12/29/2003

Lionel Rosenblatt, RI's President Emeritus, and James V. Kimsey, chairman, have played a lead role in pressing for the resettlement of the Hmong. The Hmong, who fled Laos for Thailand after the Vietnam War, have long ties with the U.S. In September 2003, Rosenblatt went to Thailand to assess the Hmong situation and to meet with senior U.S. and Thai personnel there to encourage the resettlement program. In early December, Kimsey asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to begin processing the Hmong for possible admission to the U.S. The U.S. Ambassador in Thailand, Darryl Johnson, announced on December 7th that the U.S. government will give 15,000 Hmong refugees living at Wat Tham Krabok in Thailand an opportunity for resettlement in the United States.