Oct. 9, 2006
 
HMONG REFUGEE CRISIS: Five Families of 354 Hmong Come Out, After 30 Years Hiding and Running from Laos Military Aggression
 
By David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network
 
It was nearly midnight when Boua Xang from Milwaukee, WI, received a call on Oct. 6, 2006 from a part of the group of 354 Hmong who decided three days ago to come out of hiding in the jungle, after being chased and hunted for more than 30 years by Laotian and Vietnamese military.
 
“They arrived in the village, and there are no soldiers as of yet,” said Boua Xang, a board member of a Hmong human rights organization Lao Human Rights Council (LHRC), who received the call. “But only 5 families made it to the village, the rest of their group decided to remain in hiding and to wait until the 10th.”
 
“I was told that while they were walking down the mountain, they heard severe non stop shootings of smaller guns -- at the "other side" of the mountain” said Boua Xang. “They assumed that the soldiers had found and attacked another Hmong group in-hiding.”
 
“Our US-based Hmong community is anxious to have these people monitored and safe” said Kue Xiong, president of LHRC, who received a call from Blia Shoua Her, the Leader of the 354 Hmong. “The whole group wants to come out, they are starving, but they became more and more afraid, and decided not to come -- out as of yet.”
 
“We received reports that Hmong, who came out of hiding were severely punished by the Laotian soldiers, some were killed, women were used as sex slaves at the military bases, “ said Rebecca Sommer, UN representative for the Society for Threatened Peoples International, one of the many human rights organizations who demand that the Lao Hmong issue must be addressed and resolved.
 
“When is the world going to open its eyes -- to look at this problem? My people get killed all over the place, including women and children, “ said Xia Lo Thao, the Leader of the Thao Clan, president of US based United Hmong International. “These atrocities are beyond my imagination, and I demand that the world offers a helping hand for my people -- trapped in the remote jungles of Laos.”
 
“ Some groups who come out are luckier then others, and away from being intimidated they are simply left alone, without any assistance for food or shelter,” Sommer told HNN. “Others suffer tremendous cruelties, no one knows what will happen to these people.”
 
“Just some month ago, we reported cases, where two small groups of women and children came out of hiding, the women and girls were gang raped by the soldiers, children as young as 9 years old were raped until death,” said Chue Chou Tchang, the president of Hmong American Mutual Assistance Association (HAMAA), which provides support programs to the US based Hmong community in Minnesota. “Three women managed to escape from the military bases, and are back in the jungle, hiding, but have to live with the memory of their children crying and begging for mercy while being raped by many soldiers, until they became silent because they died.”
 
“It is very difficult for our Hmong community to deal with this issue,” said Kue Xiong. “We can not advise the groups in hiding what to do, because if they stay, they face military attacks and starvation, if they come out, they may be killed, or severely mistreated -- this situation breaks our hearts.”
 
“The groups who want to come out need the global community to be there for them,” said Chue Hue Vang, executive director of Fresno, CA-based United Lao Council for Peace, Freedom and Reconciliation(ULCPFR). “Even so, Laos denies outsiders access to the areas were the Hmong live in hiding, including the UN, diplomats or journalists. Somehow governments, including the US, must have a say, considering the large amounts of monetary aid they provide to Laos, and customary human Rights laws.”
 
“We will not accept that this is going on any longer, our Hmong community demands - that the suffering of our people must be resolved,” said Chue Hue Vang.
 
“I cry so much when I have these desperate people on the phone,” said Chue Chou Tchang. “They call day and night, many of them are starving, constantly reporting names of killed group members, it is truly a nightmare.”
 
“We filed the situation and location of the village to the US State department, and to the relevant UN agencies,” Sommer told HNN. “We want to see commitment and action --the safety of these people must be ensured and monitored.”
 
Editor’s note: Here is the link to previous HNN story:
 
http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/national/061005-kinchen-hmong.html