VZCZCXRO2241
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHHI #1999/01 2190843
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070843Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2974
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 1604
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1104

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001999 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND PRM, BANGKOK FOR REFUGEE COORDINATOR, GENEVA 
FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF VM CB
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH UNHCR REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE 
 
 
HANOI 00001999  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) On August 1, UNHCR provided the Ambassador with a readout 
of recent Vietnmam-related developments.  UNHCR is working to 
resolve the status of 9,500 Cambodians (Khmer Krom) living in 
southern Vietnam through a joint working group with the GVN and 
Government of Cambodia, though progress is slow.  With a planned 
September monitoring visit to Gia Lai and possibly Kon Tum 
provinces, UNHCR will attempt to raise to 80 percent the number of 
ethnic minority returnees it has seen.  New arrivals in Cambodia 
from the Central Highlands in the first six months of this year are 
up 70 percent over the same period last year due to a greater number 
of direct arrivals in Phnom Penh.  UNHCR decided to accept three 
so-called double-backers despite reservations about their stories of 
persecution.  Recent UNHCR training of provincial-level officials in 
the Central Highlands was successful and will be expanded to 
district-level officials.  Despite initial reluctance on the part of 
local security officials, a U.S.-funded micro-project in Gia Lai is 
now underway.  UNHCR also noted that, after a recent meeting with 
NGO critics, it has agreed to disagree concerning reported 
conditions in the Central Highlands.  End Summary. 
 
Khmer Krom 
---------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On August 1, the Ambassador met with UNHCR Regional 
Representative Hasim Utkan and Hanoi Chief of Mission Vu Anh Son. 
Utkan noted that he and Son had just met with VFM Le Van Bang and 
had delivered to him a letter from UNHCR Assistant Commissioner 
Erika Feller advocating 1) the convention of an August 16-17 
conference of parties to the Tripartite MOU (agenda is under 
discussion), 2) resolution of the status of the 9,500 Cambodians 
(Khmer Krom) in southern Vietnam and 3) resolution of the GVN's 
legal contradictions concerning stateless people in general 
(especially women who go abroad to marry, renounce their Vietnamese 
citizenship and then divorce before attaining their husband's 
citizenship, leaving them stateless).  On this last item, UNHCR 
offered to provide technical assistance to the GVN to help it 
address problems related to statelessness.  On item two, the 
Cambodian Government is prepared to "do its part" by not making a 
claim regarding these individuals' Cambodian citizenship, but the 
mechanics of granting them Vietnamese citizenship have yet to be 
worked out.  UNHCR, Vietnam and Cambodia have agreed to convene a 
working party and bilateral ministerial visits to resolve this; 
however, neither the working party nor the ministerial visits have 
moved forward, Utkan said. 
 
Micro-projects 
-------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Utkan noted that UNHCR's USG-funded micro-projects in the 
Central Highland region have "had their ups and downs;" however, USG 
money "will now be fully spent."  The USG-funded school construction 
project in Gia Lai is moving forward thanks to the intervention with 
local authorities of both Son and the MFA.  Son noted that the 
hold-up on these projects was the result of local Ministry of Public 
Security (MPS) officials' confusion concerning the Congressional 
earmark for USD two million to be spent in the Central Highlands. 
When local MPS officials became aware of the earmark, they "became 
scared of any NGO involvement in the region" and ordered local 
officials not to accept any money from UNHCR.  This confusion has 
been resolved, Son added.  The Ambassador asked Utkan and Son to 
inform Embassy staff if such local confusion arises in the future so 
that we can inform our GVN contacts immediately.  UNHCR has also 
asked the EU to submit a proposal for further micro-projects in the 
region. 
 
Training Sessions 
----------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Utkan noted that UNHCR is generally pleased with the 
success of its training workshops for provincial officials from the 
Central Highlands.  These training workshops, funded by the 
Norwegian Embassy, were aimed at explaining UNHCR and its mandate to 
local officials.  On the strength of local demand for further 
training, Son is preparing to conduct more workshops for district- 
and commune-level officials from these same provinces, Utkan added. 
 
