ID :
52290
Wed, 03/25/2009 - 20:51
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https://oananews.org//node/52290
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Thailand, Laos agree on Hmong repatriation, land demarcation
LUANG PRABANG, March 25 (TNA) - After a three-year hiatus in Thai-Lao Joint Commission Cooperation (JC) meetings, joint commission members on Wednesday agreed to finish boundary demarcation between the two countries and to repatriate ethnic Hmong migrants to Laos within this year, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said.
Mr. Kasit told a press conference after the close of the 15th Thai-Lao Joint Committee in the former Lao royal capital of Luang Prabang that despite the absence of the joint meetings for three years due to Thailand’s political turmoil, the traditional warm relations between the two countries remains intact due to visits exchanged by government leaders.
The major issues agreed were a decision to send some 5,000 ethnic Hmong now living in Thailand’s Phetchabun province to Laos before the end of the year, Mr. Kasit said.
Thailand will pay Bt1.5 million (US$42,860) to the Lao government to help finance buildings in a village outside the Lao capital of Vientiane for the repatriates, he said.
For those unwilling to participate in the repatriation, the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry will contact third countries -- including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States – willing to consider accepting the Hmong for resettlement, Mr. Kasit said.
Many Hmong men were soldiers for the United States fighting against the communist Pathet Lao (Lao Peoples' Army) during the height of the Indochina War in the 1960s and 1970s.
After the communist victory in December 1975, many Hmong fled their home country to settle in the US and other Western countries, while many remain in Thailand and are reluctant to return for fear that the Lao government might persecute them.
Regarding land demarcation between the two countries, Mr. Kasit said so far 676 kilometres of a the total 702 kilometres had been mapped, and both parties want it to be completed this year.
He said riverine demarcation for a total length of 1,108 kilometres is expected to be completed in 2010.
In an effort to continue the joint suppression of drugs and human trafficking along their common border, the Thai-Lao Joint Commission agreed to increase the number of border crossings to nine from the current three, he added. - (TNA)
Mr. Kasit told a press conference after the close of the 15th Thai-Lao Joint Committee in the former Lao royal capital of Luang Prabang that despite the absence of the joint meetings for three years due to Thailand’s political turmoil, the traditional warm relations between the two countries remains intact due to visits exchanged by government leaders.
The major issues agreed were a decision to send some 5,000 ethnic Hmong now living in Thailand’s Phetchabun province to Laos before the end of the year, Mr. Kasit said.
Thailand will pay Bt1.5 million (US$42,860) to the Lao government to help finance buildings in a village outside the Lao capital of Vientiane for the repatriates, he said.
For those unwilling to participate in the repatriation, the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry will contact third countries -- including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States – willing to consider accepting the Hmong for resettlement, Mr. Kasit said.
Many Hmong men were soldiers for the United States fighting against the communist Pathet Lao (Lao Peoples' Army) during the height of the Indochina War in the 1960s and 1970s.
After the communist victory in December 1975, many Hmong fled their home country to settle in the US and other Western countries, while many remain in Thailand and are reluctant to return for fear that the Lao government might persecute them.
Regarding land demarcation between the two countries, Mr. Kasit said so far 676 kilometres of a the total 702 kilometres had been mapped, and both parties want it to be completed this year.
He said riverine demarcation for a total length of 1,108 kilometres is expected to be completed in 2010.
In an effort to continue the joint suppression of drugs and human trafficking along their common border, the Thai-Lao Joint Commission agreed to increase the number of border crossings to nine from the current three, he added. - (TNA)
