Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05HANOI215
2005-01-25 10:20:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Hanoi
Cable title:  

Memorandum of Understanding Signed by UNHCR,

Tags:  PREL PHUM PREF VM CB UN HUMANR ETMIN 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000215 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV and PRM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF VM CB UN HUMANR ETMIN
SUBJECT: Memorandum of Understanding Signed by UNHCR,
Vietnam and Cambodia on Montagnards in Cambodia

Ref: A) 04 Hanoi 3341; B) 04 Hanoi 3424; C) Bangkok 477; D)

Hanoi 157

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000215

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV and PRM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF VM CB UN HUMANR ETMIN
SUBJECT: Memorandum of Understanding Signed by UNHCR,
Vietnam and Cambodia on Montagnards in Cambodia

Ref: A) 04 Hanoi 3341; B) 04 Hanoi 3424; C) Bangkok 477; D)

Hanoi 157


1. (SBU) Summary: On January 25, the UNHCR's Director of
International Protection Erika Feller briefed interested
diplomatic missions on the UNHCR-Vietnam-Cambodia tripartite
meeting and the unexpected signing by the three of a
Memorandum of Understanding on dealing with the 750
Montagnards currently in Cambodia. According to Feller, the
MOU ensures that Montagnards will have access to the
resettlement determination process, secures temporary asylum
for the group currently in Cambodia and envisages that there
will be more Montagnards in Cambodia in the future, leaving
the door open to further discussions. The MOU does not link
resettlement to repatriation nor does it require that
resettlement take place prior to repatriation. Vietnam
agreed to allow access to returnees at a "later date" and
the UNHCR committed to endeavor to obtain funds
internationally for rehabilitation projects in the region,
using its returnee visits to determine what assistance might
be necessary. The UNHCR believes that dealing with those
who refuse both resettlement and repatriation will be
difficult and will focus its energy on this group.
Furthermore, as a next step, the UNHCR believes that it must
show progress in resettling those who qualify. End Summary.


2. (SBU) UNHCR Director of International Protection Erika
Feller opened her January 25 briefing for interested
Embassies (which the Ambassador attended) by describing her
initial expectations for the talks as purely "exploratory,"
with the hope of "improving relations" between the GVN and
the UNHCR. The UNHCR also sought to pursue a "protection-
based solution" to the Montagnard problem and wanted to
discuss how to maintain temporary asylum space in Cambodia
to ensure that those who do come across the border will be
able to have their asylum claims evaluated, Feller said.


3. (SBU) However, in spite of the UNHCR's modest goals for
"exploratory talks," upon Feller's arrival, the GVN
presented her delegation a draft MOU that became the

starting point for the talks, which themselves resulted in
the MOU signed January 25 by all three sides (text in para
11). Feller described the MOU as dealing specifically with
the dilemma surrounding the 750 Montagnards in Cambodia and
"goes no further." However, all three sides agreed that
this would be a "pilot program" which, if it worked, might
offer "lessons for the future." The three sides also agreed
to meet again to take stock of progress and see whether they
should come up with a broad-based arrangement, Feller said.
The GVN delegation was led by Principal Vice Foreign
Minister Le Cong Phung and the Cambodian delegation was
headed by Secretary of State Long Visalo.


4. (SBU) According to the UNHCR, the MOU ensures that people
will have access to the resettlement determination process.
It also secures temporary asylum for the group currently in
Cambodia and envisages that there will be more border-
crossers in Cambodia in the future, a topic which could be
the subject of further discussions. On the subject of
resettlement, the MOU recognizes that resettlement is the
appropriate measure to deal with those who qualify for it.
It also does not link resettlement to repatriation nor does
it require that resettlement take place prior to
repatriation. Furthermore, the MOU recognizes the
"parameters and requirements of resettlement countries" and
does not hold the UNHCR to a specific resettlement timeline.
While the UNHCR committed to "try its best" to resettle all
those who are eligible within six months' time, the
organization will nonetheless be subject to the requirements
and demands of the resettlement countries and the
circumstances of those for whom resettlement would not be
appropriate at this time, Feller explained.


5. (SBU) For its part, the GVN agreed that those rejected
for resettlement could return to their place of origin and
that they would not be punished, prosecuted or discriminated
against in any way for their "illegal departure" from
Vietnam, Feller explained. The GVN had wanted to include
for agreement among the three parties a paragraph on the
causes (or "non-causes" of departure, such as persecution)
but, in the end, agreed to a GVN statement of clarification
on this point. Cambodia, for its own legal reasons, had
sought to exclude the reference to the Montagnards as
"illegal departees." As a result, the document refers
neturally to the Montagnards as "Vietnamese Central
Highlands ethnic minority people in Cambodia," Feller said.


