| | Open Letter to Ravic Huso - American Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Dear Ambassador Ravic Huso:
Could you please tell me what the U.S. government is planning to
do to send immediate aid to the Hmong Refugees in Thailand?
While I applaud the ongoing assistance that the U.S. Government has given to the Burmese Refugees (please read the AP article below: More than 30,000 Burmese Refugees Resettled),
I cannot understand why the U.S. Government has not been more active to
lend further assistance to the Hmong Refugees (their former allies) at
the Petchabun Refugee Camp in Thailand, except on an individual case by
case basis.
The following sentiments can be found on your website: http://laos.usembassy.gov/advan-freedom-demo.html
2008 Country Reports on Advancing Freedom and Democracy-2008
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
May 23, 2008 As
President Bush has said: "Freedom can be resisted, and freedom can be
delayed, but freedom cannot be denied." As long as men and women in
countries around the globe cannot fully exercise their most fundamental
freedoms of belief, speech, association and assembly, we who live in
liberty must work to defend and advance human rights and other
democratic values across the globe.
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The
Hmong Refugees have pleaded with President Bush to help them, and yet
not only is their freedom still denied - their suffering continues
while the U.S. Government watches the atrocities fully aware that the
genocide in Laos continues and that the forced repatriations in
Thailand are escalating - while there are no plans for another
resettlement program. Why are we waiting? They desperately need our
help now.
Your prompt response to this urgent matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Prisana Nuechterlein
Photojournalist
More than 30,000 Burmese Refugees Resettled
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS / BANGKOK |
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 |
More
than 30,000 Burmese refugees living in camps in Thailand have been sent
to third countries in what the United Nations said on Wednesday had
become the world's largest refugee resettlement operation. Most of the refugees are ethnic Karen people who had been sheltered in nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border. The
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that 30,144 refugees
have left Thailand to start new lives abroad since the resettlement
operation began in January 2005. But the camps remain home to 123,500
refugees and asylum-seekers. "Some of the refugees have been here
for nearly two decades," UNHCR regional representative Raymond Hall
said on Wednesday. "Some were born in refugee camps, grew up there and
are now raising their own families in refugee camps. For them
resettlement offers a way out of the camps and the opportunity for a
fresh start in life." The UN and human rights groups say that
over the years the Burmese army has burned villages, killed civilians
and committed other atrocities against the Karen, who have long fought
for autonomy from the central government. Some activists have
charged that Burma's ruling junta is waging a genocidal campaign
against the Karen and other rebel ethnic groups. Hall said prospects for the refugees to return to Burma or settle permanently in Thailand were dim. Nearly 21,500 of the resettled refugees have gone to the United States, while Australia has received 3,400 and Canada 2,600.
Other resettlement countries are Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Burmese refugees are now leaving Thailand for resettlement at an average rate of more than 300 a week, the UNHCR said.
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| | Posted 7/29/2008 9:05 PM - 49 Views - 6 eProps - 3 comments
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