Hmong baby is first casualty of Thai eviction

HUAY NAM KHAO, Thailand — Thousands of ethnic Hmong refugees expelled from their villages under a Thai government plan saw their first casualty Wednesday: a baby girl who died after she and her parents spent a shelterless day and night in the rain.

Thailand wants to pressure the refugees to return to their native Laos, and the government district office told doctors to stop providing them with medical care, said Chanyudh Saengyakul, a Thai physician who heads government health teams in the area. Vendors also say they were instructed to stop selling food to the Hmong.

The refugees have appealed to the United Nations to treat them as political asylum seekers and help find them a home.

Since Monday night, some 6,500 refugees have been scattered along the roadside near Huay Nam Khao village. At first they huddled under umbrellas and trees. On Wednesday, they constructed makeshift bamboo huts and plastic lean-tos. Many have retreated onto hillsides that provide more space and safety from possible flooding.

Village landlords say they expelled the Hmong from their homes to meet a Monday government deadline threatening them with fines or prison if they did not evict the tenants.

Thailand's National Security Council decided last month to deport the Hmong from their villages in Phetchabun province, about 185 miles north of Bangkok.

Thailand considers them illegal immigrants and also suspects them of illegal drug trafficking and helping Hmong exile groups stage attacks against neighboring Laos, harming bilateral relations.

The Hmong say if they are repatriated, they will be persecuted by the communist Laos government because of their Vietnam War-era ties with the United States. Many Hmong fought under CIA advisers during a so-called "secret war" against communists in Laos, who took power in 1975.

"I don't know what to do. We live in a very difficult place," said Si, 22, sitting with her husband Pansong on a reed mat with a plastic sheet covering their heads.

Pansong said his 2-month-old daughter, Kaochee, had a high fever and diarrhea after the rain poured down on them Monday afternoon.

"She was shaking and crying for a long time. When she stopped crying, she was dead," he said.

"I miss you. I don't know how long I will miss you," said Si, in tears as she kissed and touched the face of her dead child.