CONDITIONS FACING ETHNIC MINORITY PROTESTANTS IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 HANOI 000549

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KIRF PHUM VM
SUBJECT: CONDITIONS FACING ETHNIC MINORITY PROTESTANTS IN
NORTHWEST PROVINCES OF LAO CAI, YEN BAI

REF: HANOI 392, HANOI 395

Summary and Comment
--------------


1. (SBU) An Embassy and DRL/IRF team recently visited the
Northwest provinces of Lao Cai and Yen Bai to examine social
conditions for ethnic minorities and to advocate for the
rapid registration of ethnic minority Protestant groups.
Protestant leaders from the region reported that local
officials either refused to accept applications for
registration or refused to allow groups to worship until
registered. One house church leader was reportedly forced
to renounce his faith. Poloff repeatedly stressed the
importance of registering groups for advancing both the
GVN's own policy and the bilateral relationship. For their
part, the local authorities met by the teamseem to now
recognize that the GVN has made resolving the issue of
registering Protestant groups a major policy priority.
Local and provincial officials generally denied receiving
registration applications from Protestants, but did
acknowledge the existence of these groups, an important
change. One official in Lao Cai invited Embassy officials
to visit a local ethnic minority house church at a later
date. Another official in Yen Bai announced that his
province is now ready to accept applications at any time.
Nevertheless, there is still a great deal of local prejudice
and official ambivalence to overcome.


2. (SBU) Furthermore, despite (or perhaps because of)
provincial authorities' best efforts to promote social
progress in the region, tensions between modernization and
traditional ways remain. The issues of religion and
tolerance are no exception, and addressing these will remain
challenges both inside ethnic communities and between
communities and their local administrators. End Summary and
Comment.


3. (SBU) Following U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for
International Religious Freedom Ambassador John Hanford's
meetings in Hanoi February 21 (reftels),Embassy Poloff and
DRL/IRF staffer traveled to the Northwest Highlands
provinces of Lao Cai and Yen Bai from 22-25 February. The
primary purpose of the trip was to investigate conditions
for ethnic minority religious believers in the rural
districts of these provinces, with a particular emphasis on
advocating for the registration of local Protestant house
churches affiliated with the Evangelical Church of Vietnam-
North (ECVN). The team visited Lao Cai's Sapa District and
met with the Lao Cai and Yen Bai provincial authorities.
Prior to departing from Hanoi, the team also met five ECVN
house church pastors from Dien Bien, Tuyen Quang and Lao Cai
provinces

ECVN House Church Pastors
--------------


4. (SBU) ECVN General Secretary Au Quanh Vinh arranged for
five house church pastors to travel to Hanoi to meet with
the team before departing for Lao Cai and Yen Bai. (Note:
Although none of the leaders gave us their names, the ECVN
has agreed to pass us this information as needed. The
pastors were somewhat ill-at-ease and clearly unused to
revealing their identities to outsiders. They were all
ethnic H'mong. End Note.) The two ECVN pastors from Muon
Nghe District in Dien Bien Province (a relatively new
division bordering Lai Chau and Son La provinces) noted that
local authorities have refused to accept their application
to register their congregation on the grounds that "there is
no Protestantism in Dien Bien" and therefore "any
Protestants in the province must come from other provinces
and should apply in their home regions." Because of this
strong antipathy, Dien Bien Protestants have taken to
meeting for worship in different residences and at varied
times. The Muon Nghe pastors also noted that many church
leaders have difficulty traveling to Hanoi to pick up
religious materials from the ECVN because local officials
refuse to give them permission to leave the district and
have threatened unspecified punishments if they are caught
leaving.


5. (SBU) The two pastors from Tuyen Quang Province
(bordering Yen Bai and Ha Giang provinces) noted that
Protestant groups in their area also have had difficulty
getting local officials to accept registration applications,
but in the one instance when the application was actually
received in October, the congregation was told point blank
not to meet for worship until the application was approved.
The congregation had been meeting regularly, if

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unofficially, before this instruction. Since this
application has not yet been approved, the congregation in
question is also forced to meet in secret at different times
and places. Furthermore, since their application, this
particular congregation has often been harassed by Ministry
of Public Security (MPS) officers, despite the fact that one
of the congregation's deacons is actually a member of the
local security organization in the district. Other Tuyen
Quang congregations have been called in to MPS offices to be
told that the applications they had submitted "were
useless." Church leaders who asked MPS for assistance in
submitting "useful" application materials were detained for
several days. The Protestants in these areas were also told
that only ECVN leaders in Hanoi could submit applications to
register sub-congregations in the province and such
applications had to be sent to provincial, not district,
authorities, they said. Pastor Vinh noted that the ECVN was
told by provincial authorities that only local groups could
submit applications, and then only to district level
officials.


