2007年VOA标准英语-Deportation of 150 Lao Hmong Stalls in Thailand

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
30 January 2007

Thai authorities have halted the deportation¹ of dozens of Lao Hmong after several Western countries agreed to consider their resettlement. As Ron Corben reports from Bangkok, the move follows a standoff between the refugees and Thai police after authorities attempted to take them by bus to Laos.

Thai authorities stepped back late Tuesday from deporting² 150 Hmong - 86 of whom are children - after the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and other countries agreed to consider their applications for resettlement.

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A camp which previously housed Lao Hmong in Thailand

A Thai Foreign Ministry⁴ spokesman says the Hmong had been returned to an immigration detention⁵ center at Nong Khai, 500 kilometers from Bangkok after a tense standoff earlier in the day.

The 150 Hmong, originally from Laos, were arrested last November and had been held at Nong Khai near the Lao border to await deportation.

Early Tuesday Thai police forced the women on to buses to be taken to Laos, but several of the men barricaded⁶ themselves in the detention center.

A U.S.-based advocacy group for the Hmong, the Fact-Finding Commission, reported that Thai authorities had dragged women and children from their cells to the buses.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, had been negotiating with Thai authorities for several days to allow the resettlement of the Hmong to other countries.

UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis said earlier Tuesday that the agency had made high-level representations to prevent the deportation.

She said, "We've been talking to the Thai authorities and expressed our extreme concern. They have known for quite a long time now that we have been willing to try and help them resolve the situation."

"I don't know why it would be today that they would be sent back particularly when we were on the verge⁷ of finding solutions for them," she added.

The UNHCR became concerned last week when Thailand deported⁸ 16 Hmong who had not yet been screened by U.N. authorities to assess whether they would qualify for international protection.

Pagonis said there were concerns because the agency would not be able to monitor the refugees' safety after they returned to Laos.

 

The Thailand representative of the U.S. group Human Rights Watch, Sunai Phasuk, says Thailand would be in breach⁹ of international law if the Hmong refugees had been deported.

"Under international law these people are recognized by the UNHCR. Thailand needs to assume that these people will face danger if they are sent back," he said. "If Thailand continues to send those people back to Laos, Thailand will end up violating international law - very basic international law."

But a spokesman for the Lao Foreign Ministry rejected concerns that the Hmong would be persecuted¹⁰ upon their return. He said the matter is an "internal affair of Laos" and the UNHCR has no reason to intervene. He also denied the Hmong merit refugee status.

 

The Hmong had fought alongside the U.S. forces in Laos during the Vietnam War. When the United States withdrew from Vietnam in 1975, about 300,000 were resettled in the U.S. and thousands more fled to Thailand, or remained in hiding in remote parts of Laos. Many Hmong say they still face discrimination from the Lao government.

But Thailand has taken a tougher stance against new arrivals from Laos in recent years and forced many back into Laos or confined them to camps.

1 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

2 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

6 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

7 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

8 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

10 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。