MONTAGNARD RETURNEES POOR AND FRUSTRATED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HO CHI MINH CITY 000028

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR PRM/ANE, EAP/MLS, PRM/A, DRL/AWH AND DRL/IRF
BANGKOK FOR RMA AND USCIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PHUM KIRF UNHCR CB VM
SUBJECT: MONTAGNARD RETURNEES POOR AND FRUSTRATED

HO CHI MIN 00000028 001.2 OF 004



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Home visits from November 24-26 with 28
Montagnards in two of the poorest provinces in Vietnam revealed
that economic factors, particularly a desire to escape from
poverty, continue to be the main factors that drove these ethnic
minority highlanders to flee to Cambodia, with the onward goal
of reaching the United States. ConGen officers, accompanied by
provincial External Relations Office staff members and a
succession of local officials from Gia Lai and Dak Lak
provinces, spoke at length with these so-called "returnees,"
Montagnards who have come back home to the Central Highlands
after failed attempts to reach the United States via Cambodia.
Discussions focused on the returnees' socio-economic conditions,
the reasons underlying their travel to Cambodia, their religious
lives, and their interactions with local governments before and
after going to Cambodia. A gulf of understanding and outlook
between returnees and local officials was also often evident.
Compared with previous monitoring visits, our meetings with
returnees were less private, but the number of security
personnel in evidence appeared to be fewer, and the level of
local government briefing of returnees was reduced in some
cases. Although most returnees were very poor and had too
little land to support their families without outside
employment, some had clearly made the transition to cash crop
production. All recent returnees reporting having paid
smugglers to help them reach Phnom Penh; in two cases the
smugglers turned traffickers, taking advantage of their clients'
vulnerability to take all their money. END SUMMARY


2. (SBU) From November 24-26, USCG HCMC staff (DPO, HRS chief
and HRS LES) traveled through Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces,
accompanied by a variety of local officials, in order to meet
with a pre-arranged list of 28 returned Montagnards. The 28
returnees selected for monitoring included 24 who had returned
recently from Cambodia -- within weeks or months of our visit --
and who had not been monitored before, as well as four who had
returned in 2005 whom we selected for follow-up visits. Of this
list of 28, we were able to meet 26, including all the recent
returnees and two of the earlier returnees. Additionally, we
met with two other persons returned under the 2005 MOU between
Cambodia, Vietnam, and UNHCR and one pre-MOU returnee. Finally,
we met with family members of one previously monitored returnee
who was not in the area, having moved to his wife's village --
some 50 km away from his former home -- since he was last
monitored in 2006. The other returnee we were not able to meet
reportedly lives at a remote location, several hours of
additional travel over roads in bad condition at the end of the
rainy season.

The 2005 Returnees
--------------

3. (SBU) Ksor Khai is a landless agricultural laborer with less
than a year of formal education. Rahlan Hying has worked as a
rubber tapper since his return and also has a 0.2 hectare pepper
grove. Although both received some food assistance and roofing
material for their homes after returning, they exhibited little
interest in further help from the local authorities. Indeed,
both appeared to be trying to live quietly in order to avoid
attention from local authorities. Khai reported that he and his
wife each earn about $3.50 a day as laborers. Their two younger
children are in school, but their two teenagers stopped at Third
Grade and do not work. Khai seemed indifferent about education,
and his wife openly disdained it. He had little to say about
any interaction with local authorities, but expressed thanks
that we had visited. His wife, on the other hand, suggested
that we not visit again. Hying, working eleven hour days on a
rubber plantation, said he earned over $220 (roughly twice the
private sector industrial minimum wage) some months, and
combined with support from his in-laws, built a relatively large
and sturdy three room house in 2006. Both returnees told us
they had gone to Cambodia to seek better employment overseas.

What They Sought and What They Left Behind
--------------

4. (SBU) All returnees who provided clear reasons for going to
Cambodia said that they were looking for better employment and
that they were inspired by others who had reached the U.S. and
were remitting money to their families. Most referred to
poverty as the reason they wanted to send money home, but some
already had relatively prosperous and stable lives that they
wanted to improve. Individuals who returned to established
livelihoods in Vietnam had fairly clear ideas about their future
plans. They will continue working with their families
cultivating cash crops on land they already own or rent. Those
who are landless or have too little land for subsistence were
less self-assured. Many had arrived back in their villages in
October, an awkward time in the agricultural cycle. They had
nothing to harvest and were waiting until February for the next
planting season, when local governments promised to help them
with seeds.