6. (SBU) The ECVN house church pastor from Lao Cai Province
was the most uneasy leader in the group. He explained that
his 33-member congregation submitted their application to
register with local authorities on October 18, 2005.
Officials accepted their application, but told them not to
assemble until it was approved. In addition, he was called
in by the local MPS office, where he was forced to sign a
document renouncing his faith. MPS officials also told him,
"You are not allowed to follow religion....If you continue
to follow Protestantism, go somewhere else....We don't
recognize religion in this district....If you and the others
continue to assemble for worship we will arrest you all and
we will throw your application to register in the fire...."
The pastor tearfully explained that he signed the document
of renunciation because he had no choice in the face of
their threats.


7. (SBU) Pastor Vinh noted that these were common stories
reported by the 300 of the 1200 ECVN congregations in the
Northwest Highlands that have applied to register with local
authorities. The ECVN gets most of its information from
verbal updates by individual church deacons, but in general
it takes them three days of hard travel (without permission)
to get to Hanoi. In general, the main problems faced by
believers seem to come from local officials rather than
other members of the communities in which they live,
although there is some community friction, particularly in
Lao Cai. Vinh agreed to arrange similar meetings between
Northwest Highlands house church leaders and Poloff every
two to three weeks over the next six months to gauge the
effectiveness of GVN efforts to implement its policy to
facilitate Protestant registration.

Sapa District
--------------


8. (SBU) Sapa District People's Committee Chairman Hau A
Lenh reviewed Sapa's well known success in the area of
tourism before addressing ethnic and religious issues. He
noted that 53 percent of the district's residents are of
H'Mong ethnicity, and there are also significant Sa Pho,
Day, Tay, Dzao and Kinh (ethnic Vietnamese) communities.
Most ethnic minorities in the district do not speak
Vietnamese. The district maintains five ethnic villages for
tourists that represent the mixed ethnic communities of the
major groups in the area. Although the six ethnicities in
Sapa have substantially different customs, traditions and
styles of living, they are "uniting together" because of the
implementation of GVN policies aimed at reducing poverty and
hunger and building infrastructure in the more remote areas
of the country. Under these policies, nearly all hamlets
have been connected to the provincial road network and 60
percent of all of Sapa's 43,000 houses have been electrified
(with a goal of connecting all households by 2010).
Nevertheless, the Chairman acknowledged that the rising
number of tourists to the district (200,000 in 2005, with 60
percent coming from outside Vietnam) has increased the
pressure of outside influences on the traditional ways and
beliefs of ethnic minority communities.


9. (SBU) Lenh noted that the majority of ethnic minorities
in Sapa follow traditional ancestor worship customs and/or
Buddhist beliefs. However, there are a small number of
Christian followers in the district. He stated that
approximately 2,500 H'mong and Dau belong to the Catholic
Church, and there are "a few Protestants, but no formally
recognized groups." Lenh claimed that local authorities,
from the district to the provincial levels, are trying to

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create conditions for religious believers to follow their
faiths according to GVN law and regulations. There is no
discrimination against Protestants and they are treated "in
the normal way." Lenh also noted that Ambassador Marine had
on several occasions referred allegations of discrimination
against and abuse of Protestants to the Sapa People's
Committee, but officers sent to investigate by the Chairman
determined that many of these issues were the result of
intrafamilial conflicts. According to traditional beliefs,
the chief of each hamlet or family plays an important role
in ensuring that members of each family follow the customs
of society. "Wherever new religions appear, societal
conflicts follow as a matter of course." Lenh stated that
problems arising over Protestantism first appeared in the
province in 1997.


