LAO HMONG: CONGRESSIONAL STAFFDEL VISITS PETCHABUN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 001686

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/ENA, PRM/A, AND EAP/MLS
GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2029
TAGS: PREF PHUM SMIG TH LA
SUBJECT: LAO HMONG: CONGRESSIONAL STAFFDEL VISITS PETCHABUN
CAMP, ENGAGES THAI ARMY AND MFA

REF: A. VIENTIANE 0332: LAO GENERAL LAYS OUT POLICY

B. VIENTIANE 0335: GOL SHOWS OFF RESETTLEMENT SITE

C. BANGKOK 1485: ENGAGEMENT ON LAO HMONG ISSUE

D. BANGKOK 1340: AMB JOHN RAISES HMONG WITH RTARF

E. BANGKOK 1305: AMB JOHN RAISES LAO HMONG WITH DPM

F. BANGKOK 1225: NGO PULLOS OUT OF PETCHABUN

G. BANGKOK 1223: AMB JOHN RAISES HMONG WITH FM

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission James F. Entwistle, Reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. A House Foreign Affairs Committee Staffdel
visited Thailand July 2-4 in a fact-finding trip relating to
Thai policy towards Lao Hmong detained in the army-run camp
in Petchabun, and a smaller group of UNHCR-recognized
refugees in an immigration detention center in Nong Khai,
Thailand. The visit included a first: a ninety-minute foot
tour of the Petchabun camp, the first access to the facility
by outsiders (other than NGOs providing services) since it
opened in July 2007. In meetings with the Royal Thai
government (RTG) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Royal Thai
Armed Forces (RTARF),and National Security Council (NSC),
the Staffdel heard the Thai position: that the Lao Hmong were
a bilateral issue to be handled between Thailand and Laos,
and that Thailand did not want to undercut their neighbor's
"national reconciliation" process by allowing refugee status
and third country resettlement. The Staffdel also met with
UNICEF and the French NGO Doctors Without Borders to discuss
the Lao Hmong situation, and received a listing of 1,200 Lao
Hmong in Petchabun who were participants or family members of
anti-Pathet Lao resistance in the 1970's.

Comment: (C) The break-through visit to the Petchabun camp
came off without the demonstrations and violence predicted by
the RTARF. We will attempt to use the precedent to schedule
future visits to see PRM-funded assistance in the facility,
implemented now by the Thai NGO COERR. Although RTG
interlocutors held to previously announced policy, the
Washington-level interest may serve to strengthen civilian
policy voices in internal RTG deliberations on what to do
with the Lao Hmong, hopefully avoiding a forcible return of
the remaining 4,800 people in Petchabun. There are signs the
current "voluntary" returns are slowing down. On April 29th
almost 300 people were returned, with no further movements
until July 14 when only 67 Hmong were bused to Vientiane.
End Summary and Comments.

HFAC Staffdel Hears Thai Side of Lao Hmong Issue
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2. (C) The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) delegation
was led by Professional Staff Member Jessica Lee, and
included majority counsel (and senior policy adviser) Shanna
Winters and minority chief counsel Doug Anderson. In an
initial meeting with RTARF Lt.General Niphat Thonglek and
assembled field officers from the Petchabun camp, the
Staffdel heard the Thai view of the situation of the 4,800
remaining Hmong in Petchabun, and 158 UNHCR-recognized Hmong
long-detained in the Nong Khai Immigration detention center.
General Niphat, who is Thai head of the bilateral border
committee overseeing the current return process of Lao Hmong
to Laos, offered the standard Thai view: that the Lao Hmong
were illegal migrants to be treated in accordance with a
bilateral MOU with Vientiane, without third party
involvement. General Niphat described the RTG internal
vetting of the Petchabun population, completed in January
2008, as "meeting all international standards", incorrectly
suggesting that the U.S. and UNHCR had been involved in
training the RTG interview teams. No new information was
offered on the methodology or results of the internal RTG
screening, however.

Thai Army Criticizes Alleged MSF Anti-Return Advocacy
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3. (SBU) The RTARF's Niphat was sharply critical of French
NGO Doctors Without Borders (French acronym: MSF),which
pulled out of the Petchabun camp in May citing army
interference in its assistance operations. According to
Niphat, MSF "crossed the red line" in encouraging Lao Hmong
to refuse return to Laos in order to hold out for third
country resettlement (Comment: this was the first time we
have heard this allegation against MSF. End Comment.) On a
positive note, Niphat expressed support for potential IOM
involvement in the return process, which has seen 2,500 Lao
Hmong move to Laos over the past 18 months. IOM has proposed
assistance activities to both the Thai and Lao governments
which would position it as a de facto third party monitor in

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the returns.

MFA: "Very Small" Number Fear Persecution in Laos
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4. (C) The Thai MFA"s deputy director general of the
Department of International Organizations more charitably
described the MSF pull-out as "regrettable", but noted that a
replacement Thai NGO, the Catholic Office for Emergency
Relief and Refugees (COERR),was already operating in
Petchabun. According to the MFA's Ittiporn Boonpracong, "in
principle" all in Petchabun should be returned to Laos as
they were illegal migrants and "resettlement seekers."
However, the RTG recognized that a "very small" number may
face persecution upon return. A decision had not yet been
about what to do with this group. Ittiporn emphasized
Thailand's wish to avoid undercutting the "national
reconciliation process" in Laos by allowing third country
resettlement of the Lao Hmong, but suggested a recent opening
up of attitudes by the Government of Laos (GOL) towards the
issue. On the Nong Khai group, Ittiporn indicated that the
MFA would propose to the interagency RTG policy committee
that the detainees be released to join relatives in nearby
Lopburi province. A possible mechanism for third country
resettlement would then be explored. (Comment: this has been
our advocacy stance with the RTG during the past several
months. End Comment.)

