Phommerath William:" I crossed the Mekong River in a canoe "
Tuesday, 14.07.2009, 05:08 - La Voix du Nord
" I found my entire family in 1981 .. ".
Laotian refugees (2 / 3) William
Phommerath has tasted the reeducation camps before the exile ... Not really the ideal profile for the communist government in place. BY PATRICK
SEGHIR
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tourcoing@lavoixdunord.fr Catholic official national public treasurer, Francophile ... Phommarath William, 71, had accumulated disadvantages in the eyes of communist power, newly installed in Laos. In 1975, it will be sent to a reeducation camp. Four years when separated from his family, he thinks only one thing: cross the Mekong. "I did it in the dugout in 1980. I arrived in a refugee camp in Thailand. I waited my family ... . The smugglers who ask "a lot of money" will make his wife and children arrive in dribs and drabs. "I found my entire family in 1981," he slips. Installed today in Tourcoing, must the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) arrived in France and survival. "I received political asylum" coward "he soberly. His ex-official status here it is a valuable utility. Of course, the scenery will be terrible. It will pass through the focus of young workers, fenced night in a biscuit factory in Ronchin, will be trained to Vauban .. Proud to see his children integrate and work hard. "The integration has gone smoothly," summarizes William. Solidarity between Laos exiles seem as unobtrusive as real, it serves as a salve for the wounds of forced departure. "I always think of my homeland. Today, we can not stay there three months. "
Just enough not to break completely with his roots, his hometown. "But in Laos if the head of family goes, everyone follows. Life is inconceivable without a family. What could I do? My children have fled the school ... . And since sailing to other lands, sometimes cloudy. "With 600 euros retirement, it's just to live ... . •
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