PHETCHABUN, Thailand — Thailand early this morning launched an operation to close a refugee camp and send about 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to Laos, despite concerns about their safety.
Col. Thana Charuwat, the Thai Army’s field coordinator for the operation, said the operation involved 5,000 soldiers. He said the soldiers were unarmed, but equipped with shields and batons, which he described as meeting international standards for dealing with such situations, where people are being moved back against their will.
Many of the Hmong claim they face persecution in their homeland because of its communist government’s alleged antagonism toward them. Hmong hill tribe people fought on the side of a pro-American government during the Vietnam War, but the communist side — popularly known in the West as the Pathet Lao — emerged triumphant in 1975.
Thailand claims most of the Hmong at the camp have no legitimate claim to refugee status but are simply economic migrants who have entered the country illegally.
Thana said the army hoped to complete the operation within 24 hours. Human-rights groups warned earlier that the planned expulsion could turn violent. Thana said the army’s initial action would be an effort to have the Hmong agree to be sent back voluntarily.
Sunai Phasuk, a Thai representative for the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, said mobile phone signals inside the camp had been jammed so nobody could call out. Rights groups fear the Hmong will resist the deportation, as they have during smaller-scale repatriations.
The United States and human-rights groups have expressed concern about their expulsion, saying some of the Hmong could qualify for refugee status and should not be sent back.
Laos has in the past denied the Hmong are Laos citizens, describing them as Thailand’s problem, though Bangkok says Laos has agreed to take this group back.
