US `deeply dismayed` at imminet hmong expulsion: official

Antara News, Sunday, December 27, 2009 18:50 WIB

Bangkok (ANTARA News/AFP) - The United States will be "deeply dismayed" if Thailand goes ahead with the deportation of 4,000 ethnic Hmong to communist Laos in the face of a global outcry, a top US official told AFP Sunday.

"The government of Thailand has indicated its intention to return the Lao Hmong," said Eric P. Schwartz, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration.

"We would be deeply dismayed by this action, and the action would impose some very serious challenges for us," he told AFP in a telephone interview from the United States.

Thai armed forces have been mobilised for the expulsion to begin on Monday from a camp in northern Phetchabun province, where the Hmong are being held, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The group of more than 4,000 are seeking asylum based on claims they face persecution from the Laotian regime for fighting alongside US forces during the Vietnam War.

But Thailand says they are illegal economic immigrants and has agreed to send them back to Laos by the year`s end, refusing to grant the UN`s refugee agency access to them to assess if any are political refugees.

"We have made it abundantly clear that we are prepared to roll up our sleeves and work with partners in Thailand for a solution that is humane and responsible," said Schwartz.

"Even at this late date we`re fully prepared to do that," he added.

"That includes a willingness to ensure that all those who merit protection, whether that number is a few hundred or several hundred or more, have the opportunity for third country resettlement."

It would also include helping with the reintegration process of voluntary returnees to Laos, he said.

Schwartz was in Thailand last week and discussed a "detailed proposal" on the issue with Thai officials.

"At this point we have not been successful in convincing the authorities to consider this path," he said.

He said he understood Thailand`s concerns about people crossing borders illegally for economic reasons.

"But that doesn`t mean that... the government should do damage to international refugee protection principles, and those principles dictate that people who are deemed to merit protection should not be returned against their will," he added.

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