At the 18th session of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva, UNPO and the Congress of World Hmong People (CWHP) raised alarm over the denial of Indigenous status, systemic isolation, and grave human rights abuses faced by the Hmong in Laos. Speaking under the agenda item on future work and follow-up, they highlighted how repression, lack of recognition, and fear of reprisals exclude the Hmong from data processes, visibility, and participation. They called on the Government of Laos to recognize the Hmong as Indigenous peoples, end military violence and forced isolation, allow humanitarian access to Xaisomboun, and protect their lands from displacement. They also urged EMRIP to explore how data and cross-collaboration can overcome barriers to participation and representation.
On 17 July 2025, UNPO and the Congress of World Hmong People (CWHP) jointly addressed the 18th session of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva. Under Agenda item 10 “Future work of the Expert Mechanism and follow-up to thematic studies and advice”, the statement highlighted the ongoing denial of recognition, enforced isolation, and serious human rights violations faced by the Indigenous Hmong people of Laos.
The statement drew attention to how the Laotian government continues to deny Indigenous status to the Hmong, excluding them from national recognition frameworks and manipulating demographic data to certain groups of the Hmong population, such as the ChaoFa, from official records. Development projects in Hmong territories, such as the Xaysomboun province, proceed without free, prior, and informed consent, and are often accompanied by military violence, land grabbing, forced displacement, extrajudicial killings, and torture. The situation is particularly acute in the Phou Bia region, where communities remain under strict military control, deprived of basic freedoms and humanitarian access.
UNPO and CWHP also underlined how fear of reprisals and the absence of safe environments prevent the Hmong from participating in data collection, organizing collectively, or engaging with UN mechanisms. Documented cases of torture, harassment, and extrajudicial killings of those fleeing or attempting to report violations, including cases raised through UN Joint Allegation Letters, exemplify the severe risks they face. These patterns of repression against the Hmong reflect a broader global trend of closing civic space and transnational repression targeting indigenous and unrepresented peoples. The denial of recognition, manipulation of population data, and reprisals against engagement with UN mechanisms all reflect deliberate strategies to silence vulnerable peoples both within national borders and beyond.
UNPO drew on its own reporting on transnational repression to illustrate how states, including Laos, China, Russia, and Iran, deploy similar tactics to suppress Indigenous voices and undermine their access to national, regional, and international human rights mechanisms. UNPO’s reports have documented how these tactics include harassment, surveillance, intimidation of diaspora communities, and interference with participation in international forums, often with complicity from regional bodies and in violation of international law.
The organizations cautioned that this shrinking of civic space also extends to the very international institutions tasked with protecting Indigenous peoples. Increasing interference by repressive governments, financial strain on UN bodies, and inadequate safeguards have left many communities, such as the Hmong, excluded and unprotected.
Given these concerning trends, UNPO and CWHP called on EMRIP to prioritize the issue of closing civic spaces and transnational repression in its future work. Specifically, they recommended that the Expert Mechanism:
- Examine how shrinking civic space and transnational repression impede Indigenous peoples’ right to participation and access to data;
- Investigate how participatory and dis-aggregated data practices could help protect forcibly isolated and unrecognized Indigenous communities like the Hmong;
- Document and analyze barriers to safe, meaningful engagement in data collection, consultation, and international advocacy;
- Facilitate dialogue and propose strategies to ensure that Indigenous peoples can organize, speak out, and access international mechanisms even under hostile conditions.
In their intervention, UNPO and CWHP also issued a set of urgent recommendations to the Government of Laos:
- Formally recognize the Hmong as Indigenous peoples, with appropriate legal protections.
- End military violence and forced isolation of Hmong communities.
- Grant international observers and humanitarian actors immediate access to the Xaysomboun Province.
- Safeguard Hmong lands against forced displacement linked to development projects.
The joint statement concluded by affirming that, for the Hmong people and many others, the right to be recognized, to participate, and to be counted is not just a technical or procedural matter, but a question of survival, dignity and justice. UNPO and CWHP urged EMRIP and Member States to stand in solidarity with the Hmong.
Photo Credit: © United Nations Photo/ Flickr (https://flic.kr/p/kfCfNx)
