Thai authorities arrest BBC guide for deportation

PRESS RELEASE – March 28, 2009

Thai authorities arrest BBC guide for deportation to Laos

Around 8:30 pm Saturday night, Thai authorities in Huay Nam Khao camp arrested Joua Va Yang, a former guide for the BBC. Witnesses on the scene claim that authorities had beaten Mr Yang very badly during the arrest.

Back in 2004, Mr Yang led a team of BBC journalists into the jungles of Laos to document the ongoing plight of the Hmong who claim to be hunted by the Lao military due to their past association with the United States Central Intelligence Agency during the Vietnam War.

Currently, the Thai military is believed to be rounding up other Hmong refugee leaders for deportation. Those targeted are on a Lao government blacklist which was given to Thai authorities last month during an official delegation visit to the camp.

Over the past several days, Thai authorities have been very crafty in scaring these blacklisted leaders, encouraging them to escape the camp by posting their arrest warrants at the camp headquarters. The Hmong refugees believe authorities want them to attempt escape from the camp so that they can later justify their forced deportation to Laos.

Despite recent public assurances from the Thai Foreign Minister that there would be no forced repatriations, the Thai military seems to be playing hardball now by targeting those key refugee leaders on the Lao government’s blacklist. These types of scare tactics are a blatant violation of international refugee law. 

The United  States and foreign diplomatic community need to show some outrage and publicly condemn the Thai government on how these Hmong are being singled out with no protection whatsoever.

Joe Davy
Hmong Advocate
Chicago

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