VZCZCXYZ0030
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVN #0894/01 2571042
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 141042Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0341
INFO RUEHLE/AMEMBASSY LUXEMBOURG PRIORITY 0025
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 6824
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0125
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0919
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0188
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0667
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1096
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 0066
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0112
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0566
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000894 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, EUR/ERA, PRM/ANE, IO/UNP, IO/RHS, 
G-TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016 
TAGS: KCRM KWMN LA PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG UNDP
SUBJECT: CASE OF 26 MISSING HMONG CHILDREN STILL OF CONCERN 
 
REF: VIENTIANE 801 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach per 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) This cable requests the Department pass an action 
request to Embassy Luxembourg; please see paragraph 14.  It 
also has kudos for USUN and Embassy Sweden which we request 
the Department pass on; please see paragraph 15. 
 
¶2. (C) Summary:  &Like-minded8 senior diplomats met to 
discuss the case of the 26 missing children, a case that has 
been unresolved since December 2005.  There was concern that 
the children may have been secretly deported back to Thailand 
or even dispersed throughout the Lao countryside.  Until 
resolved, this case continues to be raised both in Vientiane 
and abroad.  Meetings held by UN Under Secretary General 
Gambari, the raising of the issue at the recent UNICEF 
Executive Board meeting, and a possible intervention by the 
UN Secretariat during the UNGA are keeping the pressure on 
the Lao government to &come clean8 about the whereabouts of 
these children.   End summary. 
 
The &Like-Minded8 Gather 
------------------------------------ 
¶3. (C) The Ambassador hosted a working luncheon focused on 
human rights issues September 13.  Attending were the 
Ambassadors of Australia, France, and Germany; Charges from 
Poland, Sweden, and the European Union (EU); Representatives 
from both the UN Development Program (UNDP) and UN 
Children,s Fund (UNICEF); and additional officers from the 
Australian, French, German, and Swedish Embassies who focus 
on human rights. 
 
The Missing 26 Children 
--------------------------------- 
¶4. (C) The case of the 26 missing Hmong children remained a 
focus for the discussion.  These children were detained by 
the Lao after they were unofficially deported by local Thai 
officials in December 2005.  UNICEF Country Representative 
Olivia Yambi reviewed for the group key points regarding the 
August visit to Laos of UNICEF Regional Director for East 
Asia and the Pacific Anupama Rao Singh (reftel).  When 
Director Singh raised the issue of the missing children in 
her meeting with Lao Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister 
Thongloun Sisoulith, Ms. Yambi noted that Thongloun responded 
that he was &shocked that the issue keeps coming up.8 
Director Singh repeated to the FM her view that UNICEF,s 
mandate was to focus on helping all children but that the 
fate of every individual was also of concern. 
 
¶5. (C) Ms. Yambi pointed out that Director Singh,s visit 
preceded the opening on September 5 of the annual UNICEF 
Executive Board (EB) session, and Director Singh had 
encouraged the FM to have the Lao Permanent Mission in New 
York attend the meeting to be able both to listen to the 
debate about renewing the UNICEF program for Laos and to 
respond to any statements raised by EB members.  In the end, 
both the United States and Sweden, according to Ms. Yambi,s 
information &gently8 raised the missing children on the 
margins of the EB meeting, precipitating a predictable Lao 
reaction that the government had no information. 
 
¶6. (C) Ms. Yambi also told the group that, before the UNICEF 
Board meeting, UN Under-Secretary General Gambari had met 
separately with the Lao Permrep (August 29) and the Thai 
Permrep (August 30) to try and help resolve this case. 
Because the Lao continued to say they lacked precise 
information about the children, and the Thais have said they 
have provided sufficient information orally, Gambari asked 
the Thais to put their information in writing for the Lao. 
Ms. Yambi told the group she did not have any further 
information on progress from the intervention of USyG Gambari. 
 
UNICEF Note 
-------------------- 
¶7. (C) Note: UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman, in an 
August 31 letter to the Ambassador said that, if the case of 
the missing children remains unresolved in September, the 
United Nations Secretariat intends to raise it at the highest 
level with Lao and Thai representatives at the UNGA.  End 
note. 
 
An Issue Of Confidence 
---------------------------------- 
¶8. (C) French Ambassador Maurice Portiche opined that, at 
this point, the two parties need to be brought together at a 
high level with a third party, such as the UN, present to 
make progress.  EU Charge Sandro Cerrato asked the group 
whether its focus should remain on the 26 missing children or 
whether this case should be combined with other larger issues 
involving the Lao government,s treatment of its Hmong 
minority.  The Ambassador responded that highlighting the 
children,s ethnicity may be counter-productive.  German 
Ambassador Dr. Peter Weinand pointed out that the passage of 
so much time has made it harder for the Lao government to 
release the children at this time.  In response, Swedish 
Counselor Jorgen Persson argued for keeping a special focus 
on the children: resolving this case is an indication of 
whether the Lao government is willing and able to keep its 
commitments; if this is brought into the larger issue of the 
Lao government,s treatment of the Hmong, it will be easier 
for the Lao to dodge their responsibilities.  UNDP 
Resident Representative a.i. Setsuko Yamazaki affirmed the 
need for the group to speak with one voice on this case. 
 
