VZCZCXRO7111
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #2397/01 2621002
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191002Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3428
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 1827
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1118

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002397 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS and PRM/ANE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PREF VM CB
SUBJECT: UNHCR MONITORING VISIT TO CENTRAL HIGHLANDS 
 
Ref: A) Hanoi 992; B) Phnom Penh 1608 
 
HANOI 00002397  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) UNHCR recently completed its 13th monitoring mission to the 
Central Highlands and reported nothing out of the ordinary in terms 
of the well-being of the interviewed returnees.  Significantly, the 
UNHCR team was able to meet with a returnee who had been tried and 
convicted of human smuggling.  The team also learned about - and 
received a pledge from local authorities to be able to meet with - 
another ethnic minority who had been recently arrested.  Local 
officials welcomed the USG-funded construction of a school and are 
seeking additional such micro-projects.  The UNHCR team visited this 
school and reported that it is up and running, with the district in 
which it is located funding the construction of additional 
classrooms.  UNHCR has received agreement from the Cambodian 
authorities to conduct a joint mission to Cambodia's Mondolkiri 
Province to look for Vietnamese ethnic minorities who reportedly 
remain in the jungle there.  End Summary. 
 
UNHCR Has Met with 70 Percent of Returnees 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) On September 18, UNHCR representatives Giuseppe di 
Vincentis and Vu Anh Son reported to diplomatic representatives on 
their recent five-day trip to the Central Highlands.  This was the 
first UNHCR visit since Assistant High Commissioner Erika Feller's 
April trip (Ref A) to Vietnam (and UNHCR's 13th overall monitoring 
visit to the Central Highlands).  The UNHCR team visited Chu Se, Ia 
Grai and Duc Co districts in Gia Lai Province and Sa Thay District 
in Kon Tum Province, and met with a number of returnees in both 
provinces.  The meetings took place in private, i.e., without local 
officials present, and "nothing controversial" emerged from the 
discussions.  The returnees in general appeared to be with their 
families and reintegrating well into their communities.  To date, 
UNHCR has met at least once with 70 percent of the total of 196 
volunteer returnees and deportees. 
 
Access to Detained Returnee a "Positive Step" 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) In Gia Lai, the UNHCR team met with Ksor Cuen (MTN-352), 
who was arrested in September 2005 and recently sentenced to 4.5 
years in prison for people smuggling.  He is currently in a 
detention center in Pleiku, where he awaits transfer to a prison 
elsewhere in the province.  He appeared in good shape and admitted 
to the UNHCR representatives that he received USD 50/person to 
smuggle ethnic minorities to Cambodia.  He had no complaints to 
report and had been able to meet with family members, di Vincentis 
said. 
 
¶4. (SBU) During a separate meeting with Chu Se district officials, 
the UNHCR representatives learned of another arrested returnee: 
Kpuih Thu (MTN-276), who was detained on June 11 and is being 
charged with people smuggling and "trying to mobilize Dega 
separatists" in the district.  The local authorities pledged to 
allow UNHCR access to this individual (assuming he is indeed found 
guilty and sentenced).  Di Vincentis described the access to Cuen 
and the promise to have access to Thu as "very positive steps" and 
"significant gestures" on the part of the Vietnamese authorities 
 
Local Official Welcomes USG-funded Micro-Project 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Chu Se District People's Committee Chairman described 
for the UNHCR team the economic difficulties facing local ethnic 
minorities and said that these are the primary factors leading 
individuals to cross into Cambodia for what they think will be a 
better life.  Education is another key concern, with most ethnic 
minorities only receiving education up to grade five.  The chairman 
expressed his hope that, by 2008, the level of compulsory education 
will be raised to grade eight.  The district chairman described the 
USG-funded school in his district as "very welcome" and expressed 
his hope for additional projects.  Gia Lai Province's People's 
Committee Chairman also endorsed the micro-projects and said he 
would welcome "more foreign assistance."  (Note:  The EU is 
reportedly looking at funding one or two schools in Gia Lai.  End 
Note.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) In spite of local officials' warm embrace of the school and 
additional micro-projects, di Vincentis noted that the process 
leading to official approval was not an easy one.  "It was difficult 
to convince the authorities to allow the project to go forward," he 
said.  The UNHCR officials were allowed to visit the school and 
reported that it is functioning, with 200 students attending two 
daily sessions.  The district is funding the construction of a 
playground and additional classroom space, which will completed in 
 
HANOI 00002397  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
two months, di Vincentis explained. 
 
Cambodia 
-------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Turning to recent arrivals in Cambodia, di Vincentis noted 
that 16 ethnic minorities from Vietnam arrived in Cambodia two weeks 
ago and are now under UNHCR's care in Phnom Penh.  Some 15 other 
individuals also recently arrived directly in Phnom Penh, and UNHCR 
requested, and the Cambodian Government agreed to, a joint mission 
to Mondolkiri Province to look for an additional suspected 15-20 
individuals who may still be there (Ref B).  UNHCR suspects that 
these individuals, and the recent direct arrivals, may be from Dak 
Lak Province.  If this is the case, UNHCR will seek to send a team 
to Dak Lak to investigate what may be driving this new outflow of 
ethnic minorities, di Vincentis said. 
 
MARINE