Laos rejects demands

Laos yesterday rejected a request from an international human-rights group to release Hmong leaders, saying it was not holding any refugees deported from Thailand.

New York-based Human Rights Watch yesterday urged Lao authorities to release the Hmong leaders who had led the raid into Phetchabun's Huay Nam Khao camp in June.

The leaders were deported to Laos and later detained, the rights body said in a statement.

"Of the 1,673 Hmong deported from Thailand since 2005, nobody was arrested, detained or served any kind of punishment....