This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

031112Z Mar 06

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FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0506
INFO AMEMBASSY HANOI 
ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY

UNCLAS  HO CHI MINH CITY 000230 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PREF KIRF SOCI EAID VM ETMIN HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: VIETNAM CENTRAL HIGHLANDS: ETHNIC MINORITY ISSUES IN DAK 
NONG 
 
REF: HCMC 72 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  EAP/MLS Desk Officer and Poloff visited Dak 
Nong February 24-26.  Officials emphasized their commitment to 
religious freedom and economic and social development of the 
large ethnic minority community.  Leaders of the GVN-recognized 
Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) and a local house 
church said that religious freedom conditions were substantially 
better than in neighboring Dak Lak; they were cautiously 
optimistic about further, gradual improvement.  The USG team 
also met with seven ethnic minority voluntary returnees from 
Cambodia; although the returnees were coached on some of their 
responses, in private meetings they did not complain of 
mistreatment, and appeared relaxed and relatively prosperous. 
End Summary. 
 
Dak Nong Government:  We are Different from Dak Lak 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (U) Nhu Do The, Standing Vice Chairman of the Dak Nong 
People's Committee, said that the province looked for USG 
involvement and assistance to accelerate development of the 
province.  According to Nhu, the province has a per capita 
income 5.6 million VND (USD 350), with 34 percent of households 
falling under the GVN poverty line.  Of these, slightly over 
half -- 53 percent -- are ethnic Kinh.  24 percent are 
indigenous ethnic minorities and 26 percent are ethnic minority 
migrants from other parts of Vietnam, especially ethnic Hmong 
from the Northwest Highlands.  The province's annual rate of 
growth was 13 percent in 2004 and 2005, up from the nine percent 
earlier in the decade when the province was still part of 
neighboring Dak Lak.  (Dak Nong province was created in January 
2004.)  In 2005, the province earned a modest USD 85 million in 
export revenue, primarily from coffee, rubber, pepper and 
cashews.  The province had identified sizeable bauxite deposits; 
Chinese and Australian mining companies were conducting 
feasibility studies to assess the economic viability of 
recovery. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Nhu said that province was working hard to ensure that 
economic development reached the 34 percent of province's 
414,000 citizens that were ethnic minority.  The province had 
established six ethnic minority boarding schools and had begun 
to develop a vocational training school for ethnic minority 
youth; the province was interested in international assistance 
in this effort.  The province seeks to minimize tensions between 
the native ethnic minority population and new migrants by 
grouping the migrants into new villages and allocating them 
land.  The province also wanted to build an ethnic minority 
community college to reduce the subsidy cost it incurs to send 
ethnic minority students to universities elsewhere in Vietnam. 
Provincial officials noted that ethnic minority students' level 
of education is low and limits their competitiveness.  Even when 
they graduate from university, ethnic minority students have a 
hard time obtaining private sector jobs and must find employment 
in government or in state-owned enterprises; the private sector 
"only wants the best," he noted. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Both Nhu and Bui Viet Phu, Head of the Provincial 
Committee for Religious Affairs, repeatedly stated that the 
province was implementing Vietnam's legal framework on religion 
proactively.  The CRA Chairman was particularly positive about 
the impact of the new legal framework, saying it placed binding 
timelines on government officials and eliminated many previous 
legal inconsistencies. 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to the officials, the province has 83,224 
Catholics, 35,698 Protestants and 21,000 Buddhists. The province 
has allowed both the GVN-recognized Southern Evangelical Church 
of Vietnam (SECV) and unregistered house churches to operate in 
the province.   The province is working to register SECV 
"meeting points" as well as the small house church community, 
but must ensure that all activities are "purely religious." 
That vetting process is slower for recent ethnic minority 
migrants from the Northwest Highlands, in part because of the 
language barrier; few speak Vietnamese.  Many ethnic minority 
individuals are recent converts and do not have "a thorough 
understanding" of religious practice, Phu maintained.  Moreover, 
the vast majority of church workers were illiterate, limiting 
their "understanding of religion" as well as their ability to 
build a relationship with local and provincial-level government 
officials.  That said, the province allowed the SECV to organize 
a training class for 32 pastor-candidates; once these pastors 
are ordained, they can be assigned to local churches, which 
could then be recognized officially.  Since becoming a province 
in 2004, the provincial CRA has not refused a request from the 
SECV or the Catholic Church, the CRA Chairman asserted. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Chairman Phu indicated that, prior to 2003, the "Dega 
Protestant" church was a factor in the ethnic minority community 
in the province.  However, since the province created "favorable 
conditions" for the SECV to operate, the pull of the Dega Church 
has declined substantially, the CRA Chairman said. 
 
