A European Union delegation visited the Hmong community in Phonkham village in Borikhan district, Borikhamxay province, on Wednesday as part of the human rights dialogue between the EU and the Lao government.
The delegation was led by Chargé d'Affaires of the EU Delegation to Laos, Mr Michel Goffin, and included representatives from the French, German and Luxembourg embassies to Laos.
Mr Michel Goffin talks to Phonkham villagers during his visit.
The aim of the visit was to see the progress of development in the village and to assess to what extent Hmong families who were repatriated from Thailand were given access to basic human rights, such as the right to education, healthcare and movement.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since its establishment in 2009, the village has seen many changes. The government has provided basic essentials including a school, dispensary, electricity, water supply and a road linking the village with the district centre. The government also allocated land for the returning families to grow crops and raise animals.
On their arrival, the EU delegation met with local authorities and Hmong residents, and heard a report on developments in the village.
Initially the village comprised 3,457 people (of whom 1,628 were women) living in 601 families after their repatriation from Thailand in 2009.
There are now 3,000 people living in 527 families in the village, after some families left to go to live with their relatives elsewhere. Other repatriated Hmong groups have been accommodated in other provinces, including Vientiane.
The delegation talked to the villagers about their lives and the challenges they faced. The villagers said they needed improved water supply and better road access to the district centre as well as to surrounding farmland, so they could improve their productivity.
