CENTRAL HIGHLANDS SCENE SETTER FOR VISIT OF PRM ASSISTANT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HO CHI MINH CITY 000081

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR ASSISTANT SECRETARY SAUERBREY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OVIP PHUM PREF PGOV SOCI PREL KIRF VM
SUBJECT: CENTRAL HIGHLANDS SCENE SETTER FOR VISIT OF PRM ASSISTANT
SECRETARY SAUERBREY

SIPDIS

HO CHI MIN 00000081 001.2 OF 004



1. (SBU) HCMC looks forward to welcoming you and your team
to southern Vietnam and the Central Highlands.
Humanitarian Resettlement Section (HRS) Chief Tim Swanson
will present you with a comprehensive picture of HRS
activities here, including the bilateral Humanitarian
Resettlement process, VISAS-93 family reunification cases,
Priority One visa cases and Amerasians. We hope to use
your lunch with our Vietnamese counterparts in the
Humanitarian Resettlement process to strengthen further a
good cooperative relationship.


2. (SBU) To set the stage for your visit to the Central
Highlands, this message provides background and information
on conditions for ethnic minorities in the region. This
analysis is based on a dozen visits to the area by ConGen
staff over the past two years, meetings with returnees from
Cambodia, discussions with contacts based in the Central
Highlands and hundreds of interviews with ethnic minority
VISAS-93 beneficiaries conducted in private in HCMC.

Who are the Montagnards?
--------------

3. (SBU) The term Montagnard (mountain people) is a
carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In
its broadest sense, the term refers to the 51 ethnic
minority groups living in and along Vietnam's mountain
backbone running from central Vietnam to the border with
China. The term is thus shorthand for ethnic minorities in
Vietnam. The hill tribes from Vietnam's five Central
Highlands provinces (Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Kontum and
Lam Dong) are ethnically distinct from the Hmong and other
hill tribes from northern Vietnam. Few, if any, ethnic
minority individuals in Vietnam describe themselves as
Montagnards.

4. (SBU) Before 1975 the population of the Central
Highlands was between 1 and 1.5 million, and was at least
70 percent ethnic minority. Since 1975, the population has
grown to roughly 4.7 million, of whom about 1.3 to 1.5
million are indigenous ethnic minority groups. Of these,
up to 475,000 are Protestant and 200,000 are Roman
Catholic, significant increases from 1975. Of the
approximately 30 ethnic minority communities in the Central
Highlands, the main groups are the Jarai (318,000),Ede
(270,000),Bahnar (175,000),Sedang (127,000),Koho
(129,000),Mnong (93,000),and Stieng (67,000).

5. (SBU) The change in demographics in the Central
Highlands since 1975 was the result of a heavy migration of
ethnic Kinh Vietnamese from the poor and densely populated
rural areas in northern Vietnam and the Mekong Delta. In
recent years, ethnic minority groups from the Northwest
Highlands, such as the Hmong, the Sanchi and the Tay have
moved to the Central Highlands for economic and religious
freedom reasons. This influx of outsiders, coupled with
GVN efforts to develop cash-crop agriculture, accelerated
displacement of indigenous groups from their traditional
lands and undermined their traditional semi-nomadic, slash
and burn agricultural system. Poorly educated, the local
minorities were unable to compete with migrants.
Frustrations, principally over land and poverty, helped
spark region-wide protests against the government in 2001
and 2004. In the wake of these disturbances, the GVN
severely limited in-migration to the area and banned the
transfer of land rights from ethnic minorities to Kinh
Vietnamese.

What is the Dega Movement?
--------------


6. (SBU) The Central Highlands traditionally have been
difficult to govern; local indigenous peoples have long
held national aspirations. Ethnic minorities clashed with
the Republic of Vietnam in the 1950's and early 1960's as a
result of conscription into the military and programs to
encourage ethnic Vietnamese migration. Some ethnic
minority leaders joined the ranks of the Viet Cong, while
others launched an armed and political movement for an
independent ethnic minority -- Dega -- state. The United
Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races, known as FULRO
(by its French initials) was the military arm of the Dega
separatist movement. After the war, FULRO continued its
anti-GVN guerilla activities until 1992. Former FULRO
leader Kok Ksor heads the "Montagnard Foundation," a South
Carolina-based NGO that calls itself the "true voice of the
Montagnard people."


