Portrait Honorable Mention. Greg Constantine, Freelance. The ethnic Hmong in Laos have been the targets of retribution by Lao and Vietnamese forces because of their involvement with the United States CIA during the Vietnam War. Since 2005, almost 8,000 Hmong refugees-25% under the age of five-have lived in a camp in the Phetchabun district of Northern Thailand. In July 2006, the Thai government announced it would forcibly repatriate all 7,800 in the camp back to an uncertain future in Laos. Abandoned by the US, hunted in Laos and Hopeless in Thailand, many refugees feel they are doomed once they are retuned to Laos.
’ÄúDuring one attack, my sister was shot while we were running away. She died right in front of me, but we couldn't even stop to bury her.’Äù
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