US embassy cable - 02HOCHIMINHCITY336

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000336 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT. FOR EAP/BLCTV (J.STROTZ/A.LANGLAND 
DEPT. FOR DRL/IRF, PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREF, PGOV, PINS, SOCI, PREL, KIRF, VM, CB, HUMANR, ETMIN 
SUBJECT:  ETHNIC MINORITY RETURNEES -- REALITY SETS IN 
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REF: A) HANOI 0791   B) HCMC 0201    C) HCMC 0202 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  SIX WEEKS AFTER THEIR UNHCR REPATRIATION 
AND THE ONSET OF REALITY, ETHNIC MINORITY RETURNEES HAVE 
OPENLY ARTICULATED THEIR REASONS FOR LEAVING VIETNAM FOR 
CAMBODIA - LACK OF FARMLAND, AND TO A SOMEWHAT LESSER 
EXTENT, RELIGION.  ALL SIX OF THE UNHCR RETURNEES WE SPOKE 
TO ON A RECENT TRIP TO KON TUM PROVINCE ASKED FOR UNHCR TO 
BEGIN ITS FOLLOW-UP MONITORING OF THEIR SITUATIONS AS SOON 
AS POSSIBLE.  TWO SAID THEY LIVED IN FEAR.  THE ONE 
"SPONTANEOUS, VOLUNTARY RETURNEE" WE SPOKE TO CLEARLY 
REGRETTED HIS DECISION TO RETURN TO GIA LAI PROVINCE. 
ANOTHER VILLAGER WHO "HAD THOUGHT ABOUT" LEAVING FOR 
CAMBODIA CHANGED HIS MIND WHEN HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW WAS 
ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO CROSS THE BORDER AND BEATEN.  YET 
ANOTHER VILLAGER SAID SHE HOPED HER HUSBAND, A HOUSE CHURCH 
PREACHER, WOULD NOT RETURN BECAUSE IT WAS TOO DANGEROUS. 
WHILE SOME PROVINCIAL OFFICIALS SEEMED SENSITIVE TO LAND 
ISSUES AND TENSIONS BETWEEN ETHNIC MINORITIES AND THE 
VIETNAMESE KINH MAJORITY, THE LACK OF RESOURCES, AN 
UNIMAGINATIVE BUREAUCRACY, AND WEAK POLITICAL DIRECTION HAVE 
HAMPERED EFFORTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.  THIS MESSAGE 
PROVIDES A MORE DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE SAME TRIP DISCUSSED 
BY AMBASSADOR BURGHARDT IN REFTEL A.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU) AMBASSADOR AND CONGENOFFS VISITED THE CENTRAL 
HIGHLANDS PROVINCES OF KON TUM AND GIA LAI, MARCH 30 THROUGH 
APRIL 1.  PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES CONCEDED VIRTUALLY 
UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE UNHCR RETURNEES IN KON TUM.  IN RAC 
VILLAGE, THE AMBASSADOR MET WITH SIX OF THE 15 UNHCR 
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RETURNEES - TWO OF WHOM HAD MET WITH CONGENOFFS BACK ON 
MARCH 1.  THIS TIME THEIR STORY WAS DIFFERENT.  ACCORDING TO 
THESE VILLAGERS, THEY FACED DISCRIMINATION AND INTIMIDATION 
AFTER THEIR RETURN.  LAND PROBLEMS WERE NOW SEEMINGLY 
INTRACTABLE -- UNFERTILE LAND IN ROCKY SOIL ON STEEP HILLS 
AT BEST; LAND THE VILLAGERS HAD HAD TAKEN AWAY BY VILLAGE 
AUTHORITIES TO ESTABLISH NEW ECONOMIC ZONES OR GIVEN TO 
RECENT VIETNAMESE KINH MIGRANTS AT WORST.  KON TUM OFFICIALS 
ACKNOWLEDGED THEY WERE TWO YEARS BEHIND IN PROVIDING LAND 
COMPENSATION FOR SOME VILLAGES, BUT SAID THEY HAD ALREADY 
RESETTLED SEVERAL VILLAGES IN NEW LOCATIONS, BUILT STURDY 
HOUSES AND ALLOCATED VIABLE FARMLAND. 
 
3. (SBU) SPEAKING OPENLY IN FRONT OF DISTRICT/VILLAGE 
LEADERS, LOCAL MEDIA, AND OTHER VILLAGERS, ONE 24-YEAR OLD 
UNHCR RETURNEE STATED THAT LAND PROBLEMS WERE AT THE HEART 
OF HIS DISCONTENT.  EVEN WITH SOME FELLOW VILLAGERS 
EXPRESSING DISAGREEMENT AND TRYING TO SHUSH HIM UP, THIS 
RETURNEE WAS DEFIANT: "I WANT MY FRIENDS TO COME UP HERE AND 
LISTEN BECAUSE I WANT THEM TO KNOW I SPEAK THE TRUTH.  THEY 
CAN ALSO SHARE THEIR OPINIONS.  I DO NOT WANT THEM TO 
COMPLAIN LATER THAT I HAVE SAID TOO MUCH. . . . .MY LAND WAS 
NOT FERTILE AND MY LIVELIHOOD WAS TOO UNSTABLE."  HE SAID 
SINCE HIS FEBRUARY 19 RETURN AFTER FIVE MONTHS IN A CAMP, HE 
HAS NOT HAD ANY LAND TO FARM. 
 
