The United States on Monday criticized Thailand for deporting more than 160 ethnic Hmong back to Laos, saying it feared they might be persecuted in the communist state.
"It is a generally recognized principle that no one with a genuine fear of persecution should be returned to a country where he or she might face mistreatment," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
He cited allegations of human rights violations in Laos combined with Vientiane's refusal to permit monitoring of returnees, saying they "cause concern about the well-being of those who were deported."
Thailand has a right to prevent illegal immigration, McCormack said.
"However, we urge the Thai government to live up to its traditions and international standards, and to ensure that those with a genuine claim to refugee status are not returned to an uncertain fate."
The Lao government has confirmed that the Hmong were sent back across the border by Thailand early Saturday as part of a resettlement process that has been criticized by human rights groups.
Kitty McKinsey, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok, said it was "deeply concerned" about the deportation.
The UNHCR has called for screening for the Hmong to see if any should be officially classified as refugees and granted international protection.
More than 7,000 Hmong have lived for years in and around informal refugee camps in Thailand, many of them hoping to eventually settle in the United States.
Many Hmong in the 1960s and 70s fought alongside US forces when the Vietnam War spilled into Laos. After the war ended in 1975, hundreds of thousands fled to Thailand and many were later resettled in the United States.
The former Hmong commander of a CIA-funded "secret army," General Vang Pao, now a 77-year-old US citizen, was arrested in California last week with eight others, accused of plotting a violent coup against the Lao government.
