PRM PDAS WITTEN OPENS DOOR ON LAO HMONG IN THAILAND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 002041

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR PRM/ANE AND PRM/A; EAP/MLS
GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2019
TAGS: PREF PHUM SMIG TH LA
SUBJECT: PRM PDAS WITTEN OPENS DOOR ON LAO HMONG IN THAILAND

REF: A. VIENTIANE 0384

B. VIENTIANE 0387

Classified By: DCM James F. Entwistle, reason: 1.4 (b and d).


1. (C) Summary. During a busy July 28-August 1 visit to
Thailand, PRM PDAS Samuel Witten met with senior Royal Thai
Government (RTG) civilian and military officials on the Lao
Hmong issue, and toured the two sites in Thailand where a
total of almost 5,000 Lao Hmong are being held. Witten
pushed for an immediate release of the 158 UNHCR-recognized
refugees, held now for two-and-a-half years in a border
immigration jail at Nong Khai, pending an agreed mechanism
for third country resettlement. In Petchabun, Witten met
with local military commanders and spoke directly to Hmong
leaders representing the remaining 4,700 residents, rebutting
rumors that there is a planned large scale resettlement
program to the United State. Witten encouraged greater
transparency in the return process underway by allowing the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) to play a
role, and noted the availability of U.S. funding for such IOM
activities. Additional information on the internal RTG
screening in Petchabun was provided by RTG interlocutors,
although we are seeking more information about the process.
The visit complemented earlier advocacy efforts by Witten in
Laos on resolving the impasse over the Hmong (Refs.)


2. (C) Comment: PDAS Witten's visit, coming shortly after
the Secretary's July 21st expression of concern over the Lao
Hmong issue to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, has
clearly moved the RTG away from a feared move to quickly
repatriate all of the remaining 4,700 Lao Hmong in
Petchabun-a move that under present circumstances could only
be done forcibly, and would certainly spark international
criticism. The senior level of his interlocutors, and the
serious attention paid to his views, suggests an overall
easing of the atmosphere in Thailand on what at times has
seemed to be an intractable issue. An immediate result of
the visit was the first invitation to the U.S. to discuss the
Petchabun group in a tripartite meeting with the RTG and GOL
on August 7. (Septel) On August 10, the Royal Thai Armed
Forces (RTARF) headquarters also requested continued
humanitarian assistance for the Petchabun group until April
2010, signaling an abandonment of earlier announced plans to
begin forced repatriations. Our goal over the next months
will be to encourage improvements in voluntariness of the
return process currently underway, while continuing
tripartite discussions of the protection needs of those with
a legitimate fear of return to Laos. For the UNHCR-recognized
refugees in Nong Khai, we will continue press for immediate
release from jail. End Summary and Comment.

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UNHCR-recognized Refugees in Nong Khai Jail
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3. (SBU) On July 28th, PDAS Witten toured the Nong Khai
Immigration Detention Center (IDC),along the Thai - Lao
border, to observe first hand conditions for the 158
UNHCR-recognized refugees. The internees have been confined
since January 2007. The large group, with includes almost 90
children, sleeps in two dark, poorly ventilated cells,
separated by gender. For most of the day, however, they are
permitted to stay in an outside pavilion with fresh air and
partial sunlight, a facility completed with PRM funding in
January 2009. A nurse station, staffed by an IOM nurse, and
an English class (taught by a PRM-funded trainer) for
children was seen at the pavilion. Interaction with the
detained Hmong was limited by immigration officers, but
Witten did talk to one young man with a severe facial injury
who said he was shot in 2003 by a Lao army soldier near his
village. The atmosphere seemed calm in the IDC, although the
IOM nurse reported later that psychological stress remains a
significant problem for the detainees due to crowding and
uncertainty regarding their future.


4. (C) In a subsequent Bangkok meeting with Thawin
Ploensri, the new Secretary General of the National Security
Council (the lead policy agency on the Hmong issue),Witten
described the prolonged detention as "unacceptable" and
advocated for the immediate release of the group pending an
agreed upon mechanism for their resettlement in third
countries. (Note: the cases have already been referred by
UNHCR to the U.S., Australia, Canada and the Netherlands. End
note.) Noting that UNHCR recognition of the group made Nong
Khai a different issue than Petchabun, Witten warned that
forcible return of that group to Laos would be a "major
issue" for the United States. Similarly, a RTG policy of
indefinite detention will become an increasingly difficult

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challenge for the RTG. Suggesting that the U.S. "has the
real key to solving the problem" in its bilateral
relationship with the Government of Laos, Tawin responded
that the RTG focus at the moment was improving the conditions
of detention. The NSC therefore is considering moving the
Nong Khai group to a newly constructed IDC at Mukdahan, also
along the Thai - Lao border. Tawin averred that allowing
third country resettlement would be an implicit criticism of
Laos - "we would say that there is political persecution in
their country." The NSC chief asserted that "many" of the
Nong Khai group would return to Laos voluntarily, but are
prevented from doing so by clan leaders who wish to resettle
abroad.


5. (C) Witten also pressed for release of the Nong Khai
detainees with the MFA's Anusorn Chninowana, Director General
of the Intentional Organization Division. Anusorn promised to
"look into options" for the group, remarking that "Thailand
does not want to spoil its humanitarian record" regarding
vulnerable groups from neighboring countries. The senior MFA
official also promised to discuss the immediate release
option with the NSC.

