Editing Laos (section)

===Hmong conflict===
Some [[Hmong people|Hmong]] groups fought as [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-backed units on the royalist side in the [[Laotian Civil War]]. After the Pathet Lao took over the country in 1975, the conflict continued in isolated pockets. In 1977, a communist newspaper promised the party would hunt down the "American collaborators" and their families "to the last root".<ref name="timesonline2006">{{cite news |url = https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/france/paris/no-way-out-hczwmj77xln |work = [[The Times]] |date = 30 July 2006 |title = No way out |location = London |access-date = 14 November 2022 |archive-date = 12 November 2022 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20221112154909/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-way-out-hczwmj77xln|url-status = live }}</ref> As many as 200,000 Hmong went into exile in [[Thailand]], with some ending up in the [[United States|US]]. Other Hmong fighters hid out in mountains in Xiangkhouang Province for years, with a remnant emerging from the jungle in 2003.<ref name="timesonline2006"/>

In 1989, the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] (UNHCR), with the support of the [[Federal government of the United States|US government]], instituted the [[Comprehensive Plan of Action]], a programme to stem the tide of Indochinese refugees from Laos, [[Vietnam]], and [[Cambodia]]. Under the plan, refugee status was evaluated through a screening process. Recognised asylum seekers were given resettlement opportunities, while the remaining refugees were to be repatriated under guarantee of safety. After talks with the UNHCR and the Thai government, Laos agreed to repatriate the 60,000 Lao refugees living in Thailand, including several thousand [[Hmong people]]. Some of the Lao refugees were willing to return voluntarily.<ref>"Laos agrees to voluntary repatriation of refugees in Thailand", U.P.I., 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]], allegations of forced repatriation surfaced.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lao Refugees Return Home Under European Union Repatriation Program|agency=[[Associated Press]] Worldstream|date=22 November 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author= Karen J. |title=House Panel Hears Concerns About Hmong|work=[[States News Service]]|date=26 April 1994}}</ref> Of those Hmong who did return to Laos, some escaped back to [[Thailand]], describing discrimination and brutal treatment at the hands of Lao authorities.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hamilton-Merritt|first=Jane |date=1993|title=Tragic Mountains|publisher=Indiana University Press|pages=xix–xxi|isbn=0253207568}}</ref>

[[File:Hmong girls in Laos 1973 2.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Hmong girls in Laos, 1973]]

In 1993, Vue Mai, a former Hmong soldier and leader of the largest Hmong refugee camp in Thailand, who had been recruited by the US&nbsp;Embassy in [[Bangkok]] to return to Laos as proof of the repatriation programme's success, disappeared in [[Vientiane]]. According to the US&nbsp;Committee for Refugees, he was arrested by Lao security forces and was never seen again.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1994-05-01/news/25827599_1_vang-pao-vientiane-lao-government|title=Hmong Leader's Vanishing In Laos Reverberates in U.S.|access-date=6 September 2016|archive-date=7 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007062309/http://articles.philly.com/1994-05-01/news/25827599_1_vang-pao-vientiane-lao-government|url-status=dead}}</ref> Following the Vue Mai incident, debate over the Hmong's planned repatriation to Laos intensified, including in the United States, where it drew opposition from American conservatives and some human rights advocates. In a 23 October 1995 ''[[National Review]]'' article, [[Michael Johns (policy analyst)|Michael Johns]] labelled the Hmong's repatriation a [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]] "betrayal", describing the Hmong as a people "who have spilled their blood in defence of American geopolitical interests".<ref name="web.archive.org">{{cite web |last=Johns |first=Michael |date=23 October 1995 |title=Acts of Betrayal: Persecution of Hmong |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n20_v47/ai_17443642 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206164352/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n20_v47/ai_17443642 |archive-date=6 February 2010 |access-date=9 December 2013 |work=National Review}}</ref>

In their opposition of the repatriation plans, Democratic and Republican Members of Congress challenged the Clinton administration's position that the government of Laos was not systematically violating Hmong human rights. US Representative [[Steve Gunderson]], for instance, told a Hmong gathering: "I do not enjoy standing up and saying to my government that you are not telling the truth, but if that is necessary to defend truth and justice, I will do that."<ref name="web.archive.org"/>

