Forced repatriation under way ADDS army trucks with Hmong скачать в хорошем качестве

Forced repatriation under way ADDS army trucks with Hmong

(28 Dec 2009) SHOTLIST AUDIO AS INCOMING: PART MUTE ++NIGHT SHOTS++ 1. Various of Thai army trucks driving along road towards camp ++MUTE++ 2. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Colonel Thana Charuwat, Thai Army: "Everyone can see that in this operation the combined force of military and police is unarmed - they have just sticks and shields, which is in line with international standards." 3. Trucks driving past Thai soldier ++MUTE++ ++DAY SHOTS++ 4. Mid of security 5. Hmong people, legal residents, waiting 6. Truck convoy drives past 7. People waving as trucks pass 8. Various, more trucks 9. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Colonel Thana Charuwat, Thai Army: "There are about 300 people who are still refusing to go and we are trying to persuade them so we won''t have to use force and the process will be smooth." 10. Top shot, truck convoy passing STORYLINE: Thailand early on launched an operation, early on Monday, to close a refugee camp and send some 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to Laos, despite concerns about their safety. Under tight security, an initial group of Hmong - many of them children - was driven out of the camp in covered military trucks, each manned by several soldiers. Journalists kept at a distance from the camp could see the convoy as it exited. Thai authorities said the first batch would include 448 people. Earlier, Colonel Thana Charuwat, the Thai Army''s field coordinator for the operation, said it began at 5:30 a.m. on Monday morning (2230 GMT Sunday), and involved a total of 5,000 troops. He said the soldiers were unarmed, but equipped with shields and batons, which he described as meeting international standards for dealing with such situations, where people are being moved back against their will. "There are about 300 people who are still refusing to go and we are trying to persuade them so we won''t have to use force and the process will be smooth," Charuwat added. Many of the Hmong claim they face persecution in their homeland because of its communist government''s alleged antagonism toward them. Hmong hill tribe people fought on the side of a pro-American government during the Vietnam War, but the communist side - popularly known in the West as the Pathet Lao - emerged triumphant in 1975. Thailand claims most of the Hmong at the camp have no legitimate claim to refugee status, but are simply economic migrants who have entered the country illegally. Shortly before 5 a.m. (2200 GMT Sunday), journalists staying at a press centre about seven miles (12 kilometres) from the camp observed at least two dozen trucks heading towards the refugee camp. There appeared to be about 20 soldiers on each truck. A large contingent of troops were already inside the camp, which has been sealed off to journalists and other outsiders. Thana said the army hoped to complete the operation within 24 hours. He said the Hmong would be taken to a nearby staging area where they would be put on buses, which would take them to the Thai border town of Nong Khai, and then across to Laos, with their destination there being Paksane district in the central province of Bolikhamsai. Human rights groups warned earlier that the planned expulsion could turn violent. Thana said the army''s initial action would be an effort to have the Hmong agree to be sent back voluntarily. Sunai Phasuk, a Thai representative for the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, said mobile phone signals inside the camp had been jammed so nobody could call out. Rights groups fear the Hmong will resist the deportation, as they have during smaller-scale repatriations. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...