VZCZCXRO6724
PP RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0155/01 0450413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140413Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2124
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 1514
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2289

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000155 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL CVIS KWMN TIP ELAB SMIG SOCI TW VM
SUBJECT: CONDITIONS IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS: DEBRIEFING NEW VISAS-93 
APPLICANTS 
 
REF: A. 06 HCMC 395; B) 06 HCMC 29; C) 05 HCMC 1217 AND 
 
     ¶B. PREVIOUS 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000155  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: In early February, ConGen conducted 
private interviews in HCMC with six VISAS-93 (family 
reunification) ethnic minority applicant families from the 
Central Highlands.  The results are consistent with 
previous rounds of interviews and show improvement in 
overall conditions for ethnic minorities, including 
religious freedom.  None of the families reported any 
harassment, abuse or threats from officials.  We continue 
to note contradictions between claims the anchors made 
during their asylum-seeking process and the statements 
their families made in HCMC.  Over eighty percent of 
eligible Visas-93 cases to date have received passports. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On February 5 and 8, we met in private with six 
Visas-93 applicants and their families in HCMC.  The 
petitioning husbands fled to Cambodia because of religious 
persecution or for fear of arrest following their 
participation in protests in the Central Highlands in 2001 
and 2004.  All six families -- five ethnic Jarai and one 
ethnic Bahnar -- are from Gia Lai province.  All are 
Protestant. 
 
Demographics and Living Standards 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) All six families said their villages and homes 
had electricity.  None of the families had indoor plumbing 
and all obtained water from a village well.  In contrast to 
the mothers, who had limited or no schooling and were 
illiterate, all children of eligible age attended school. 
A few of the adult siblings reported dropping out of school 
by the sixth grade. 
 
¶4. (SBU) All of the applicants are farmers.  None of the 
families are aware of their anchor's job in the United 
States.  Four of the families said they receive supplemental 
income from their anchors in the United States on a regular 
basis.  Two other families said they received only one or 
two remittance payments from their anchors.  Three families 
said money was sent via an ethnic Vietnamese middleman; two 
families received funds through bank wire transfer.  One 
applicant was unable to explain how she received money from 
the anchor.  For those that received regular assistance, 
remittances ranged from USD 250 to 300 every two or three 
months.  The other two families were sent approximately USD 
250 total.  None of the families reported interference from 
GVN authorities in receiving their money. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) All the applicants reported that the majority of 
residents in their villages are of the same ethnicity, 
including local police and government officials.  Five of 
the six families said there was no overt police presence in 
their villages.  One applicant noted that the police 
deployed six or seven officers in her village.  However, 
none of the families complained of police interference, 
harassment or heavy-handed control tactics. 
 
No Apparent Discrimination in Government Assistance 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU) None of the Visas-93 applicants said they 
received government assistance, but noted that Government 
aid was distributed only to those in need.  For example, 
one applicant said that only the poorest families in her 
village received government support.  She considers her 
family as having an "average" income by village standards 
and does not expect support. 
 
No Reported Police Harassment 
----------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The applicants reported no arrests, physical 
abuse, or threats of either from local authorities after 
their anchors left Vietnam.  The families were visited by 
local police two to three times in the weeks following 
their anchor's departure.  In these interviews, police 
asked where the anchors were, why they had left Vietnam, 
and if the families had received funds from the United 
States. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Only one of the six wives interviewed -- an ethnic 
Jarai -- alleged police abuse prior to her husband's 
flight.  However, her story is contradictory.  During the 
adjudication interview with the U.S. Citizenship and 
Immigration Services (USCIS) officer, the woman claimed 
that her husband was "beaten in the woods" following a 
demonstration.  He reportedly fled because of fear of 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000155  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
arrest.  During the USCIS interview she denied any 
connection to the ethnic separatist "Dega" movement. 
However, during the informational interview with HRS staff 
and PolOff the previous day, the applicant said that her 
husband had never been beaten, but that he feared arrest. 
She said that the family was affiliated with the "Dega 
Protestant Church" and that her husband fled because he 
feared "being called" to participate in a demonstration. 
(According to the husband's asylum interview notes, the 
husband claimed to be the village Dega movement organizer. 
The husband claimed that he was summoned to police for 
interrogation one several occasions and beaten at least 
once.)  The wife told us that she spoke with her husband by 
phone prior to each interview us with. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Four other families stated that their anchors had 
participated in anti-GVN demonstrations, but were not 
affiliated with any separatist movement and had never been 
arrested. One applicant did not know why her husband left 
Vietnam, but said he was never beaten or arrested.  HRS 
adjudication records indicate that one anchor from this 
cohort claimed to have been a member of the ethnic minority 
guerilla group "FULRO", from 1980-1994, as well as a 
current member of the Dega movement.  His wife reported 
that she had never heard of the terms FULRO or Dega and did 
not think her husband was a member.  (FULRO was disbanded 
in 1992.)  The HRS adjudication notes show that another 
anchor from this group claimed to be a member of the Dega 
movement and a supporter of Kok Ksor, President of the 
South Carolina-based Montagnard Foundation.  His wife also 
reported that she had never heard of the Dega movement or 
knew of his support for Kok Ksor. 
 
Religious Freedom 
----------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Five of the six families said that conditions 
for religious freedom had improved markedly in their 
respective villages in since 2003.  Villagers now are able 
to gather and worship without incident.  Two of the 
families said that their Protestant house churches are 
registered with the GVN.  They did not know the name of the 
particular Protestant organization to which their house 
churches were affiliated.  The one applicant who claimed a 
heavy police presence in her village said that religious 
gatherings were still banned and that she must worship at 
home.  Asked about other Protestants in the village, she 
said that she "did not know" if they were able to gather or 
not. 
 
Passports and Documentation 
--------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Five of the families either had received 
passports or had recently applied for passports. There were 
no reported problems with local and provincial officials in 
obtaining passports or other civil documentation.  None 
were asked to pay bribes.  One of the six families told us 
that they sought explicit police permission to travel to 
HCMC.  All families paid normal application fees of 
approximately USD 2 to 3 USD per document. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The results of these six interviews reinforce 
earlier reftel observations that the vast majority of 
VISAS-93 applicants are not facing harassment by the GVN. 
This information indicates that conditions for ethnic 
minorities in the Central Highlands, particularly for 
religious freedom, continue to improve gradually.  It also 
supports other reporting that the GVN security efforts are 
driven primarily by a fear of ethnic minority separatism. 
As in previous rounds of interviewing, there were 
inconsistencies between the statements given by the 
petitioner during the asylum-seeking process and family 
interviews in HCMC.  We cannot completely rule out the 
possibility that the HCMC interviewees are withholding 
information out of fear of local government retaliation in 
the Central Highlands.  However, the anomalies also raise 
the possibility that some applicants may have exaggerated 
their role in the unrest or the level of oppression they 
faced for the purpose of immigrating to the United States. 
Overall progress in resolving VISAS-93 cases is steady.  To 
date, 191 families, over 80 percent of eligible cases, have 
received passports.  End Comment. 
WINNICK