7. (SBU) Although FULRO's armed resistance never threatened
Vietnamese control of the Central Highlands, the resistance

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complicated reconstruction and helped cement distrust and
suspicion by Communist leaders towards the ethnic minority
communities that dominated FULRO, principally the Ede and
Jarai. Despite the end of the FULRO insurgency, the idea
of ethnic minority, "Dega" nationalism continues to
resonate among some in the ethnic Ede, Jarai and Mnong
communities in the Central Highlands. Meanwhile, Vietnam's
development efforts have resulted in some progress on the
economic front. Compared to other ethnic minority groups
elsewhere in Vietnam, the ethnic communities in the Central
Highlands are more prosperous and appear to receive more
government assistance. For example, many Visas-93
beneficiaries tell us that their villages are connected to
the power grid, have potable water and see some government
efforts to develop their villages. Beyond promoting the
general goal of improving the economy, these efforts also
serve to weaken support for separatists.

Impact of the Dega Movement
--------------


8. (SBU) Our contacts in the Central Highlands support GVN
claims that Kok Ksor and other Dega leaders continue to
agitate for the creation of an independent ethnic minority
state. The Dega movement played at least some role in
organizing and fomenting the 2001 and 2004 protests in the
Central Highlands, taking advantage of ethnic minority
feelings of disenfranchisement and dislocation. The Dega
movement also reportedly helps facilitate the cross-border
movement of ethnic minorities to Cambodia.


9. (SBU) As part of this strategy, the Dega movement sought
to create a "Dega Protestant Church," to reach a large
number of ethnic minority members and to create another
avenue to promote the idea of ethnic minority exclusivity.
The presence of Dega nationalists in Protestant religious
organizations in the Central Highlands -- including the
GVN-recognized Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam --
has complicated and slowed the process of registration and
recognition of churches and congregations. Over the past
two years, however, Protestant religious organizations
operating in the Central Highlands that do not have a
nationalist/separatist overlay have been given far more
leeway to operate. The province of Gia Lai has been a
pace-setter in this regard.

Security Conditions in the Central Highlands
--------------


10. (SBU) Security conditions in the Central Highlands tend
to be tighter than other areas in HCMC's consular district,
principally in response to security concerns over
separatism. The government also has tightened considerably
controls along the border to try and stem illegal cross-
border migration to Cambodia. We have documented some
incidents of abuse as well as the arrests of cross border
"facilitators" and those the government suspects are part
of the Dega movement. However, we have seen no evidence to
support allegations of systematic oppression of Central
Highlands ethnic minority communities.

Cross-Border Migration to Cambodia
--------------


11. (SBU) Our interviews with returnees from Cambodia and
our private meetings with Visas-93 beneficiaries indicate
that lack of land and the search for economic opportunity
are the most important factors driving cross border
migration to Cambodia. Our Visas-93 beneficiary interviews
also appear to show that some ethnic minority individuals
in Cambodia have exaggerated or distorted their
circumstances in Vietnam to make the best possible case for
refugee status. The demographics of the border crossers
also highlight economics as a driver of migration: many
migrants are young, male, single and uneducated; they have
little or no land; and, their economic future in Vietnam is
marginal at best. With a handful of exceptions, all the
cross-border migrants were born after the Vietnam War. In
only a few instances did the families of these migrants
serve alongside U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.

