By Mai Chao Duddeck
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In 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) Global Trends report stated there were more than 82 million displaced people worldwide and more than 26 million were refugees. Refugees are people who are forced from their homes and have crossed an international border to escape violence, war, or persecution. In contrast, displaced people escape their homes for many of the same reasons as refugees, but also in response to epidemics (diseases) or natural disasters (flood, earthquake, wildfire). Displaced people will also stay within their country instead of crossing international borders. For many Hmong people in the Americas and around the world, they were displaced by the Secret War (1961-1975) and became refugees after crossing the Mekong River into Thailand.
It was in the late 1950s and early 1960s when the Hmong were recruited secretly by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to fight the communist Pathet Lao and to disrupt the North Vietnamese communist supply route on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This effort became known as the Secret War because the US was not supposed to be in Laos.
For helping the CIA fight communism, the US promised to provide food, weapons, training, and protection. Should America prevail, they also promised to help rebuild Laos so the Hmong could continue their way of life. If the war was lost, then the US would evacuate their allies and bring them to the US.
By 1975, the US military withdrew American soldiers from Southeast Asia. Hmong General Vang Pao as well as 2,500 high-ranking military officers and their families were safely flown to Thailand. In Hamilton-Merritt’s book (1999), Tragic Mountains, the author noted that tens of thousands of Hmong people died when the communist Pathet Lao government came into power and announced it would “wipe out” the Hmong who supported the Americans and the Royal Lao Government. Retribution and persecution by the communist regime forced the Hmong people–especially former soldiers and their families–to escape to Thailand where they could make their way to refugee camps.
Escape
The Mekong River is the 12th longest river in the world and one of the longest rivers in Asia. It borders Laos and Thailand and is known as the “Mother River” (Niam Dej Dag). It is on average .93 miles wide. Depending on the location it could be as wide as two miles. During their escape to Thailand, thousands of Hmong people died because they did not know how to swim well, having lived in the mountainous areas of Laos. In addition to the challenges presented by the width of the river, the currents were strong and often swept entire families away.
People crossed the Mekong River using different methods including using simple floatation devices like inflated plastic bags and tying a rope from one person’s waist to the next until the family was secured to each other. They also used bamboo pieces to build rafts. Some Hmong families paid Laotian villagers and Thai fishermen to ferry them across the river. From 1975 to 1992, more than 100,000 Hmong people crossed into Thailand.
Although some Hmong families on the treacherous journey to Thailand avoided enemy raids and massacres, the escape through the jungles caused thousands of Hmong people to die from violence, disease, starvation, and drowning while attempting to cross the Mekong River. Those who survived were placed in refugee camps.
Refugee Camps
The camps in Thailand known to have housed the Hmong people were Nong Khai, Ban Nam Yao, Ban Vinai, Chiang Kham, Napho, Phanat Nikhom, and Wat Tham Krabok. At the beginning, the camps had no electricity, running water or sewage disposal, and were often overcrowded. Barbed wire surrounded the refugee camps, so people could not enter or leave unless they had permission from Thai authorities. It was estimated that more than 100,000 Hmong people lived in the refugee camps after 1975.
There were three refugee waves coming from Laos into Thailand between 1975 and 1986. The first wave included Hmong soldiers and their families (1975-1977) with approximately 25,000 refugees. The second wave (1978-1982) were mainly farmers and their families with approximately 60,000 refugees. Lastly, the third wave (1982-1986) consisted of everyone who could not tolerate communist rule. The estimated refugees coming into the camp each month was approximately 3,000. By 1986, the average length of stay in the refugee camps was seven years.
Photo credit: Paul Paquette
List of Refugee Camps
| Name & Years of Operation | Significance |
|---|---|
| Nong Khai (1975-1982) | One of the earliest refugee camps located in the Northern Thailand border, right across from Vientiane (capital of Laos). Originally a deserted temple, Nong Khai was built into a refugee camp by Hmong CIA principal liaison assistant Yang See and two Thai contractors when the Thai governor of the local area began to turn away refugees due to lack of space at other camps. The camp was built to hold Khmu, Laotian, and Hmong refugees. It was divided into the Hmong (East) and Laotian (West) sections. |
| Ban Nam Yao (1975–1982) | Located in Nam Province, Thailand. It held over 13,000 refugees including Hmong, Yao, Phai, Lao, and Khmu people. |
| Ban Vinai (1975–1992) | Located in Pak Chom District in Loei Province and was the largest camp with nine centers. At its peak, there were approximately 42,000 refugees where the majority were Hmong people. The camp also housed Cambodians, Laotians, Vietnamese, and smaller groups who fled their war-torn countries. After the camp closed in 1992, refugees were sent to Chiang Kham Refugee Camp and Detention Center for repatriation. |
| Chiang Kham Refugee Camp & Detention Center (1976–1993) | Located in Northwest Thailand to serve over 22,000 refugees whose claim to refugee status had either not been approved, had been rejected, or were screened to be repatriated back to Laos. |
| Ban Napho Repatriation Center (1977–1993) | Located in Northeast Thailand, this camp served as a repatriation center and a holding place for refugees to be sent back to Laos. |
