Reports of ongoing forcible return of a large number of ethnic Lao Hmong, despite a chorus of international protests, including from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, have sparked the concern of independent United Nations human rights experts.
The United Nations refugee agency today asked the Government of Laos for access to some 4,000 ethnic Hmong Laotians who were deported from Thailand yesterday although many had been there for over 30 years and some were recognized as being in need of international protection.
Close to 400 Lao Hmong people were repatriated to Laos from a camp in northern Thailand yesterday, bringing the total number of returnees to 1,228 in the past three weeks, the United Nations refugee agency said today.
