VZCZCXRO6331
PP RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0732 1900822
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 090822Z JUL 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2857
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 2036
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 3059

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000732 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PREF KIRF SOCI VM
SUBJECT: STATUS OF  CENTRAL HIGHLANDS ETHINIC MINORITIES:  DEBRIEFING 
VISAS-93 BENEFICIARIES 
 
REF: A) HCMC 155;  B) 06 HCMC 1185 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. (SBU) In late May and June, we interviewed five VISAS-93 
(family reunification) ethnic minority beneficiaries and their 
families from the Central Highlands provinces of Gia Lai and Dak 
Lak.  The meetings were conducted in private, in the offices of 
post's Humanitarian Resettlement Section (HRS) in HCMC.  Four 
families were ethnic Jarai and one was ethnic Ede.  Four of the 
five families identified themselves as Protestant, while the 
fifth declared no religion.  The four Protestant families 
indicated that religious freedom conditions had improved in the 
last two years.   For example, a family from Duc Co District in 
Gia Lai province belonged to a large church that had no problem 
gathering for services.  Another belonged to a registered house 
church with over 30 people gathering to worship weekly.  One 
family from Chu Se district, Gia Lai province, stated that, in 
contrast, in 2004 police "only allowed us to pray at home 
because they are afraid we will hear bad things".  Another 
applicant told us she has not participated in any organized 
religion since 2004 and worships at home with her children. 
 
¶2. (SBU) All of the Visas-93 beneficiaries were farmers or day 
laborers.  Four of five applicants interviewed had received no 
formal education.  One had graduated from ninth grade.  None of 
the families reported receiving government assistance; two 
stated they are not considered poor enough to receive assistance 
due to their husband's remittances from the United States. 
Remittances ranged from USD 100-200 a month in one case to USD 
200 dollars per year in another.  All the applicants reported 
having water and electricity in their homes.  One applicant has 
a telephone and another indoor plumbing.  One applicant 
complained that the government would not give her land to grow 
rice because she is Protestant.  However, she acknowledged that 
her 5,000 square meters (1.2 acres) of coffee already makes her 
relatively well off in her village. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Four of the five families reported a constant police 
presence in their villages but no harassment.  One applicant 
from Gia Lai province reported that she is still forced to 
register at the provincial police headquarters every December 
and that police come to her home monthly to question her.  She 
stated that the police are "afraid she will cause trouble" and 
"afraid her husband sends too much money."  However, police have 
never seized her remittances or harassed her in any other way. 
In three villages the police were both ethnic Vietnamese (Kinh) 
and Jarai.  In another village in Chu Se District in Gia Lai, 
the police reportedly were all ethnic Vietnamese. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Three of the applicants reported no trouble acquiring 
passports; one had yet to apply. One applicant from Dha Prong 
village, Dak Lak Province, said that she was forced to pay a 
"bribe" of 1-2 million VND (62-124 USD) to receive the four 
passports and other civil documents for her family.  (Note:  the 
official fee is VND 200,000 (USD 12) per passport application. 
Birth certificates and other civil documents normally cost VND 
20,000 each to process.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) A number of the statements the families gave were 
inconsistent with the claims their husbands had made about 
departing Vietnam out of fear of arrest and religious 
persecution.  For example, one applicant told us during her 
prescreening interview that her husband left because he "wanted 
a better life for his family."  However, when we spoke with her 
the following day, she claimed he had left because he feared he 
"would be arrested".   Two out of the four families whose anchor 
in the U.S. claimed during refugee processing that they were 
members of the ethnic minority separatist "Dega" movement told 
us that they did not believe their husbands were affiliated with 
any anti-GVN movement or organization.   One applicant admitted 
that her sister had instructed her to lie and to claim that she 
didn't speak Vietnamese so that her 16-year-old daughter could 
speak for her.  The applicant would not state the purpose of 
this. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment:  These interviews tend to indicate that 
religious freedom and economic conditions for ethnic minorities 
in the Central Highlands continue to improve gradually and 
incrementally.  While we have no reason to doubt applicants' 
claims of religious harassment before 2004/5, contradictions in 
the statements of some applicants suggest that some of their 
spouses may have exaggerated the level of persecution or their 
involvement in anti-GVN activities in order to qualify for 
resettlement.  End comment. 
 
SCHWENK