Editing Hmong people (section)

====Controversy over repatriation====
{{Main|Human rights in Laos#Hmong refugees and forced repatriation}}
{{Globalize|section|date=February 2018}}

In June 1991, after talks with the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|UNHCR]] and the Thai government, Laos agreed to the repatriation of over 60,000 Lao refugees living in Thailand, including tens of thousands of Hmong people. Very few of the Lao refugees, however, were willing to return voluntarily.<ref>{{cite news|title=Laos agrees to voluntary repatriation of refugees in Thailand|agency=U.P.I.|date=5 June 1991}}</ref> Pressure to resettle the refugees grew as the Thai government worked to close its remaining refugee camps. While some Hmong people returned to Laos voluntarily, with development assistance from UNHCR, coercive measures and forced repatriation was used to send thousands of Hmong back to the places they had fled.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lao Refugees Return Home Under European Union Repatriation Program|agency=Associated Press Worldstream|date=22 Nov 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Karen J.|title=House Panel Hears Concerns About Hmong|agency=[[States News Service]]|date= 26 April 1994}}</ref> Of the Hmong who did return to Laos, some quickly escaped back to Thailand, describing discrimination and brutal treatment at the hands of Lao authorities.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hamilton-Merritt|first=Jane|title=Tragic Mountains|pages=xix–xxi}}</ref>

In the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, [[The Center for Public Policy Analysis]], a non-governmental public policy research organization, and its executive director, Philip Smith, played a key role in raising awareness in the U.S. Congress and policy-making circles in Washington, D.C. about the plight of the Hmong and Laotian refugees in Thailand and Laos. The CPPA, backed by a bipartisan coalition of members of the [[U.S. Congress]] and human rights organizations, conducted numerous research missions to the Hmong and Laotian refugee camps along the [[Mekong River]] in Thailand, as well as the Buddhist temple of [[Wat Tham Krabok]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org/|title=centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org|date=6 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406154059/http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org/|archive-date=6 April 2008}}</ref>

[[Amnesty International]], the [[Lao Veterans of America]], Inc., the [[United League for Democracy in Laos]], Inc., [[Lao Human Rights Council]], Inc. (led by Dr. Pobzeb Vang [[Vang Pobzeb]], and later Vaughn Vang) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights organizations joined the opposition to forced repatriation.<ref name="auto2"/>

Although some accusations of forced repatriation were denied,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=hb909nb5j8&brand=calisphere&doc.view=entire_text |title=Reports on results of investigations of allegations concerning the welfare of Hmong refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand and Laos|agency=Refugee and Migration Affairs Unit|publisher=United States Embassy (Thailand)|date=1992|access-date=27 July 2007}}</ref> thousands of Hmong people refused to return to Laos. In 1996, as the deadline for the closure of Thai refugee camps approached, under mounting political pressure, the U.S. agreed to resettle Hmong refugees who passed a new screening process.<ref>{{cite news|first=Steve |last=Gunderson|title=State Department Outlines Resettlement Guidelines for Hmong Refugees|publisher= Congressional Press Releases|date=18 May 1996}}</ref> Around 5,000 Hmong people who were not resettled at the time of the camp closures sought asylum at [[Wat Tham Krabok]], a [[Buddhist monastery]] in central Thailand where more than 10,000 Hmong refugees were already living. The Thai government attempted to repatriate these refugees, but the Wat Tham Krabok Hmong refused to leave and the Lao government refused to accept them, claiming they were involved in the [[illegal drug trade]] and were of non-Lao origin.<ref>{{cite news|title=Laos refuses to take back Thai-based Hmong refugees|work=Deutsche Presse-Agentur|date=20 August 1998}}</ref>

In 2003, following threats of forcible removal by the Thai government, the U.S., in a significant victory for the Hmong, agreed to accept 15,000 of the refugees.<ref>{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, 16 January 2004, archived 17 January 2009 from [https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/prm/rls/fs/2004/28212.htm the original]</ref> Several thousand Hmong people, fearing forced repatriation to Laos if they were not accepted for resettlement in the U.S., fled the camp to live elsewhere within Thailand where a sizable Hmong population has been present since the 19th century.<ref>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021133910/http://www.centralcallegal.org/hrtf/history/index.html |date=21 October 2008 |title=History of the Hmong Resettlement Task Force }} Hmong Resettlement Task Force, archived 21 October 2008 from [https://web.archive.org/web/20040818025236/http://www.centralcallegal.org/hrtf/history/index.html the original]</ref> In 2004 and 2005, thousands of Hmong fled from the jungles of Laos to a temporary refugee camp in the Thai province of [[Phetchabun Province|Phetchabun]].<ref>{{Cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4724199.stm | work=BBC News | title=Hmong refugees pleading to stay | date=28 July 2005 | access-date=4 May 2010|author-first1=Kylie|author-last1=Morris}}</ref>

The [[European Union]],<ref name="EU@UN">[http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_6732_en.htm Thailand: EU Presidency Declaration on the situation of Hmong refugees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312015347/http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_6732_en.htm |date=12 March 2010 }} EU@UN, 1 February 2007</ref> [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|UNHCHR]], and international groups have since spoken out about the forced repatriation.<ref name="EU@UN"/><ref>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013140444/http://web.amnesty.org/wire/March2007/Hmong |date=13 October 2007 |title=Hmong refugees facing removal from Thailand }} The Wire – Amnesty International's monthly magazine, March 2007, archived 13 October 2007 from [https://web.archive.org/web/20070313222829/http://web.amnesty.org/wire/March2007/Hmong the original]</ref><ref>[http://www.gfbv.de/pressemit.php?id=812 Deportation of Hmong Lao refugees stopped in last minute] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224030721/http://www.gfbv.de/pressemit.php?id=812 |date=24 February 2012 }} Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, 30 January 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.unpo.org/article/6250 Hmong: UNHCR Protests Refugee Deportation] Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, 5 February 2007</ref>