Where Are The Children? 
----------------------------------- 
¶9. (C) The Ambassador pointed out that the last information 
on the group indicated the girls may have been moved from 
Bolikhamsai Province to a detention facility in Savannakhet 
Province this past February.  Ambassador Portiche said he had 
&intelligence8 from Thailand that the entire group of 
children had already been trafficked back to Thailand.  In 
contrast, Australian Ambassador Alistair Maclean said he had 
received information during the past week that, rather than 
having been trafficked back across the river into Thailand, 
the children had been dispersed within Laos ) the older ones 
possibly married off as part of breaking up the group. 
(Comment: we have had no information from our usual sources 
to confirm either report since hearing that the girls had 
been moved from Bolikhamsai to Savannakhet.  End comment.) 
In either case, the intent of both sides seems clear: if/when 
any members of the group emerge, the Lao and Thai can both 
avoid being deemed as complicit in the original deportation 
(the Thai side) as well as the extended detention (the Lao 
side) by saying that this had been a trafficking case all the 
time. 
 
¶10. (C) The Ambassador noted a major Buddhist celebration in 
Savannakhet Province in July attracted a large number of 
visitors going back and forth from Thailand for several days 
and may have been an ideal opportunity to sneak members of 
this group across the border to Thailand a few at a time.  We 
alerted the Department and Embassy Bangkok of our concern at 
the time, and Embassy Bangkok in turn alerted the Thai 
government. 
 
Human Rights Activities 
---------------------------------- 
¶11. (C) Two upcoming bilateral activities will provide formal 
venues for raising the case of the missing children.  EU 
Charge Cerrato noted that a joint EU-Lao Commission at the 
end of September would address human rights issues.  This 
group, which meets every two years, mainly deals with 
development assistance.  It will be led by the EU,s Deputy 
Director of External Relations. Ambassador Maclean also told 
the group Australia would have its first bilateral Human 
Rights Dialogue October 2-5 in Vientiane.  The first day 
would be for discussing the formal agenda; the next day would 
be for calls at various ministries and organizations; and 
then the delegation would go to a province, possibly 
Bolikhamsai, to look at local conditions.  Ambassador Maclean 
said he hoped the group would also be able to visit a local 
prison while in the province. 
 
Luxembourg PM Visit 
------------------------------ 
¶12. (C) However, the group was somewhat concerned to hear 
that the Prime Minister of Luxembourg is planning to visit 
Vientiane later this month.  Apparently Luxembourg is 
planning a large grant of assistance for Laos.  The group 
consensus was that it would be important for the Luxembourg 
Prime Minister to at least refer to the missing children in 
the context of human rights issues of concern during the 
visit.  Otherwise Lao officials could come to believe, 
despite for example the strong role being undertaken by USyG 
Gambari, that international interest in the case is waning 
and that only the Lao-based diplomatic community is 
concerned. 
 
Future Action 
------------------- 
¶13. (C) For the moment, the group is focused on whether any 
progress can be made via USyG Gambari,s dialogue or possibly 
a higher-level dialogue during the UNGA which brings the two 
sides together.  The Ambassador briefed the group about 
planned October visits by DRL A/S Lowenkron and EAP DAS Eric 
John.  Both visits will provide opportunities to discuss the 
missing children.  DAS John,s visit is designed to open a 
U.S.-Lao dialogue on a range of issues; up to this point most 
visits by senior U.S. officials have been program-focused on 
issues such as POW/MIA accounting or unexploded ordinance for 
example.  The Swedish Charge noted that Stockholm will host a 
Sweden-Lao meeting beginning November 6; the Lao delegation 
will be led by MFA Permanent Secretary Somphet Khousakoun who 
has been designated to head the new Lao delegation to be 
established in Geneva in the near future. 
 
Action Request 
---------------------- 
¶14. (C) Embassy Vientiane asks the Department to pass the 
following action request to Embassy Luxembourg: Please 
contact the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and ensure officials 
in the Prime Minister,s party visiting Laos are aware of the 
importance of this humanitarian case and our strong 
recommendation that at least some reference to the importance 
of resolving this case be made during this visit. 
 
Kudos 
--------- 
¶15. (C) We also ask the Department to pass on kudos to USUN 
and Embassy Stockholm to be extended to those involved in 
raising the issue of the missing children during the UNICEF 
Executive Board meeting.  We believe it was an important 
marker of continued international concern for the Lao. 
 
Comment 
-------------- 
¶16. (C) We are pleased that the like-minded group remains 
strongly focused on resolving the case of these missing 
children.  As the Swedish Counselor pointed out, this has 
become a symbol of how the Lao government operates, and 
whether the Lao government can be trusted to keep its 
commitments.  The support from the international community 
remains vital to keeping the pressure on the Lao, so USyG 
Gambari,s efforts, those of the UNICEF leadership, and a 
possible intervention by the UN Secretariat during the UNGA 
are most welcome. 
HASLACH