BE AT THE GATE : HHR AWARENESS NIGHT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbvsijWl6J4

Performers:
The Kong and Shu Project, Watching Leona, Delicious Venom, Tou Yung, J-hops, Pagnia Xiong, Lor Chang, Tangled up in Blue, Chicspittenfire, Replay

Location:
800 Langdon Street
Madison, WI 53706

From 6pm-9:30pm

FREE TO ALL!!

“When they started forcing people out of Na Pho [refugee camp], I was there at the gate to try to stop the forced repatriation. We saved some people’s lives but not everybody’s. But I was at the gate there. I’ve been at the gate at Tham Krabok. I’ve been at the gate at Ban Vinai. I have been at the gate at all these horrible places. It’s your turn to be at the gate. It’s your turn to be at the gate at Huay Nam Khao. Nong Khai. At the gate of those who are screaming for help in Laos. You don’t have to actually be at the gate. I was actually at the gate but figuratively, at the gate. You can be in Wisconsin and be at the gate. You can be at Washington D.C. and be at the gate. So I leave you with the words, let’s be at the gate to help those who need us.”

- Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, author of Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans, and the Secret Wars for Laos, 1942-1992, at the HHR Speaker Forum, Dec. 5, 2009.

On behalf of the Hmong Human Rights committee of the Hmong American Student Association (HASA) at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, we would like to invite you to our Hmong Human Rights Awareness Night.

Through music, dance and visual media, we seek to address the Hmong humanitarian crisis in Thailand and Laos. Artists across the country are rallying together in support of human rights.

5,000 Hmong refugees have been repatriated from Thailand to Laos against international humanitarian law at the end of last year. The 158 Hmong refugees that have United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) political refugee status have been deported as well. There is no transparency and no unfettered access to the resettled Hmong in Laos.

Come to be inspired, educate yourself and inform others about what you can do about the situation.

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This is a musical show that will include young Hmong artist singing about the issue and singing to inspire people. Audiences will be seated and enjoying the show. The purpose of this show is to inspire people and raise awareness. We want those that have been advocating for this cause to keep fighting. And we want those who is oblivious about the current situation in Thailand and Laos to leave the show with a message -- There was no transparency in the resettlement. We have to urge our congressman to fight for us. We need to know what's going on and we won't give up.

Hmong Human Rights is a committee set up to advocate for the "atrocities" that the Hmong are facing in Southeast Asia. The big student organization, Hmong American Student Association, has been planning events and leading discussions to help the community. There is a conference this weekend in regards to generation gap which involves the Hmong community as a whole.

This is not a party where you'll be dancing. This is an Awareness Show similar to the shows American artists put together to sing and give hope to the Haiti crisis.