US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY962

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HO CHI MINH CITY 000962 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, KIRF, PREF, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR, ETMIN 
SUBJECT: RESULTS OF USG REFUGEE MONITORING VISIT TO GIA LAI 
PROVINCE 
 
REF:  State 148146 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  Based on interviews and observations during a 
visit to Gia Lai Province September 6-8, a joint Hanoi-HCMC team 
found no indications of mistreatment or discrimination against the 
18 returnees interviewed.  Although a number of returnees raised 
grievances related to GVN policies on religion or alleged 
expropriation of land, none indicated that they felt they had been 
discriminated against since returning to Vietnam.  Provincial 
officials emphasized their commitment to peaceful reintegration of 
all returnees as well as the full and positive implementation of 
the Tripartite Agreement with UNHCR and Cambodia.  Officials were 
concerned about the spread of "Dega separatism" within the ethnic 
minority community (which manifested itself during interviews with 
some returnees).  That said, the province appeared to be taking a 
more positive approach to the socio-economic challenges -- 
including religious freedom -- that affect the ethnic minority 
community in Gia Lai.  Per reftel request, paragraph 18 contains a 
draft "monitoring report" that could be used to answer questions 
about the team's visit.  Septel will report in detail on our 
discussions on religious freedom and family reunification visas 
(VISAS-93).  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On September 6-8, Hanoi Pol/C and HCMC PolOff, 
accompanied by HCMC Refugee Resettlement Section NGO Liaison, met 
with Provincial and District-level officials in Gia Lai Province 
to assess the welfare of some of the ethnic minority returnees 
from Cambodia.  The team also reviewed with Government officials 
their efforts to tackle some of the underlying causes of ethnic 
minority dissatisfaction and disenfranchisement in the province, 
including questions related to religious freedom.  During the 
visit, the team met with Pham The Dung, Chairman of Gia Lai 
People's Committee; Colonel Tran Dinh Thu, Vice Director of Gia 
Lai Department of Public Security; Nguyen Khoa Lai, Vice Chairman 
of Gia Lai Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs; Phan Trung Tuong, 
Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ia Grai District; 
Nguyen Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chu Se 
District; Pastor Siu Uy, Chairman of the Board of Representatives 
of the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) in Gia Lai; 
and other representatives of the People's Committees and People's 
Councils in Ia Grai and Chu Se Districts. 
 
Local Government:  Committed to Peaceful Reintegration 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
3. (SBU) Provincial officials repeatedly underscored their 
commitment to reintegrate the returnees peacefully and to fulfill 
all of Vietnam's obligations under the Tripartite agreement with 
UNHCR and the Cambodian Government.  The province considers the 
returnees to be "victims" who were misled by promises of riches 
and resettlement in the United States.  They were being treated 
fairly and humanely, the People's Committee Chairman and other 
local officials assured the team repeatedly.  The province had 
provided returnees with various forms of assistance (food, 
clothes, kerosene) under GVN and provincial-level rural 
development programs.  It was up to officials at the village level 
to decide what specific assistance was needed -- including 
providing housing and land grants -- after conducting interviews 
with the returnees. 
 
4. (SBU) Provincial and local officials told the team that 
returnees were not being provided with assistance above and beyond 
what other ethnic minority individuals in those villages would 
receive.  The Government would not "discriminate" between 
returnees and those who had stayed in the allocation and 
distribution of assistance.  That said, the province's emphasis 
was to do more for the province's "original inhabitants."  The 
officials, particularly the Deputy MPS Chief, told us that the 
province understands that it must do more to develop and integrate 
the province's ethnic minority community to minimize the appeal of 
"Dega separatists" that remain active in the province.  Provincial 
officials cited the education deficit in the ethnic minority 
community as perhaps their biggest long-term development 
challenge.  The Chu Se District People's Committee Chairman said 
that he would welcome remittances from the United States to ethnic 
minority families in his district. 
 
5. (SBU) People's Committee and Police representatives emphasized 
that the province was addressing the spiritual needs of the ethnic 
minority community in Gia Lai.  The province has accelerated its 
recognition of churches affiliated with the SECV.  The Vice 
Director of Public Security told us that the province has 
recognized nine new SECV churches in 2005, bringing the total to 
27 in the province.  Other SECV and house church congregations are 
being allowed to function in accordance with Vietnam's new legal 
framework on religion, the Provincial People's Committee told us. 
The Vice Director emphasized that the province's policy is to 
"normalize the practice of faith."  During sidebar discussions 
following our interviews with returnees, district-level officials 
explained that the province wishes to provide viable alternatives 
to "Dega Protestantism," which is encouraging intolerance and 
separatism within the ethnic minority community.  Separately, 
leaders of the SECV's provincial representative board praised 
cooperation with the local government and told the delegation that 
they anticipate that they will have up to 37 recognized churches 
in the province by year's end.  (We will provide more on 
developments concerning religious freedom issues in the province 
of Gia Lai by septel.) 
 
