STATUS OF CENTRAL HIGHLANDS ETHINIC MINORITIES: DEBRIEFING

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000732 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PREF KIRF SOCI VM SUBJECT: STATUS OF CENTRAL HIGHLANDS ETHINIC MINORITIES: DEBRIEFING VISAS-93 BENEFICIARIES REF: A) HCMC 155; B) 06 HCMC 1185 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (SBU) In late May and June, we interviewed five VISAS-93 (family reunification) ethnic minority beneficiaries and their families from the Central Highlands provinces of Gia Lai and Dak Lak. The meetings were conducted in private, in the offices of post's Humanitarian Resettlement Section (HRS) in HCMC. Four families were ethnic Jarai and one was ethnic Ede. Four of the five families identified themselves as Protestant, while the fifth declared no religion. The four Protestant families indicated that religious freedom conditions had improved in the last two years. For example, a family from Duc Co District in Gia Lai province belonged to a large church that had no problem gathering for services. Another belonged to a registered house church with over 30 people gathering to worship weekly. One family from Chu Se district, Gia Lai province, stated that, in contrast, in 2004 police "only allowed us to pray at home because they are afraid we will hear bad things". Another applicant told us she has not participated in any organized religion since 2004 and worships at home with her children. ¶2. (SBU) All of the Visas-93 beneficiaries were farmers or day laborers. Four of five applicants interviewed had received no formal education. One had graduated from ninth grade. None of the families reported receiving government assistance; two stated they are not considered poor enough to receive assistance due to their husband's remittances from the United States. Remittances ranged from USD 100-200 a month in one case to USD 200 dollars per year in another. All the applicants reported having water and electricity in their homes. One applicant has a telephone and another indoor plumbing. One applicant complained that the government would not give her land to grow rice because she is Protestant. However, she acknowledged that her 5,000 square meters (1.2 acres) of coffee already makes her relatively well off in her village. ¶3. (SBU) Four of the five families reported a constant police presence in their villages but no harassment. One applicant from Gia Lai province reported that she is still forced to register at the provincial police headquarters every December and that police come to her home monthly to question her. She stated that the police are "afraid she will cause trouble" and "afraid her husband sends too much money." However, police have never seized her remittances or harassed her in any other way. In three villages the police were both ethnic Vietnamese (Kinh) and Jarai. In another village in Chu Se District in Gia Lai, the police reportedly were all ethnic Vietnamese. ¶4. (SBU) Three of the applicants reported no trouble acquiring passports; one had yet to apply. One applicant from Dha Prong village, Dak Lak Province, said that she was forced to pay a "bribe" of 1-2 million VND (62-124 USD) to receive the four passports and other civil documents for her family. (Note: the official fee is VND 200,000 (USD 12) per passport application. Birth certificates and other civil documents normally cost VND 20,000 each to process. End note.) ¶5. (SBU) A number of the statements the families gave were inconsistent with the claims their husbands had made about departing Vietnam out of fear of arrest and religious persecution. For example, one applicant told us during her prescreening interview that her husband left because he "wanted a better life for his family." However, when we spoke with her the following day, she claimed he had left because he feared he "would be arrested". Two out of the four families whose anchor in the U.S. claimed during refugee processing that they were members of the ethnic minority separatist "Dega" movement told us that they did not believe their husbands were affiliated with any anti-GVN movement or organization. One applicant admitted that her sister had instructed her to lie and to claim that she didn't speak Vietnamese so that her 16-year-old daughter could speak for her. The applicant would not state the purpose of this. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: These interviews tend to indicate that religious freedom and economic conditions for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands continue to improve gradually and incrementally. While we have no reason to doubt applicants' claims of religious harassment before 2004/5, contradictions in the statements of some applicants suggest that some of their spouses may have exaggerated the level of persecution or their involvement in anti-GVN activities in order to qualify for resettlement. End comment. SCHWENK