US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK7191

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 007191 
 
SIPDIS 
 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2015 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, TH, LA, Hmong 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON OPTIONS FOR THE PETCHABOON HMONG 
 
REF: A. STATE 203111 
     B. BANGKOK 6844 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR SUSAN M. SUTTON.  REASON 1.4 (B,D). 
 
1. (U) This is an action request.  Please see para. 11. 
 
2. (C) Summary.  During a November 15 meeting, UNHCR Deputy 
Regional Representative Raja Panday stated that he had made a 
new proposal to the Thai government on resolving the 
situation of the Petchaboon Hmong.  The proposal is that the 
Thai would offer one-year renewable work permits to the 
group.  UNHCR thinks this option would provide temporary 
protection for those who need it, help disperse the 
Petchaboon Hmong, and in the process enable the filtering out 
of those Hmong most in need of help, that is, those who fled 
to Thailand because of political persecution from the Lao 
government.  Simultaneous with a work permit offer, the basic 
needs assistance being provided by NGOs to the Hmong would be 
ended.  The Thai government has not yet responded to this new 
UNHCR proposal.  While waiting for a Thai response, UNHCR is 
continuing its original planning and discussions with the 
Thai on identifying and screening those in the Petchaboon 
Hmong group who have valid refugee claims.  End summary. 
 
3. (C) Refcoord and visiting Embassy Vientiane political 
officer met with UNHCR Deputy Regional Representive Raja 
Panday on November 15 to discuss the situation of the 
Petchaboon Hmong. 
 
4. (C) Panday stated that he was pursuing a new option for 
resolving the Hmong situation.  He said that he had proposed 
to Thai National Security Council chief General Winai on 
November 13 that the Thai government offer the Hmong 
renewable, one-year work permits similar to the permits the 
Thai have provided to economic migrant workers from 
neighboring countries over the past couple years. 
Simultaneous with such an offer, the rice and basic health 
care currently being provided by international NGOs to the 
Hmong would be ended. 
 
5. (C) Panday said that the logic behind this approach is 
that it would provide temporary protection for those who need 
it and help filter out the group most in need of help, that 
is, the Hmong who fled to Thailand because of alleged 
political persecution from the Lao government.  For those 
Hmong at Petchaboon who are long-stayers in Thailand and went 
to Petchaboon in the hopes of gaining entry into any new U.S. 
resettlement program (UNHCR currently estimates this group at 
1,300 persons), the offer of temporary work permits would not 
provide any new benefit and so this group would likely return 
to their homes elsewhere in Thailand.  For those Hmong who 
are recent arrivals in Thailand but were otherwise 
well-settled in Laos and came to Thailand to access any new 
U.S. resettlement program, a work permit offer would allow 
them to stay temporarily in Thailand if they chose.  UNHCR 
believes, however, that most of this group would make their 
way back to Laos because they were well-settled there and did 
not come to Thailand to find work. 
 
6. (C) For the smaller group of Hmong who fled Laos because 
of alleged political persecution, work permits would provide 
a form of temporary protection.  UNHCR would also gain time 
and be better able to identify the members of this group as 
the other two groups dispered from the Petchaboon site.  The 
members of the political persecution group could then be 
screened to determine what durable solution, third country 
resettlement or local integration, would be most appropriate. 
 Panday noted that some of those who fled Laos because of 
political persecution would likely be fighters from the 
forest and third country resettlement for them would be 
problematic. 
 
7. (C) Panday said that General Winai was non-committal in 
response.  However, Panday noted that Geneva-based UNHCR Asia 
Department head Janet Lim was scheduled to meet with Winai 
and Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai on November 18 and 23, 
respectively, and will urge them to accept the new option. 
Panday asked for U.S. government support. 
 
8. (C) Given the uncertainty of the Thai response to this new 
proposal, Panday said that UNHCR was still continuing its 
original planning and discussions with the Thai, as outlined 
in ref b, on screening the Petchaboon Hmong to find those 
with valid refugee claims.  He stated that UNHCR intends to 
use information from its own records, NGOs, and Petchaboon 
police officials to develop a list of 30-40 cases to be 
interviewed in a "pre-screening exercise."  The objective 
will be to test/verify the accuracy and reliability of the 
various lists of the Petchaboon Hmong population and gain 
more knowledge of possible cases of concern.  The 
pre-screening team would be made up of three UNHCR Thai staff 
and two interpreters.  This exercise would be carried out as 
discreetly as possible to minimize any pull factor.  After 
the pre-screening exercise, UNHCR would then identify a 
caseload to undergo refugee status determination.  It expects 
this caseload would number about 1000 persons.  This caseload 
would then have to be separated from the rest of the 
Petchaboon group and interviewed.  A process for appeals 
would also have to be developed, as well as a plan of action 
for handling those who are screened in and those screened 
out. 
9. (C) Visiting Embassy Vientiane political officer told 
Panday that he would supply names of Hmong-speaking Americans 
who might be good candidates to participate in the UNHCR 
refugee status determination teams.  Embassy Vientiane will 
vet these names with the Department before providing them to 
UNHCR. 
 
10. (C) Comment.  It is uncertain what the Thai response to 
UNHCR's new proposal will be.  The Thai seem to want to send 
a message that crossing illegally into Thailand will not be 
tolerated and so have continued to maintain the position that 
most of the Petchaboon Hmong will be deported to Laos.  At 
the same time, the Lao government has not budged from its 
stance that it wants nothing to do with the Hmong and so any 
attempt by the Thai to ignore Vientiane's wishes and deport 
the Hmong to Laos would likely strain bilateral relations. 
 
11. (C) Action request:  Embassy believes that UNHCR's new 
option is worth pursuing and requests Department approval to 
approach the Thai government in support of it. 
 
12. (U) Embassy Vientiane has cleared this message. 
BOYCE