On 19th February 2025, UNPO participated in the UPR Info Pre-Session on Lao PDR in Geneva, delivering a statement on behalf of the Hmong people. UNPO highlighted the severe human rights violations faced by the Hmong, including persecution, land dispossession, and forced isolation, all of which continue to be met with government inaction and international concern. The statement underscored the need for Laos to implement concrete reforms, including recognizing the Hmong as indigenous peoples, halting military violance and allowing international observers access to the Phou Bia region of the Xaisomboun Province.
Persecution and targeting of Hmong People
Despite prior recommendations from the UN Human Rights Council during the 3rd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, Laos has failed to take meaningful steps to protect the Hmong. The Hmong people in Laos remain under constant threat of persecution, facing enforced disappearances, and military violence. Furthermore, the Lao government continues to deny the Hmong their indigenous status, depriving them of fundamental legal protections and exacerbating their vulnerability to human rights abuses.
In a particularly alarming case, UN Special Rapporteurs and the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances raised concerns over the disappearance of two children, a young woman, and their 80-year-old grandfather in 2020. Reports indicate that they were stopped in Paksan and later disappeared. A video later surfaced showing the vehile used in their transport being pull back onto the road, with the bodies of drivers bearking marks of torture. The whereabouts of the missing individuals remain unknown. Reprisals continue, including the extrajudicial killing of the girls’ uncle and the circulation of a photo among Hmong communication channels showing Lao soldiers posing swith the deceased body. This act of intimidation followed the submission of the UN’s first Joing Allegation Letter addressing the enforced disappearance.
Land Grabbing and Forced Displacemeent
The systemic displacement of Hmong communities remains a significant concern. Despite past UPR recommendations from Luxembourg, Switzerland and Germany to improve planning around development projects to prevent forced displacement, Laos has done nothing to address these concerns in relation to the Hmong population. Hmong communities continue to face forced relocation to facilitate economic projects. They are placed in military-controlled villages, where they suffer from food insecurity, no access to healthcare, and a lack of basic human rights.
Reports from fact-finding missions conduced by UNPO and journalits have documented Hmong families living in dire conditions, forced into a cycle of perpetual displacement. Many life in makeshift shelters under constant military surveillance, leaving to severe psychological distress among community members.
Enforced Isolation in Xaisomboun Province
The Lao government has maintained strict military control over the Xaisomboun Province, home to a significant Hmong population. The region has remained closed to international observe
rs, and reports indicate that the enforced isolation of the Hmong have led to widespread starvation, targeted violence, and other severe rights violations. Military operations have severely restricted access to food, water and healthcare, forcing many Hmong to relocate under military control.
Furthermore, independent investigations have been obstructed by the Lao government, making it impossible for international organizations to provide aid or report on the full extend of human rights abuses taking place in the region.
UNPO’s Recommendations
To address these human rights concerns, UNPO calls on the Lao government to:
- Put an immediate end to military violence against the ChaoFa communities who have been forced into hiding into the jungle of Northern Lao;
- Recognize the indigenous status of the Hmong and develop the necessary legal frameworks to protect indigenous peoples;
- Ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
- Protect indigenous communities from land grabbing and forced relocations, including the Hmong;
- Re-evaluate policies on natural resource industries and assess their human rights impacts, considering indigenous communities’ dependency on land and resources;
- Allow international observers access to the Xaisomboun Province to conduct investigation on the allegations of ongoing human rights violations;
- Allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region to provide basic necessities and healthcare for the Hmong.
The full statement and fact sheet can be downloaded below.