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The Petchabun Detainees
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6. (SBU) During a seven-hour visit to the RTARF-run camp at
Petchabun on July 30, PDAS Witten and RefCoord reviewed the
operations of the Catholic Organization for Emergency Relief
and Refugees (COEER),a PRM-funded NGO providing food,
water/sanitation, and overseeing medical care for the
remaining 4,700 Lao Hmong. COERR took over assistance in the
camp after the withdrawal of NGO Doctors without Borders in
May. No gaps in assistance during the transition occurred,
and many MSF staff were re-hired by the new NGO. After a slow
beginning, the Hmong residents have begun the trust the new
NGO and visitors to the clinic are now at MSF-era levels.
COERR managers, and the RTARF camp commander, separately
told Witten that they were satisfied with the arrangement to
date and that there was no friction. A brief walking tour
through the camp proper was also done, although a armed
military presence made free interaction with the residents
difficult. No obvious cases of malnutrition were seen, an
impression confirmed by COERR workers, who said the major
health concerns were respiratory ailments and the high number
of home births. There is an average of one birth a day in
the camp, and many mothers refuse to travel to the local
government clinic, preferring traditional Hmong mid-wives to
assist.


7. (SBU) Witten met with 16 Hmong representatives
(including, at his request, six women) at a nearby army
conference room in order to dispel rumors (some emanating
from U.S.-based relatives and advocacy groups) that the U.S.
was planning a large-scale resettlement program similar to
that done for 15,000 Lao Hmong at Wat Tham Krabok in
2004-2005. Several Hmong leaders calmly stated in response
that they feared return to Laos, and requested that UNHCR be
allowed to accept their refugee applications. The Hmong
complained that in February 2009 the RTARF had closed a
market along the camp fence which provided fresh food, and
that people lacked sufficient protein. (Comment: RefCoord
confirmed later with COERR that SPHERE standards on caloric
intake were being maintained in the camp. End Comment.)

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NSC: "No Objections" to IOM Role
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8. (C) At the Thai National Security Council, the lead
policy agency on the Lao Hmong, Witten pressed for IOM
involvement to improve transparency and voluntariness in the
return process currently underway. PRM has funding available
to support IOM's return and repatriation project, first
proposed to the RTG in July 2008. Witten suggested that
truly voluntary returns would increase if there was a
transparent process with a trusted international organization
involved. NSC Secretary General Tawin responded that IOM
assistance to the Lao Hmong (up to the Lao border) "is not a
big issue" and the RTG was currently discussing modalities.
Tawin, who heads the Bangkok-level committee intended to
review the 1,423 family case files (comprising some 7,800
people) vetted by camp level teams in January 2008, revealed
further details of the process. A comprehensive review of
the cases by a second tier, Bangkok-level committee has not
been done. Rather, a working group comprised of mid-level
officials from the NSC, MFA and RTARF review the files of any
Hmong in Petchabun who have indicated a desire to repatriate.

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Tawin stated that if there are any questions on the
suitability of a return, further information is requested
from the camp. "About eight percent" of the original 7,600
inhabitants of Petchabun were "screened in" (i.e. found to
have protection concerns) by the RTG, according to Tawin. To
date, only a handful of the screened-in group volunteered to
repatriate to Laos.


9. (C) At the Thai MFA, PDAS Witten suggested that the
majority of the remaining Petchabun group will likely not
qualify for protected status, and proposed improving the
voluntary return process to allow more repatriations,
gradually whittling down to a small residual group which
could then be addressed. Noting that the Lao Hmong in
Petchabun were illegal immigrants subject to deportation,
Director General Anusorn Chninowana expressed frustration
that "we are being nice to them - why are we being blamed for
being nice?" Anusorn described the RTG vetting process in
Petchabun as "more or less the same" as that for the Burmese
refugees in the nine established camps, and promised Witten a
copy of the form used by the interview teams. The RTG does
not want to make the internal screening process public,
fearing the GOL "will raise questions about it." Anusorn
closed the hour-plus conversation by asserting that any
solution to the Petchabun issue will depend on improving U.S.
- Lao relations, and he urged continued negotiations on the
Lao Hmong in Vientiane.

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RTARF Issues Invite to Tripartite Meeting
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10. (C) PDAS Witten told RTARF Lt. General Nipat Thonglek,
head of the RTG interagency working group overseeing the
return process from Petchabun, that any people determined to
have protection needs should not be forcibly returned, and
that third country resettlement was not the only option.
General Nipat responded by describing the current return
process, which has seen 15 rounds of repatriations since 2007
under a bilateral MOU with the GOL calls for all returns to
be completed by December 30, 2009. (Comment: the original
MOU specified December 30, 2008, but according to the GOL
"political uncertainty" in Thailand in 2008 caused the delay.
End comment.) General Nipat divided the Petchabun group into
two camps: economic migrants who do not wish to return to
Laos, preferring resettlement abroad, and "the eight percent"
who have "personal reasons for not going back." Nipat said
the latter group would be discussed for the first time with
his GOL counterpart, Brigadier General Bouaxieng Champaphahn,
on August 7 in Petchabun, and extended an unusual invitation
for U.S. participation in the talks. Witten accepted the
invitation, noting it would be the first time all three
governments had met in the same room to discuss the issue of
Lao Hmong.


11. (U) PDAS Witten cleared this cable.

JOHN