VISIT TO MONTAGNARD RETURNEES: THE OLD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000791

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP A/S KELLY FROM AMBASSADOR BURGHARDT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2012
TAGS: PREF PREL CB VN ETMIN HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: VISIT TO MONTAGNARD RETURNEES: THE OLD
PROBLEMS REMAIN - LAND AND RELIGION


CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR RAYMOND F. BURGHARDT;
REASON 1.5(D)


1. (C) DURING A VISIT TO THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
MARCH 30 - APRIL 3, I MET WITH MANY WHO HAD
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RETURNED FROM REFUGEE CAMPS IN CAMBODIA, BOTH UNDER
UNHCR AUSPICES AND "SPONTANEOUSLY." AT THE TWO
VILLAGES IN GIA LAI AND KONTUM PROVINCES WHICH CG
YAMAUCHI AND I VISITED, WE ALSO TALKED WITH FAMILY
MEMBERS OF PEOPLE STILL IN CAMBODIA. ALTHOUGH GVN
MINDERS WERE PRESENT DURING MOST OF THESE
CONVERSATIONS, PEOPLE SPOKE WITH REMARKABLE
FRANKNESS OF THE GRIEVANCES WHICH HAD DRIVEN THEM
TO EXILE AND WHICH PERSIST AFTER THEIR RETURN.
THEIR GRIEVANCES ALWAYS INVOLVED TWO ISSUES: LAND
AND RELIGION. NO ONE GAVE US THE GVN LINE: THAT
THEY HAD BEEN INCITED TO LEAVE BY "BAD PEOPLE."


2. (C) THE RETURNEES, OFTEN SUPPORTED BY FRIENDS
SEATED NEARBY, TOLD US ABOUT COMMUNAL LAND FARMED
BY THEIR FOREBEARS WHICH HAD BEEN LOST TO A LARGE
DAM PROJECT IN GIA LAI PROVINCE, TO A "NEW ECONOMIC
ZONE" IN KONTUM, OR TO THE IMMENSE NEW COFFEE
PLANTATIONS BEING DEVELOPED THROUGHOUT THIS REGION.
SOME SAID THEY HAD RECEIVED NO COMPENSATION; OTHERS
TOLD OF GETTING STEEP, ROCKY LAND TO REPLACE GOOD
FIELDS. AT ONE POINT IN KONTUM, SEATED ON THE
FLOOR OF THE VILLAGE COMMUNAL HOUSE IN IA SIA WITH
SOME OF THE 15 WHOM THE UNHCR HAD REPATRIATED, AN
ETHNIC VIETNAMESE COMMUNE LEADER TRIED TO DISPUTE
ONE RETURNEE'S ACCOUNT OF HOW HIS FAMILY HAD LOST
ITS LAND. THE RETURNEE, THE MOST ARTICULATE AND
IMPASSIONED WHOM WE MET, ANGRILY RETORTED, "STOP
TELLING LIES! WE DON'T HAVE ANY LAND!"


3. (C) THE RELIGIOUS PROBLEM IS MORE COMPLICATED
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BUT STILL REAL. IN GIA LAI WE WERE ABLE TO MEET
PRIVATELY WITH A WOMAN WHO TEARFULLY TOLD US THAT
HER HUSBAND WAS A PROTESTANT "PREACHER" WHO HAD
BEEN ARRESTED FOR A WEEK AND BEATEN. HE RAN AWAY
TO CAMBODIA LAST FALL, JUST AFTER HE WAS RELEASED.
WITH VIETNAMESE REPORTERS OUTSIDE SCREAMING AT GVN
OFFICIALS TO "BREAK DOWN THE DOOR AND GET IN
THERE," THE WOMAN SAID, IN RESPONSE TO MY QUESTION,
THAT IT WAS NOT SAFE FOR HER HUSBAND TO RETURN.
OTHERS GAVE VAGUER ACCOUNTS OF PERSECUTION. IN
BOTH VILLAGES WE VISITED, PEOPLE TOLD US THAT
ALTHOUGH EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE WAS "PROTESTANT"
(MEANING PROTESTANT BUT NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE
GOVERNMENT AUTHORIZED CHURCH ORGANIZATION),THERE
WAS NO CHURCH AND PEOPLE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO GATHER
TO WORSHIP. THE VILLAGERS IN KONTUM KNEW THAT THE
DAY OF OUR VISIT WAS EASTER SUNDAY, BUT SAID THERE
WOULD BE NO SERVICE THERE. NEITHER VILLAGE HAD ANY
CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS LAST YEAR. THEY SAID THE
LAST CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION HAD BEEN "MANY YEARS
AGO." PEOPLE DID SAY THEY COULD WORSHIP IN THEIR
HOMES. WE NOTED THAT THESE PROBLEMS DO NOT APPLY
TO MONTAGNARD CATHOLICS. AT LEAST 5,000 WERE AT
THE EASTER MASS WE ATTENDED AT THE CATHEDRAL IN
KONTUM.


