‘It’s been like one long, terrible bad dream,’ says Zhong Yang, 49 (not his real name). ‘We have suffered enough for a thousand lifetimes and still there seems no end to it.’
For over three decades the Lao Hmong (pronounced ‘Mong’) have faced continuous persecution from Lao Government forces as retribution for the support they gave the US during the ‘Secret War’ in the 1960s and 70s. In 1961, the CIA began recruiting Lao Hmong to attack enemy supply lines, rescue downed pilots and protect American military installations as part of the fight to rid the region of communism. After communist forces took control of Laos in 1975 many Hmong were forced to flee to Thailand or move into remote mountain areas where some remain to this day.
