In 1973 two decades of civil war in Laos ended. It also brought an end to the 'secret war' - the American-led fight against Vietnamese communists in Laos. But when the fighting stopped many of the country's Hmong people who had supported the Americans had to flee to escape persecution.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Yee Chang (front row, young boy in black on the left, photo taken the day before he and his family crossed the Mekong river)