The "Jungle Hmong" Tragedy

In the early 1960s the United States and her allies were faced with a dilemma. South East Asia seemed in peril from the Communists. There were Communist insurgencies in most of the SE Asia countries and the North Vietnamese in particular seemed poised to threaten South Vietnam as well as other neighboring countries. The "domino theory" was the prevailing strategic sentiment. This theory asserted that if South Vietnam or another part of SE Asia became Communist it would lead to even more Communist aggression with the potential of toppling one government after another. Laos was already deeply divided among three factions, one of which was the Communist Pathet Lao who were allying with the North Vietnamese and threatening to take over the country.

Meanwhile, there was a Geneva accord, to which the US was a party, in force which prohibited large military forces from other countries being in Laos. As the Pathet Lao became stronger, and as more North Vietnamese Army units became active in Laos, the US and Thailand became seriously concerned that Laos might become the first domino to fall. Rather that violate the Geneva accord, the US, represented by the CIA, sought out a staunchly anti Communist Lao Army Officer named Vang Pao. Vang Pao was a respected and influential member of the Hmong who were an ethnic group of hardy mountain people. Vang Pao was the leader of a sizable segment of them and the US offered to train, equip, support, and pay them if he would lead them in fighting the Communists. He (and his people) agreed and Thailand became a party to the agreement by providing training, support, and a few fighting units of their own.

To appreciate the present situation it is important to remember that we (and our allies) came to the Hmong seeking assistance -- not the reverse. They became surrogates for the soldiers we would have otherwise have had to send to Laos.

To outline the present situation I will paste in three letter to the editor that I sent to Bangkok English language news papers over the past six weeks. The first was published, the others were not. There will be a fair amount of repetition among the letters -- sorry.

The first letter was sent the last week of December, 2010

Letter #1:

Sunday your paper reported that Thailand will begin using the Army to repatriate several thousand Hmong refugees back to Laos. The story deserves more coverage than your paper gave it.

It is a very sad situation that people are being forced at military gunpoint back to a place they want to leave. In the midst of this sad story, however, a real tragedy is taking place – one that brings shame to both America and Thailand.

First remember that the Hmong were the Lao mountain soldiers that fought on behalf of the USA during the Viet Nam war. They were highly regarded as fighters, and they played a major part in keeping Laos in the control of our allies until the end.

Among the present Hmong refugees is a small group known as the "Jungle Hmong" who will be going back to predictable brutality and likely death. They are a rebellious group that remained in the jungle after the Communist’s victory and refused to assimilate or cooperate. They thought of themselves as patriots and awaited the day when they might help free their country from their old enemy – likely with ongoing encouragement from some Hmong who escaped to other countries. Over the years the Lao government, regarding them as criminals and traitors, has been systematically exterminating them. Many, maybe most, of them would now like to find a way to assimilate but, with good reason, they believe that they will be jailed and/or killed if they come under the control of Lao officials.

The Jungle Hmong presently in Thailand (mostly women, children, and old men) have been officially and properly designated as refugees, and other governments have stated a willingness to accept them. Last April it appeared that common sense and compassion might prevail when the Thai Foreign Minister announced that Thailand would facilitate the resettlement of 158 of the Jungle Hmong being held at Nong Kai. A month later, however, Laos insisted that they be sent back and Thailand caved.. A couple months ago, Laos became a party to an important UN human rights accord, but many observers believe that the Communist’s hatred for the Jungle Hmong is so deep and strong that, in spite of the now official policy, those Hmong will likely be brutally received if returned to Laos.

Thailand and America have both paid some lip service to resettlement of the Jungle Hmong, but both governments have been fundamentally spineless. They know that the Jungle Hmong are legitimate political refugees, they know that they are terrified to return to Laos, they know that they have good reason to so feel, they know they are our allies and their families, and they know that most of the persons in Thailand pose no threat to anyone. Nevertheless they will not do what it takes to move them on. One wonders if the Afghans will notice this sense of ongoing commitment that America has for former military allies.

In a related story, the legendary old Hmong General, Vang Pao, announced a couple weeks ago that he would like to travel back to Laos to see if he could ease the tensions between his former followers and the present government. The Lao government, however, expressed contempt for the idea by saying he must serve his death sentence first.

Larry Fraser
Chiang Mai


Letter number 2

The Mechanics of Voluntary Repatriation

About ten days ago, Thailand conducted a "voluntary" repatriation of about 4400 "economic migrant" Hmong refugees back to Laos. There is no doubt that within this large group were some legitimate political refugees – Vietnam era soldiers who were allies of Thailand and America in the CIA directed "secret war" in Laos and/or their families. All the news sources covered this expulsion. Since the first of the year, however, not a word.