While 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, and under mounting political pressure, the United States agreed to resettle Hmong refugees who passed a screening process.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gunderson|first=Steve |date=18 May 1996|title=State Department Outlines Resettlement Guidelines for Hmong Refugees|work=Congressional Press Releases}}</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 had already been living. The Thai government attempted to repatriate these refugees, and 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> Following threats of forcible removal by the Thai government, the United States, in a victory for the Hmong, agreed to accept 15,000 of the refugees in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/prm/rls/fs/2004/28212.htm |title=Refugee Admissions Program for East Asia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614201938/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/prm/rls/fs/2004/28212.htm |archive-date=14 June 2021|publisher=Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration|date=16 January 2004|access-date=17 January 2009}}</ref> Several thousand Hmong people, fearing forced repatriation to Laos if they were not accepted for resettlement in the United States, fled the camp to live elsewhere within Thailand where a sizeable Hmong population has been present since the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.centralcallegal.org/hrtf/history/index.html |date = 7 March 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081021133910/http://www.centralcallegal.org/hrtf/history/index.html |title = History of the Hmong Resettlement Task Force |publisher = Hmong Resettlement Task Force |archive-date = 21 October 2008}}</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 |archive-date = 10 June 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210610101450/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4724199.stm |url-status = live }}</ref>

Lending further support to earlier claims that the government of Laos was persecuting the Hmong, filmmaker Rebecca Sommer documented first-hand accounts in her documentary, ''Hunted Like Animals'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sommerfilms.org/documentaries/Hmong/index.php |title=Hunted like animals|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105092728/http://www.sommerfilms.org/documentaries/Hmong/index.php |archive-date=5 January 2011|publisher=Rebecca Sommer Film Clips}}</ref> and in a comprehensive report that includes summaries of refugee claims, which was submitted to the UN in May 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earthpeoples.org/new/report-download/REPORT-Hmong-Rebecca_Sommer.pdf |title=Report on the situation in the Xaysomboun Special Zone and 1100 Hmong-Lao refugees who escaped to Petchabun, Thailand during 2004–2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406114320/http://www.earthpeoples.org/new/report-download/REPORT-Hmong-Rebecca_Sommer.pdf |archive-date=6 April 2012|first=Rebecca |last=Sommer|date= May 2006}}</ref>

The [[European Union]],<ref name="EU@UN">{{cite web |date=1 February 2007 |title=Thailand: EU Presidency Declaration on the situation of Hmong refugees |url=http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_6732_en.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312015347/http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_6732_en.htm |archive-date=12 March 2010 |access-date=9 December 2013 |work=EU@UN}}</ref> UNHCHR, and international groups have since spoken out about the forced repatriation.<ref name="EU@UN"/><ref>{{cite web |url = http://web.amnesty.org/wire/March2007/Hmong |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071013140444/http://web.amnesty.org/wire/March2007/Hmong |title = Hmong refugees facing removal from Thailand |work =The Wire|date = March 2007 |archive-date= 13 October 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gfbv.de/pressemit.php?id=812 |title=Deportation of Hmong Lao refugees stopped in last minute| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224030721/http://www.gfbv.de/pressemit.php?id=812 |archive-date=24 February 2012|work=Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker|date=30 January 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unpo.org/article/6250|title= Hmong: UNHCR Protests Refugee Deportation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225231133/https://www.unpo.org/article/6250 |archive-date=25 February 2021|publisher=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization|date=5 February 2007}}</ref> The Thai foreign ministry has said that it will halt deportation of Hmong refugees held in Detention Centres in [[Nong Khai]], while talks are underway to resettle them in [[Australia]], [[Canada]], the [[Netherlands]] and the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6314463.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Thailand halts Hmong repatriation|date=30 January 2007|access-date=4 May 2010|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224040721/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6314463.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Plans to resettle additional Hmong refugees in the United States were stalled by provisions of President [[George W. Bush]]'s [[Patriot Act]] and [[Real ID Act]], under which Hmong veterans of the Secret War, who fought on the side of the United States, are classified as terrorists because of their historical involvement in armed conflict.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Bush Signs Law Excluding Hmong From Patriot Act.|last=Xiong|first=T|date=2008|work=Asianweek}}</ref>