UNHCR MONITORING VISIT TO CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002397

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS and PRM/ANE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PREF VM CB
SUBJECT: UNHCR MONITORING VISIT TO CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

Ref: A) Hanoi 992; B) Phnom Penh 1608

HANOI 00002397 001.2 OF 002


Summary
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1. (SBU) UNHCR recently completed its 13th monitoring mission to the
Central Highlands and reported nothing out of the ordinary in terms
of the well-being of the interviewed returnees. Significantly, the
UNHCR team was able to meet with a returnee who had been tried and
convicted of human smuggling. The team also learned about - and
received a pledge from local authorities to be able to meet with -
another ethnic minority who had been recently arrested. Local
officials welcomed the USG-funded construction of a school and are
seeking additional such micro-projects. The UNHCR team visited this
school and reported that it is up and running, with the district in
which it is located funding the construction of additional
classrooms. UNHCR has received agreement from the Cambodian
authorities to conduct a joint mission to Cambodia's Mondolkiri
Province to look for Vietnamese ethnic minorities who reportedly
remain in the jungle there. End Summary.

UNHCR Has Met with 70 Percent of Returnees
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2. (SBU) On September 18, UNHCR representatives Giuseppe di
Vincentis and Vu Anh Son reported to diplomatic representatives on
their recent five-day trip to the Central Highlands. This was the
first UNHCR visit since Assistant High Commissioner Erika Feller's
April trip (Ref A) to Vietnam (and UNHCR's 13th overall monitoring
visit to the Central Highlands). The UNHCR team visited Chu Se, Ia
Grai and Duc Co districts in Gia Lai Province and Sa Thay District
in Kon Tum Province, and met with a number of returnees in both
provinces. The meetings took place in private, i.e., without local
officials present, and "nothing controversial" emerged from the
discussions. The returnees in general appeared to be with their
families and reintegrating well into their communities. To date,
UNHCR has met at least once with 70 percent of the total of 196
volunteer returnees and deportees.

Access to Detained Returnee a "Positive Step"
--------------


3. (SBU) In Gia Lai, the UNHCR team met with Ksor Cuen (MTN-352),
who was arrested in September 2005 and recently sentenced to 4.5
years in prison for people smuggling. He is currently in a
detention center in Pleiku, where he awaits transfer to a prison
elsewhere in the province. He appeared in good shape and admitted
to the UNHCR representatives that he received USD 50/person to
smuggle ethnic minorities to Cambodia. He had no complaints to
report and had been able to meet with family members, di Vincentis
said.


4. (SBU) During a separate meeting with Chu Se district officials,
the UNHCR representatives learned of another arrested returnee:
Kpuih Thu (MTN-276),who was detained on June 11 and is being
charged with people smuggling and "trying to mobilize Dega
separatists" in the district. The local authorities pledged to
allow UNHCR access to this individual (assuming he is indeed found
guilty and sentenced). Di Vincentis described the access to Cuen
and the promise to have access to Thu as "very positive steps" and
"significant gestures" on the part of the Vietnamese authorities

Local Official Welcomes USG-funded Micro-Project
-------------- ---


5. (SBU) The Chu Se District People's Committee Chairman described
for the UNHCR team the economic difficulties facing local ethnic
minorities and said that these are the primary factors leading
individuals to cross into Cambodia for what they think will be a
better life. Education is another key concern, with most ethnic
minorities only receiving education up to grade five. The chairman
expressed his hope that, by 2008, the level of compulsory education
will be raised to grade eight. The district chairman described the
USG-funded school in his district as "very welcome" and expressed
his hope for additional projects. Gia Lai Province's People's
Committee Chairman also endorsed the micro-projects and said he
would welcome "more foreign assistance." (Note: The EU is
reportedly looking at funding one or two schools in Gia Lai. End
Note.)


6. (SBU) In spite of local officials' warm embrace of the school and
additional micro-projects, di Vincentis noted that the process
leading to official approval was not an easy one. "It was difficult
to convince the authorities to allow the project to go forward," he
said. The UNHCR officials were allowed to visit the school and
reported that it is functioning, with 200 students attending two
daily sessions. The district is funding the construction of a
playground and additional classroom space, which will completed in

HANOI 00002397 002.2 OF 002


two months, di Vincentis explained.

Cambodia
--------------


7. (SBU) Turning to recent arrivals in Cambodia, di Vincentis noted
that 16 ethnic minorities from Vietnam arrived in Cambodia two weeks
ago and are now under UNHCR's care in Phnom Penh. Some 15 other
individuals also recently arrived directly in Phnom Penh, and UNHCR
requested, and the Cambodian Government agreed to, a joint mission
to Mondolkiri Province to look for an additional suspected 15-20
individuals who may still be there (Ref B). UNHCR suspects that
these individuals, and the recent direct arrivals, may be from Dak
Lak Province. If this is the case, UNHCR will seek to send a team
to Dak Lak to investigate what may be driving this new outflow of
ethnic minorities, di Vincentis said.

MARINE