10. (SBU) Poloff noted that during Ambassador Hanford's
recent discussions with DPM Vu Khoan, Vice Minister of
Public Security Nguyen Van Huong, Committee on Religious
Affairs (CRA) Chairman Ngo Yen Thi, the GVN acknowledged
that the Northwest Highlands remains the most problematic
area of the country on religious freedom, particularly with
regard to Protestants. The GVN has also committed to
resolving the registration of Protestants in this region
before the President's visit in November. Poloff encouraged
the District Chairman to proactively resolve this issue in
his district before the central Government is forced to
ensure the district complies with national policy.


11. (SBU) Lenh replied that the district has been trying to
register Protestant groups, but that "it takes time." The
district does know enough about the specific Protestant
groups operating there, but it has received several
registration applications from some groups, and local
officials have been instructed to forward such applications
to the district. However, the district is not authorized to
grant approval as the province is the legal approving
authority. Furthermore, such applications "must come from
an organized group," and none of the applicant groups is an
"organization." Poloff reiterated the importance of this
issue for our bilateral relationship and predicted that the
GVN will make registration of Protestant groups a major
policy priority in the region over the next six months.

Sapa Catholic Church
--------------


12. (SBU) Following the People's Committee meeting, the team
visited the local parish church. The chairman of the parish
board (NFI) explained that the parish is divided into three
sub-parishes: one ethnic Kinh (Vietnamese) sub- parish and
two ethnic H'Mong sub-parishes. All 2,200 members of the
three sub-parishes are ministered to by a priest from Lao
Cai City who is only able to visit the parish once a month.
However, Hung Hoa Diocese recently ordained thirteen
deacons, and one of them has been promised to the Sapa
parish. The parish expects him to take up his benefice in
April. Poloff asked if parishioners have become involved in
charitable work in the district like in other parts of
Vietnam. This question elicited an oddly rushed series of
tangential responses, mainly asserting that no Catholics in
the district use narcotics or other evil substances or
participate in crimes, that all H'Mong are now required to
learn Vietnamese against their wishes but only because the
Church doesn't own any bibles published in H'mong though
they now have many in Vietnamese and that the district has
done a good job building roads linking believers. In the
midst of this performance, the district People's Committee
observers continuously barked instructions at the
increasingly flustered and visibly nervous parish chairman.
The meeting broke down very quickly at this point.

Ta Phin Village
--------------


13. (SBU) The team visited one of the five model ethnic
villages on the flank of Sapa Mountain. The village of Ta
Phin (or Ta Ping) is comprised of 379 households. According
to the village chairman, 264 households are Black H'mong
ethnicity and 162 are Red Dzau, and the remainder are ethnic
Kinh families. He claimed that all children in the village
have access to Vietnamese education up to grade nine, but
far more older men than older women speak Vietnamese as most
women "have no need to speak with Kinh people." While
H'Mong and Dzau are not mutually comprehensible, most
villagers understand both languages because they grew up in
such close proximity. The chairman noted that the villagers
own 500 buffaloes and grow dry-field rice during the
region's single growing season.

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14. (SBU) While visiting the village, the team observed both
a H'mong embroidery training workshop and a Red Dzau civics
training class. The locally run workshop focused on
teaching H'mong women to adapt traditional embroidery
patterns to western-style purses for sale to tourists. The
Red Dzau women were being taught the perils of alcohol and
failing to save money. Several tourists wandered about the
village negotiating with the inhabitants. (Note: No
religious activities were visible; however the villagers
clearly lead very traditional lives despite being showcased
to tourists. Education appeared rudimentary and it was not
clear who benefited from the sale of ethnic goods like the
handbags being made by the H'Mong women - the village
chairman seemed to be running the production operation. End
Note.)

Lao Cai City
--------------


15. (SBU) Lao Cai People's Committee Vice Chairwoman Bui Thi
Kim Dung noted that 64.8 percent of the Province's 600,000
people are ethnic minorities. There are 2,033 villages
outside of the major town areas in this mountainous border
province. These rural villages have been the focus of the
provincial government's efforts to share the annual 10
percent GDP growth within the province evenly amongst its
inhabitants. 65 to 70 percent of provincial investment is
focused on rural areas where most ethnic minorities live.
Some 75 percent of ethnic villages are now connected to the
inter-village road network, 75 percent are electrified (in
all, 62 percent of the province's households have
electricity) and 70 percent of the population have access to
clean water. She also noted that 6,970 households have been
resettled by the state in order to undertake these
infrastructure improvements. These and other investments in
agriculture and education have helped reduce overall number
of households living below the poverty line in the province
from 64 percent in 1991 to seven percent in 2005. A total
of 26,600 poor households have been raised out of poverty.
Bui also claimed that the poverty reduction program has
reduced unemployment in Lao Cai to 0.9 percent as the
People's Committee has added 56,000 new jobs in the last
five years.


