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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (21425)	12/24/2003 4:56:02 PM
From: DMaA	Respond to of 793838

Actually, more like 14,000. And many of them are coming to the Twin Cities: Thousands of Hmong to resettle in St. Paul Matt McKinney, Star Tribune Published December 18, 2003 HMON18 Thousands of Hmong are to arrive in St. Paul this summer as the result of an agreement announced Wednesday by the U.S. State Department allowing the longtime residents of a refugee camp in Thailand to apply for asylum in the United States. State legislator Mee Moua, whose district includes most of the Hmong population in St. Paul, said many of the 14,400 people living at the Wat Thamkrabok camp have relatives in St. Paul and elsewhere in the Twin Cities area. The camp is the last of its kind in Thailand. "I think this is fabulous," Moua said late Wednesday, shortly before announcing the decision on a Hmong radio station. "There are a lot of Hmong-Americans here in Minnesota who are my constituents who will be very glad to hear this news. Some of the families have been separated since their escape from Laos to Thailand." An influx of Hmong from California during the 1990s established Minnesota and Wisconsin as the predominant location for the ethnic group, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. Minnesota has more than 40,000 Hmong, census figures show, but Moua said Wednesday that as many as 70,000 Hmong live in Minnesota. The camp, on the grounds of a Buddhist temple about two hours northeast of Bangkok, has been home to some of the refugees for 30 years, said Bo Thao, executive director of Hmong National Development, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit group. Some of the camp's residents came from other refugee camps when they were closed, including the well-known Banvinai and Phanat Nikhom camps. Many of the Hmong in Wat Thamkrabok had hoped for Thai naturalization or to be returned to their homeland in Laos, but neither government has agreed to take the refugees, Thao said. Discussion of the refugees' fate came up again this past summer when Bo Thao's group and the Washington, D.C.-based Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) urged the State Department to find a long-term solution to the refugees' situation. The Wednesday's announcement said U.S. officials would begin interviewing camp residents in February to determine who is eligible for resettlement. A State Department visit to the camp found conditions there "adequate," with some 1,000 people allowed to come and go every day to work outside of the temple. Hmong children attend Thai elementary schools, and markets within the camp appeared to have sufficient food, according to a State Department account. But Hmong advocates said health conditions at the camp are poor. It's crowded and does not have the daily presence of any international aid groups or the U.N., said KaYing Yang, executive director of SEARAC. Yang said people were first drawn to the temple hoping for the protection of a revered Buddhist Abbot who had taught there. He recently died, she said. The Thai government took over the camp earlier this year, and there are widespread rumors among the refugees that they would be resettled somewhere else in Thailand, possibly in areas where they would not be well-received, Yang said. "The Thai government was threatening to resettle them into a military zone," she said. It's not known where the refugees from Wat Thamkrabok would live once they come to the United States, but Moua said she knows many people in St. Paul who hope to have their relatives come to the Twin Cities. Her husband's elderly aunt is among the people living at the Wat. They heard from her just last week when she sent an audiotape in which she said the Hmong living at the temple were excited about the possibility of coming to the United States. They also were confused about the paperwork to come, Moua said. Black-market operators commonly prey on U.S. visa applicants in Southeast Asia, charging bogus fees for documents and interviews that are normally provided for free. "The U.S. government has been very clear that anybody who wants to be registered will be able to do it free of charge," Moua said. U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., who inquired about the refugees with the State Department this past summer, said she was happy they would be released. "This is very good news for the Lao and Hmong who have been caught in bureaucratic limbo for nearly three decades," she said. "Many families in Minnesota have been waiting for this opportunity to reunite with their loved ones." Moua said she is eagerly awaiting more news, predicting that many of the refugees will settle here. "My gut tells me the first families to be resettled will be to Minnesota."