US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK4430

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 004430 
 
SIPDIS 
 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2015 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, TH, Hmong 
SUBJECT: HMONG GROUP IN THAILAND'S PETCHABOON PROVINCE 
 
Classified By: CHARGE ALEXANDER A. ARVIZU. REASONS 1.4 (B,D). 
 
1. This is an action request.  Please see para. 15. 
 
2. (C) Summary.  The 6,000 Hmong who have congregated in 
Thailand,s northern province of Petchaboon have entered 
Thailand at different times and for different reasons.  It is 
unclear how many are recent arrivals from Laos who have fled 
persecution, but it is most likely that the number is small 
and that the majority have been in Thailand for some time or 
entered Thailand in the hope of gaining entry to any new U.S. 
resettlement program for the Hmong.  UNHCR is actively 
engaged with the Thai government on this issue and believes 
that the situation needs to be handled carefully because it 
could affect the overall Thai position on resettlement.  The 
Secretary General of the Thai National Security Council, 
 
SIPDIS 
General Winai, believes that the situation in Petchaboon is a 
result of the pull factor from the existing U.S. resettlement 
program for Hmong at Wat Tham Krabok.  Thai officials told 
UNHCR on July 7 that they would ensure that the basic needs 
of the Hmong are met.  They would also conduct an 
investigation of the Hmong group to determine where they are 
from and why they went to Petchaboon.  Pending the results of 
that investigation, the officials said they did not envision 
deportations.  The Thai agreed in principle to refer cases to 
UNHCR that were compelling and fall under UNHCR refugee 
criteria.  End summary. 
 
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Make-Up of the Petchaboon Group 
------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) There seems to be general agreement at this point 
that the total number of the Hmong group in Thailand,s 
Petchaboon Province is approximately 6,000 persons.  What is 
less clear is who they are and when and why they came to 
Thailand.  It seems that the group can generally be broken 
down into three parts:  a) Persons who entered Thailand 
sometime after the Vietnam War and have come from other parts 
of Thailand to the Petchaboon site.  Some may have previously 
lived in the old refugee camps along the Thai-Lao border 
and/or at Wat Tham Krabok, the site of the ongoing U.S. 
resettlement program; b) Persons who entered Thailand 
recently from Laos with the hope of getting into another U.S. 
resettlement program for the Hmong; and c) Persons who also 
entered recently from Laos but for a different reasons, that 
is, they are fleeing alleged persecution or fighting in Laos. 
 
 
4. (SBU) It is difficult to know how many of the 6,000 fall 
into which of the three groups.  When approximately 5,000 
Hmong approached the UNHCR office in Bangkok last summer and 
asked for refugee status (some of these 5,000 may well now be 
in the Petchaboon group), UNHCR officials found that they 
could not determine when persons had arrived in Thailand and 
why they had come.  UNHCR believes that many had been coached 
to provide accounts which would buttress refugee claims. 
UNHCR regional chief Hasim Utkan told Refcoord on July 6 that 
he believes the number of recent arrivals with strong refugee 
claims is likely small.  Embassy Vientiane reports, based on 
anecdotal evidence, that some of the Hmong are recent 
arrivals in Thailand, albeit an uncertain number, who have 
fled Laotian government pressure.  Embassy Vientiane also 
reports that some members of the Hmong community state that 
many in the Petchaboon group are from well-settled Hmong 
communities in Laos where the Hmong actually enjoy a rather 
high standard of living.  They went to Petchaboon on rumors 
of another Tham Krabok program, but understand that they need 
to present themselves as refugees. 
 
5. (SBU) Embassy Bangkok has also heard reports that the 
Hmong in the first two groups above have been encouraged to 
go to the Petchaboon site by their U.S. relatives.  There are 
also reports that other persons in Thailand, Hmong or Thai, 
have encouraged Hmong to go to Petchaboon and have collected 
fees in return for promises that they would be able to ensure 
entry into another U.S. Hmong resettlement program. 
 
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UNHCR Position 
-------------- 
 
6. (SBU) UNHCR stopped accepting Hmong refugee status 
applications in Bangkok last summer when it found that it 
could not handle the flood of 5,000 applicants.  Despite this 
general policy, UNHCR has interviewed and referred for U.S. 
resettlement a very small number of Hmong over the past year 
who were referred by NGOs.  UNHCR has formally asked the Thai 
government for access to the Hmong in Petchaboon, but the 
Thai have so far refused. 
 
7. (SBU) In a July 6 conversation with Refcoord, UNHCR chief 
Utkan stated that the Petchaboon issue needed to be handled 
carefully because it could affect the overall Thai government 
approach to resettlement at a time when a major international 
effort was now underway to resettle Burmese refugees in the 
border camps to third countries.  Utkan said that UNHCR had 
told the Thai that it was willing to consider compelling 
refugee cases referred by the Thai government.  However, 
Utkan said he was leery of establishing any presence in 
Petchaboon at this point because it could exacerbate the pull 
factor.  He also noted that UNHCR did not have the resources 
to conduct refugee interviews of 6,000 persons. 
 
