RESULTS OF NEW INTERVIEWS WITH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS VISAS-93

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