¶7. (SBU) According to the CRA Chairman, Baptist and the Assembly 
of God denominations also had house churches in the province. 
While the province is facilitating their operation, it will not 
entertain their registration. The Chairman explained that, 
according to the legal framework, the organizations' national 
representatives (based in HCMC) would have to apply for 
registration at the central-level as the groups maintained house 
churches in more than one province.  We pointed out to the 
Chairman that while his interpretation of the law appeared 
correct, other provinces, including HCMC, were in the process of 
registering house churches. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Provincial officials acknowledged that Protestantism 
was the fastest growing religion among ethnic minority groups in 
Dak Nong.  From their perspective, two factors explained the 
phenomenon:  first, social pressure from other recent converts 
in the village.  Second, ethnic minority women are driving the 
process to eliminate alcohol from their villages; traditional 
animist rites foster alcohol consumption among ethnic minority 
men. 
 
Assembly of God 
--------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Dieu Srong, Chief Pastor of the Assembly of God house 
church ushered us into the attic of his home that had been 
converted into worshiping space.  Local officials waited 
downstairs, but were listening.  The pastor told us that the AOG 
has 1500 members -- mostly ethnic minority -- in 28 house 
churches.  Conditions prior to 2004 -- when the province was 
still part of Dak Lak -- were "very difficult," including 
incidents of forced conversion.  Since the formation of Dak 
Nong, and particularly since the Prime Minster's Instruction on 
Protestantism of February 2005, harassment has decreased 
markedly.  Pressure eased further before Christmas 2005; he now 
can travel freely to cover all 28 AOG gathering points. 
Meetings with police responsible for religious affairs (section 
PA-38) are more relaxed as well. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Despite the overall improvement, the pastor indicated 
that the AOG still faces problems at the village level.  Some 
problems are triggered by friction between the converted and 
traditionalist -- animists -- in the ethnic minority community. 
However, local authorities sometimes exploit this tension to 
encourage animist village elders to oppose the spread of 
Protestantism. 
 
SECV 
---- 
 
¶11. (SBU) In a private meeting in his home, Pastor Rmah Loan, 
head of the SECV in Dak Nong, told us that the organization has 
33,048 believers, of which 11,184 are baptized.  (Loan said that 
all new converts must pass a test to demonstrate that they are 
"changed" and committed to their new faith before they can be 
baptized.)  Of the SECV's 122 meeting points in the province, 13 
are officially recognized.  Loan confirmed that the province has 
facilitated the SECV's running of a training class for 32 
pastor-candidates; those that graduate will be assigned to 
meeting points so that those churches could apply for 
recognition under Vietnam's legal framework for religion. In 
December 2005, SECV meeting points serving 8,000 ethnic Hmong 
from the Northwest Highlands were legalized.  The SECV has been 
told that meeting points serving 1,000 ethnic Dao and Sanchi 
from the Northwest also will be legalized.   For linguistic and 
cultural reasons, these groups have their own churches and 
evangelists. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Loan added that the SECV hopes to run a second 
training course for another 39 pastor-candidates in the middle 
of 2006.  The number of churches to be recognized is a source of 
friction between the SECV and the provincial government. 
According to Loan, the province wants to collapse three or four 
meeting points into one recognized church.  The SECV wants to 
independently decide how many and which meeting points should be 
recognized as churches under the legal framework. 
 
¶13. (SBU) As part of the recognition process of a meeting point, 
the SECV must hand over a list of worshipers; every month the 
SECV updates that list for local authorities.  Loan commented 
that the updates really are not needed as police have a network 
of informers in the villages and monitor the membership of the 
SECV very closely.  Looking to the future, Loan said that he 
wanted more freedom to worship, evangelize and to build churches 
-- approval of the application to build a permanent church in 
his village has been pending for two years. 
 
Visits with Returnees 
--------------------- 
 
 
¶14. (SBU) Accompanied by the district People's Committee 
Chairman, a film crew and "other" officials, the team traveled 
to Bu Bong and Bu Dap villages in Dak Rlap district to meet with 
seven voluntary, "spontaneous" ethnic minority returnees from 
Cambodia. (See Appendix A for list of returnees visited.)    We 
were allowed to meet them privately in their homes. 
 
