Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Saturday, September 29, 2007

Help sought for Hmong facing deportation in Thailand

By JOE ORSO / La Crosse Tribune

Xai Kao Vue, an 83-year-old Hmong American, held pictures Thursday of two older brothers, both killed while fighting on the U.S. side in the CIA’s Vietnam-era war in Laos.

Now, decades after their deaths, he fears more photographs of more dead relatives at the hands of the same communist enemies, the Pathet Lao.

“If they return, they’d die,” Vue said through a translator after recent reports the Thai government plans to send more than 8,000 Hmong refugees back to Laos.

Pathet Lao took power after the Vietnam War, and opponents claim it has since pursued a policy of discrimination against the Hmong for being relatives of fighters who assisted the United States. They’ve hunted the Hmong in the jungles and have been seen torturing victims.

During a recent telephone call, Vue asked his nephew, who lives in the Huay Nam Khao resettlement camp in Thailand, to send pictures of his family if they are deported.

“The people in the jungle cry for help from the United States,” said Vue, who lives in Onalaska, Wis. “And now we cry for help. Why don’t we get any help from the United States?”

His question has been echoed by other local Hmong, members of Congress and local citizens.

In early August, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind and other lawmakers sent a letter to the king of Thailand, asking for assurances that some 8,000 Lao-Hmong political refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand can remain until they can be resettled in third countries.

The letter notes a July statement by a Thai lieutenant general that the refugees would be sent back to Laos.

“There’s an old saying in U.S. diplomacy: Sometimes it’s dangerous to be an enemy of the United States, but it could be deadly to be a friend of the United States,” Kind said. “Nowhere does that ring more true than in the case of the Hmong.”

Kind and others call for Hmong refugees to be thoroughly reviewed and screened in a process that involves both the U.S. State Department and the United Nations.

Yeu T. Vu, family strengthening coordinator for the La Crosse Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association, said a friend at Huay Nam Khao told him to tell the Americans to kill them if they won’t help them. They’d rather die by the hands of friends than enemies, he said.

“I think they just mean they don’t want to die,” Vu said. “They want Americans to help.”

Victor Yang, 44, said his father-in-law, also in Huay Nam Khao, said suicide would be better than going back to Laos.

Members of the Roncalli Catholic Newman Center parish have signed a letter to President George W. Bush, asking them to allow Yang’s family to come to the U.S.

“When you know somebody’s story and there’s a real plight there, it’s just the right thing to do,” said Diane Withers, 60, a friend of Yang and member of the Newman Center. “I know I can be a resource because I’m an American. We can be bridges for these people.”

Joe Orso can be reached at (608) 791-8429 or jorso@lacrossetribune.com.