It is interesting, maybe instructive, to examine the mechanics of this "voluntary" return to Laos.

1. All human access to the refugee camp was blocked. UN officials, journalists, volunteers, observers, friends, everyone. Well before this, and notwithstanding many requests, no personnel from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has ever been allowed access to the 4200 persons held at Huay Nam Khao.

2. All radio, phone, and cell phone communications to and from the area were blocked well before the operation began.

3. The leaders and potential agitators (around 130 persons) were separated from the group, held incommunicado and out of sight, and transported in windowless police trucks designed for uncooperative prisoners. These persons were delivered directly to the Lao Army in Laos.

4. The 158 persons held for the last three years in the appalling jail at Nong Kai -- the 158 who had been formally designated by the UN as political refugees – were also bundled into the big windowless police trucks and delivered directly to Loa officials North of the Mekong. In Laos they were whisked away to an area separate from the Huay Nam Khao 4200, and at least two of the leaders from the 158 were put in jail when they arrived in Laos.

5. The fact that the Thai Army has reported that there are likely a few hundred persons among the other 4,200 (that is not a misprint – around 500) who are also legitimate political refugees (persons in need of protection) was continuously brushed aside.

6. Around 4,500 Thai Army soldiers and few hundred Thai policemen were deployed to move the 4,400 refugees along, get them in the trucks, and manage them en route. Because of the high percentage of women, children, and old men there were around four troops for every able bodied male refugee.

7. At every opportunity, Thai officials loudly proclaimed that these are economic refugees who are voluntarily returning to the place they previously fled. These officials referred to an unpublished agreement between Laos and Thailand concerning the repatriation of refugees. They seemed to demean any suggestion that an agreement of this nature should be made public and/or that it should be in accord with customary international law. They emphasized repeatedly that the Lao government has promised to treat the returnees humanely. They put down or ignored any suggestion that inter governmental promises are properly put in writing, made public, and subject to verification.

There you have it! Smooth, efficient, and effective. It sure looks "voluntary" – right? There is no getting around the pesky fact that 158 of these persons were formally and properly designated by the UNHCR as persons needing protection, and that the Thai Army reckoned that there were a few hundred more that fit in that category. If the government just loudly proclaims that they are all economic migrants, however, many (maybe most) persons will come to believe it. Just take a look, the expulsion has been virtually ignored by the news and the world since a couple days after it occurred. One wonders, however, if citizens will consider the implications of all this for a government that came to power just about a year ago with a promise to restore the rule of law.

Larry Fraser
Chiang Mai


Letter number 3

Wednesday, February 3rd is Thai Veteran’s day. It is an appropriate date on which to reflect about the recent tragedy that befell our comrades-in-arms the "Jungle Hmong" just over a month ago. These Hmong are the veterans and their families that fought on our behalf, some forty years ago in the "secret war" in Laos. They were soldier surrogates who went in harms way on our behalf. I’ll explain.

During the Vietnam war the USA honored the international accords which prohibited large foreign military forces in Laos. This in spite of the fact that there were around 100 thousand NVA within the Lao borders and the fact that the Ho Chi Minh trail through Eastern Laos was the primary supply route for the Communist forces in South Vietnam. Instead of putting US soldiers in Laos, the USA recruited a staunchly anti Communist contingent of the Lao Hmong, lead by General Vang Pao, to do the fighting. The USA and Thailand trained them, equipped them, and supported them. USAID helped feed them, the CIA helped organize them, and American and Thai civilian aviation personnel were brought in to give them helicopter and logistical support.

The Hmong fought hard, they fought well, and they suffered horribly. Around 30,000 mountain people – men, women, and children – died during the war [of a population of around 400,000]. Some say close to 30% of the Vang Pao contingent perished. The tides of war pushed the families from mountain to mountain as air drops kept them supplied. There was a cruel joke that an entire generation of Hmong had been born that thought rice fell from the sky. However, they achieved the allied objectives. In addition to disrupting traffic on the Trail and rescuing downed airmen, they kept about 90,000 NVA engaged and prevented them from sweeping across Laos to the Mekong – maybe on into Thailand. When the war was lost, most of this group of Hmong fled to Thailand and were eventually resettled in other countries.