16. (SBU) Turning to religion, Bui stated that the
provincial government has faithfully undertaken the
implementation of all the GVN's new rules concerning
religious freedom since they were promulgated in May 2005.
There are only 4,000 Buddhists in the entire province;
however, there are four major pagodas in the region that
receive numerous visitors. (Note: This seems to be a low
estimate of Buddhists in a traditionally Buddhist province
of 600,000 people. End Note.) Among Christians, there are
at least 5,700 Catholics and at least 9,000 Protestants in
Lao Cai. Most of the Protestants are found among the ethnic
H'Mong, while the Catholics are scattered across all
communities. She also said that no Protestant groups have
applied for registration (and none are registered),and
explained that the province is unhappy because these groups
appeared in response to "illegal" missionary activities.


17. (SBU) Poloff noted that in Ambassador Hanford's recent
discussions, the GVN acknowledged that the Northwest
Highlands remains the most problematic area of the country
with regards to religious freedom, particularly for
Protestants. He also noted that the GVN has committed to
resolving the registration of Protestants in this region
before the President's visit in November. Poloff encouraged
the provincial government to proactively resolve this issue
in Lao Cai before the central Government is forced to ensure
the province complies with national policy. The Vice
Chairwoman thanked Poloff for this information and advice,
but made no substantive reply.

Lao Cai Committee on Ethnicity and Religion
--------------


18. (SBU) Luong Ngoc Cap, the Deputy Director of the Lao Cai
Department of Ethnic Affairs and Religion, reiterated much
of the statistical information that Vice Chairwoman Bui
provided to the team. The province has been doing its best
to make people aware of religious laws and to try and
prevent social discrimination against believers. Each ethnic
group has its own traditions and customs which they, and the
province, guard closely. He confirmed that Sapa parish will
be allowed to have a new priest in April.


19. (SBU) Regarding Protestants, Luong stated that there is

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"only a tiny number in the Province." Protestantism was
brought to Lao Cai by individuals without legal status.
Ethnic minorities who follow Protestantism are the cause of
conflicts within their families and communities, despite the
legal framework protecting them. If missionary activity in
the province followed legal guidelines, these conflicts
would not exist. "It is fully possible to arrange for
believers to practice their beliefs in a peaceful manner,"
he said. The Province has received some applications from
Protestant groups to register and legalize their activities,
but all of these applications were incomplete and "did not
meet the criteria for approval" established by the Ordinance
on Religion, its Implementing Decree and the Prime
Minister's Instruction on Protestantism. Nevertheless, he
claimed that the provincial authorities are trying their
best to publicize and explain these new laws.


20. (SBU) Poloff reiterated that in recent discussions, the
GVN agreed that the Northwest Highlands remains the most
problematic area of the country with regard to religious
freedom, particularly in terms of registering Protestant
groups. He also reiterated that the GVN has committed to
resolving the registration of Protestants in this region
before the President's visit in November. Poloff strongly
encouraged the provincial committee on religious affairs to
proactively register Protestant congregations in Lao Cai
before the central Government is forced to ensure the
province complies with national policy. Luong replied that
Protestants in Lao Cai are already encouraged to practice
their faith at home (in unregistered house churches) and
gave the example of Ta Phin village (see paras 12 and 13),
which has such a house church. Poloff asked to return to Ta
Phin village to visit this church and its leaders. Luong
demurred, saying that it would not be appropriate to visit
them without warning, but that Lao Cai Province would be
happy to facilitate a visit to such a church the next time
Embassy officers are in the region. Poloff promised to
convey this invitation to the Ambassador and accepted it on
his behalf in advance of Ambassador Marine's next trip to
Lao Cai Province. He also noted that Ambassador Hanford
would also like to make such a visit to Lao Cai and would
enjoy visiting a registered ethnic minority house church.
(Note: Luong and other provincial officials appeared
uncomfortable with the idea that we would take Luong up on
his offer in the near future. End Note.)

