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Thailand begins to return 4,000 Hmong asylum-seekers to Laos
Thailand on Monday began to deport back to Laos more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers, defying intense pressure from the United Nations, the United States and human rights groups that say the deportees could face persecution upon their return.
After days of preparation, 5,000 troops and officials entered the Hmong camp in Thailand's central Phetchabun province to begin moving the asylum-seekers onto buses that would take them over the border.
Col. Thana Charuwat, the officer in charge of the operation, said that 2,100 of the camp's residents had agreed to leave voluntarily and that the army was trying to persuade the rest. But the Thai government has blocked media and international access to the camp and mobile telephone signals within it, making it difficult to independently confirm that information.