UNHCR PICKS UP MONTAGNARDS IN MONDOLKIRI

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 001806

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR RMA AND EAP/MLS
BANGKOK ALSO FOR REFUGEE COORDINATOR HONNOLD
GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF VM CB
SUBJECT: UNHCR PICKS UP MONTAGNARDS IN MONDOLKIRI

REF: PHNOM PENH 1723


1. (SBU) Following interventions from the Ambassador and
A/DCM (Reftel),UNHCR was able to mount a joint expedition
with representatives of MFA and MOI to the northeastern
province of Mondolkiri to rescue 13 Montagnard asylum
seekers. The September 27-30 journey was the first UNHCR
visit to Mondolkiri since December 2004. UNHCR Phnom Penh
Director Thamrongsak Meechubot told us that comments to the
press by the NGO Adhoc's provincial coordinator that five
other Montagnards in the province were arrested and sent back
to Vietnam were purely speculation. Thamrongsak noted that
the NGOs often exaggerate the number of Montagnards waiting
to be taken out of the jungle and said the NGOs seldom know
exactly how many asylum seekers are involved.


2. (SBU) Thamrongsak said that most Montagnards who travel
through Mondolkiri originate in Dak Lak and Dak Nong
provinces of Vietnam and most of those who arrive directly at
the UNHCR office in Phnom Penh travel through Mondolkiri.
The recent pattern, he said, was for relatives in the U.S. to
send funds to the Montagnards in Vietnam, who then hire
guides to escort them from their home province to Phnom Penh.
After arriving in Phnom Penh, they were turned over to the
NGOs Human Rights Watch (HRW) or Jesuit Refugee Service
(JRS),which then escorted them to UNHCR's office.
Thamrongsak reported that in 2006 direct arrivals to Phnom
Penh (91) have nearly equaled the number of those rescued in
northeastern Cambodia (117). The Montagnard population in
UNHCR's Phnom Penh sites as of October 2 is 285.

3, (SBU) Thamrongsak commented that he did not expect future
problems in obtaining access to Montagnards who arrive in
Mondolkiri, although he said that he believed the Cambodian
authorities were not happy with the prospect of another
gateway into Cambodia opening to Montagnards. The
Cambodians, he commented, would like to restrict the entry
points to the degree possible.


4. (SBU) There was no pressure currently from the Cambodian
government (RGC) to expedite the processing of Montagnards,
Thamrongsak said. As long as there was a steady flow to
resettlement countries and the influx did not surge, he
believed the RGC would remain relaxed. Thamrongsak observed
that the Vietnamese government (GVN) did not appear to be
pressuring the Cambodians on this issue. (Comment: This
view is not necessarily held by some of his fellow UNHCR
staff members as well as sources within the MOI. End
Comment.) Thamrongsak said that the Vietnamese
representative at the recent tripartite talks told him that
the Vietnamese trusted UNHCR (a distinct departure from
earlier Vietnamese attitudes). In Thamrongsak's view UNHCR
has gained Vietnamese trust because it has become more open
in its operations and was more engaged with Vietnam through
its Hanoi office. He also suggested that there was a
generational change going on among Vietnamese officials in
the GVN's MFA.
CAMPBELL