The lost tribe of Laos - USA/Terrorism/War/Hmongs
13/3/08
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Tony Birtley travelled in secret to the jungles of northern Laos in search of the last fighters of the CIA’s “secret army”, a remnant from the days of the Vietnam War. This is his account of his journey. The dead of night - a rendezvous on a dirt road on the fringe of a dense jungle. I couldn’t see the faces of my guides, but I could see their guns and I could feel the apprehension as they ushered me into the undergrowth and the start of what would turn out to be an unforgettable journey. There were six of them, all ethnic Hmong; a rugged, tough people used to harsh conditions. But a people, I was soon to discover, living in fear.
(1) See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C8E9CF33-39DA-4A9A-A199-93BA8A17FE04.htm
The Hmong leader, Vang Che Chi, told me that since 1975 the Laos army had killed 598,000 Hmong. Every year their villages were raided and they were forced to live on the run, he said, staying in one place for only a few weeks at a time, sometimes for only a day. He had carefully documented notebooks kept in worn plastic bags, which he said held the names of many who had been murdered. It is impossible to verify what he was telling me, but human rights groups have long documented accounts from Hmong refugees of suffering at the hands of the Laos army.
(2) See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3901AC50-813C-409F-8F57-BEDF4930C28D.htm