elanya

I am going to be talking about the Hmong in my class next week, so I have been reading a lot about them - about their history, the Silent War in Laos, how they were used by the CIA to fight local communists, and then abandoned after the Americans withdrew from the area and the Pathet Lao took over the country.

Many made a difficult, peril-filled journey to refugee camps in Thailand, the larges of which was Ban Vinai. The camp was closed in 1992, and many of the remaining Hmong were sent back to Laos, or forced to emigrate to other countries.

Those who returned to Laos still face problems with the local government because of their involvement in the war. Some never left Laos, and are, along with their families, still actively targeted by Laotian troops.

One of the things I came across during my image hunts was this slide show hosted by the New York times, and the related story talking about the experiences of Hmong groups who are essentially still on the run, almost 35 years after the 'end' of the war...