VIETNAM IN-COUNTRY PRIORITY ONE REFERRAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 001493

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (MISSING TEXT)

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/25/2016
TAGS: PINR PHUM SOCI KIRF PGOV PREL VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM IN-COUNTRY PRIORITY ONE REFERRAL


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1. (C) Summary: Mission's Priority One (P-1) Referral
Committee has completed consideration of twelve possible P-
1 applicants and is referring one individual, Phan Van Ban,
to PRM for consideration. The other eleven individuals did
not have persecution claims or credible fears that are
either sufficiently recent or sufficiently credible to
warrant referrals. End Summary.


2. (C) Phan Van Ban has already been the subject of
informal discussions between the GVN and the USG. Ban is
currently serving a life sentence in Ba Sao Prison in Nam
Dinh Province, but it appears that the GVN is willing to
release him if the USG will admit him to the United States.
Ban's Amcit son submitted a P-1 referral in November. Ban
was a member of a group called Vietnam Phuc Quoc that
distributed handbills protesting how authorities treated
individuals. Ban and other members of the group (eighteen
in all) were arrested in 1985. Most members of the group
were released from prison long ago, and the group's leader,
who had also received a life sentence, was released in

2005. Ban is the only member of remaining in prison. It
appears that he is imprisoned for peacefully expressing a
political point of view. Ban has several children in
Vietnam and one son in the United States.


3. (C) Details about Ban and his wife, who currently lives
in Vietnam follow:

Name: Phan, Van Ban; DOB: 03 March 1937; POB: Nghia Binh,
Vietnam; Nationality: Vietnamese; Gender: Male;
Relationship to Principal Applicant: self

Name: Gan, Thi Huynh; DOB: 07 May 1937; POB: Nghia Binh,
Vietnam; Nationality: Vietnamese; Gender: Female;
Relationship to Principle Applicant: Wife


4. (C) Ban was a police officer in South Vietnam prior to
1975 and was in re-education long enough to qualify for the
HO program. While he did have an application under HO, he
was imprisoned and unable to appear for an interview.
Thus, he could also apply for admission as an HO under the
Humanitarian Resettlement process. His American citizen
son could also fin an I-130 petition for him. Given Ban's
now-fragile health and the different processing issues,
Mission believes that admission as a P-1 would be most
expeditious and desirable since it will probably get Ban to
the United States faster that the other two processes.

Cases not to be referred to PRM
--------------


5. (C) Boat People SOS (BPSOS) referred six adult children
of P-1 beneficiary Nguyen Lap Ma for P-1 consideration.
HRS in HCMC has been in contact with all six recently to
learn about their current situations. Five of the six
(Nguyen Lap Kien, Nguyen Thi Kim My, Nguyen, Lap An,
Nguyen, Thi Thanh, and Nguyen Thi Kim Tho) do not have any
substantial claim to harsh or discriminatory treatment
within the past 36 months, nor have they expressed fear of
such treatment. Per their accounts and information
provided by their parents at the time of their DHS
adjudication interviews, the situation of the six adult
children has improved considerably since the 1990s. For
instance, all now have national ID cards. The sixth child,
Nguyen Lap Khoi, has preached Protestantism recently and
been asked by police to stop doing so in one instance.
However, that is the extent of his problems. He has stated
that he does not fear persecution. It is possible that
Khoi's situation - or that of his siblings - could
deteriorate and could merit P-1 consideration some day, but
at present they do not have affirm claim, in the judgment
of the Mission P-1 committee.


6. (C) BPSOS also nominated Trinh Quan Huy, the son of P-1
beneficiaries Tranh Van Man and Quan Bich Nga. Huy is
working as a food and beverage manager at a five-star hotel
in Ho Chi Minh City. The nomination notes that he has been
unable to obtain a national ID card and is therefore unable
to open a bank account. Consequently, he must receive his
salary in cash. Mission does not find this sufficient to
warrant P-1 nomination. (It is Mission's understanding
that there are millions of Vietnamese who have not been
able to obtain a national ID card.) The lack of a national
ID card has not constrained Huy from obtaining above-
standard employment, and he does not appear to face any
other form of discrimination.


7. (C) BPSOS referred two Mennonite followers who had been
imprisoned, Le Thi Lien and Pham Ngoc Thac. ConGen has
investigated thoroughly Mennonite claims of torture and
abuse. In no case were we able to assess as credible
account of their claims of police beatings. Moreover,

HO CHI MIN 00001493 002.2 OF 002


their imprisonments resulted from engaging in willful
confrontations with police. Mission does not find their
claims of persecution credible.


8. (C) BPSOS referred Tran Van Hoa, a resident of Ha Long
City, for P-1 consideration. The nomination paints him as a
religious dissident and labor activist. Hanoi POL is
familiar with Hoa and his situation. The claim that Hoa is
a religious dissident has little or no basis. Hoa has been
expelled from his church for adultery. Through independent
sources, Embassy has learned that the claim that Hoa was
engaging in labor activism is greatly exaggerated at best
and an outright fabrication at worst. Mission does not
find the claim that Hoa has been persecuted to be credible.


9. (SBU) Nguyen Quac Trung Toan was the subject of an
internal nomination by the P-1 committee. Toan claimed
that he faced intense persecution for his political
activism. He claimed that he was forcibly returned to
Vietnam after fleeing to Cambodia. Further investigation
indicated that his story was not credible. UNHCR Phnom
Penh concluded that Toan's refugee claim did not have merit
and refused his case. Toan apparently then obtained a
false Cambodian passport with a false "UNHCR visa" in an
attempt to migrate to a third country. He was arrested for
fighting with a Cambodian and deported. When Toan
approached ConGen HCMC again recently he claimed that he
had been using the Internet since he was in high school and
that he was a cyber-dissident. However, Mission has found
no evidence to support his claim and finds it unlikely that
he has been using the Internet since 1993 when access in
Vietnam was limited to a very small circle of highly-
trusted entities. DHS and ICE checked informally with GVN
law enforcement authorities and learned that they had no
current interest in Toan, although he had served time for
theft. Mission does not find Toan's claims to P-1 status
credible.


10. (C) Embassy Hanoi is looking into the background of
four additional P-1 referrals and ConGen HCMC is
considering two more. Results will be reported septel.
WINNICK