Some of this component of our former allies, however, were unable or unwilling to leave. They remained and, now and then from the Lao jungle, they conducted low level and mostly ineffective insurgency operations against the Communists. They have come to be known as the "Jungle Hmong." They thought, likely with encouragement from some who were safe in other countries, that they were doing a patriotic thing. The Communists, of course, regard them as criminals and, over the years they have brutally and effectively annihilated most of them. The ones who remain are truly afraid to try to surrender. Some of these Jungle Hmong were among the 4300 Huay Nam Kao refugees that, a little over a moth ago, were forced from Thailand back across the Mekong and were delivered to the Lao authorities by the Thai army and police – along with 158 Hmong from the Nong Kai jail that had been formally designated by the UN as legitimate political refugees. The Lao government had insisted that all Lao Hmong be sent back and Thailand complied.

Most of the 4,400 refugees that were repatriated that sad day, pitiful as their situation is, were almost certainly economic migrants just looking for a better life. But the Jungle Hmong among them were, for good reason, in fear for their own safety. We know that the Nong Kai 158 had been found by the UN to have legitimate concerns, and we also know that the Thai Army screeners had estimated that there were about 500 persons within the Huay Nam Kao 4200 that had logical fears about returning to Laos. It is interesting to note that about 130 of the 4200 were separated from the group just before the repatriation and were transported separately in the windowless police trucks that are designed to handle uncooperative prisoners. If there were 500 Jungle Hmong within the 4200, there would be about 130 heads of families. It seems likely that these were the persons that were transported in the windowless police trucks and delivered directly to the Lao authorities North of the Mekong – as were the entire Nong Kai 158. The 158 had been told by the Thai and other governments that, if they were repatriated, the Laos had agreed to allow them to apply for resettlement within 30 days.

Nobody knows what has happened to these Jungle Hmong after repatriation. The Thai officials say the Loas promised to treat them humanely, but there is no provision for verification and the Lao government is allowing no outside access. About 10 days after their arrival, a Lao official announced that all the 158 had decided they did not want to apply for resettlement in other countries. This the same group that, during the past three years in that appalling jail, had repeatedly said that they would prefer to die than go back to Laos. The Communists have despised the Jungle Hmong for decades and have hunted them down like vermin. The Lao government would have no apparent reason to insist that they be sent back except to punish them. It is likely that their leaders have already been tortured and killed. The official announcement, if there ever is one, will probably be that they escaped back into the jungle.

The Jungle Hmong’s decision to become insurgents may have been misguided, but let us not forget that they originally became combatants on our behalf. We can now only hope that our governments will insist that the UN, and others humanitarian organizations, be allowed to monitor them. There is an American memorial to them in the Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC. It is appropriate to at least think of them on this Thai Veteran’s day.

Larry Fraser
Chiang Mai


As of early March, there have been a couple Lao "scripted" visits to the repatriated Hmong.  The first was by three US Congressmen who dutifully reported that they observed no ill treatment.  the second was for the press and it was carfully controled.  I will paste another letter to the editor below that contains my reaction to the Bangkok Post report of Feb. 28.

Letter # 4, 11 March 2010

I have been out of the country since late February, so I did not read you 28 February piece about the Hmong in Laos until a couple days ago. I was very disappointed. Your reporter and your editor did not do their homework, violated some fundamental journalistic principles, and behaved almost as though the Post is a government controlled paper.

Instead of grilling the poor freightened Hmong, I would like to have seen you ask some obvious questions of the governmental entities involved such as "where are the 130 or so persons who were separated from the Huay Nam Kahw group," and "where are the male members of the 158 from Nong Kai." Ask the US Embassy representative what they are doing to help protect their former allies. Instead, you asked questions that were calculated to get the Hmong respondents in trouble with the Lao officials and you published some of their names! Any 12 year old could see that the visit was scripted and managed by the Lao authorities, and just a little research would have disclosed that there are credible reports that the Hmong have been coerced into fearing that they and/or their families will be severely punished, even executed, if they do not say the right things about their treatment and status http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/print.html?path=WO1002/S00606.htm. Ask about the 4,000 or so Hmong that are missing from the approximately 8,000 repatriated from 2007 to 2009 don't, instead, ask the poor Hmong girl about her rape by Lao soldiers when those same soldiers have ongoing absolute control over her welfare. Get in the face of the Thai authorities a little about the silliness of their "voluntary" repatriation assertions, the promises they made to the 158 about resettlement in 30 days, and about the "agreement" with the Lao government which has never been published and contained no means verification -- does it even exist?

Surely you have some bonafide investigative reporters on your staff. Notwithstanding one bright day in Janury when the US Ambassador publicly protested the forced repatriation, both the American and Thai governments are completely limp. Please don't let the press become the same.

Larry Fraser
Jalalabad, Afghanistan