| Phanat Nikhom Transitional Center (1980–after 1993) | Located in Chonburi Province near Bangkok. This transit camp was established as the last stop for refugees who have secured permission to settle in a different country like Canada, US, France, and Australia. |
| Wat Tham Krabok (WTK)(Vaj Loog Tsua) (1990s–2003) | Located in Saraburi Province, 81 miles north of Bangkok, Thailand. After other refugee camps closed, some Hmong refugees did not want to relocate to different countries or go back to Laos, so they went to this Buddhist temple compound. WTK was not recognized as a refugee camp by the UNHCR, therefore, the people could not receive basic assistance like food, medical support, shelter, and water. Local religious leaders organized shelter and services to support the Hmong people. The closing of this compound led to 12,000 Hmong people being relocated to the US in the early 2000s. |
Camp Conditions
Camp conditions varied from bearable to horrific, especially in the beginning. There was no electricity, toilets or access to clean water. The Hmong people were used to growing their own food, but they could not farm like they once did. Organizations like UNHCR, governments (Thailand, USA, and other countries), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and religious organizations provided aid and support which improved their living conditions. The refugees received food rations, basic medical care, and access to clean water. Later, the refugees who resettled in different countries often sent money to support their family members and relatives still living in the camps. Ban Vinai became the largest camp where new generations of Hmong were born, while families waited to immigrate to a new country or continued on living in the camp without a clear path for their future. The Thai government grew worried when the refugees were in no hurry to leave for different countries or to return to Laos. In fact, the refugees found ways to honor their heritage at new year celebrations and developed their own voice by creating story cloths. Story cloths are Hmong pictorial tapestries that depict scenes from the Secret War and other aspects of Hmong life and culture like animals found in the jungles, Hmong legends, and assorted folktales.
Camp Closures
The Thai government had been adamant that living in Thailand was not an option and refused citizenship to the Hmong and other refugees. To discourage the refugees from staying a long time in the camps, the government enforced stricter border control, consolidated camps, reduced food rations and access to work opportunities, and created tighter policies to control camp life.
Eventually, closing the camps was the best option to solving the refugee crisis in Thailand. Ban Vinai closed in 1992. Those who chose to stay were moved to camps like Chiang Kham and Napho to be processed for repatriation back to Laos. Some refugees found shelter in Wat Tham Krabok (WTK) and had another opportunity to come to the US in the early 2000s when WTK closed.
In the 1990s, it was estimated that 90,000 Hmong refugees had settled in the US. Approximately 1,500 Hmong refugees went to live in Australia, 900 went to Canada, 15,000 went to France, 1,000 went to French Guiana, 1,706 went to Germany (which included various ethnicities from Laos), and a small group of Hmong (21 families) went to South American countries like Argentina.
Refugee Act of 1980
In a 1975 Gallup survey, 36 percent of Americans supported the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees, while 54 percent were against the resettlement. During this time, many Americans were anti-war and thought the Vietnam War was a foreign civil war that they could not support. Furthermore, the majority of the American public had no knowledge of the Secret War running in parallel to the Vietnam War. They had little to no idea who the Hmong people were or their role as American allies.
As the anti-war movement grew, anti-war Americans pressured American leaders to withdraw US combat operations in Vietnam. US resettlement planners understood the lack of public support because many of the public felt the refugees posed a financial burden on their country, which was already plagued with its own economic crisis.
A change to American policy regarding refugees became needed in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and Secret War when hundreds of thousands of Southeast Asian refugees fled political persecution from their homelands.
One of the pivotal Hmong figures to help spearhead the change to the refugee cause in America was CIA principal assistant Yang See, code name “Glass Man.” During the Secret War, because Yang See could speak multiple languages, he became a key asset for the liaison team between the CIA and the Royal Lao Army. After the war, when America had all but abandoned their hilltribe allies with the “reasoning” that Hmong and other hill tribe people would not be able to assimilate to urban America, the burden to prove that these allies were worthy of being saved fell to Yang See.
Yang Dao had been a former Lao official during the Secret War. In an interview with MPR News, Yang Dao recalls that “the US considered the Hmong to be ‘illiterate’ and ‘people living in the hills’ who would not be able to adjust to modern life in America.”
Originally, the US only evacuated approximately 2500 to 3000 high ranking Hmong officers and their families in 1975; and then a limited number of educated or military Hmong families between 1975 and 1980. This left hundreds of thousands of refugees lingering in overcrowded refugee camps, including SGU (off-the-books Special Guerrilla Unit soldiers) and boy soldier families. Seeing this as unfair to his people, Yang See took it upon himself to visit Washington DC to petition for the rights to resettle for his people. Yang See and Yang Dao would arrive in Washington DC in November of 1975 to put their case before the State Department. That initial meeting opened the borders for more soldiers, educated Hmong, and their families to come to the US, but it would be another five year push to see more Hmong people allowed across US borders. His efforts–along with the pressures from American Civil Rights activists and the Foreign Press and support from other Hmong people like Yang Dao and Yang See’s wife, Pia Lee–would become part of the impetus for the creation of the Refugee Act of 1980.