Meetings with Returnees 
----------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) Embassy/ConGen team met September 7-8 with 18 ethnic 
Jarai returnees (including a mother who spoke for her minor son) 
from Ia Grai and Chu Se Districts in Gia Lai Province.  With the 
exception of one meeting at a returnee's home, all the interviews 
were conducted at local government centers.  15 of the 18 
returnees were from the group of 94 who were forced to return to 
Vietnam in July after UNHCR determined that they were not 
refugees.  Roughly two-thirds of the interviews were conducted in 
Jarai language through local government translators.  While one 
interpreter in particular appeared to try to alter or shade the 
content of the responses, the delegation was in control of the 
interviews and could redirect questions when answers appeared 
incongruous.  (Many of the returnees understood at least some 
Vietnamese, facilitating our communication.)  Although there were 
many officials present (including a pushy police official who 
accompanied us as a "journalist"), only two interviewees appeared 
intimidated or otherwise ill at ease.  Many of the returnees 
demonstrated a breezy familiarity with local officials that in 
some cases bordered on contempt. 
 
7. (SBU) All the returnees were from the ethnic minority "Jarai" 
community.  Many had not been interviewed before during the 
previous five UNHCR visits to Gia Lai.  All appeared to be in good 
physical condition.  Most of the returnees had little or no 
education.  The best educated was a young returnee woman, aged 21, 
who had finished seventh grade.  One interviewee, who had crossed 
to Cambodia with her minor son, claimed that she was seeking to 
join her husband who fled Vietnam in 2002 and was resettled in the 
United States in 2003.  She did not know if a petition had been 
filed on her and her son's behalf.  On September 10, we briefed 
UNHCR Phnom Penh representative Thamrongsak Meechubot on this 
case.  Meechubot -- in HCMC on his way to Gia Lai to meet with the 
six "refusniks" -- promised to look at the interview records, 
telling us that UNHCR normally would recommend such persons for 
resettlement.  HCMC's Refugee Resettlement Section also is looking 
into this case. 
 
8. (SBU) In each interview, the USG team focused on: 
 
-- the returnee's living conditions prior to going to Cambodia, 
including employment and land ownership (we also sought 
information on marital status, family size, education and 
religion); 
 
-- the circumstances surrounding the returnee's decision to travel 
to Cambodia and the mechanics thereof; 
 
-- the returnee's time in Cambodia, including interactions with 
UNHCR staff, camp conditions and any issues related to the return 
to Vietnam; 
 
-- the returnee's life in Vietnam since returning, including any 
bad or unfair treatment by officials, ostracizing by neighbors and 
any Government assistance provided to help with reintegration. 
 
9. (SBU) None of the returnees indicated that they had been 
discriminated against, mistreated or threatened in any way by 
Government officials since their return.  Most had received some 
assistance such as rice, gasoline, salt, kerosene or other 
essential goods after returning.  One person had received a five 
million Dong (USD 325) cash loan to develop his cashew farm. 
There was at least one case where the returnee refused Government 
assistance.  A small minority received no assistance and/or was 
landless.  Government officials promised to investigate.  (Note: 
it appeared that the level of assistance varied from village to 
village and was tied to the assistance package that village 
officials were distributing to ethnic minority residents.  End 
Note.) 
 
10. (SBU) The majority of returnees said that they had left for 
Cambodia for economic reasons; they said rumors were circulating 
in the community that they could receive lucrative employment or 
resettlement in the United States if they fled to Cambodia. 
Others said that they hoped that UNHCR could "help get their land 
back."  A small minority said they had fled because they were 
"looking for religious freedom."  None of the returnees was 
specific about who had helped them get to Cambodia or how they got 
to the border. 
 
11. (SBU) Of those who claimed to be seeking to get their land 
back, a number indicated that part of the land their family had 
cleared and claimed had been taken by State-owned coffee and 
rubber plantations without compensation.  Others appeared to 
protest more generally that traditional Jarai lands had been 
occupied by ethnic Vietnamese migrants in recent years.  However, 
almost all the returnees had between one-third and one hectare (.7 
to 2.5 acres) of land on which they grew rice, cassava and other 
cash crops such as coffee and cashews.   A few worked as day 
laborers to supplement the family's farming income. 
 
Religion and the Dega Movement 
------------------------------ 
 
12. (SBU) All the returnees self-identified themselves as 
"Protestant," but none would state to which particular 
denomination they belonged.  Three claimed that religious freedom 
concerns were paramount in their decision to cross to Cambodia. 
Almost all stated that local officials prevented them from 
gathering and said that they could only worship at home.  None 
claimed that they were pressured to abandon their faith.  None 
expressed any awareness of or interest in the SECV as a possible 
alternative to worshiping at home. 
 
