Zong Khang Yang is walking from Minnesota to the nation’s capital to draw attention to the plight of Hmong people living in Laos.
“We cannot forget about the country,” Yang said. “We cannot forget about our people.”
Yang, 42, of North St. Paul, is leading 10 local residents on the 1,150-mile trek to Washington.
He said he hopes the walk will be one step toward ending the killing and harsh treatment of Hmong in Laos. And he said he hopes it will encourage the United Nations to send peacekeepers into the Southeast Asian nation and urge the Laotian government to allow humanitarian aid into the country.
Participants plan to walk several miles each day and stop at cities and towns along the way to educate people about Hmong culture. The entire trip should take 2-1/2 to three months, Yang said.
The first of the new waves of Hmong refugees is expected to arrive in the St. Paul area from a refugee camp in Thailand beginning Monday. About 5,000 of the camp’s 15,000 residents are expected to settle in Minnesota.