ambassador's suspicions that a man the Ambassador had met
during a recent trip to a Hmong village arranged by Yong was
not, as he portrayed himself, simply a former economic
migrant who had been arrested in Thailand. Rather, the man
was a former insurgent leader who had fled to Thailand when
the rest of his group surrendered. Yong had arranged for his
and his family's resettlement after the Thais arrested and
deported him. Yong remained firm in his opposition to
third-country resettlement from Thailand of the group of
Hmong in detention in Nong Khai but assured Poloff that the
group members would be safe after their return to Laos. End
summary.

Ending the Insurgency
--------------

2. (C) Yong maintained it was a matter of months until the
situation of the final two groups of insurgents would be
resolved. He was pleased that the insurgency in Bolikhamsai
Province was completely over, partly because the Bolikhamsai
Provincial Government had been very generous to those
surrendering -- giving each five cubic meters of timber for
example. Other provinces cannot afford to provide this level
of support. A group that surrendered in Luang Prabang
recently had been assisted by the provincial Social Welfare
Department. The goal is for all those surrendering -- and
presumably all those being returned from Thailand -- to live
in dignity. Yong said that the GOL's Hmong returnee policy
has three elements: eliminate safe havens including by
building more roads in remote areas; bring development to
these areas so people can be resettled; and use "clemency" in
dealing with any former insurgents.

Luang Prabang Group Surrender
--------------

3. (C) Yong mentioned that a group of four Hmong families, 22
people, had surrendered in Luang Prabang "two months ago."
To arrange a safe surrender, some of the group members had
contacted their parents in the United States. The parents
had contacted a surrendered general in Laos. The surrendered
general had contacted Yong, who set up the surrender. Yong
was bemused by the "triangular communications" involved in
sorting this out. He used this as an example of how closely
the Hmong, even in the jungle in Laos, stay in contact with
the larger Hmong community.

The Phu Bia Group
--------------

4. (C) PolOff asked Yong why the group east of Phu Bia was
unwilling to surrender after, for example, the two large
surrenders in 2006 and the more recent Luang Prabang
surrender. Yong was well aware of this group, led by Yang
Le, and was aware that Yang Le has a brother in California
who has been in contact with the Lao Embassy in Washington
about the group. Yong said the problem with this group is
how to set up a surrender without having it turn into an
"ambush" of the government forces. Yong noted the group had
a "bad experience" in November 2007 (when three of its
members were killed by government forces -- an incident
included in our Human Rights Report). The group, he said,
was comparatively "ignorant," which made dealing with a
possible surrender more difficult.

Ambassador's Visit to Hmong Returnee
--------------


5. (C) Poloff and Yong discussed a March 14 visit to a Hmong
village by the Ambassador and DCM that Yong had organized at

the Ambassador's request. Yong was unavailable to
participate and the Ambassador and DCM were accompanied by
MFA Europe and Americas Director General Khouanta Phalivong.
The village, within the Vientiane municipality about 30 km
from the city center, has a sizable Hmong population. One of
the villagers -- who had clearly been identified beforehand
to speak to the Ambassador -- told the Ambassador that he had
returned from Thailand with the group of 31 that had been
sent back in May 2007. He and others said that they had
previously lived in Xiang Khouang province and had moved to
their new location to seek a better life. The Ambassador
returned from the visit to the village unconvinced by a
number of elements of the man's story; most importantly, he
did not appear to have been an internal "economic migrant" as
claimed. The Ambassador's instincts were correct. Yong told
Poloff that, while it was true that that the man was part of
the group of 31, he was not a typical economic migrant. The
man, whom Yong had specifically selected to meet with the
Ambassador, was the former leader of the group of more than
470 people who had surrendered at Phu Kut in Laos in late

2006. He had fled to Thailand after his group had
surrendered but had been arrested by the Thais and deported.
Yong said that he had figured out who the man was during the
post-return screening process that returnees undergo in
Paksan, Bolikhamsay province. He had arranged for the
general's wife and children to leave Xiang Khouang province
and resettle with him in the "spontaneous" settlement in
Vientiane municipality. Yong noted that the general had been
given five hectares of rice fields and was also planting an
additional 20 hectares with rubber trees.


6. (C) Yong said he cannot publicize the fact that this
former insurgent leader has been resettled -- or his
whereabouts - because he is trying to "protect him from our
own side." Yong said that while "those of us who sit in
elevated positions" realize the need for a policy of clemency
for former Hmong insurgent leaders, some members of the Lao
security forces who have spent decades fighting against the
insurgents see them as "enemies." Yong referred to a visit
he had led for the foreign diplomatic community to Kilometer
52 in February 2007 (ref D) where the key point of the visit
was not only to visit one family of five economic migrant
returnees but also the fact that a different former insurgent
general now lived in that K52 community running a guest
house. (Comment: Clearly, the diplomatic visits to Hmong
villages that Yong organizes have more than one purpose.
After the visits, Yong arranges to have photographs of the
foreign diplomats meeting with former insurgents circulate on
the Internet to allow knowledgeable Hmong -- including those
in the United States -- to see that these resettled or
surrendered senior insurgent leaders are safe. End Comment.)

The Nong Khai Group
--------------

7. (C) Yong continued to offer no flexibility on direct third
country resettlement for the separate Hmong group in Thai
custody in Nong Khai who had been identified by the UNHCR as
&persons of concern.8 Yong maintained that unless the
members of the group return first to Laos before
resettlement, the pull factor or "magnet effect" drawing
Hmong to Thailand will remain strong. Apparently referring
obliquely to Blia Shoua Her -- the senior insurgent leader at
the Nong Khai detention center -- Yong said his clan is now
in the Pha Lak resettlement village. Yong claimed that if he
comes back to Laos, he would be allowed to become the leader
of Pha Lak, even though, according to Yong, there are three
other generals already resettled there. &I guarantee this
100%. He is too important for us; we will protect him like a
VIP," Yong asserted.

HUSO
HUSO