13. (SBU) Local officials said that the returnees were "Dega 
Protestants" and confirmed that the province was attempting to 
restrict the spread of what it considers to be a separatist creed. 
Some said that Dega activists still were attempting to encourage 
people to cross to Cambodia.  The Chu Se District People's 
Committee Chairman added that key leaders of the Dega movement 
outside Vietnam are ethnic Jarai, and the Jarai are the largest 
ethnic minority group in the province (70 percent of the ethnic 
minority population in Chu Se).  Therefore, he was not surprised 
that so many of those that fled to Cambodia or were associated 
with "Dega" were Jarai. 
 
14. (SBU) A number of the interviewees clearly were imbued 
strongly with notions of ethnic minority exclusivism.  One 
confirmed that she had participated in anti-GVN protests in Gia 
Lai Province in 2001 and 2004.  She stated that she rejected the 
SECV and believed that every ethnic group should have its own 
independent church. 
 
Treatment in Cambodia 
--------------------- 
 
15. (SBU) Two returnees reported seeing Cambodians in uniforms 
manhandling returnees while trying to get them on buses on the day 
of the forced return to Vietnam.  One of these two returnees 
claimed she was struck, but not injured, by one of these 
Cambodians.  A third returnee claimed he saw Cambodian officials 
use an "electric baton."  Other returnees from the cohort of 
forced returnees did not/not confirm these allegations.  There 
were no other reports of specific problems or incidents while in 
the refugee camps.   We have relayed these reports to UNHCR 
Meechubot, who indicated he would investigate. 
 
16. (SBU) Comment:  Thus far Gia Lai leadership appears to be 
living up to its commitment to ensure that the returnees are 
reintegrated and face no retribution.  Its policy of "non- 
discrimination" between returnees and those who remained appears 
balanced and fair.  The returnees have access to assistance -- 
including land and housing grants -- while the provincial 
government does not create economic incentives for people to flee. 
Provincial officials welcomed targeted UNHCR assistance to assist 
with resettlement as well as more general USG assistance to assist 
the province in its economic development. 
 
17. (SBU) Clearly robust international monitoring, which we plan 
to continue, helps keep local officials on the straight and 
narrow.  However, our visit underscores that there also appears to 
be a new, more positive approach to dealing with ethnic minority 
issues in Gia Lai.  In terms of access and in terms of substantive 
dialogue, our visit was the most open and productive we have had 
in the Central Highlands in memory.  While continuing to take a 
tough stand against the "Dega movement," provincial leaders do 
appear more serious about tackling the socio-economic challenges - 
- including issues of religious freedom -- that affect the ethnic 
minority community in Gia Lai.  End Comment. 
 
18. (SBU) Begin Draft Monitoring Report on Visit: 
 
The Government of Vietnam and the Province of Gia Lai facilitated 
the travel of a joint Embassy Hanoi/Consulate General Ho Chi Minh 
City team on September 7-8 to Ia Grai and Chu Se Districts in Gia 
Lai Province to meet with 18 ethnic Jarai returnees (including a 
mother who spoke for her minor son).  Although a number of these 
returnees had come back to Vietnam voluntarily, the majority had 
been forced to return to Vietnam in July after being denied 
refugee status by UNHCR in Cambodia.  The U.S. Government team 
also met with provincial- and district-level officials to discuss 
their policies regarding returnees and broader issues related to 
the treatment of ethnic minorities.  In working with the 
Government of Vietnam to arrange this visit, the U.S. Government 
team sought to interview individuals who had not previously met 
with UNHCR representatives conducting monitoring visits. 
 
In each interview, conducted with the assistance of Vietnamese and 
Jarai interpreters, the U.S. Government team sought to ascertain 
the conditions faced by these 18 individuals after their return to 
Vietnam.  The team also questioned the returnees about any 
Vietnamese Government assistance provided to them to help with 
reintegration into their communities. 
 
Based on the U.S. Government team's interviews and observations, 
there were no indications that the 18 individuals had been 
mistreated in any way by Vietnamese Government officials or other 
Vietnamese citizens following their return to Vietnam.  Although a 
number of these returnees did not hesitate to raise various 
grievances related to GVN policies, none indicated that they felt 
they had been mistreated or discriminated against since returning. 
While a number of them had been called on by local police other 
officials after their return, there was no indication that these 
were threatening or otherwise harmful visits.  All the returnees 
appeared in good physical condition. 
 
More than half of the interviewed returnees reported that they had 
received rice, gasoline, salt, kerosene or other essential goods 
after returning.  It appears that this assistance was part of a 
larger program for ethnic minorities in the area and not 
specifically targeted to assist the returnees' reintegration. 
 
End Draft Monitoring Report on Visit. 
 
WINNICK