Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-30-Speech-3-080"
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"en.20051130.11.3-080"2
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"Madam President, I would like to talk about human rights in Laos. In the middle of the last European elections, I watched a documentary about the plight of the Hmong people. I told myself then that I would take the first opportunity I had in this House to raise the plight of those people. I am glad to have this opportunity here today.
The Hmong people are an ethnic group that has been persecuted for many years for supporting the US during the Vietnam War. When the Communist Party took over in 1975, thousands of Hmong people died because they supported the US at the time. Many fled the country, but many others fled to the mountain jungles and are still there today, several decades on.
The documentary I watched showed a whole village – young children and old women and men – crying when the camera crew arrived because they believed that at last their plight would be shown to the world. The Hmong people of Laos have been attacked using helicopters and ground troops. They live a very basic existence and sometimes go without food for days on end despite being surrounded by edible berries: they would rather starve than give away any clues to the Laos authorities of their whereabouts.
This is fear that women and children, in particular, should not have to put up with in the 21st century. I therefore urge the Commission and Council to consider very seriously what aid, if any, should go to Laos without seeing considerable improvements, in particular with regard to the rights of the Hmong people."@en1
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