The Refugee Act of 1980 was signed by President Jimmy Carter that amended earlier immigration policies like the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act. These old policies restricted the number of annual refugee admissions, which made it difficult to bring the refugees from Southeast Asia to the US. With the new act, the government increased the annual refugee ceiling from 17,400 to 50,000 for 1980-1982 and created a systematic process to review and adjust the refugee ceiling during emergencies. Annual discussions were held between Congress and the President to review and address the issue.
Furthermore, the Act changed the definition of “refugee” to a person with “well-founded fear of persecution,” and followed the UN’s standards and protocols (NAF, 2023). The Act also established a new office called the Office of US Coordinator for Refugee Affairs and an Office of Refugee Resettlement where the federal government and religious entities could partner to help refugees adjust to life in the US.
The Refugee Act of 1980 affected the Hmong refugees in profound ways. With the increase of the annual refugee ceiling, more refugees could come to the US. Chue Tu Her (2018) noted that the newly established offices made it possible for states to offer aid programs and services such as “job training, English-learning classes, employment counseling, physical and mental health care, and other appropriate social services.”
Resettlement
Resettlement was not an easy choice for many Hmong families. There was the tug and pull of whether to go back to Laos, go to a different country, or remain in the refugee camp to see what would happen next. Between 1975 and 2000, the US accepted nearly one million Southeast Asian refugees as a commitment to human rights and loyalty to their anti-communist allies like the Hmong people.
The US government had three priorities for refugee resettlement. The first was to ensure that the refugees achieved economic self-sufficiency. The second was to facilitate cultural assimilation. Lastly, they believed the states needed to share responsibility for the refugee resettlement, which meant they planned to spread the refugees across the country. John McCarthy, a representative of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), a voluntary agency that helped the government resettle refugees, spoke about this dispersal policy in a 1975 Congressional hearing where he assured Congress that the resettlement would be possible. This public-private partnership, church-state effort, was unprecedented in scale, expense, and expertise that the US government felt it could not take on alone. By joining forces with religious agencies who had experiences in humanitarian relief and resettlement services, the government felt comfortable with the joint effort.
In 2013, the Minnesota House passed a state legislation proclaiming May 14th as Hmong American Day in Minnesota or Hmong Lao Recognition Day that honors the sacrifices of the Hmong and Laotian people who fought with the US during the Secret War.
Sponsorship
The resettlement process was complex and relied on private sponsors such as individuals, groups, or church congregations to sponsor the refugees. Refugees had to pass rigorous medical examinations and have proper documentation in order to go to other countries. Some Hmong families made the decision to resettle based on factors like economic prospects, educational opportunities for their children, and clan influence by following their leaders.
While the majority of Hmong refugees went to the US, some chose countries like France because they had been allies with the French military when France controlled Indochina. Some families were sent to French Guiana to increase the local population. The locals received them with hostility when the Hmong first arrived, but the Hmong families supported each other and built up the town of Cacao where they now are responsible for 90 percent of the produce grown in French Guiana. Other families went to Australia where some started their own banana farms in order to work for themselves instead of working as unskilled workers in factories.
The Hmong refugees who went to the US were sponsored by organizations like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), and Church World Service (CWS). These Christian agencies provided much of the assistance that included housing, food, clothing, finding jobs, schooling, English tutoring, medical care, and access to government resources.
The biggest concentrations of Hmong people in the US live in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin because these states were the leaders in accepting Hmong refugees. Church sponsorships presented challenges including differences in religious beliefs where some Hmong people felt forced to attend church sessions with their sponsors. Cultural practices like birth, marriage, death, and healing were different from their sponsors. Since 1975, more than 200,000 Hmong people have fled Laos as refugees. Whether they chose to resettle in a new country or have been repatriated back to Laos, their lives were greatly impacted by the Secret War.
Fifty Years Later
Nearly 50 years later, Hmong people live throughout the world as a transnational ethnic group who have strong roots to their cultural identity. Although the Hmong-Lao community has had to rebuild itself after the end of the Secret War, they have found a new place to call home in their adoptive countries. In these places, they share their unique stories to let the younger generations and their new neighbors know about their past and how they came to start a new life. For example, HmongStory Legacy founders brought stories of the Hmong experience like “Vinai: Hmong Refugee Experience” to the Hmong New Year in Fresno, CA in 2022. Lar Yang, co-founder of Hmongstory Legacy, said, “You can’t be a complete person without your history.”
For new refugee crises like those in Yemen, Myanmar, and Afghanistan, Morales (2018) writes about how Hmong scholar Dr. Chia Youyee Vang’s research informs policy makers by offering “lessons to better preserve refugees’ cultural and family connections.” Dr. Vang was one of 145,000 Hmong refugees displaced after the Secret War who now calls Wisconsin her home.
Today, immersive cultural experiences, compassionate hearts, kindness, and acceptance help make the pain of the past more bearable for those who survived the horrors of war. Living and knowing the refugee experience helps new and current Hmong people remember their cultural roots.
References
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Contributing Editor: Yia Vue
Illustrator: Alex Yang