¶15. (SBU) All the returnees were ethnic Mnong Protestants who 
said they were affiliated with the SECV.  All spoke Vietnamese. 
Many were uneducated, some finished 5th grade.  They claimed 
that they were conned into fleeing by three other villagers -- 
the ringleader was Dieu Gai -- having been told that there were 
"riches" in Cambodia and warned that they faced arrest in 
Vietnam if they stayed.  None of the returnees would say why 
they feared arrest.  The returnees said that the three 
"instigators" were resettled in a third country, perhaps the 
United States.   All the returnees called on the international 
community to close the refugee camps in Cambodia and return 
those resettled in third countries, saying that the families 
they left behind are suffering the absence of the primary 
breadwinner. 
 
¶16. (SBU) There were no claims of abuse or mistreatment. One 
returnee (Dieu Xep, MTN-757) told us that he was kept in a 
government detention center for a month after return.  He was 
questioned, but not mistreated.  Another returnee (Dieu Dang, 
MTN-768) told us that he was held for four days upon return. 
All the returnees appeared relatively prosperous and relaxed, 
especially in comparison to returnees we saw in January 2006 
visit to Kontum province.  The Dak Nong returnees claimed to 
have between 4 to 10 hectares (roughly 10 to 25 acres) of land 
on which they grew coffee, rubber, cassava and other cash crops. 
 Some had modest plots of rice paddy as well.  Average income 
ranged from 14 to 20 million VND per year (USD 880 to 1250). 
All returnee homes were electrified with TVs.  Some families 
owned motorbikes and tractors.  One returnee (Dieu Lo -- 
MTN-752) had a concrete home given to him by the state after his 
return.  Another returnee (Dieu Mpyuh, MTN-767) told us that his 
eldest son just completed compulsory military service. 
 
¶17. (SBU) While some returnees said that religion played no part 
in their decision to flee and that they could practice freely, 
some indicated that the village faced tougher restrictions on 
religious activity prior to their flight.  One returnee told us 
that prior to 2005, pastors were not allowed to preach in the 
village, the wife of another returnee told us that religious 
freedom conditions improved markedly only in September 2005 
after authorities allowed an SECV church to be built. 
 
¶18. (SBU) A number of returnees alleged that while they were in 
the refugee camps in Cambodia, a number of ethnic Jarai 
individuals urged them to support a separatist -- "Dega" -- 
agenda.  When they decided to return to Vietnam, roughly 70 
ethnic Jarai camp members threatened them with bodily harm if 
went through with their return plans, but camp police intervened 
to protect the Mnong.  Returnee Dieu Lo said that UNHCR 
officials refused to facilitate the return of the Mnong, which 
is why they decided to go back on their own, taking a bus from 
the camp to the border and then crossing into Vietnam.  He also 
alleged that some camp ringleaders had spoken to Montagnard 
Foundation President Kok Ksor via cell phone and that the USG 
should "bring him to justice," as he incites violence and riots 
in Vietnam. 
 
¶19. (SBU) Comment:  Government officials in Dak Nong struck us 
as relatively progressive and open -- especially for the Central 
Highlands. Although the returnees seemed coached in some of 
their responses, there were no indications of abuse.  Unlike in 
Dak Lak, where many provincial leaders appeared consumed with 
the perceived threat of ethnic minority separatism, the focus in 
Dak Nong was more oriented towards poverty alleviation and 
development.  In this regard, the pitch at the provincial-level 
for USG assistance was the strongest that we have heard in the 
Central Highlands.  One district-level leader said he could 
envision NGOs running rural development and micro-finance 
projects for ethnic minorities in his district, "with the right 
political backing."  Moreover, although problems remain at both 
the provincial and village level, the province's approach on 
religious freedom also has been positive, particularly within 
the past six months.   End Comment. 
 
Appendix A:  List of ethnic minority returnees met in Dak Nong: 
 
MTN-752, Dieu Lo 
MTN-755 Dieu Khuch (aka Dieu Quyt) 
MTN-756 Dieu Glou 
MTN-757 Dieu Xep 
MTN 759 Dieu San 
MTN 767 Dieu Mpyuh 
MTN-768 Dieu Dang 
WINNICK 
 
 
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