Lao rights activist who faced deportation in Thailand arrives safely in Canada — Radio Free Asia

A Lao human rights activist who was living in Thailand under threat of deportation to his communist homeland has arrived in Canada where he will seek asylum with the support of the United Nations refugee agency and human rights groups. Khoukham Keomanivong, a U.N.-recognized refugee, was convicted on Jan. 31 in a closed-door Thai trial of overstaying his visa and had been held pending deportation to Laos, where he faced arrest for his advocacy work he says he has refrained from for more than two years. He was later released on bail and was finally allowed to leave Thailand on…