Hmong group: Vandalized grave sites not a political issue

The desecration of Hmong graves at a Thai temple is a cultural and religious matter, says a group protesting a delegation to Thailand led by the city of St. Paul.

By Myron P. Medcalf, Star Tribune

Last update: September 19, 2007 - 7:46 PM

More than 20 Hmong-Americans went to the St. Paul City Council meeting Wednesday to protest a city-led delegation heading to Thailand to address concerns about the desecration of Hmong graves there.

The community members said the issue should be addressed by the Hmong community, and the city shouldn't be involved.

Video from the Wat Tham Krabok temple, home to a Hmong refugee camp in Thailand, showed vandals digging up and dismembering hundreds of bodies buried there in 2005. Of an estimated 900 bodies that were disturbed, 211 remain, according to Thai officials. Hmong community members want to retrieve the bodies and bury them according to their cultural and religious values.

More than 20 people held up large signs protesting the city's involvement at Wednesday's council meeting, where the council agreed to accept donations for Mayor Chris Coleman to send policy aide Va-Megn Thoj with a delegation that will include state Sen. Mee Muoa to Thailand on Friday.

Another group, the Hmong Grave Desecration Committee, will travel to Thailand Saturday with representatives from around the country and has said that city officials shouldn't be involved with a religious and cultural issue.

"They're trying to make it a policy [issue]," said Michael Yang, chairman of the National Association for Hmong Justice, who will travel with the Hmong Grave Desecration Committee. "We said from the beginning, 'Stop it.'"

But city officials said that Yang's group had been invited to work with the group organized by the city but declined the offer. Yang said the trip caught his group by surprise.

Bob Hume, spokesman for Mayor Chris Coleman, said the interest in the issue speaks to its significance for the Hmong community.

"It shows the sense of urgency around the issue," he said.

Council Member Debbie Montgomery, who traveled to Thailand in 2004, said it's important to send a unified delegation to address the issue.

"It is my hope that all of the parties can get together," she said.

Myron P. Medcalf • 651-298-1546

Myron P. Medcalf • mmedcalf@startribune.com

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