6. (SBU) The subject of access to those who return to
Vietnam was the most difficult subject, Feller acknowledged.
For the UNHCR, there was to be "no agreement without access"
(which, Feller explained, is normally not part of the
UNHCR's work but absolutely necessary in this case.) The
Vietnamese side expressed continued worries about the UNHCR
and the fact that some of its staff members had "encouraged
problems." VFM Phung himself said that the UNHCR and its
staff had "incited departures" and that "there is a lack of
trust between Vietnam and the UNHCR." Vietnam's position
was thus that access would be possible at a "later date,"
but not soon after the MOU's signing. Although the
Vietnamese side was "cooperative" and seemingly "under
pressure to be forthcoming," the issue of access was
nonetheless a thorny one, and the agreed-upon language is,
"For the immediate group, at the request of the UNHCR and at
an appropriate time, the GVN and the UNHCR will consult and
cooperate on visits to the returnees." Significantly, in
conjunction with the issue of access, the UNHCR committed to
endeavor to obtain funds internationally for rehabilitation
projects in the region. The UNHCR would use its returnee
visits to determine what assistance might be necessary,
Feller explained. This "opened the door a crack" to
monitoring, a term that the UNHCR assiduously avoided during
the talks.


7. (SBU) On the issue of repatriation, the UNHCR has divided
those to be repatriated into three groups: those who will
return voluntarily, those who were rejected for resettlement
and will be repatriated and, the most difficult group, those
who refuse be resettled and refuse to be repatriated. For
the time being, there is no option of asylum in Cambodia,
and the UNHCR plans to focus its efforts on those who refuse
resettlement yet want to stay in Cambodia. According to the
agreement, these individuals now have one month to decide if
they want to be considered for refugee status or return to
Vietnam. In processing returnees, UNHCR envisioned that it
would use "tried and true" procedures developed during the
days of the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA, the precursor
of the Orderly Departure Program),including exchanging
lists of returnees with the GVN. The UNHCR would ask
returnees to fill out its "repatriation form," which had the
advantage of not requiring information about extended
families; instead, it required biodata about the returnee
and his or her intended place of return and family
composition, Feller said.


8. (SBU) The UNHCR would assume responsibility for
transporting returnees to the border, Feller continued. In
the main, the Vietnamese were "very cooperative" and gave a
number of concessions, as did the Cambodians. It seemed
that all parties were eager to move beyond the "acrimonious
period" and "de-emotionalize the issue." Now the question
is how to implement the MOU. The UNHCR believes that it is
incumbent upon it to seek movement in the resettlement half
of the ledger and attempt to meet the tentative timeframes
spelled out in the MOU. Later on, the UNHCR would assess at
what point it would make its first access request, Feller
opined.


9. (SBU) UNHCR Regional Representative for Thailand,
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam Hasim Utkan, who joined Feller,
explained how the three sides came up with the figure of 750
Montagnards and gave a breakdown as follows:

Rejected for asylum: 132
Agreed to resettle: 297
Refuse to be resettled: 111
Pending: 237

Utkan noted that this totals 777 persons. Of these, four
have already traveled to the United States and 23 were
determined to be Cambodians, leaving 750 persons.


10. (SBU) On the subject of the 13 Montagnards who returned
voluntarily -- and without the UNHCR's assistance -- last
year, Feller said that this issue was raised only in the
context of "why full access will be problematic." The
"large" GVN delegation included several Ministry of Public
Security representatives, and, on one occasion, VFM Phung
told Feller that she should understand the pressure on him
"because of the composition of his delegation." Feller
acknowledged that the most difficult problem would likely be
dealing with those who neither want resettlement nor desire
to return to Vietnam. Finally, on the subject of whether
the UNHCR will be criticized by human rights groups for
signing this agreement, Feller said that the UNHCR could
justify everything in the MOU and, while the terms used
therein may not be the usual terms, "all the issues are the
usual issues." This MOU is a "step in the right direction,"
and all sides are "better off with it than without it." "I
will defend the agreement from human rights groups that will
be critical of it," Feller concluded.