Yen Bai
--------------


21. (SBU) On the way back to Hanoi, the team made a brief
stop in Yen Bai town, capital of Yen Bai Province. The
People's Committee Vice Chairwoman, Hoang Thi Hanh,
explained that 51 percent of Yen Bai's population are ethnic
minorities split between Tay, H'mong, Dzau and Muong
communities, with a handful of ten other ethnicities as
well. This mountainous province is very rugged outside of
the main town, and two of its seven districts are extremely
remote. It is much faster to travel to Hanoi from Yen Bai
town than it is to reach these districts. Like Lao Cai
Province, Yen Bai is currently focusing its attention on
reducing unemployment, poverty and hunger amongst its ethnic
minority inhabitants. While developing social programs to
aid development in education and healthcare in these
communities, and working to improve provincial
infrastructure, the province is also trying to improve
agricultural production (the main industry) by curtailing
traditional slash-and-burn techniques in favor of modern
farming methods. The provincial committee has issued
instructions to districts to train a new generation of
ethnic minority cadres to take over local administration at
the district and commune levels.


22. (SBU) Turning to religion, the Vice Chairwoman noted
that there are only a handful of Protestants (approximately
100-200) in Yen Bai Province. Most of these are ethnic
H'mong who live very close to the border with Lao Cai
Province in the two most remote districts. On the other
hand, there are over 46,000 Catholics, distributed evenly
across the province. She noted that there have been no
conflicts or problems with Protestants in the region, but
none have applied to register their congregations.


23. (SBU) Poloff reiterated that in recent discussions the
GVN agreed that the Northwest region remains the most
problematic area of the country with regard to religious
freedom, particularly in terms of registering new
congregations. He affirmed the importance of this issue for
our bilateral relationship and noted that the GVN has
committed to resolving the registration of Protestants in

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the Highlands before the President's visit in November.
Poloff encouraged the Yen Bai provincial government to
proactively register Protestant congregations before the
central Government is forced to ensure the province complies
with national policy. Hoang replied that the province is
well aware that this is an issue of great importance to the
central Government and noted that in a recent conference of
provincial officials from across Vietnam, DPM Khoan
complained strongly that local authorities have not been
implementing the new guidelines on registering Protestants.

Yen Bai Committee on Ethnicity and Religious Affairs
-------------- --------------


24. (SBU) Director Tran Duc Thang of the Department of
Religious Affairs noted that there are no major divisions
between religious groups in Yen Bai Province. He
acknowledged the presence of some Protestants, but claimed
that the provincial government does not have any accurate
statistics on their number because "we are not sure what
dogma they follow." Protestants are not clearly organized
into recognizable groups, but 62 households in the province
follow the religion. Some H'Mong followers of Protestantism
have recently converted to Catholicism or reverted to
traditional ancestral worship. Regardless of their number,
Yen Bai Province respects the Protestant's beliefs by
allowing them to worship in their homes. Thang said,
however, that no Protestant groups have applied to register
themselves.


25. (SBU) Poloff reiterated points that the Northwest region
remains the most problematic area of the country with regard
to Protestants and registration, and encouraged the Yen Bai
religious affairs authorities to proactively register
Protestant congregations before the central Government is
forced to ensure the province complies with national policy.
Thang asserted that any groups who apply now will be
welcomed and approved by the local government. Poloff
thanked Thang for this positive news and promised to inform
the ECVN that Yen Bai province will now accept applications
from their sub-congregations.

Comment
--------------


26. (SBU) Our overall impression is that the provincial and
local authorities in this middle part of the Northwest
Highlands are coming to recognize that the central
Government has made resolving the issue of registering
ethnic minority Protestant groups a major policy priority.
Unfortunately, the ECVN house church pastors' disturbing
reports underscore how much local prejudice and official
ambivalence the GVN must overcome to effect real change for
the better. Nevertheless, it is encouraging that local
officials are starting to acknowledge that Protestant
believers actually exist in their areas of responsibility.


27. (SBU) Furthermore, despite (or perhaps because of)
provincial authorities' best efforts to promote social
progress in the region, tensions between modernization and
traditional ways remain. The issues of religion and
tolerance are no exception, and addressing these will remain
challenges both inside ethnic communities and between
communities and their local administrators. End Comment.

MARINE