Laos questions Thai stance on illegal migrants
Laos has asked for clarification on remarks made by Thai Foreign
Minister Kasit Piromya last week regarding 158 Lao people held in a
Nong Khai detention camp.
Mr Kasit was quoted by Thai media as suggesting that all 158 are
political asylum seekers and are eligible for resettlement in a third
country.
A spokesman for the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Khenthong
Nouanthasing, asked for an explanation of the comment during a
ceremony in Vientiane yesterday to mark the voluntary return to Laos
of 298 illegal migrants.
According to the April 25 issue of Thailand 's The Nation newspaper,
Mr Kasit raised the issue of the illegal migrants during discussions
with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and made the comment whilst
speaking to reporters via a teleconference from Washington during his
official visit to the US .
Mr Kasit was quoted in The Nation as saying: “They are regarded as
political asylum seekers, so they have the right to request
resettlement in the United States and other countries.â€
Mr Khenthong said Laos and Thailand had previously considered Lao
people held in detention camps in both Phetchabun and Nong Khai
provinces to be illegal migrants, not refugees.
“I find it hard to believe that Mr Kasit, a senior diplomat with much
experience in foreign affairs, would make such remarks,†he said.
“But if he did truly make such a comment, I think it is a serious
infringement of our two governments' consensus that the illegal
migrant issue will be addressed by our two countries without
interference from third parties.â€
In 2006, the governments of Laos and Thailand agreed to treat Lao
citizens illegally entering Thailand as illegal migrants and not
refugees.
The Lao Foreign Ministry s pokesman asked the Thai Ministry of Foreign
Affairs for clarification on the alleged remarks and whether or not
the Thai government had changed its stance on the issue.
Director of the Thailand-Laos Border Affairs Division of the
Department of Border Affairs, Colonel Kumron Kearwichyajane, told Lao
media during the ceremony to return Lao illegal migrants yesterday the
matter would be investigated
He said Thai officials could not confirm if the comments were reported
accurately and said no country had submitted a request for the
resettlement of the migrants.
Member of the Laos-Thailand General Border Sub-committee Colonel
Siphanh Phoutthavong said the Lao government allowed illegal migrants
to resettle in any country.
Countries granting migrants residency must submit an official request
to the Lao government and the migrants must return to Laos prior to
departing for another country, he said.
Colonel Kumron confirmed the 158 migrants detained in Nong Khai
province will be returned to Laos after some 5,000 illegal migrants in
a detention camp in Phetchabun province return to Laos later this
year.
The recently returned 298 migrants will be temporarily resettled in a
camp in Borikhamxay province while their paperwork is completed before
returning to their original home towns.
By Vientiane Times
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