US embassy cable - 05HOCHIMINHCITY1217

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 001217 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SOCI, PHUM, PREF, KIRF, VM, ETMIN 
SUBJECT: RESULTS OF NEW INTERVIEWS WITH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS VISAS-93 
APPLICANTS 
 
REF: HCMC 1045 
 
1.  (SBU)  HCMC's Refugee Resettlement Section (RRS) continues 
to conduct VISAS-93 family reunification interviews for Central 
Highlands ethnic minority individuals.  As in August and 
September, when 124 cases were interviewed (reftel), ConGen 
staff had unfettered access to nine more ethnic minority 
families in mid-November.  In the latest round of interviews, 
five families came from Gia Lai, two from Kontum and two from 
Dak Lak provinces.  This was the second trip to HCMC for each of 
these families; non-Vietnamese RRS staff conducted pre-screening 
interviews prior to this round of interviews with a United 
States Citizenship and Immigration Services Officer. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Police harassment after their husbands' departure was 
a problem for about half the new batch of applicants.  One was 
questioned on the money her husband sent her from the U.S., but 
ultimately always received the money in full.  Three others, two 
from Gia Lai and one from Dak Lak, reported monthly questioning 
from the police about their husbands' whereabouts, but all 
stated that questioning had stopped by the beginning of 2005. 
Another applicant from Dak Lak reported that police accused her 
of collaboration with ethnic minority separatists.  She was 
arrested for 23 days when she tried to flee to Cambodia in 2004. 
 She was detained again for five days in 2005 for "attempting to 
leave."  Police nonetheless authorized her to travel to HCMC 
twice for her VISAS-93 interviews, albeit with instructions not 
to discuss sensitive issues with ConGen staff.  Four applicants 
reported that they were questioned briefly immediately after 
their husbands' departure.  None of the applicants reported any 
physical harassment during police questioning or detention. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Police treatment of the applicants mirrored the 
treatment of their husbands prior to their flight to Cambodia. 
Those applicants whose husbands reportedly fled to avoid police 
interest because of suspected participation in separatist groups 
or in anti-GVN demonstrations tended to receive greater police 
scrutiny or harassment. Those applicants who stated that their 
husbands had no problems with police prior to departure tended 
to have fewer or no problems with police after their husbands' 
flight. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Applicants other than from Dak Lak province did not 
have problems getting documents needed for their VISAS-93 
interview.  One applicant from Dak Lak stated that bribes of 
around 20 USD were required; the other applicant from Dak Lak 
reported that she had to pay a fee of 1 USD for "expedited 
paperwork processing." 
 
5.  (SBU)  The applicants from provinces other than Dak Lak also 
did not report religious freedom problems. The two applicants 
from Kontum reported that they could attend Catholic church and 
worship freely.  The parish priest had to seek local 
authorization for large gatherings, such as Christmas mass, but 
the applicants were not aware of instances when approval was 
denied.  The applicants from Gia Lai said there were no 
restrictions on their ability to attend village Protestant house 
churches and said police had never pressured them to renounce 
their faith.  However, religious freedom conditions in Dak Lak 
were more restrictive.  The applicant who was accused of ties to 
ethnic minority separatist groups said that she was pressured to 
renounce "Protestantism" immediately after her husband's 
departure.  However, the second applicant from Dak Lak, who was 
not suspected of being an ethnic minority activist, said that 
police had never pressed her to renounce her faith.  That said, 
authorities had banned religious gatherings and burned a house 
church "gathering point" in early 2004.  More recently, 
villagers have been able to gather at house churches without 
restriction. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Comment:  The latest round of interviews suppors our 
prior observations that conditions in the Central Highlands 
provinces are improving for ethnic minorities.  While Dak Lak 
has not yet issued passports to any VISA-93 applicants, the fact 
that they continue to allow applicants to travel to HCMC for 
interviews is encouraging and might signal a softening in their 
approach.  We plan to press Dak Lak provincial authorities on 
passport issuances for VISAS-93 beneficiaries during a planned 
early December visit to the Central Highlands. End Comment. 
WINNICK