4. (SBU) TWO OTHER UNHCR RETURNEES (ONE WHO HAD BEEN SICK 
WHEN CONGENOFFS VISITED ON MARCH 1, AND THE SECOND VERY 
UNCOMMUNICATIVE THE FIRST TIME AROUND) NODDED IN AGREEMENT. 
ALL THREE ARE PROTESTANTS.  ONE MENTIONED RELIGION AS A 
PROBLEM, BUT IN A RATHER CONVOLUTED WAY:  "MY LAND WAS NOT 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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PRODUCING MUCH, OTHER THINGS WERE GOING WRONG IN MY LIFE 
WITH MONEY AND MY COW AND CHICKENS DIED, SO I PRAYED TO THE 
TRADITIONAL DEITIES." 
 
5.  (SBU) A LATECOMER TO THE GROUP, HOWEVER, EXPLICITLY 
STATED THAT HE WOULD NOT HAVE FLED TO CAMBODIA IF HE HAD NOT 
FEARED BEING ARRESTED BECAUSE HE WAS A RECENT CONVERT TO 
PROTESTANTISM. 
 
6. (SBU) NONE OF THESE UNHCR RETURNEES EXPECTED ANY MORE OF 
THE 39 VILLAGERS WHO HAD LEFT FOR CAMBODIA TO RETURN - NOR 
WOULD THEY ENCOURAGE THEM TO, INCLUDING ONE RETURNEE WHOSE 
SON IS STILL IN MONDOLKIRI CAMP.  TWO RETURNEES WHO HAD 
COMPLETED SOME SCHOOLING SAID THEY UNDERSTOOD THEIR THREE 
OPTIONS ON REPATRIATION AND MADE A CHOICE TO RETURN TO 
VIETNAM.  TWO YOUNGER RETURNEES WITH NO/NO SCHOOLING - WHILE 
ACKNOWLEDGING THEY WANTED TO RETURN TO VIETNAM - SAID THEY 
DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE THREE OPTIONS, NOR THE PAPER THEY 
WERE ASKED TO SIGN IN THE CAMP. 
 
7. (SBU) TWO RETURNEES GAVE LETTERS TO THE AMBASSADOR FOR 
TRANSMITTAL TO UNHCR, IN WHICH THEY CLAIMED DISCRIMINATION 
AND INTIMIDATION.  THEY PLEADED WITH UNHCR TO START THEIR 
FOLLOW-UP MONITORING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  "YES, YOU MUST 
COME VISIT OUR VILLAGE AGAIN," ALL SIX RETURNEES URGED 
CONGENOFFS." 
 
8. (SBU) VISITING PUIH VILLAGE IN GIA LAI PROVINCE, THE 
AMBASSADOR AND CONGENOFFS MET WITH A VARIETY OF VILLAGERS. 
THE "SPONTANEOUS" VOLUNTARY RETURNEE WAS QUIET AND NOT READY 
TO ANSWER TOO MANY QUESTIONS.  HE HAD RETURNED WITH 29 
OTHERS JUST ONE WEEK AGO.  HE SAID HE HAD PARTICIPATED IN 
THE FEBRUARY 2001 DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST AUTHORITIES WHO HAD 
TAKEN HIS LAND.  ACCORDING TO HIM, VILLAGE OFFICIALS 
DEMANDED 200-300 SQUARE METERS FROM CERTAIN VILLAGERS ("NOT 
EVERYBODY, JUST SOME") FOR A PURPORTED COFFEE PLANTATION 
THAT WOULD PROVIDE MORE EMPLOYMENT FOR THE ETHNIC 
MINORITIES.  IN FACT, THE LAND WENT TO "OTHER (VIETNAMESE 
KINH) INDIVIDUALS."  ANOTHER VILLAGER SAID HE HAD THOUGHT 
ABOUT GOING TO CAMBODIA HIMSELF, BUT CHANGED HIS MIND AFTER 
HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW WAS ARRESTED LEAVING THE VILLAGE FOR THE 
BORDER AND WAS BEATEN.  YET A THIRD VILLAGER DESCRIBED HOW 
HER HUSBAND, A HOUSE CHURCH PREACHER, HAD BEEN DETAINED AND 
BEATEN FOR A WEEK.  AFTER HIS RELEASE, HE DECIDED TO GO TO 
CAMBODIA.  THE WIFE DOES NOT EXPECT HIM TO RETURN, NOR DOES 
SHE BELIEVE IT WOULD BE SAFE IN ANY CASE. 
 
9. (SBU) CONVERSATIONS AT BOTH VILLAGES WERE MARKED BY SOME 
UNEASE, BUT ALSO FRANKNESS AND COURAGE.  SOCIAL TENSIONS 
BETWEEN THE ETHNIC MINORITIES AND THE VIETNAMESE KINH, THE 
INFLUX OF VIETNAMESE KINH MIGRANTS FROM THE NORTH, 
SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE AND PRACTICING PLANTATION 
AGRICULTURE ON OVERWORKED AND SHRINKING PARCELS OF LAND HAVE 
MADE THE ALREADY HAND-TO-MOUTH EXISTENCE OF THE VILLAGERS 
EVEN MORE UNBEARABLE.  COMPARED TO BARELY A MONTH AGO, 
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CONGENOFFS BELIEVE THE MOOD IN AT LEAST RAC VILLAGE HAS 
WORSENED IN TERMS OF DESPERATION FOR OUTSIDE HELP. 
 
YAMAUCHI 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED