VZCZCXRO0366
PP RUEHHM
DE RUEHHM #0880/01 2390307
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 270307Z AUG 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3028
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 0307
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 2139
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH 0034
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0040
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 3235

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HO CHI MINH CITY 000880 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PHUM CB VM
SUBJECT: TIGHT LIPPED DEPORTEES IN GIA LAI 
 
 
1.(SBU) Summary:  During their August 13-15 visit to the Central 
Highland province of Gia Lai, HRS Chief and Poloff spoke with 
four individuals, including two heads of household, from the 
Jarai ethnic minority who had been repatriated to Vietnam in 
January after failing to obtain refugee status in Cambodia.  A 
planned visit with another family on the 14th proved impossible 
because they had "doubled back" in April.  The visit accounted 
for thirteen of the 34 individuals repatriated this year.  All 
of those we met were extremely poor and none indicated that they 
had fled to Cambodia to escape persecution of any kind.  One 
said that police had hit him three or four times during an 
interrogation after he returned to Vietnam.  None of the other 
three indicated that they had been abused by authorities in any 
way before they left or after they returned, but for unknown 
reasons, they appeared reluctant to provide much information. 
Two said that they had received GVN assistance since their 
return.  We will need to make more monitoring visits to the area 
before we can determine whether there are any trends underlying 
the circumstances of these returnees and others like them. The 
USG strategy of monitoring closely events in the Highlands, 
combined with encouraging more foreign access to, and 
stimulating education and economic opportunities for, ethnic 
minority communities remain key to minimizing whatever problems 
may exist and to improving the lives of these individuals.   End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) As part of a longer trip to Gia Lai (septel), HRS Chief 
and Poloff traveled to Ia Grai and Duc Co districts to monitor 
the conditions of thirteen Jarai individuals repatriated in 
January from Cambodia under the Tri-Partite Agreement between 
UNHCR, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  Seven in Ia Grai were voluntary 
returnees and lived within 150 meters of each other in Bi 
hamlet, Ia O village.  They had arrived in Phnom Penh on 
September 2, 2006, and voluntarily repatriated together on 
January 12 of this year.  Before going to Bi hamlet, ConGenoffs 
spoke to District People's Committee Chairman Bui Ngoc Son.  Son 
informed us that one family we intended to visit had returned to 
Cambodia on April 8.  He also said that there were other 
returnees from Ia Grai who had doubled back to Cambodia 
including some who originally had left in 2005. 
 
The Voluntary Returnee and the "Double Backers" 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3. (SBU) In Bi hamlet, we met with returnee Siu Blol and several 
members of his family.  Originally Blol and two of his sons 
(Ksor Heunh and Ksor Lan, see below) had gone to Cambodia 
together with neighbor Rolan Loc and three of Loc's sons. 
Subsequently, both families voluntarily returned to Vietnam.  In 
April, son Ksor Heunh (DOB 07 April 1989) accompanied the Rolan 
Loc family when they returned to Cambodia.  Also joining the 
group was yet another of Blol's sons -- Ksor Huon (DOB 18 August 
1982) -- who had not accompanied his father on the previous 
trip.  Meanwhile, Ksor Lan, the other brother who had originally 
gone with Blol to and from Cambodia, reportedly was still in Bi 
village, although not living in his father's house.  Blol said 
that he did not know why sons Heunh and Huon had gone to 
Cambodia, nor did he know why Rolan Loc had doubled back. 
However, Blol added that the only reason Heunh had returned 
voluntarily the first time was because of his own decision to do 
so. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Despite being asked several times, Blol did not provide 
any clear reason for going to Cambodia in the first place.  Nor 
did he explain why he volunteered to repatriate after four 
months.  He said that he was not religious, but that he had 
followed "Protestants" to Cambodia.  He had not been afraid of 
GVN officials before he left, but after he arrived in Cambodia 
he was afraid that he would be under surveillance if he went 
back. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Blol had lived in Cambodia prior to 1978 when he fled 
the Khmer Rouge.  He had no education because there were no 
schools where he lived in Cambodia.  We spoke directly with Blol 
in Vietnamese with two village elders occasionally interjecting 
in mixed Vietnamese and Jarai.  Blol was initially rather 
guarded in his responses, but then opened up.  He has about four 
hectares of titled land on which he cultivates cashews and 
cassava.  The cashew trees are three or four years old; his farm 
income amounts to about USD 250 per year.  He has seven 
children, one in Seventh grade and another in Fifth.  Double 
backer son Heunh completed Fifth grade, but returned son Lan 
"cannot stand school." 
 
