UN pleased jailed Hmong refugees end hunger strike, urge Thailand to release them

A U.N. refugee official expressed relief Tuesday that a group of ethnic Hmong refugees detained in a Thai jail had called off their hunger strike, and repeated a call for them to be released.

The 149 refugees from Laos had launched their strike last Thursday to protest the harsh conditions under which they are being held at the immigration detention center in Nong Khai, 500 kilometers (310 miles) northeast of Bangkok.

The Hmong, who have been granted refugee status by the U.N. and promised resettlement in third countries, have been held there for nine months.

The Hmong say they fear political persecution in Laos. Many Hmong fought on the side of a pro-U.S. Laotian government in the 1960s and 1970s before the communist takeover of their country in 1975.

"We're glad their refugees have begun to fed their children again," said Kitty McKinsey, a spokeswoman for the Bangkok office of the U.H. High Commissioner for Refugees. "We're glad Thai authorities are allowing the refugees to receive medical attention."

But she added that the U.N. agency continued to strongly urge Thai authorities to release the refugees. "They haven't committed any crime, they have places to go, and there's no reason to keep them in detention," she said.

The group includes 90 children. Some babies were born in detention.

According to UNHCR and human rights advocates, the refugees are crammed into two windowless cells and are forbidden to go out. Their sole source of water comes from a bathroom, it said.

Police Col. Niran Pha-obthong, chief of the Nong Khai immigration center in Nong Khai, said their conditions "are the same as any other detainees."

He confirmed that the Hmong had ended their hunger strike but could not say what might happen to them.

"We are just like security guards. It's up to the prime minister to decide," he said. Senior Thai officials were on a trip to Malaysia on Tuesday, and could not be contacted for comment.

The independent human rights group Amnesty International said Monday it had "grave concerns for their welfare, particularly as more than half of them are children and some are already suffering from health problems."

More than 300,000 Laotians, mostly Hmong, fled to Thailand after the 1975 communist takeover. Most were resettled in third countries, particularly the United States, though several thousand were voluntarily repatriated back home. Several thousand continue to hide out in the jungles of Laos, where they are hunted down by the military.

Thailand asserts that the Hmong are not legitimate refugees, and have violated Thai law by entering the country illegally. Thai authorities have deported more than 300 of them over the past year.

The 149 Hmong in Nong Khai were on the verge of being repatriated to Laos in January when international pressure halted the move.