HO CHI MIN 00000028 002.2 OF 004



Mostly Money, But Also...
--------------

5. (SBU) Four returnees spoke of non-economic reasons for
trying to get to the U.S. through Cambodia. One, Siu Chang, was
a high school graduate who lived in his father's home. His
father reported having tried to cross the border after the 2001
demonstrations in the Central Highlands, only to be caught and
jailed for several months. Chang, applying for college at that
time, said he had good test scores and hoped to become an
English teacher, but was unable to enter because his family was
blacklisted due to his father's attempt to cross the border.
Chang's father had a few hectares of land, which he began to
develop intensively upon getting out of jail, thanks to -- he
acknowledged -- considerable help from government anti-poverty
programs. Planting pepper, rice, and corn, the father became
the wealthiest farmer in the village. He said his annual income
is about $4,700, but his neighbors opined that was a very low
estimate. Earlier in 2008, he was made the Vice Chairman of the
local Farmer's Association. Chang did not provide an explicit
reason for wanting to go to America, but indicated that he still
wished to get a college education and become a teacher. He
spoke some English, and seemed despondent over his inability to
rise above his circumstances. He said that since he now had a
family, college was no longer a realistic option.


6. (SBU) Adrang Y Kat told us he went to Cambodia to escape
poverty, but also said he wanted freedom, particularly freedom
of religion. He related that he became a Protestant in 1985,
but from 1997 experienced difficulty in following his religion
because police denounced the open observation of religion and
pressured followers to abandon their beliefs. From October 2003
to October 2005, he said, he had to report all his movements to
local police and obtain a travel permit before leaving his
locality. (Note: Kat lives in La Da hamlet, Ea Drang commune,
about two or three kilometers from Ea Hleo town, site of one of
the biggest protests in 2001. End note.) He did not report
experiencing any other specific problems before he left for
Cambodia.


7. (SBU) During his repatriation, he said that provincial
police confiscated from him a Bible, an English language book,
some photographs from the UNHCR sites in Phnom Penh, and a
letter with U.S. Consulate General contact information.
According to Kat, police did not give any reason for taking the
items or say whether he would get them back. When asked, he
told us that there were no current restrictions on his
activities. Before he was repatriated on October 18, he said
that UNHCR officials had told returnees that they would have no
problems in Vietnam and that they would have freedom to practice
their religion. Without citing specific problems, Kat asked
rhetorically in the presence of the district official who
accompanied us: what kind of freedom do I have? When asked what
his greatest needs were, he said that he wanted freedom of
belief and movement, for the police not to interfere with him
and his family, and for his children to be educated according to
their ability. Kat's oldest and best-educated daughter, who
followed him to Cambodia and was also repatriated on October 18,
thanked us for our visit. After we left Kat's house, the
district official apologized for Kat's statements, explaining
that local police had not briefed Kat on what to tell us. We
have recommended that UNHCR make a follow-up visit to Kat to
speak with him under more private conditions and check whether
his belongings have been returned.


8. (SBU) We heard an entirely different kind of personal story
from a young woman of a relatively well-off family. She had
gone to Cambodia primarily to join her "husband," who had gone
to the U.S. in June 2006 as a Visas-93 beneficiary. Per Ede
custom, the young man was to live in the household of his
fiancee for three years before they became legally married.
After one year he went with his mother and siblings to join his
father in the U.S. It appears that he was still legally
unmarried when he left. Post has identified him and informed
the returnee about how she could eventually legally join her
fiance in the U.S.


9. (U) Another returnee told us that he went to Cambodia
because he was angry with his family after a drunken fight with
his brothers. He said he paid a smuggler about $180 out of his
average annual income of $3,000 from coffee and fruit to get him
to Phnom Penh. He returned to Vietnam voluntarily after less
than two months in Cambodia.

Smugglers and Traffickers
--------------

10. (SBU) All 26 of the recent returnees went to Cambodia with
the assistance of smugglers who took them across the border
between Tay Ninh and An Giang provinces in the Mekong Delta.

HO CHI MIN 00000028 003.2 OF 004


The normal fee is between $190 and $310 and includes
transportation from somewhere on the Vietnamese side of the
border to within sight of the UNHCR office in Phnom Penh. Most
returnees said their "guides" spoke Khmer and that they traveled
in small groups. The smugglers usually had the mobile phone
number of one group member. Relatives in the U.S. reportedly
helped arrange many of the trips. Two of the more prosperous
returnees separately became trafficking victims after their
guides threatened to turn them over to Vietnamese police if they
did not give up almost all of their money. One man reported
losing the equivalent of over $1,800, the other about $700. The
latter was on the management board of the local Southern
Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) congregation, but resigned
after he returned to Vietnam. His younger brother is a village
official.