¶6. (SBU) Blol reported that he had not received any assistance 
from the government before or after he went to Cambodia.  We 
asked him specifically about the various GVN programs for ethnic 
minorities, but he repeated that he had not received any help. 
Two local elders disputed that, saying, "Don't you remember? 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000880  002 OF 004 
 
 
Yes, you have received help."  Blol was adamant and the elders 
gave up. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Although he initially had little to say about his 
treatment after returning, when asked what he wanted to tell us, 
Blol volunteered that district-level police had hit him three or 
four times on the hands and ears during an interrogation in 
April.  He also said that police had questioned him once since 
then at the local police station and another time at a border 
post.  (Note:  All of these were around the time that Rolan Loc 
and two of Blol's sons went to Cambodia, although Blol did not 
make a link.  Blol's village is about two hours walk from the 
Cambodian border.  The district center is farther inside Vietnam 
and there are two "border" posts between the two places.  End 
note.)  He was questioned all three times about why he left 
Vietnam.  He said that police were frustrated with his vague 
responses, so they hit him.  Blol's account of this was very 
matter-of-fact and he did not appear to be particularly upset 
about it.  Village elders had no reaction to this. 
 
¶8. (SBU) HRS staff overheard a local official asking villagers 
how the double backers returned to Cambodia.  According to the 
response, they had crossed the border from Tay Ninh province, 
south of the Central Highlands. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Blol expressed concern for his two sons in Cambodia and 
asked us to pass a message to them:  "The GVN does not do 
anything to you when you return."  He wondered how they could 
come back to Vietnam. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Blol did not appear to be afraid of ill-treatment, but 
he was also skeptical of the GVN and appeared to prefer 
independence to receiving assistance from the government. 
 
Two Young Deportees 
------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) On January 22, 2007, eight deportees were returned to 
Vietnam from Cambodia, most of them from Duc Co district in Gia 
Lai.  Two relatively young deportees, Rmah Phyeo and Rocham 
Chinh (aka Rocham Jinh), were from Ba hamlet, Ia Pnon village. 
We visited both at their homes on the afternoon of August 14. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Arriving at the family home Rmah Phyeo shares with her 
parents and siblings, we found her sitting inside an internal 
doorway with her mother between her and everyone else.  She 
would scarcely look at any of the visitors and eventually sat 
with her face turned away and covered by her hand.  She 
acknowledged her name and that she had been in Cambodia, but 
said nothing else audible to us.  After several failed attempts 
to make her more comfortable, we left her alone and talked to 
her father.  Our primary impression, based on demeanor evidence, 
was that she was extremely embarrassed and too ashamed to talk 
to us.  She would not say why she would not speak with us, nor 
would she answer any other questions.  Her parents, on the other 
hand, appeared relaxed, and were willing to speak with us. 
 
¶13. (SBU) While Poloff engaged the local elders, Refcoord spoke 
with Rmah Phyeo's father.  He would not comment on why his 
daughter would not speak to us.  He said that police had visited 
Rmah Phyeo two or three times after she returned to ask why she 
had gone to Cambodia.  According to her father, she had simply 
followed some other people and did not have a clear motive.  Of 
his three children, she was the only one with an education, 
having completed Fourth grade.  She and her siblings, along with 
their grandparents, are Catholic, attending services at a house 
in Ba hamlet on Saturday and Sunday.  Her father had served a 
tour in the Vietnamese army from 1978.  The family has a farm of 
0.8 hectares, upon which they grow cassava.  They had not 
received any particular government assistance since her return 
from Cambodia.  Both Rmah Phyeo and her father understood and 
spoke Vietnamese.  They have no family members overseas. 
 
