Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07HOCHIMINHCITY155
2007-02-14 04:13:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Ho Chi Minh City
Cable title:  

CONDITIONS IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS: DEBRIEFING NEW VISAS-93

Tags:  PHUM PREL CVIS KWMN TIP ELAB SMIG SOCI TW VM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6724
PP RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0155/01 0450413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140413Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2124
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 1514
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2289
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000155 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL CVIS KWMN TIP ELAB SMIG SOCI TW VM
SUBJECT: CONDITIONS IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS: DEBRIEFING NEW VISAS-93
APPLICANTS

REF: A. 06 HCMC 395; B) 06 HCMC 29; C) 05 HCMC 1217 AND


B. PREVIOUS

HO CHI MIN 00000155 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000155

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL CVIS KWMN TIP ELAB SMIG SOCI TW VM
SUBJECT: CONDITIONS IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS: DEBRIEFING NEW VISAS-93
APPLICANTS

REF: A. 06 HCMC 395; B) 06 HCMC 29; C) 05 HCMC 1217 AND


B. PREVIOUS

HO CHI MIN 00000155 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary: In early February, ConGen conducted
private interviews in HCMC with six VISAS-93 (family
reunification) ethnic minority applicant families from the
Central Highlands. The results are consistent with
previous rounds of interviews and show improvement in
overall conditions for ethnic minorities, including
religious freedom. None of the families reported any
harassment, abuse or threats from officials. We continue
to note contradictions between claims the anchors made
during their asylum-seeking process and the statements
their families made in HCMC. Over eighty percent of
eligible Visas-93 cases to date have received passports.
End Summary.


2. (SBU) On February 5 and 8, we met in private with six
Visas-93 applicants and their families in HCMC. The
petitioning husbands fled to Cambodia because of religious
persecution or for fear of arrest following their
participation in protests in the Central Highlands in 2001
and 2004. All six families -- five ethnic Jarai and one
ethnic Bahnar -- are from Gia Lai province. All are
Protestant.

Demographics and Living Standards
--------------


3. (SBU) All six families said their villages and homes
had electricity. None of the families had indoor plumbing
and all obtained water from a village well. In contrast to
the mothers, who had limited or no schooling and were
illiterate, all children of eligible age attended school.
A few of the adult siblings reported dropping out of school
by the sixth grade.


4. (SBU) All of the applicants are farmers. None of the
families are aware of their anchor's job in the United
States. Four of the families said they receive supplemental
income from their anchors in the United States on a regular
basis. Two other families said they received only one or

two remittance payments from their anchors. Three families
said money was sent via an ethnic Vietnamese middleman; two
families received funds through bank wire transfer. One
applicant was unable to explain how she received money from
the anchor. For those that received regular assistance,
remittances ranged from USD 250 to 300 every two or three
months. The other two families were sent approximately USD
250 total. None of the families reported interference from
GVN authorities in receiving their money.


5. (SBU) All the applicants reported that the majority of
residents in their villages are of the same ethnicity,
including local police and government officials. Five of
the six families said there was no overt police presence in
their villages. One applicant noted that the police
deployed six or seven officers in her village. However,
none of the families complained of police interference,
harassment or heavy-handed control tactics.

No Apparent Discrimination in Government Assistance
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) None of the Visas-93 applicants said they
received government assistance, but noted that Government
aid was distributed only to those in need. For example,
one applicant said that only the poorest families in her
village received government support. She considers her
family as having an "average" income by village standards
and does not expect support.

No Reported Police Harassment
--------------


7. (SBU) The applicants reported no arrests, physical
abuse, or threats of either from local authorities after
their anchors left Vietnam. The families were visited by
local police two to three times in the weeks following
their anchor's departure. In these interviews, police
asked where the anchors were, why they had left Vietnam,
and if the families had received funds from the United
States.


8. (SBU) Only one of the six wives interviewed -- an ethnic
Jarai -- alleged police abuse prior to her husband's
flight. However, her story is contradictory. During the
adjudication interview with the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) officer, the woman claimed
that her husband was "beaten in the woods" following a
demonstration. He reportedly fled because of fear of

HO CHI MIN 00000155 002.2 OF 002


arrest. During the USCIS interview she denied any
connection to the ethnic separatist "Dega" movement.
However, during the informational interview with HRS staff
and PolOff the previous day, the applicant said that her
husband had never been beaten, but that he feared arrest.
She said that the family was affiliated with the "Dega
Protestant Church" and that her husband fled because he
feared "being called" to participate in a demonstration.
(According to the husband's asylum interview notes, the
husband claimed to be the village Dega movement organizer.
The husband claimed that he was summoned to police for
interrogation one several occasions and beaten at least
once.) The wife told us that she spoke with her husband by
phone prior to each interview us with.


9. (SBU) Four other families stated that their anchors had
participated in anti-GVN demonstrations, but were not
affiliated with any separatist movement and had never been
arrested. One applicant did not know why her husband left
Vietnam, but said he was never beaten or arrested. HRS
adjudication records indicate that one anchor from this
cohort claimed to have been a member of the ethnic minority
guerilla group "FULRO", from 1980-1994, as well as a
current member of the Dega movement. His wife reported
that she had never heard of the terms FULRO or Dega and did
not think her husband was a member. (FULRO was disbanded
in 1992.) The HRS adjudication notes show that another
anchor from this group claimed to be a member of the Dega
movement and a supporter of Kok Ksor, President of the
South Carolina-based Montagnard Foundation. His wife also
reported that she had never heard of the Dega movement or
knew of his support for Kok Ksor.

Religious Freedom
--------------


10. (SBU) Five of the six families said that conditions
for religious freedom had improved markedly in their
respective villages in since 2003. Villagers now are able
to gather and worship without incident. Two of the
families said that their Protestant house churches are
registered with the GVN. They did not know the name of the
particular Protestant organization to which their house
churches were affiliated. The one applicant who claimed a
heavy police presence in her village said that religious
gatherings were still banned and that she must worship at
home. Asked about other Protestants in the village, she
said that she "did not know" if they were able to gather or
not.

Passports and Documentation
--------------


11. (SBU) Five of the families either had received
passports or had recently applied for passports. There were
no reported problems with local and provincial officials in
obtaining passports or other civil documentation. None
were asked to pay bribes. One of the six families told us
that they sought explicit police permission to travel to
HCMC. All families paid normal application fees of
approximately USD 2 to 3 USD per document.

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


12. (SBU) The results of these six interviews reinforce
earlier reftel observations that the vast majority of
VISAS-93 applicants are not facing harassment by the GVN.
This information indicates that conditions for ethnic
minorities in the Central Highlands, particularly for
religious freedom, continue to improve gradually. It also
supports other reporting that the GVN security efforts are
driven primarily by a fear of ethnic minority separatism.
As in previous rounds of interviewing, there were
inconsistencies between the statements given by the
petitioner during the asylum-seeking process and family
interviews in HCMC. We cannot completely rule out the
possibility that the HCMC interviewees are withholding
information out of fear of local government retaliation in
the Central Highlands. However, the anomalies also raise
the possibility that some applicants may have exaggerated
their role in the unrest or the level of oppression they
faced for the purpose of immigrating to the United States.
Overall progress in resolving VISAS-93 cases is steady. To
date, 191 families, over 80 percent of eligible cases, have
received passports. End Comment.
WINNICK