Obama Urged By Hmong Veterans To Intervene to Help Stop Thailand’s Forced Return of Refugees
“President Obama... we are appealing for your emergency intervention,” wrote Lt. Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute (LVAI), in a letter to President Obama. “As we write this letter, we understand that the refugees may be currently held in an Army camp and compound in Northern Thailand before their transport to Laos.”
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C., Fresno, California and St. Paul, Minnesota, December 29, 2009 - America’s largest ethnic Hmong and Laotian veterans’ organization is appealing to U.S. President Barack Obama to request his help in urging Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit to stop the forced repatriation of over 4,000 Lao Hmong refugees from Ban Huay Nam Khao refugee camp in Thailand back to Laos. In a letter to President Barack Obama, the Lao Veterans of America Institute and Lao Veterans of America, appeal for the intervention of the White House in seeking to stop the forced repatriation of the Lao Hmong refugees.
“The Center for Public Policy Analysis ( CPPA ) has received a copy of the letter in Washington, D.C., and has been asked to assist in transmitting this emergency appeal by Hmong and Lao veterans and their refugee families as well as concerned members of the community who are receiving more distressing reports from Thailand and Laos about abuses and human rights violations,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA.
“We are appealing for your emergency intervention,” wrote Lt. Colonel Wangyee Vang, National President of the Lao Veterans of America Institute ( LVAI ), in a letter to President Obama. The LVAI is a national organization, based in Fresno, California.
“Over the past several days, the Thai Army and Ministry of Interior troops have rounded up some 4,500 Hmong at Huay Nam Khao camp and put them into military trucks and buses in an operation to forcibly return them to Laos. Many were brutally forced onto the trucks by Thai soldiers who beat and seriously injured many of the Hmong refugees,” Colonel Wangyee said. “As we write this letter, we understand that the refugees may be currently held in an Army camp and compound in Northern Thailand before their transport to Laos.”
The LVAI, the Lao Veterans of America and the CPPA have held national veterans recognition ceremonies in Washington, D.C. and Arlington National Cemetery honoring Lao and Hmong veterans, and their refugee families, as well as events commemorating the anniversary of the publication of “Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans and the Secret Wars for Laos” by Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt. http://www.tragicmountains.org
The LVAI has participated and spoken at U.S. Congressional briefings, meetings and events in the U.S. Congress about the humanitarian and human rights plight of the refugees in Thailand and Laos.
The following is the text of the letter sent to President Obama at the White House: ___________________
Lao Veterans of America Institute
A Non-Profit Corporation
711 South Minnewawa Avenue, Fresno, CA 93727 Tele. ( 559 ) 252-3921
___________________________________________
December 27, 2009 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, D.C.
By Fax, E-mail and Express Mail
Dear President Obama:
The Lao Veterans of America Institute, and its Board of Directors, as well as the Lao Veterans of America, Inc., as the nation’s largest ethnic Hmong and Lao veterans’ organizations, are calling upon you to intervene in the current Lao Hmong refugee crisis in Thailand by telephoning and writing the Thai Prime Minister and asking him to delay the deportation of the Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers in Huay Nam Khao, Petchabun Province, in northern Thailand, until there has been screening by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
We are appealing for your emergency intervention.
Over the past several days, the Thai Army and Ministry of Interior troops have rounded up some 4,500 Hmong at Huay Nam Khao camp and put them into military trucks and buses in an operation to forcibly return them to Laos. Many were brutally forced onto the trucks by Thai soldiers who beat and seriously injured many of the Hmong refugees.
As we write this letter, we understand that the refugees may be currently held in an Army camp and compound in Northern Thailand before their transport to Laos.
There is much international press coverage on this on-going operation. However, the Thai authorities have banned all media and human rights observers from the camp during the forced repatriation operation. The Thais have sent in some 5,000 soldiers and jammed many of the mobile telephones to prevent the refugees from reporting from the camp.
We are attaching the December 24, 2009, letter from Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) to Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that may be helpful to you to further understand the current situation. The HRW report describes the critical situation for our Hmong people and the need to stop the forced repatriation until proper screening of this refugee population has taken place by a recognized international organization such as the UNHCR.
In a letter you sent to the Hmong American community on September 25, 2008, prior to your election as President you stated: “Hmong on the Thailand-Laos border are in a dire situation. The U.S. must be clear in calling for all parties to respect international law and ensure that displaced Hmong are not placed in harm's way. As President, I will restore America's commitment to human rights abroad…”
Please help us and our Lao and Hmong people during this terrible humanitarian and human rights crisis.
Respectfully Yours,
Lt. Colonel Wangyee Vang, President Lao Veterans of America Institute
cc: Members of Congress Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt Philip Smith, Executive Director, Center for Public Policy Analysis
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