US embassy cable - 05HANOI880

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000880 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT PASS TO EAP/BCLTV; EAP/RSP; DRL; PRM; PM; T 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PREF, ETRD, VM, KICC, ETMIN, HUMANR, WTO 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAISES CENTRAL HIGHLANDS MINORITIES, 
VISAS 93 CASES AND IMET/ARTICLE 98 AGREEMENTS WITH VFM LE 
VAN BANG 
 
Ref: A. Hanoi 671; B. Hanoi 772; C. State 67690; D. 04 Hanoi 
2863 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  The Ambassador met with Vice Foreign 
Minister Le Van Bang April 14 at the Foreign Ministry and 
discussed problems involving UNHCR access to ethnic minority 
migrants who have been returned to the Central Highlands. 
The Ambassador also raised the issue of the problems 
obtaining passports and other necessary administrative 
documents faced by the Central Highlands families of ethnic 
minorities who entered the United States as refugees.  VFM 
Le Van Bang said the GVN has given the "green light" to an 
Article 98 agreement but still plans to wait to sign it 
until Vietnam's WTO accession is complete.  The MFA will 
"get back to us" on the status of consideration of an IMET 
agreement.   End Summary. 
 
CENTRAL HIGHLANDS MINORITIES AND UNHCR 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) The Ambassador raised the issue of the Office of 
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to 
Central Highlands minority migrants returned from Cambodia. 
Under the trilateral MOU, UNHCR and the GVN must coordinate 
visits to the returnees, the Ambassador said.  Recently, 
however, a UNHCR request to visit returnees was turned down 
and some groups and individuals have reported that returnees 
have been interrogated by the police, he noted (refs A and 
B).  The Ambassador encouraged VFM Bang to arrange for UNHCR 
access to the returnees before the April 28 trilateral MOU 
review in Geneva.  Allowing such access would be well 
received by the international community and would blunt some 
of the growing criticism UNHCR has been receiving for 
entering into the agreement without enforceable guarantees 
from the GVN, he said.  This issue needs a "creative 
solution," VFM Bang replied. 
 
VISAS 93 CASES 
-------------- 
 
3. (SBU) The Ambassador informed VFM Bang that the issue of 
follow-to-join travel for family members of Central 
Highlands refugees who fled to the United States remains a 
serious one with potential to harm the bilateral 
relationship (ref C).  Out of 91 outstanding cases, he said, 
only 11 have been processed.  The remaining 80 cases, which 
include over 300 individuals, are held up pending the 
issuance of passports to the applicants.  Different 
provinces have differing records of willingness to issue 
passports in these cases, he observed.  In Gia Lai province, 
the process is beginning to show results, the Ambassador 
noted, but in Dak Lak province not a single applicant has 
successfully applied for a passport.  Vietnam gains nothing 
from holding back these family members, the Ambassador said, 
and the problems faced in these cases have led some in the 
United States to begin talking about the potential 
applicability of the Jackson-Vanik law on regimes that 
restrict free emigration.  VFM Bang noted that this issue 
falls outside his own portfolio, but promised to see to it 
that it is raised with the appropriate office.  The 
Ambassador promised to provide a list of the Visas 93 cases 
that are experiencing problems, updating the lists he 
provided to Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh in 
October 2004 (ref D) and February 2005. 
 
IMET AND ARTICLE 98 
------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) The Ambassador highlighted the USG's interest in 
concluding both Article 98 and IMET/505 agreements with the 
GVN as soon as possible.  He noted that the Vietnamese 
Ministry of National Defense (MND) has approved the IMET 
concept and forwarded it back to MFA.  VFM Bang said he 
would look into the issue as soon as possible.  On Article 
98, VFM Bang said the Politburo has given the "green light" 
to the Article 98 agreement, and that the only variable 
remaining is timing.  The GVN believes that European 
agreement to Vietnam's WTO entry is in jeopardy if Vietnam 
signs an Article 98 agreement with the United States, and 
therefore it is necessary to wait to actually sign the 
agreement until Vietnam has completed the WTO accession 
process, VFM Bang said.  "During the Prime Minister's visit 
to the United States, he will say something positive about 
it," VFM Bang offered.  The Ambassador replied that it is 
unreasonable for the Europeans to link Vietnam's WTO entry 
with a completely unrelated bilateral agreement with the 
United States. 
 
MARINE