Refugees in Cambodia 
-------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Utkan stated that, so far this year, there have been 170 
new additions to those under UNHCR's care in Phnom Penh.  This is an 
increase of more than 70 percent over the same period last year. 
Five are children born after their parents arrived in Cambodia, and, 
of the remaining 165 adults, 30 turned out to be Cambodians.  Some 
 
HANOI 00001999  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
49 of the remaining 135 adults were direct arrivals, i.e, those who 
went to Phnom Penh and presented themselves to the UNHCR office, who 
were held for three weeks by the Cambodian Government in a "guest 
house" separate from the camps.  Son noted that new arrivals are 
mainly coming from Chu Se, Ia Grai and Duc Co districts in Gia Lai 
Province.  Most of the 140 new arrivals come from Gia Lai Province 
(98 persons).  The others come from the provinces of Dak Lak (20 
persons), Dak Nong (16 persons) and Lam Dong (1 person).  Most of 
the new arrivals are of Jarai ethnicity (101 persons).  The others 
are Ede (20 persons), Mnong (16 persons), Bahnar (2 persons) and 
Koho (1 person). 
 
¶6. (SBU) Utkan noted that in the first six months of 2005, there 
were only 99 arrivals, and Utkan ascribed the increase in this 
year's arrivals to the number of direct arrivals who are showing up 
in Phnom Penh (as opposed to being picked up in Ratanakiri 
Province).  Of the 140 new arrivals (including children), there have 
been 11 persons who have voluntarily repatriated to Vietnam this 
year.  The remaining 129 persons (88 cases) remain under UNHCR 
protection in the sites, or in a Phnom Penh guesthouse pending the 
RGC approval of their transfer to the sites.  At the moment, there 
are 20 persons staying in the guesthouse, Utkan said. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Utkan further stated that although UNHCR had expected 
follow-to-join (Visas-93) applicants to attempt to cross into 
Cambodia after being frustrated by the Visas-93 process, this has 
not yet been an issue.  This year so far, there have been no 
recognitions under derivative status based on husbands and fathers 
in the United States.  The new arrivals for 2006 are not Visas-93 
cases, and almost all of them are making individual claims of 
persecution rather than family reunification claims.  That said, 
Utkan pledged to work with us to ensure that individuals currently 
under UNHCR's care in Cambodia are not also applicants in the 
Visas-93 program. 
 
New Adjudication Procedures 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Following Assistant Commissioner Feller's visit, UNHCR had 
proposed to PRM new adjudication procedures that aim to cut in half 
the time between refugees' arrival and departure for resettlement 
(which can be as long as 411 days), Utkan continued.  (Note:  UNHCR 
has proposed that the USG get a first look at all asylum-seekers, 
and then UNHCR and other countries would take a look at whom the USG 
does not screen in.  End Note.)  Under the new procedures, UNHCR 
will "do its part" to minimize processing time and will move faster 
to adjudicate applicants rejected by the USG. 
 
Returnee Monitoring Visits 
-------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Utkan stated that UNHCR is planning its next monitoring 
visit for September.  At three to four days, the trip to Gia Lai 
(and possibly Kon Tum) will be longer than previous monitoring 
visits and will attempt to increase the percentage of returnees whom 
UNHCR has seen to 80 or 90 percent (up from the current 66 percent). 
 Of the two individuals who were arrested after their return to 
Vietnam, UNHCR was able to visit the one who was subsequently 
released.  The Gia Lai People's Committee has agreed to let Utkan 
and Son visit the other returnee, who is being held on alien 
smuggling charges, in prison. 
 
Double-backers 
-------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) On the issue of double-backers, Utkan noted that UNHCR had 
ultimately decided to screen three of them in as "surplus" -- 
although their stories of persecution did not hold water -- because 
"we felt it was not worth the risk of sending them back and the GVN 
doesn't want them."  Utkan also said that there are currently six 
"rejected/rejected" individuals who were turned down by both UNHCR 
and the USG; their cases will have to be submitted to the Cambodian 
Government for return to Vietnam. 
 
Relations with Human Rights Watch 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Finally, Utkan noted that he recently met with Sara Colm 
and Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch (HRW) to discuss HRW's recent 
criticisms of the Tripartite MOU and UNHCR's activities.  (Note: 
These criticisms were based on the double-backers' reports and on 
reports on conditions in the Central Highlands from follow-to-join 
wives who recently arrived in the United States.  End Note.)  UNHCR 
and HRW have "agreed to disagree" on the situation facing returnees 
in the Central Highlands.  "The problem is that HRW wants us to 
assume a human rights role, which is not our function," Utkan 
observed. 
 
HANOI 00001999  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
MARINE