...and Then the Cop Came
--------------

11. (SBU) Three returnees in one family -- the son (17 years
old),the daughter (21),and the son-in-law (25),respectively,
of a primary school teacher -- told us they went to Cambodia
"for fun." The teacher's son-in-law has a sister in the U.S.
who may have inspired their trip. They left home without
telling their mother. Three days later police informed her that
her children had gone to Cambodia.


12. (SBU) Local authorities had apparently forgotten about our
visit to the family's home and we began our interview
accompanied only by two members of the provincial ERO office who
simply observed our meetings. After a few minutes, a village
policeman arrived and introduced himself. He sat quietly until
we asked the three young returnees how much they paid their
smuggler to cross the border. After a vague answer from the
teacher's son-in-law, the policeman, almost shouting, demanded a
more exact response. With the policeman glowering at the
abashed returnees, we immediately ended that part of the
interview and skipped several possibly sensitive questions.

The Religious Dimension
--------------

13. (SBU) With some possible exceptions, the returnees appeared
to be able to practice their religions mostly as they wished.
Adrong Y Kat was the only returnee who complained specifically
about religious issues. One of the 2005 returnees described
himself as an SECV member, but added that he does not gather
with others to worship, "since thinking about religion troubles
me." He did not appear comfortable speaking with us, perhaps
because local officials were present, so we did not ask him to
explain. There were no churches in the villages we visited, so
most believers (including Adrong Y Kat) were gathering in homes
with government approval, sometimes going to a more distant
church. Most said they belonged to the Southern Evangelical
Church of Vietnam (SECV),described by some as "Pure
Protestantism." The four returnees we visited in Kia hamlet,
Nhon Hoa village, Chu Se commune, Gia Lai province said that
they were Protestant, but not SECV. The SECV had a meeting
point in the community, but their group did not, so they did not
gather. We did not ask the school teacher's children (paras 11
and 12) about their religious affiliation. Two others said they
were not religious.

The Land and Community Dimension
--------------

14. (SBU) Most villages we visited were inhabited almost
exclusively by Montagnards. The only exception was in an
irrigated rice growing area of Krong Ana district. Nine
returnees -- eight from Dak Lak -- reported that they had at
least one hectare of land. The ninth is Siu Chang, the would-be
school teacher son of the wealthiest farmer in his village.
Thirteen others have less than one hectare, some reporting as
little as 1000 square meters. Four from Gia Lai, including the
two 2005 returnees, have no land at all. All of the returnees
have electricity in their homes and the homes we saw had
televisions and DVD players.

The Monitoring Tool
--------------

15. (U) For the first time, we used a questionnaire designed by
PRM/ANE with input from HRS Chief to conduct returnee
interviews. Questions cover family background, community
composition, livelihood, why and how returnees traveled to and
from Cambodia, religious practice, treatment by the government,
assistance received, and a self-assessment of needs. Returnees
seemed to be at ease with the use of the questionnaire; most of
the questions are not overtly sensitive, but allow returnees to
provide considerable information about difficulties they may be
facing.

Comment

HO CHI MIN 00000028 004.2 OF 004


--------------

16. (SBU) These home visits permitted an intimate look at the
difficult, often suffocating world experienced by ethnic
minorities the Central Highlands as well as the complex
circumstances in which they live. We observed many Montagnards
who clearly disdain such trappings of a "modern life" as
education. On the other side of the fence, we observed local
officials who by their body language and other behaviors
demonstrated suspicion and ignorance of Montagnards and
Protestants. Blatantly patronizing attitudes by officials were
on full display. We also met some "assimilated" Montagnards
working for local government, who seemed to have adopted the
prejudiced and ill-informed -- even if well-intentioned -- local
government plans and projects for the Montagnards. While
national laws and policies theoretically support equality for
ethnic minorities and offer financial subsidies to improve their
lives, the reality on the ground can be much different, where
mutual distrust, mutual disdain, and enormous cultural
differences remain evident.


17. (SBU) In this environment, it is not difficult to
understand why these individuals tried to leave. The majority
of the returnees had no better than limited access to education
when they were of school age. Of those with better access, some
dropped out after deciding that the education offered had little
relevance to their lives. Now, as adults, they are either
disinterested in or face difficulty in trying to adapt to a way
of life driven by a cash economy, sedentary farming, and
commodity production as opposed to traditional swidden
subsistence agriculture. They exhibit a sense of frustration at
the local power structure that is largely closed to them and
that looks down on them. Nevertheless, some returnees seem to
be reintegrating fairly well into their original villages.
These individuals tend to have sober and practical outlooks that
have probably eased their adaptation to the changes sweeping the
Central Highlands. Both the frustrated and the pragmatic went
to Cambodia hoping for better prospects in the United States.
End comment.


18. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi.
FAIRFAX