4. (C) THE RETURNEES CAME BACK BECAUSE THEY WERE
ILL, FOUND CONDITIONS IN THE CAMPS DIFFICULT, OR
MISSED THEIR FAMILIES. THEY DID NOT SEEM HAPPY TO
BE BACK. SOME TOLD US OF DISCRIMINATION BY VILLAGE
LEADERS. NO ONE HAD RECEIVED ANY ASSISTANCE FROM
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THE GOVERNMENT. EVEN SOME WHO WERE ILL HAD NOT
BEEN SEEN BY A NURSE OR DOCTOR. WHEN CONSUL
GENERAL YAMAUCHI VISITED SOME OF THE KONTUM
RETURNEES A MONTH EARLIER, THEY HAD SEEMED MORE
CONTENT, CERTAINLY MORE RESTRAINED IN FRONT OF
OFFICIALS. NOW WE FOUND BITTERNESS IN BOTH
VILLAGES. WE CONCLUDED THAT THE WARMTH OF RETURN
HAD WORN OFF AND NOW THESE PEOPLE WERE CONFRONTING
THE FACT THAT THE ORIGINAL CONDITIONS WHICH DROVE
THEM TO EXILE HAD NOT CHANGED. THEY HAD LOST THEIR
FEAR TO TALK. ONE RETURNEE TOLD US THAT HE DID NOT
EXPECT HIS SON TO RETURN. SEVERAL SAID THAT THEY
DID NOT EXPECT MANY MORE PEOPLE TO COME BACK. NO
ONE SAID THOSE STILL IN CAMBODIA SHOULD RETURN.


5. (C) AS WE WERE LEAVING THE VILLAGE IN KONTUM,
TWO MEN, ONE A UNHCR AND THE OTHER A "SPONTANEOUS"
RETURNEE, PRIVATELY URGED ME TO ENCOURAGE THE UNHCR
TO VISIT THE VILLAGE "SOON AND OFTEN." EACH GAVE
ME LETTERS ADDRESSED TO THE UNHCR WHICH DESCRIBED
IN GENERAL TERMS THE RETURNEES' SENSE OF
"INSECURITY" AND STRESSED THE NEED FOR CONTINUED

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CONFIDENTIAL PTQ4542

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ACTION EAP-00

INFO LOG-00 NP-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 SRPP-00 DS-00
FBIE-00 VC-00 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-00 VCE-00 M-00
NSAE-00 OIC-02 SSO-00 SS-00 ECA-00 DSCC-00 PRM-00
NFAT-00 SAS-00 /002W
-------------- 7E4919 031026Z /38
O 030950Z APR 02
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6062
INFO AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY
USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 HANOI 000791

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP A/S KELLY FROM AMBASSADOR BURGHARDT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2012
UNHCR MONITORING. I WILL GIVE THE LETTERS TO UNHCR
REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ASSADI IN BANGKOK THIS
FRIDAY.


6. (C) THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT CHAIRMEN AND VICE
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CHAIRMEN IN GIA LAI, KONTUM, AND DAKLAK HAD THEIR
EXPLANATIONS TO DISMISS MOST OF THE MONTAGNARDS'
GRIEVANCES. THE KONTUM VICE CHAIRMAN, A
REFRESHINGLY EARNEST FELLOW, ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGED
THAT THE IA SIA VILLAGERS HAD NOT YET BEEN
COMPENSATED FOR THE LAND LOST TWO YEARS EARLIER TO
THE GIA LY DAM, A DELAY WHICH HE CLEARLY FELT WAS
REGRETTABLE AND INEXCUSABLE. THIS CANDOR WAS
UNIQUE. OTHERS FLATLY DENIED ANY MONTAGNARDS HAD
LOST LAND TO DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS; SAID THE
MONTAGNARDS WERE LAZY, IGNORANT, AND TENDED TO
WHINE; OR POINTED OUT (PROBABLY CORRECTLY) THAT
THINGS ALWAYS LOOKED GRIM IN THE SPRING, WITH THE
LAST HARVEST EATEN AND THE NEXT ONE ABOUT TO BE
PLANTED.


