VZCZCXRO8929
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #1806 2770207
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 040207Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7413
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 0062
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1539

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 001806 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR RMA AND EAP/MLS 
BANGKOK ALSO FOR REFUGEE COORDINATOR HONNOLD 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF VM CB
SUBJECT: UNHCR PICKS UP MONTAGNARDS IN MONDOLKIRI 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 1723 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Following interventions from the Ambassador and 
A/DCM (Reftel), UNHCR was able to mount a joint expedition 
with representatives of MFA and MOI to the northeastern 
province of Mondolkiri to rescue 13 Montagnard asylum 
seekers.  The September 27-30 journey was the first UNHCR 
visit to Mondolkiri since December 2004.  UNHCR Phnom Penh 
Director Thamrongsak Meechubot told us that comments to the 
press by the NGO Adhoc's provincial coordinator that five 
other Montagnards in the province were arrested and sent back 
to Vietnam were purely speculation.  Thamrongsak noted that 
the NGOs often exaggerate the number of Montagnards waiting 
to be taken out of the jungle and said the NGOs seldom know 
exactly how many asylum seekers are involved. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Thamrongsak said that most Montagnards who travel 
through Mondolkiri originate in Dak Lak and Dak Nong 
provinces of Vietnam and most of those who arrive directly at 
the UNHCR office in Phnom Penh travel through Mondolkiri. 
The recent pattern, he said, was for relatives in the U.S. to 
send funds to the Montagnards in Vietnam, who then hire 
guides to escort them from their home province to Phnom Penh. 
 After arriving in Phnom Penh, they were turned over to the 
NGOs Human Rights Watch (HRW) or Jesuit Refugee Service 
(JRS), which then escorted them to UNHCR's office. 
Thamrongsak reported that in 2006 direct arrivals to Phnom 
Penh (91) have nearly equaled the number of those rescued in 
northeastern Cambodia (117).  The Montagnard population in 
UNHCR's Phnom Penh sites as of October 2 is 285. 
 
3,  (SBU) Thamrongsak commented that he did not expect future 
problems in obtaining access to Montagnards who arrive in 
Mondolkiri, although he said that he believed the Cambodian 
authorities were not happy with the prospect of another 
gateway into Cambodia opening to Montagnards.  The 
Cambodians, he commented, would like to restrict the entry 
points to the degree possible. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) There was no pressure currently from the Cambodian 
government (RGC) to expedite the processing of Montagnards, 
Thamrongsak said.  As long as there was a steady flow to 
resettlement countries and the influx did not surge, he 
believed the RGC would remain relaxed.  Thamrongsak observed 
that the Vietnamese government (GVN) did not appear to be 
pressuring the Cambodians on this issue.  (Comment:  This 
view is not necessarily held by some of his fellow UNHCR 
staff members as well as sources within the MOI.  End 
Comment.)  Thamrongsak said that the Vietnamese 
representative at the recent tripartite talks told him that 
the Vietnamese trusted UNHCR (a distinct departure from 
earlier Vietnamese attitudes).  In Thamrongsak's view UNHCR 
has gained Vietnamese trust because it has become more open 
in its operations and was more engaged with Vietnam through 
its Hanoi office.  He also suggested that there was a 
generational change going on among Vietnamese officials in 
the GVN's MFA. 
CAMPBELL