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Thai Government Position 
------------------------ 
 
8. (U) The Thai government so far has apparently been unable 
to make any headway with the Lao government on the Petchaboon 
Hmong issue.  News reports have said that the Thai have 
approached the Lao government, but the Lao refuse to accept 
any responsibility or work with the Thai. 
9. (C) During a July 6 meeting with visiting EAP DAS Eric 
John, General Winai Phattiyakul, Secretary General of the 
Thai National Security Council (NSC), stated that the 
situation in Petchaboon was a result of the pull factor from 
the Tham Krabok program.  He said that some persons had 
encouraged Hmong in Laos to go to Thailand to try to get into 
any new U.S. resettlement program.  Winai noted that Thai 
provincial officials along the border had done a poor job of 
stopping these persons from entering Thailand.  Other Hmong 
had come from elsewhere in Thailand.  The number of the 
Petchaboon group had increased from 2,000 to 6,000, according 
to Winai, and the Thai government was worried that another 
Tham Krabok settlement could develop. 
10. (C) Refcoord responded to Winai that it was important 
that UNHCR be granted some access to the group because some 
were likely to be real refugees, but that this needed to be 
done carefully to avoid exacerbating the pull factor.  Winai 
responded that he would be willing to approve resettlement 
for a small number of the group but it would be difficult to 
determine who those persons were because many of the Hmong 
would likely claim they were recent arrivals fleeing 
persecution.  In a later conversation at the Embassy,s 
Independence Day celebration on July 6, Winai, in a rare 
display of anger, told Refcoord that he was frustrated with 
inaccurate press reporting on the Petchaboon situation.  He 
added that Thailand was a sovereign country which had the 
right to control its borders.  He said he would welcome a 
statement that the USG has no plans to establish a new 
large-scale program for the Hmong in Petchaboon. 
 
11. (SBU) Press reports on July 6 said that local Thai 
officials in Petchaboon had told local vendors not to sell 
food and water to the Hmong.  Thai NSC officials told 
Refcoord on July 6 that if the stories were true, they would 
tell local officials to reverse the directive.  The 
Petchaboon Governor stated on the same day that there were no 
such instructions and that local officials were in fact 
providing some food and public health assistance. 
The Governor said that there is growing friction between the 
6,000 Hmong and the existing Thai-Hmong community in the 
area.  The latter apparently number about 20,000 and have 
lived in Petchaboon for many years.  While they initially 
provided shelter to the Hmong who went to the Petchaboon 
site, they are now concerned about the trouble that is being 
created. 
 
12. (SBU) UNHCR/Bangkok Chief Protection Officer Giuseppe de 
Vincentis told Refcoord on July 7 that he had met with Thai 
NSC officials that morning to discuss the Petchaboon 
situation.  De Vincentis said he told the Thai that UNHCR 
would be willing to go to Petchaboon and conduct a joint 
assessment of the situation with the Thai.  He said that it 
was important that humanitarian assistance is provided to the 
group.  He also stated that UNHCR would be willing to 
consider compelling refugee cases referred by the Thai 
government. 
 
13. (SBU) In response, Thai NSC officials stated that 
assistance of food, shelter, and basic health services would 
be provided to the Hmong.  They said that UNHCR could say 
publicly that it had received such reassurances from the Thai 
government.  In addition, the NSC said that the Thai 
government would investigate in a systematic way when the 
Hmong had come to Thailand and for what reason.  Persons who 
had Thai ID cards or who had lived elsewhere in Thailand for 
a long period would be encouraged to return to where they had 
come from.  The remainder would be subject to Thai 
immigration law, including the possibility of deportation. 
However, pending the results of the investigation of the 
Hmong group, the officials said they did not envision 
deportations occurring.  They discounted harsh comments 
regarding deportations reported in July 7 press articles 
attributed to General Pallop Pinmanee, Deputy Director of the 
Internal Security Operations Command.  Finally, the NSC 
agreed in principle to refer Hmong cases to UNHCR identified 
during the investigation that are compelling and fall within 
UNHCR criteria.  The NSC said that UNHCR could also state 
publicly that it received this agreement in principle from 
the Thai. 
 
14. (C) Comment.  The situation of the Hmong in Petchaboon is 
complex and the Thai government is struggling to manage it. 
Thai concerns about the Hmong have been growing steadily and 
it will be important to follow closely Thai government 
actions.  The Thai appear to be trying to buy time with their 
investigation of the Hmong group.  We have heard that they in 
fact had already gathered some information about the Hmong. 
It is likely that they will use the time to put pressure, 
which could include threats of arrest, on the Hmong who have 
Thai ID cards or are long-stayers in Thailand to return to 
their homes elsewhere in Thailand.  We have not seen any 
indication so far that the Thai government is rethinking its 
overall approach to resettlement out of heightened concerns 
about pull factors, though this is an issue that bears 
careful watching.  End comment. 
 
15. (SBU) Action request:  To help resolve the Petchaboon 
situation and demonstrate that the USG is prepared to play a 
helpful role, Embassy recommends that the Department issue a 
statement that the USG has no plans to establish a new, 
large-scale resettlement program for the Lao Hmong in 
Petchaboon.  The statement could also say that the USG 
welcomes indications that the Thai government is providing 
basic assistance to the Hmong and reiterate that Hmong with 
claims of persecution should not be deported to Laos until 
those claims can be reviewed. 
 
16. (U) Embassy Vientiane cleared this message. 
ARVIZU