US embassy cable - 04HANOI3215

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 003215 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PREF, VM, CB, HUMANR, ETMIN 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH UNHCR ASIA/PACIFIC DIRECTOR 
LIM 
 
REF: A) PHNOM PENH 1678, B) HANOI 2864 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  The Ambassador met on November 24 with 
Janet Lim, the new Asia/Pacific Bureau Chief for the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).  Describing 
an earlier meeting with VFM Le Van Bang as "very good," Lim 
said that VFM Bang had told her that the GVN wants to work 
with the UNHCR and "other agencies" to provide assistance to 
the Central Highlands.  Lim described the UNHCR's 
frustrations with the situation in Phnom Penh in which 
Montagnards selected for resettlement neither want to accept 
resettlement nor return to Vietnam.  The UNHCR is asking the 
Cambodian Government for "space and time" to reach a level 
of comfort with this group of Montagnards.  Lim expressed 
concern about "manipulation" of the issue by certain 
individuals, but had no further information to provide.  In 
response to the Ambassador's request, Lim pledged to provide 
further information on the places of origin of the 
Montagnards to help target these locations for possible 
assistance.  Lim also briefly relayed a few comments by the 
Chinese Ambassador to Geneva about the North Korean refugee 
issue.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) The Ambassador met on November 24 with Janet Lim, 
the new Asia/Pacific Bureau Chief for the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).  Lim was joined by 
UNHCR Vietnam Country Representative Vu Anh Son.  Poloff 
also attended.  Lim opened by noting that she had taken up 
her position in September, and that this was her first trip 
to Vietnam in her new capacity.  The trip was at the 
invitation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
(MFA), she said. 
 
3. (SBU) Lim emphasized that she had a "very good meeting" 
with MFA Vice Minister Le Van Bang earlier in the day.  VFM 
Bang had told her that the GVN and UNHCR need to "work 
together" to resolve the situation in Cambodia.  He also 
said that the GVN wants to work with the UNHCR and "other 
agencies" to provide assistance to the Central Highlands. 
"He seemed to be speaking with authority," Lim commented. 
With GVN concurrence, the UNHCR could provide some aid to 
those attempted migrants who had asylum requests rejected 
and were returned to the highlands.  The Ambassador noted 
that her experience stands in contrast to his meeting with 
VFM Bang the week before, in which he had raised similar 
points but received a less positive response. 
 
4. (SBU) Providing an update on the current situation in 
Cambodia, Lim said that there are currently 566 Montagnards 
under UNHCR care, including 22 who had arrived in the 
previous week.  Of this group, 303 cases have been 
considered for asylum (amounting to 401 individuals), and 
among them 183 cases were recognized as valid and 120 were 
refused; this amounts to a 60 percent acceptance rate, Lim 
noted.  The UNHCR is faced with a difficult situation 
regarding both the Montagnards who were rejected and the 
Montagnards who were accepted but subsequently said they do 
not want to accept resettlement abroad and also do not want 
to return to Vietnam (Ref. A).  The Cambodian Government 
(RGC) has told the UNHCR that these individuals cannot stay, 
although forced return is "not acceptable" to the UNHCR, Lim 
said.  The UNHCR is "pushing the RGC for space and time," 
and trying to develop a "level of comfort" among the 
Montagnards that could lead to voluntary return.  "If they 
still won't return, things may be taken out of our hands," 
and the RGC might begin forced repatriations, Lim warned. 
 
5. (SBU) A number of leaders among the refugee group appear 
to be directing asylees to refuse resettlement, Lim 
continued.  Of the 148 cases submitted for resettlement in 
the United States, 38 individuals have indicated that they 
wish to go, while 101 have rejected resettlement (she did 
not elaborate on the remaining nine cases).  Some 
individuals have indicated that they wish to accept 
resettlement, but are under social pressure not to do so. 
In response to the Ambassador's question, Lim said, "clearly 
there is manipulation" of the issue, but it is not evident 
who is conducting it.  She expressed concern about the 
politicization of the issue, noting that outside 
manipulation of the refugees will undermine the UNHCR's 
program.  "If the system is being manipulated, our 
obligation ends," she warned. 
 
6. (SBU) The UNHCR is now "pre-counseling" Montagnards in 
Cambodia (at the border and before initiating a formal 
review of refugee qualifications) about what the refugee 
process entails.  "We explain this is not about getting land 
back," Lim said.  As a result of this pre-counseling, some 
Montagnards voluntarily return to Vietnam without filing 
claims.  The UNHCR in Phnom Penh has heard that the thirteen 
Montagnards who returned to Vietnam on their own are now the 
subject of rumors that they were sent home by the UNHCR and 
told to convince other Montagnards in Vietnam to flee abroad 
(Ref. B).  The Ambassador said that the GVN informed us that 
the thirteen had returned home safely, but that we have not 
been able to confirm this on our own.  Lim said that another 
six Montagnards have returned on their own volition. 
 
7. (SBU) Most of the Montagnards requesting asylum came from 
areas within ten kilometers of the Vietnam-Cambodia border, 
Lim said.  The Ambassador requested the UNHCR to provide 
more detailed information about the places of origin of the 
Montagnards to help possible efforts to target them for 
assistance.  Lim promised to do so through their office in 
Bangkok.  The UNHCR is seeking to expand its Hanoi office 
and introduce international staff.  "If the Vietnamese 
expect us to provide assistance in the Central Highlands, we 
will need a larger staff," she stated.  The Ambassador 
suggested that UNHCR raise the issue with the GVN "as a test 
of good faith." 
 
8. (SBU) Touching briefly on North Korean refugees, Lim said 
that she is in contact with the Chinese Ambassador in 
Geneva.  The PRC Ambassador had said that "the most 
important thing to China is the six-party talks," but that 
the Chinese are frustrated with the United States.  "The 
more [the U.S.] puts Korean refugees in the public arena, 
the more we must show our good faith to the North Koreans," 
the PRC Ambassador reportedly said. 
 
MARINE