Lao authorities say the problem of the Hmong refugees living along sides the road leading to Ban Huay Namkhao in Thailand's Phetchaboun province is a bilateral issue, and that Laos is ready to take back the refugees who are willing to come back to Laos.
Laos' Deputy Prime Minister Somsavad Lengsavat made the comments to VOA in Vientiane. He also said Laos is ready to take back the Hmong refugees who are from Laos and willing to come home.
VOA-Lao stringer in Bangkok says there are now some 8,000 Hmong refugees in Ban Huay Nam Khao, up from the original count of some 6,000, because more Hmong have fled Laos to join their relatives in Ban Huay Nam Khao, hoping to get a chance to resettle in the U.S. like the 15,000 refugees who were accepted by the U.S. government last year.
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