Jun 29, 2021

UN concerned for Hmong in Laos


The Working Group on Enforced Disappearances and seven Special Rapporteurs have sent a second Joint Allegation Letter (JAL UA LAO 3/2021) to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR). Theis letter has been sent to the government less than one year following the publication of an initial October 2020 letter (UA LAO 3/2020) expressing alarm at the continued persecution of the Hmong in Laos, including military attacks on communities living in isolation in the Pho Bia region of Loas.

The new letter not only reiterates the Special Rapporteurs concerns over allegations of indiscriminate military attacks and the denial of the right to food, adequate housing, medical care and safe drinking water among other human rights abuses against the ChaoFa Hmong, but also decries the Lao Government’s failure to respond to the request for clarification on the fate and whereabouts of the four disappeared individuals. Furthermore, the letter expresses alarm as to purported acts of reprisals and intimidation against the community for reporting to the international community. The alleged reprisals include the extrajudicial killing of a family member, intimidation tactics against the families, and military isolation of the remaining ChaoFa in the Phou Bia mountain.