IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1273 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the human 

rights crisis of Laotian and Hmong people in Laos and Thailand. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2008 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. ROHRABACHER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the human rights crisis of Laotian and Hmong people in Laos and Thailand. 

Whereas tens of thousands of Laotian and ethnic Hmong 

forces served honorably and courageously in defense of 

the national security interests of Laos, Thailand, and the 

United States; 

Whereas special ethnic Hmong military and paramilitary air 

and ground forces, along with United States Armed 

Forces and clandestine forces, conducted many heroic 

and successful large-scale air and ground operations 

against North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao guerrilla 

forces, including the rescue of United States Air Force, 


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Navy, and Army pilots shot down in Laos and Vietnam 

during the Vietnam War; 

Whereas Laos and the Royal Lao Government fell to the 

Communist Pathet Lao and invading North Vietnamese 

forces in 1975; 

Whereas Pathet Lao guerilla forces, in cooperation with invading military forces from North Vietnam, established 

the authoritarian, one-party communist regime that continues to rule Laos and maintains a strict monopoly on 

political power; 

Whereas tens of thousands of Lao and Hmong people, including the Royal Lao family, many in the Royal Lao Government, and the Royal Lao Army as well as those individuals who served with the United States Armed Forces 

and clandestine forces were persecuted, imprisoned, or 

killed by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR) 

regime; 

Whereas tens of thousands of Laotians, including ethnic 

Hmong who served with United States Armed Forces and 

clandestine forces during the Vietnam War, fled the communist regime and were given political asylum and refugee status in Thailand and eventually resettled in third 

countries such as Australia, Canada, France, and the 

United States; 

Whereas His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand 

and the Royal Thai Government have historically provided political asylum and compassionate humanitarian 

assistance to Lao and Hmong refugees who have fled the 

brutal LPDR regime; 

Whereas tens of thousands of Laotians and ethnic Hmong 

have been granted political asylum in the United States 


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•HRES 1273 IH 

and resettled to become productive, positive, prosperous, 

and good citizens and members of their communities; 

Whereas the LPDR, a one-party state, has a serious and repeated record of human rights violations, religious persecution, and military and security force attacks against its 

own citizens, especially against the minority ethnic 

Hmong people; 

Whereas the LPDR regime refuses to allow human rights organizations unfettered access to areas of concern in Laos 

where, according to Amnesty International and other 

independent human rights organizations, intensified military attacks against unarmed Lao and Hmong civilians 

continued in 2007 and 2008, including in Bolikamsai, 

Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Xieng Khouang Province; 

Whereas the Department of State reported in its 2007 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Laos that Laos 

restricts its citizens from enjoying the freedoms of 

speech, assembly, and religion, and from undertaking activities to change their government; 

Whereas the LPDR regime in Laos continues to deny independent human rights organizations such as Amnesty 

International and Human Rights Watch access to, or 

monitoring of, Lao and Hmong returnees from Thailand 

or those individuals who are captured or surrender in 

Laos; 

Whereas as a result of ongoing political violence and military 

attacks in Laos directed against thousands of Laotian 

and Hmong people, asylum seekers continue to seek refuge in Thailand; 

Whereas over 7,000 Lao and Hmong political refugees and 

asylum seekers have fled Laos and sought refuge from 


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the Lao Government at a make shift camp at Ban Huay 

Nam Khao, Phetchabun Province, Thailand; 

Whereas in January 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued a statement of concern regarding Thailand’s decision to deport 16 Lao and 

Hmong from Nong Khai, Thailand, to Laos without 

screening them to see if they needed international protection, and repeated its offer to help Thai authorities put 

in place a screening system; and 

Whereas the United States has a vital national security interest in and moral obligation to assist its former allies and 

those Laotians and Hmong seeking political asylum at 

Ban Huay Nam Khao, Nong Khai, and elsewhere in Laos 

and Thailand: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives strongly 

2 supports and urges that— 

3 (1) the Lao Government should— 

4 (A) end the ongoing humanitarian tragedy 

5 in Laos by immediately ceasing all military and 

6 security force attacks and actions against Lao 

7 and Hmong civilians and dissident Laotian po8 litical and minority religious groups; 

9 (B) provide immediate, unfettered inter10 national access by independent human rights, 

11 humanitarian, and United Nations organiza12 tions, including the United Nations High Com13 missioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to closed 

14 areas and military zones in Laos where LaoVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:48 Jun 13, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1273.IH HR1273

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1 tians and Hmong are being killed, starved to 

2 death, persecuted, or have been internally dis3 placed or fled; 

4 (C) comply with the provisions of H. Res. 

5 402 from the 108th Congress which urges the 

6 Lao Government to move toward an open, 

7 prodemocratic society that respects the human 

8 rights of its people and to cease its military at9 tacks and its persecution of Laotian and 

10 Hmong citizens including student activists; and 

11 (D) release the leaders of the Lao Stu12 dents Movement for Democracy of October 

13 1999 and other Lao political and religious op14 position leaders and prisoners of conscience; 

15 and 

16 (2) His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of 

17 Thailand, the Royal Thai Government, and com18 manders of the Thai Army and military, including 

19 the Thai Third Army, should— 

20 (A) allow UNHCR access to the over 

21 7,000 Lao and Hmong political refugees and 

22 asylum seekers at Ban Huay Nam Khao and 

23 elsewhere in Thailand; 

24 (B) continue to allow the over 7,000 Lao 

25 and Hmong political refugees and asylum seekVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:48 Jun 13, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1273.IH HR1273

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1 ers at Ban Huay Nam Khao to be given hu2 manitarian assistance and sanctuary and to re3 main in Thailand until such time as they can 

4 be resettled in third countries by UNHCR and 

5 nongovernmental organizations; 

6 (C) allow transparency and access for jour7 nalists, humanitarian aid groups, and human 

8 rights monitors seeking to help the Laotian and 

9 Hmong refugees at Ban Huay Nam Khao to 

10 assist by providing humanitarian and resettle11 ment assistance; 

12 (D) refrain from any further repatriation 

13 of Lao and Hmong refugees and asylum seekers 

14 in Thailand who have fled from the LPDR re15 gime in Laos; and 

16 (E) continue to allow Lao and Hmong ref17 ugees and asylum seekers from Laos fleeing the 

18 LPDR regime’s intensified military attacks as 

19 well as Lao political, religious, and opposition 

20 dissidents to have sanctuary in Thailand until 

21 they can be assisted by the UNHCR and the 

22 international community. 

Æ 


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