By: Myles
In Wat Tham Krabok, a Hmong refugee camp in Thailand, many rushed to register for U.S. immigration before the deadline — and before the camp would finally close down. Thailand’s government had issued an ultimatum: to either move elsewhere or face forced repatriation to Laos. The Hmong who live here in Wat Tham Krabok are the remnants, mostly the grandchildren, of the legendary fighters who assisted the U.S. in the secret wars in Laos during the Vietnam War era. While several thousand more Hmong are expected to immigrate to the U.S., those who missed the deadline were reluctant, even terrified to return to the land they once called home. Many of the Hmong interviewed were convinced that only persecution and death waited.
The Hmong were trapped within endless eras of wars and merciless persecution throughout their recorded history which expands more than 4000 years with its roots in China. Around 2700 B.C., when the Hmong established the San-Miao Kingdom, they were nearly exterminated by the expanding Chinese in a brutal military campaign. The San-Miao kingdom crumbled marking the last time the Hmong would ever strongly unite as a people. For the next few centuries, the Hmong in China would experience campaigns of subjugation and the disintegration of their culture from the expanding Chinese empire, banning the Hmong’s written language and forcing them to assimilate. This ensured that the Hmong would never rise again.
Many Hmong clans migrated to Laos settling in within the myriad of other minorities. When the French occupied Laos in 1893, the Hmong observed that life amongst the foreign occupiers was generally peaceful and that the discrimination and hostility usually perpetrated by the lowland Lao and Vietnamese was nonexistent. This led the Hmong to accept the colonial French, who were revered for their education, technology and security. Their continued presence in Laos would more likely improve the Hmong’s stature leading them into a better future. This belief would unite the French and Hmong against the future Japanese aggressors.
The French temporarily lost control of French Indochina when Japan invaded in 1940. Yet it wasn’t long until the French and Hmong would collaborate a secret resistance in northern Laos to liberate French Indochina. During the Japanese occupation, the Hmong helped destroy supply lines and bridges, ambush patrols and convoys, even help misplaced French colonials escape and relocate into safe territory. The French in the secret resistance praised the Hmong’s awesome capabilities in guerilla warfare and sabotage, instilling the Hmong’s identity as brave and formidable warriors.
In 1945, news of the sudden Japanese surrender overseas spread throughout Indochina. Among the confusion, the rising Viet Minh which was led by the communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, took advantage of the events declaring the new Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In Laos, a schism would emerge: while the royal Lao king desired a return of the French, the Lao Issara, an anti-French movement, struggled for a totally independent Laos state. Lao Prince Souphanouvong, a leader of the Lao Issara, initiated a convention together with Hanoi, North Vietnam, giving the Viet Minh’s military advisors unprecedented power in Laos. To the secret French-Hmong resistance, the Viet Minh’s motives were clear: they wanted control of Laos. The resistance, led by French commando Maurice Gauthier and Hmong chieftain Lyfong Touby, recruited and trained many Hmong to participate in the movement — this time defending their homeland against the Viet Minh. Over time, they were able to stall the infiltration and ultimately retake control of provinces and towns controlled by the Viet Minh.