06/09/2004

Refugees International, working in collaboration with the George Wolf Operating Foundation, recently completed an assessment mission to Thailand to gauge progress on the registration of Laotian Hmong refugees at Wat Tham Krabok, about one hour outside of Bangkok. At the end of April, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) completed the registration and case preparation for some 15,000 Hmong refugees whose names were included on an August 2003 list provided by the Royal Thai Government to the United States. The U.S. has indicated it will not consider for refugee resettlement interviews any Laotian Hmong not included on this list.

Ninety-seven percent of the Laotian refugees processed by the UNHCR were previously registered with the UNHCR and resided at one time in UNHCR supported camps. Many had lived at Ban Vinai, one of the first Hmong refugee camps established in Thailand over two decades ago.  UNHCR indicated to RI that it was pleased to be able to assist these refugees, almost all of whom have opted to seek resettlement. Many of the Hmong refugees referred to the U.S. were found to be stateless persons, unable to lay claim to any other citizenship or right to residency for themselves or their families, and thus, according to UNHCR, in need of third country resettlement. UNHCR said it hoped to be able to continue its efforts to assist previously UNHCR registered Hmong refugees in Thailand who needed resettlement, provided countries were willing to accept them.  

UNHCR emphasized the importance of maintaining family unity for the 3,300 cases it referred to the U.S. for processing by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) staff.  Five experienced DHS interviewers had completed over 900 refugee interviews by late May with approval rates as high as expected given the history of this refugee population.  To date, UNHCR has been told that married children of Hmong refugees being interviewed were not eligible for U.S. processing, unless their names were already on the Thai list. UNHCR reminded RI that married Hmong children often support their elderly parents and the large extended families characteristic of this culture. RI joins UNHCR in hoping that eventually these several hundred Hmong married children may be permitted to join their families in resettlement.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), under contract with the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, is providing medical exams and needed inoculations for all of the refugees; only one case of TB had been diagnosed as of the RI visit.  With IOM’s help, the Thai Health Department has expanded public health services to the Hmong at the Wat, many of whom are too poor to pay for treatments or medicines.  Unlike other refugee groups, the Hmong living at the Wat do not receive food, shelter, free education or other income support from the UNHCR or the international community, and thus must work to provide for their families or rely on remittances. Some Hmong formerly living at the Wat are unhappy that this compelling need to work outside of the Wat to support their families prevented their names from appearing on the Thai list for resettlement and hope that the U.S. might reconsider this issue.

IOM is conducting cultural orientation programs for the Hmong and graduated its first class May 20. Due to numerical limits on the number of refugees permitted aboard a flight to the U.S. and other considerations, IOM expects to be able to move only 4,500 Hmong refugees by the end of fiscal year 2004, unless charter flights were authorized to permit an additional 2,250 refugees to enter the U.S. by September 30. IOM expects the remaining 8-10,000 Hmong refugees to enter the U.S. in FY 2005.

Thai government officials remain concerned that this Hmong resettlement effort may result in a new “pull factor” for some in Laos and reported several cases of new arrivals. While these officials had “no problem with additional family reunification cases,” they and U.S. embassy staff suggested that “another round” would have to await the complete processing of this first group.

Refugees International, therefore, recommends that:

• The Government of Thailand continue to permit any Lao Hmong fleeing persecution to find a safe haven there and allow them either to work legally or to be provided with access to education and health care for their families.
• The U.S. Government maintain a generous family reunification policy for its resettlement program, and that otherwise eligible married children of Hmong refugees be permitted to resettle in the United States.
• The U.S. Government work with Thailand to ensure that any remaining refugees at the Wat may continue to live in safety and dignity somewhere in Thailand.
• The U.S. Government, working with UNHCR and the  Government of Thailand,   determine what other UNHCR registered Hmong refugees, particularly former residents of Wat Tham Krabok, are in urgent need of resettlement.