Visit to Petchabun Camp
--------------


5. (SBU) On July 3rd, the Staffdel (accompanied by RMA
Bangkok) was allowed access to the Third Army Area-run
Petchabun camp, despite RTARF warnings of expected violent
demonstrations. In the event, the camp was eerily quiet, with
the residents lined silently along the dirt paths behind a
screen of army personnel. General conditions in the camp are
basic but livable, similar to what is found in the Burmese
refugee camps, albeit with far stricter restrictions on
personal behavior. The Hmong residents appeared intimidated
by the large army presence and there was little free
interaction with the Staffdel. However, a self-described "CIA
fighter" told RMA's local staff that there were 57 such
families in the camp, with extended kinship groupings
totaling almost 2,000 people. Some Hmong children at an
NGO-run missionary school outside the camp also spoke to the
visitors; several of the teenagers quietly expressed
misgivings about return to Laos. The army arranged a meeting
with a Hmong family which had agreed to return to Laos. The
patriarch told the Staffdel that he had been interviewed on
camera by a BBC crew which had visited his jungle village in
Laos several years ago The man related to the BBC
journalists his extended family's difficult life in the
jungle, and constant efforts to avoid Lao army patrols. When
asked, he acknowledged he had no information on present
conditions in Laos from prior returnees, and was unable to
explain his decision to return other than to offer: "I don't
know what else to do." When quietly asked (out of RTARF
earshot) whether he wished to resettle in the U.S., he
quickly answered in the affirmative. The day after the
meeting with Staffdel, the man and his family escaped the
holding area near the Petchabun camp and their present
whereabouts are unknown.

No Gaps in Humanitarian Assistance-Until Sept. 30th.
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6. (U) The Staffdel met with COERR staff and observed
distribution of charcoal and soap to the Hmong resident in
Petchabun. COERR program director Ben Mendoza said relations
with the RTARF in the camp so far were good, after an initial
dispute regarding stipends paid to Lao Hmong assistants was
settled to allow the NGO's retention of the workers.
Cooperation from MSF in the turn-over has been good, with the
former MSF clinic nurse now employed on site by COERR. Local
public health officials (mostly ethnic Hmong from a Thai
village nearby) now provide primary care. The clinic
facilities appear clean and well-maintained, with sufficient
stocks of basic medicines. Providing pre- and post-natal care
is a major medical challenge, as an average of one child is
born in the camp every day. Traditional Hmong home-birthing
is preferred by many in the camp, and persuading expectant
mothers to deliver in the nearby hospital is difficult.
COERR's Mendoza stated he expected to remain in the camp only
until September 30th, the date the RTARF has set to close the
facility.

"Voluntary" Returns Slowing

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7. (SBU) The Staffdel also visited an army barracks 20
miles away used by the RTARF to hold returnees prior to
deportation. One man told the Staffdel (through an
army-arranged interpreter) that he had been "deceived" into
leaving Laos for Thailand. Only 33 Lao Hmong were in the
facility. A return of 298 people occurred on April 29th; the
next movement (of just 67 individuals) occurred on July 14,
suggesting that the RTARF is finding it more difficult to
persuade people to return, despite a proffered "readjustment"
allowance of about USD 330 per family over six members. Upon
request, the army provided a blank "voluntary return" form
signed by all Hmong who depart Petchabun. Written in Thai
language only (not understood by the great majority of
Hmong),the returnee only acknowledges that he/she "entered
Thailand illegally and not fleeing danger, and that (he/she)
will be processed in accordance with the Immigration Act of
1979." (Comment: the brief statement does not meet UNHCR
standards for affidavits of voluntary returns. Ideally, it
should be written in the returnee's native language, include
an explicit statement that the return to Laos was voluntary,
that the returnee had been counseled on alternatives and
given an opportunity to change his/her mind. End Comment.)
The camp commander improbably claimed that none of the 2,500
prior returnees had changed their mind during their stay at
the transit barracks, which sometimes lasts several weeks.


Lao Hmong Offer Self-Accounting of CIA-trained Fighters
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8. (C) Separately, MSF provided the Staffdel with a volume
prepared by the Petchabun Lao Hmong with information on 57
families in the camp headed by a former CIA-trained
resistance fighter. Family photographs, taken in Petchabun,
accompanied names and dates of birth of kinship group
members. Some pages feature photographs of the Hmong
resistance in uniform, with military IDs and unit affiliation
information from the 1970s. A total of 959 extended family
members were included. In addition, the names and
photographs of 47 adult children of deceased (or not present
in Petchabun) resistance fighters were included, along with
271 family members. Evidence of relationship to their fathers
was slim, however. We are in the process of translating the
information (written primarily in Lao),and considering its
best use in advocating for the group's protection.


9. (U) Staffdel Lee did not have an opportunity to review
this cable before departing Thailand.
JOHN