Treatment of Returnees and Visas-93 Beneficiaries
-------------- --------------


12. (SBU) Numerous interviews with returnees from Cambodia
-- including some in private -- indicate that local
authorities in the Central Highlands are abiding by

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Vietnam's commitment under the UNHCR Tripartite Agreement
to reintegrate peacefully returnees into their communities,
so long as the returnees do not violate Vietnamese law.
Local authorities appear to be under instruction to
tolerate a higher level of "misbehavior" on the part of
returnees than they would under other circumstances.
Voluntary and involuntary returnees are treated equally.
With the exception of isolated cases in Kontum Province, we
have not confirmed any cases of abuse of returnees. One
returnee in Gia Lai was arrested in September 2005 for
attempting to organize a new cross border flight to
Cambodia. He was sentenced to four years in prison. UNHCR
was able to visit him in prison during a visit to Gia Lai.


13. (SBU) We have seen no evidence to support allegations
that the authorities in the Central Highlands are
retaliating against the families of Visas-93 petitioners.
The few cases of detentions or harassment of Visas-93
beneficiaries appear to have been in response to actions by
those beneficiaries themselves. These include attempting
to follow the spouse to Cambodia or providing clandestine
support for family members sought by police. Over 70
percent of our current Visas-93 caseload has been
interviewed and processed in HCMC, with over half having
already departed for the United States. There are
indications that some beneficiary families do not wish to
leave the Central Highlands. As with issues of religious
freedom, Gia Lai Province has been most proactive in
facilitating the Visas-93 process.


14. (SBU) For the foreseeable future, there will be some
who will take the risk of traveling to Cambodia in hopes of
finding a door to a better life. Even if more are sent
back, the lure of a possible ticket to America or Europe
will remain very tempting. Small numbers of those who are
returned (voluntarily or not) will find it very difficult
to reintegrate into their home villages. Embassy believes
that such individuals may be legitimate candidates for the
Mission's P-1 program or some other future in-country
program.

Building a Stable Future for Ethnic Minorities
-------------- -


15. (SBU) Vietnam's international integration and USG
engagement -- in Hanoi and in the Central Highlands -- has
led to improved conditions for ethnic minorities in the
Central Highlands over the past few years. Particularly
after the 2004 protests, the GVN intensified its efforts to
deal with complicated ethnic minority issues and has worked
positively to give more space to ethnic minority
Protestants. We are taking our first steps to assist the
GVN in its efforts to integrate its ethnic minority
communities -- and to prod the government to expand access
to the Central Highlands -- by providing two million
dollars to support NGO projects focusing on education and
agricultural development.


16. (SBU) Development assistance administered directly by
NGOs on site is critical to carving out a better future for
the ethnic minorities. The GVN has a plethora of programs
targeted at minorities. "Hard infrastructure," such as
roads and electrification, appear relatively well-
administered. The GVN seems to have less success is in
developing "soft infrastructure," such as education, micro-
credit and agricultural extension.


17. (SBU) Closing the education gap between the local
ethnic minorities and their Vietnamese counterparts is the
key to long-term stability in the Central Highlands and
reduced cross-border flight to Cambodia. The vast majority
of ethnic minority members whom we have met spoke only
limited Vietnamese at best and were not competitive for
anything but the most basic (and worst paid) factory and
plantation jobs. In contrast, ethnic Vietnamese migrants
have better educational skills. In agriculture few
minorities engage in cash crop production. Most are
subsistence farmers and provide labor for state-owned
plantations and their Kinh neighbors. This creates a
vicious cycle in which the ethnic Vietnamese, out-earning
the minorities, use their profits to buy land from them.
Over the long-term, this phenomenon exacerbates the ethnic
minority sense of dispossession.

18. (SBU) International aid and advocacy on behalf of the
ethnic minorities is important to moderate the worst
tendencies of Vietnamese security forces and to achieve
continued progress in the Central Highlands. However,

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groups in the United States or elsewhere that continue to
challenge Vietnam's sovereignty over the Central Highlands
or encourage cross-border flight to Cambodia, are putting
ethnic minority communities in the Central Highlands at
great risk. Such activities also undermine the willingness
of provincial leaders to open up the Central Highlands.
WINNICK