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Many of the La Crosse area’s 3,000 Hmong have relatives who had lived in the Thai refugee camps since fleeing Laos.
“At this point, we don’t know (who was repatriated to Laos),” said Vue, executive director of the Hmong Mutual Assistance Association in La Crosse.
Seven U.S. senators, including all four from Wisconsin and Minnesota, want Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to look into the repatriation of more than 800 Hmong to Laos.
The senators say they are concerned that Thailand repatriated the Hmong on Sunday without independent parties monitoring the process. They urge Rice in a letter sent this week to press Thailand to meet United Nations and basic human rights standards.
“The circumstances surrounding the repatriation are unclear,” the senators wrote. “We strongly urge you make every effort to obtain a comprehensive understanding of what occurred during the repatriation process.”
The senators said they’re concerned some of the refugees may face persecution in communist Laos.
“This is not something new,” said Vue. “We know the Thai government is pushing these people back, we know the Laos government is negotiating with the Thai government.”
Advocates long have pressed for third-party oversight and political screening.
“Give these people an opportunity to be screened — who is a political refugee and who is not,” Vue said.
The letter was signed by Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Barbara Boxer of California, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Coleman is a Republican; the other six are Democrats.
Human rights groups said Thursday the repatriation may have included some who were sent back involuntarily in violation of international humanitarian standards. All 837 were believed to have fled their homeland in recent years.
The Thai government says the 837 Hmong were among thousands who have been demonstrating since last month at a makeshift camp in Thailand’s Phetchabun province. They were protesting their situation at the camp, which holds an estimated 8,000 Hmong from Laos, and a repatriation agreement between Bangkok and Laos.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said more than 800 people returned to Laos voluntarily. But the humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders said it believed most of the 800 had been forced to return to Laos. Like the senators, the group raised concerns about the lack of access for independent parties to monitor the process.
Amnesty International said in a prepared statement: “No independent monitors were present, and it is likely that some of the group were coerced into returning. Some are at risk of torture.”
The area’s Hmong community in March hosted a rally in downtown La Crosse to raise awareness of genocide and implore politicians to take action.
“We have tried very hard to ask Congress and the president to do whatever we can, but the help we need is not moving as fast as we need,” Vue said.
The Hmong, an ethnic group from Laos, fought alongside the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Many settled in the U.S. after the war, primarily in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California.