7. (C) THE OFFICIAL RESPONSE GOT WEAKER WHEN WE
TURNED TO RELIGION. THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF VIETNAM
(CPV) ADDRESSES THE SUBJECT WITH PERFECT CIRCULAR
REASONING WHICH MAKES ANY DISCUSSION LARGELY
POINTLESS: RELIGIONS HAVE TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THE
FATHERLAND FRONT; IF A PREACHER IS NOT RECOGNIZED
BY ONE OF THE OFFICIALLY-RECOGNIZED CHURCHES, THEN
HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO PREACH; IF AN UNAUTHORIZED
PREACHER PREACHES AT A HOUSE CHURCH MEETING, THE
MEETING IS ILLEGAL, ETC., ETC. ANY QUESTION WE
HAVE NEVER GETS OUT OF THIS SELF-CONTAINED SYSTEM
OF LENINIST LOGICAL. AS I COMMENTED TO THE CHAIRMAN
OF DAKLAK, "IT SOUNDS AS IF THE PROBLEM WILL
CONTINUE."

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8. (C) THE CONCLUSIONS I DRAW FROM THIS BRIEF TRIP
ARE:

-- THERE ARE REAL PROBLEMS IN THE HIGHLANDS RELATED
TO LAND AND RELIGION. THESE PEOPLE ARE VERY
POOR -- EDUCATION LEVELS, HEALTH CONDITIONS, ETC.,
ARE LOW. THE OFFICIALS ARE UNDOUBTEDLY CORRECT
THAT CONDITIONS ARE MUCH BETTER NOW THAN THEY WERE
TWENTY YEARS AGO -- ELECTRIFICATION, SOME
EDUCATION, EVEN ADVANCED EDUCATION FOR THE LUCKY
FEW, SOME HEALTH CARE, ETC. SOME OFFICIALS SEEMED
GENUINELY TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT EQUITY FOR THE
MONTAGNARDS. BUT EVERYONE KNOWS -- EVEN GVN
OFFICIALS -- THAT PEOPLE BEGIN TO EXPRESS
DISCONTENT WHEN THEY RISE ABOVE THE LOWEST LEVEL OF
SUBSISTENCE. THOSE WHO PROTESTED TO US THE MOST
ARTICULATELY WERE PREDICTABLY THOSE WITH THE MOST
YEARS OF SCHOOLING.

-- THERE PROBABLY WILL BE NEW INCIDENTS OF
MONTAGNARDS TRYING TO FLEE TO CAMBODIA. WHETHER
THEY GET ACROSS THE BORDER WILL DEPEND ON THE
VIGILANCE OF VIETNAMESE AND CAMBODIAN BORDER
GUARDS.

-- THE UNHCR MUST VISIT THE RETURNEES, AS THE TWO
MEN TOLD ME, "SOON AND OFTEN." THEY SHOULD VISIT
THE "SPONTANEOUS" RETURNEES AS WELL AS THE 15 WHO
CAME BACK UNDER UNHCR AUSPICES AS WELL AS ANY
REPATRIATED IN THE FUTURE. NEGOTIATING UNHCR
ACCESS TO THE "SPONTANEOUS" RETURNEES WILL BE
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DIFFICULT.

-- WE CAN LEARN THINGS FROM OUR OWN VISITS TO THE
AREA, DESPITE THE EFFORTS OF GVN MINDERS. VISITING
RETURNEES ACTUALLY PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT EXCUSE FOR
A DEGREE OF ACCESS WHICH OTHERWISE MIGHT BE
IMPOSSIBLE.

-- U.S. OFFICIAL AND NGO AID ACTIVITIES IN THE
HIGHLANDS WOULD BE WELCOMED, MIGHT ALLEVIATE SOME
OF THE MONTAGNARDS MARGINALIZATION, AND WOULD WIN
THE GOODWILL NEEDED FOR CONTINUED ACCESS.
-- THE PEOPLE WE MET COMMUNICATED A GREAT DEAL
WHICH CANNOT BE TRANSCRIBED. THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO
HAVE EXCEPTIONAL SKILL AT NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION.
THEY TALK WITH THEIR EYES. THEY WERE DEEPLY
GRATEFUL THAT WE HAD VISITED.

BURGHARDT

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