Communists Target Hmong In Laos

The Hmong Hill Tribesmen of the mountains of Laos joined with American forces in the fight against Communism during the Indochina War in the 1960's and 1970's. But by April of 1975 the U.S. Military was pulled out of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos because of traitorous propaganda from anti-war activists, the liberal media and the likes of Hanoi Jane Fonda. The American people and Government bought into the the lies and pulled the Military out of Indochina. This caused one of the greatest blood baths and mass exoduses of modern times. The Hmong and other friends of America were left to the vengeful Communist regimes.

Compass Direct recently reported that the Laotian soldiers and police killed at least 13 Hmong Christians in July and that about 200 members of a 1900-strong Laos Evangelical Church in Ban Sai Jarern (north-western Laos) were imprisoned. One source told Compass Direct that police have been searching intensively for Christians in rice fields and mountains and are shooting them on sight. Vietnamese police and soldiers have crossed into Laos seeking Vietnamese Hmong.

Laotian authorities are accusing the churches of being linked to Gen. Vang Pao (77) who was arrested in California on June, 4th. Vang Pao and 9 others were charged with plotting a coup to overthrow the Government of Laos. Vang Pao emigrated to the U.S. in 1975, and is a prominent member of the Hmong community. He has been credited by thousands of Hmong refugees with helping them build new lives in the America. As a Laotian general, Vang Pao led CIA-backed forces against Communist guerrillas before they seized power in 1975. The Lao Government is accusing Hmong pastors are preparing their congregations to participate in the coup. The churches however flatly deny the charges.

Exploiting the situation, Communist village officials and committee members and other anti-Christian elements are agitating for a purge of Christians. Numerous church leaders have been seized. Police are pursuing others who are on the run. On top of this, the Thai Prime Minister announced on 6 August that Thailand would return some 8000 ethnic Hmong refugees to Laos despite their claims they face persecution in their homeland. World leaders generally are indifferent to what they know is happening in Laos.

The Lao government has repeatedly denied persecution of any Hmong in Laos and claims there are no Hmong trapped in the jungles, but the evidence is to the contrary. Several thousand Hmong -- the remnants of the CIA-funded jungle army that fought the Lao and Vietnamese communists from 1961 to 1975 -- are hiding from the Lao military, which has mutilated and killed Hmong men, women and children foraging for food.

The BBC reported that "Hmong activists and human rights activists say those in the jungle have long-since ceased to pose a threat, yet the government continues to wage a campaign of vengeance against them. The few journalists who have managed to track down some of them say they have been isolated by government troops and are malnourished, wounded and in need of shelter. Analysts have speculated that this - and the fact that Thailand recently agreed to forcibly return any new Hmong refugees to Laos - could have been a strong motivating factor behind any alleged coup plot."

Early in August saw 13 members of the U.S. Congress write a letter to Thailand's revered monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, to help stop further deportation of the Hmong refugees back to the homes they fled in Laos. The refugees would "face horrific mass starvation and death by the Lao military regime if they return to their homeland," the letter said, echoing sentiments that had been expressed in June by the U.S. State Department. On that occasion, Washington's foreign affairs arm requested the Thai government "not to deport vulnerable people seeking refugee status without first having a screening process that meets international standards."

View documentaries on the plight of the Hmong of Laos