11. (SBU) Begin text of MOU

Memorandum of Understanding

Between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,
the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees on the Settlement of issues
Relating to the Vietnamese Central Highlands Ethnic Minority
People in Cambodia.

-- 1. Preamble

The Tripartite Meeting between the Government of Socialist
Republic of Vietnam (Hereinafter referred to as the
Vietnamese Government),the Royal Government of Cambodia and
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(hereinafter referred to as UNHCR) was held in Hanoi,
Vietnam on 24-25 January 2005. The three parties held
discussions to work out effective solutions to issues
relating to the Vietnamese Central Highlands ethnic minority
people who have crossed the border into Cambodia and who are
staying in temporary sites in Cambodia, with an aim to bring
these issues to an end and as a result to close the
temporary sites in Cambodia.

-- 2. Common Understandings and Principles

The Government of Vietnam stated that the Vietnamese Central
Highlands ethnic minority people cross the border without
authorization into Cambodia, not because they are oppressed,
persecuted or forced to flee.

The Parties to this MOU agreed on the need to strengthen
cooperation and coordination among them, to find a final
solution for some 750 Central Highlands ethnic minority
people currently in Cambodia's temporary sites. To achieve
that aim they agreed to expeditiously arrange resettlement
for those who wish to be resettled in third countries and to
expeditiously bring back to Vietnam people who volunteer to
be repatriated. Those who neither want to resettle in a
third country nor to return to Vietnam will have one month
following determination of their status to decide either to
go to a third country or to come back to Vietnam. If then
they do not decide, the Royal Government of Cambodia and the
UNHCR will work with the Vietnamese Government to bring them
back to Vietnam in an orderly and safe fashion and in
conformity with national and international laws. For those
ethnic minority people who arrive in Cambodia after this MOU
is signed, the Royal Government of Cambodia and UNHCR will
consider and decide whether to resettle them in third
countries or repatriate them to Vietnam.

In conformity with its humanitarian policy, the Vietnamese
Government reiterated that the returnees will not be
punished, discriminated and/or prosecuted for their illegal
departure.

For the immediate groups, at the request of UNHCR and at an
appropriate time, The Vietnamese Government and UNHCR will
consult and cooperate on visits to the returnees.

UNHCR is committed to endeavor to obtain the necessary funds
internationally for infrastructure projects in the returnee
localities. The assistance which might be necessary will be
appraised by UNHCR during its working visits to such
localities.

-- 3. The Procedures

-- 3.1 Resettlement

With regard to resettlement in third countries, the Royal
Government of Cambodia and UNHCR will quickly complete all
necessary resettlement procedures and arrangements. The
resettlement arrangement process shall be completed within
the shortest possible time frame, but not later than in 6
months, except for some individual special cases, and
bearing in mind the need to comply with the requirements of
the resettlement countries. UNHCR will keep the Royal
Government of Cambodia fully informed in this regard.

-- 3.2 Repatriation

For those to be repatriated to Vietnam (including those who
are rejected by UNHCR),readmission will take place in
accordance with an agreed procedure as follows:

- The Cambodian side, in co-operation with UNHCR, will use a
UNHCR repatriation form to provide the Vietnamese side,
through diplomatic channels, with a list of persons
returning, including full name, date of birth, together with
their photos, bio-data, residence address in Vietnam before
departure to Cambodia and family composition.

- After seven days upon receipt of the list, the Vietnamese
side will inform the Cambodian side, through diplomatic
channels, of the lists of those accepted and not accepted
(if there are any such persons).


- The time and venue of readmission will be arranged by the
Vietnamese and Cambodian sides through diplomatic channels.

- UNHCR will provide the Cambodia side with the means of
transport to transport the returnees to the venue of
readmission.

- The Vietnamese side will be responsible for transporting
the returnees from the venue of readmission to the
localities or their residence before their departure to
Cambodia.

-- 4. Final Remarks

The Cambodian delegation and the UNHCR delegation express
their gratitude and sincere appreciation to the Vietnamese
Government for the excellent arrangements made for the
meeting and the effective co-operation extended to make it a
fine success.

Done at Hanoi, on 25 January 2005 in three copies in
English.

On behalf of the Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam:
//S//
H.E. Mr. Le Cong Phung
First Deputy Minister
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia
//S//
H.E. Mr. Long Visalo
Secretary of State

SIPDIS
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation

On behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees
//S//
Mrs. Erika Elizabeth Feller
Director
Department of International Protection

End text of MOU.
MARINE