VZCZCXRO2714
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHBK #5595 3030949
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300949Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0404
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 5224
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1884

UNCLAS BANGKOK 005595 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/ENA; PRM/A; EAP/MLTS; EAP/MTS 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PHUM TH LA
SUBJECT: LAO HMONG IN THAILAND: MATERIAL SUPPORT WAIVER 
DEMARCHE AND UPDATE 
 
REF: STATE 146812 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU) On October 26, RefCoord delivered the demarche on 
the Lao Hmong material support waiver to Ittiporn 
Boonpracong, Deputy Director, International Organizations 
Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Ittiporn was 
accompanied by Phantipha Iamsudha, Acting Director, MFA 
Social Division, and a note taker. Ittiporn expressed 
gratitude for earlier post meetings in which the material 
support waiver's background and progress was detailed "so we 
were not caught off guard."  Still, Ittiporn expressed 
concern that the domestic US focus of the waiver, and its 
cut-off date, would not be understood by Lao Hmong in Laos, 
or deliberately misrepresented by Lao Hmong advocacy groups 
and "alien smugglers."  The feared result: an additional pull 
factor of people entering Thailand with the expectation of 
U.S. resettlement. RefCoord provided copies of the 
Department's press release which clearly noted that no new US 
resettlement program for Hmong was anticipated.  Phantipha 
noted she had discussed the pull factor fear with PRM A/S 
Ellen Sauerbrey at the recent UNHCR Executive Committee 
meeting in Geneva, and was pleased Thailand's concerns were 
addressed by the press release.  Ittiporn did request, 
however, that the press release not be posted on post's 
website: "a low profile is better."  (Note: we have no plans 
to do so.) 
 
2.(SBU) Ittiporn described Lao government interlocutors as 
"still very difficult" on the fate of 7,500 Lao Hmong in an 
army-run camp in Petchabun province, and 152 UNHCR-recognized 
refugees in the immigration detention center in Nong Khai. 
"We do not yet see any change in their position" that the two 
groups be returned to Laos, and requested the US attempt to 
influence the Vientiane government.  According to Ittiporn, 
the RTG had initially won Lao acceptance of the idea of 
international NGO Doctors Without Borders accompanying Lao 
Hmong returnees to Laos for on site monitoring.  The Lao side 
abruptly changed its mind, however, and continues to reject 
third party involvement in returns.  Phantipha attributed the 
stubbornness to "loss of face" suffered by the Lao side in 
the prolonged standoff with the international community. As a 
solution, Phantipha suggested the return of the Lao Hmong to 
Laos, and then an in-country resettlement to third countries. 
RefCoord noted that this would require a Lao 
government-sanctioned UNHCR role to make referrals to the US 
Refugee Admissions Program, and that UNHCR is currently is 
prohibited from refugee status determinations in Laos.   The 
RTG interviews of the Petchabun group, described by the MFA 
as designed to identify those with a genuine fear of return, 
have not yet begun. Budgetary shortfalls have slowed 
progress.  The MFA believes the vetting will begin sometime 
in November, however. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) RefCoord asked for the MFA's views on delays in 
implementing the PRM-funded (and IOM-constructed) temporary 
shelter outside the Nong Khai IDC, designed to provide the 
detainees some relief from the crowded and unhealthy cells. 
Both Ittiporn and Phantipha attended a recent meeting between 
the RTG Immigration Bureau and IOM, in which the design plans 
(previously approved by the National Security Council) were 
rejected by the Deputy Immigration Commissioner.  The MFA 
downplayed the Immigration-requested modifications (which 
include a roof over the IDC's courtyard), noting that they 
were intended to decrease the chance of detainees' escape. In 
Phantipha's view, the Lao Hmong group will remain in IDC 
detention "a long time" and the US had a "duty" to approve 
the modifications in light of the poor conditions in the IDC. 
RefCoord replied that the health and welfare of the IDC Nong 
Khai detainees was solely the responsibility of the RTG, and 
that the project would not go forward if the temporary 
shelter was designed to confine. 
4.(SBU) Comment.  We will work with the architect of the Nong 
Khai temporary shelter to ensure that it in no way confines 
the 152 Lao Hmong (including 90 children) stuck there since 
January. In a heartening development, the draconian RTG 
Immigration Commissioner, responsible for a 24/7 lock-down of 
the group from June until early September, was abruptly 
transferred from his post on October 26. The development will 
hopefully lead to a more flexible approach by the Immigration 
Department to the badly needed project. 
BOYCE