US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY811

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000811 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL, PRM 
BANGKOK ALSO FOR REFCOORD 
GENEVA FOR RMA CAMPBELL 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS USAID/ANE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREF, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, CB, VM, Human Rights, Ethnic Minorities 
SUBJECT: UNHCR REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE UTKAN VIEWS ON EVE OF 
VISIT TO THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS 
 
REF:  A) Hanoi 1865 and previous; B) Phnom Penh 1178 and 
previous; C) Phnom Penh 1230; D) HCMC 524 and previous; E) 
04 HCMC 1554 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  In HCMC before his August 2-4 visit to 
the Central Highlands, UNHCR Regional Representative Utkan, 
accompanied by Hanoi-based UNHCR representative Vu Anh Son, 
told ConGenOffs that cooperation with the GVN on issues 
related to the return of ethnic minority refugees from 
Cambodia was improving.  The GVN was facilitating his visit 
to meet with some of the 94 ethnic minority individuals 
recently returned to Vietnam that UNHCR had determined not 
to be refugees.  The GVN also had "routinized" the travel of 
Hanoi-based Son to the Central Highlands and granted him 
unescorted access to returnees, giving UNHCR a clearer 
perspective on conditions in the Central Highlands.  This 
access was important as Utkan was growing increasingly 
distrustful of NGO reporting, including that of Human Rights 
Watch, on the condition of ethnic minorities in the Central 
Highlands.  Utkan viewed as complementary and welcomed the 
proposed visit of U.S. Mission staff to the Central 
Highlands and wanted others in the world community to follow 
suit.  UNHCR would have to substantially increase its 
profile in the Central Highlands were the 42 "refusniks" in 
Cambodia forced to return.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On August 1, ConGenOffs met with UNHCR Regional 
Representative Hasim Utkan and Hanoi-based UNHCR 
representative Vu Anh Son to exchange views on conditions in 
the Central Highlands before their visit to the Central 
Highlands province of Gia Lai province August 2-4.  Utkan 
said that the visit was not a monitoring visit per se, 
although he intended to visit some of the 94 screened out 
ethnic minority individuals recently returned to Vietnam 
(Ref B).  Technically, UNHCR had no legal obligation to 
monitor their welfare.  Moreover, there was nothing in the 
Tripartite MOU that required that the GVN grant access to 
the Central Highlands; during negotiations, the GVN had 
resisted UNHCR efforts to insert language on monitoring into 
the document.  The best that UNHCR could obtain at the time 
was a commitment that the parties would "consult" on this 
issue. 
 
3. (SBU) That said, the Tripartite MOU between the GVN, RGC 
and UNHCR made no distinction among the various types of 
returnees to Vietnam.  Strategically, UNHCR found it in its 
interest to press for access to the 43 ethnic minority 
individuals that had voluntarily returned to Vietnam earlier 
in 2005.  By doing so, UNHCR set a precedent for future 
international monitoring and gained capacity to make 
independent assessments of conditions of ethnic minorities 
in the Central Highlands.  In this regard, Utkan said that 
he leveraged the April/May Human Rights Watch reports 
alleging abuse of voluntary returnees (Ref D) to gain GVN 
approval for the UNHCR Hanoi-based local representative Son 
to visit Gia Lai Province.  Although there was some 
Politburo resistance before the first visit, they have 
become "routinized."  Over the past three months, Son has 
made five visits to Gia Lai, meeting 41 of the 43 voluntary 
returnees.  He has been able to document that they are 
not/not being mistreated.   Now, in another positive step, 
the GVN has facilitated Utkan's travel to the Central 
Highlands.  These visits will allow UNHCR to improve its 
capacity to determine refugee status of ethnic minorities in 
future cases, Utkan said. 
 
4. (SBU) In Utkan's view, the GVN was not a driving force in 
the return of the 94 or ongoing Cambodian Government efforts 
to refoule 42 "refusniks," all of whom are from Gia Lai 
Province (Ref C).  He believes the Cambodian Government, as 
a matter of national pride, wants to make the point that it 
is within its right to return the 94 -- and even the 
refusniks -- six months after the Tripartite MOU was signed. 
 
5. (SBU) In Utkan's view, the refusniks are an unprecedented 
problem.  International refugee law assumes that refugees 
are persons that flee from imminent threat and thus would 
welcome -- and accept -- a durable solution.  The refusniks' 
refusal to accept resettlement casts doubt on the urgency of 
their claims and underscores the political agenda underlying 
the presence of some of the ethnic minorities from the 
Central Highlands in Cambodia.  For example, the refusniks 
were in regular contact with the Montagnard Foundation in 
South Carolina via cell phone.  Nonetheless, because these 
42 are the "hardcore," it is in no one's interest to see 
them returned to Vietnam, Utkan said.  For its part, if the 
refusniks are returned, UNHCR will have a real obligation to 
maintain a more robust international presence in the Central 
Highlands. 
 
6. (SBU) Utkan emphasized that in dealing with the ethnic 
minorities crossing from Vietnam, UNHCR applied a threshold 
for granting refugee status well below what it would apply 
in other operations worldwide.  The ethnic minorities were 
given an "overextended benefit of the doubt."   Some were 
clearly coached prior to their interviews.  Moreover, Utkan 
was particularly disturbed that some of the UNHCR's own 
implementers -- particularly the Jesuit Refugee Service -- 
had told the 94 to disregard UNHCR instructions and to 
resist physically return to Vietnam. Utkan also was 
frustrated with Human Rights Watch "distortions" over events 
surrounding the return of the 94 and, more broadly, over the 
situation of ethnic minorities in Vietnam.  He commented 
that Human Rights Watch (HRW) is decentralized and, at least 
in the case of its Cambodia-based representative, exercises 
no quality control over reporting from the field. 
Willingly or unwillingly, HRW has become part of a political 
agenda involving ethnic minorities in Vietnam's Central 
Highlands. 
 
7. (SBU) Utkan viewed as complementary and strongly 
supported U.S. and other international community visits to 
the Central Highlands.  He suggested that such visits be 
front-loaded in the first few months following repatriation. 
We told him that such a strategy tracks with our 
understanding of dynamics in the Central Highlands.  For 
example, our contacts in Gia Lai told us that ethnic 
minorities who had returned voluntarily from Cambodia in 
2002 were under tight police scrutiny during their first few 
months back in Vietnam.  Police scrutiny gradually ebbed so 
long as the persons stayed away from activities that the GVN 
believe were linked to "Dega separatism". 
 
Khmer Krom 
---------- 
 
8. (SBU) During our discussion, Utkan also inquired about 
conditions for the Khmer Krom -- ethnic Cambodians -- in the 
Mekong Delta.  Over the past two to three months, UNHCR in 
Phnom Penh has seen an uptick in the number of Khmer Krom 
seeking assistance; perhaps as many as 60 individuals have 
approached UNHCR.  Normally, UNHCR will receive no more than 
two or three Krom petitioners in a year.  We told Utkan that 
we have traveled in the Mekong Delta and specifically 
examined conditions for ethnic Cambodians.  However, we have 
not detected any evidence of systemic discrimination against 
the Khmer Krom as some international advocacy groups have 
alleged (Ref E). 
 
CHERN