¶14. (SBU) When asked about living conditions in Ba, the hamlet 
chief spoke at length about the local rubber plantation.  In 
1997, more than 30 local families had transferred their titled 
land to the then-new rubber plantation.  They did not receive 
any compensation for their land, but they were given jobs 
clearing the land and planting and caring for the trees. 
However, when the plantation began harvesting, many of them were 
told that they were not "suitable" and were replaced by 
"Northerners."  Although some native residents still work on the 
plantation, the hamlet chief complained that their pay is docked 
if they missed a day or two of work.  He said that they had 
complained to officials up to the district level about losing 
their land.  There has never been a response to their 
complaints.  The chief admitted that living conditions had 
improved in many respects since the plantation arrived.  There 
were more services and the company provided food aid. 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000880  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶15. (SBU) Rocham Chinh is apparently known as "Jin" or "Jinh" in 
Ba Hamlet and so local officials were not certain he was the 
person we sought to interview.  However, based on his age and 
the time when he was in Cambodia, it appears that the two are 
the same.  We spoke to him outside his home with hamlet elders, 
local officials, and an elderly female relative in view, but out 
of earshot for at least part of the conversation.  We had to 
remind local officials that the interview was supposed to be 
private.  Rocham Jin's demeanor exhibited discomfort, perhaps 
considerable embarrassment, and possibly fear.  We do not know 
why he was so uncomfortable.  He speaks and understands 
Vietnamese, although he has had no education.  His family has no 
land and his father is deceased.  His concept of time seemed 
very vague.  He said that he had become a Protestant about a 
year ago, but he was not able to tell us if that was before, 
during, or after his time in Cambodia.  He was not able to 
clearly answer when he had returned from Cambodia.  He would not 
answer why he went to Cambodia or what he hoped would happen 
when he got there.  He said that he was not afraid to answer our 
questions, but most of his answers were, "I do not know," spoken 
in an almost inaudible voice. 
 
¶16. (SBU) "I do not know" was also his answer to whether he had 
received assistance from the GVN after his return.  Village 
elders told us that he and his mother had received a loan to 
build a house and pointed out the new, but small, concrete 
walled and tin roofed building Rocham Jin had been inside before 
we arrived.  The family had also reportedly received a cow.  He 
did not provide a meaningful answer to whether anything had 
happened to him since his return to Cambodia. 
 
A Family Dispute 
---------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) Rmah Su and his family, of Bon hamlet, Ia Tuk village 
were the final returnees we met.  He, his wife, and two children 
were deported in January after spending about a year in 
Cambodia.  He spoke with us in Vietnamese outside of his house 
with a village elder nearby and local officials visible, but out 
of earshot.  His wife and children were also present.  Rmah Su 
described himself as a farmer with about 0.8 hectares of land 
planted in cashews.  He earns about 600,000 VND (USD 38) a year 
from these and makes most of his income working as a day laborer 
for an ethnic majority Kinh resident of the hamlet.  He 
completed Fifth grade; his wife has had no education.  He said 
he expected their oldest child to begin First grade in 
September.  The school is a few minutes walk away. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Rmah Su said he joined other people who left the 
village after he had a dispute with his siblings over land. 
They told him to leave.  He said he had not been mistreated by 
the authorities before or after he went to Cambodia.  He has a 
younger sister overseas, but he does not know in which country. 
Her husband left first and then sponsored her to join him.  Rmah 
Su did not appear to know any other details about how his sister 
left.  He was religious before he was married, but ceased 
practicing when he moved to Bon hamlet.  (Note:  Customarily 
when Jarai marry, the new husband moves to his wife's community. 
 End note.)  His wife was not then, and is not now, religious. 
 
¶19. (SBU) Since returning to Vietnam, Rmah Su said that the 
government had treated him "alright."  He initially said that he 
had not received any assistance since his return, but the 
village elder remarked that Rmah Su had received a loan for 8 
million VND ($500) to build a new house and drill a well.  At 
the time of our visit, the well was complete and bricks for the 
new house were piled in front of the tin shack he had built 
eight years earlier when newly married. 
 
¶20. (SBU) While Rmah Su was a good deal more communicative than 
Rmah Phyeo and Rocham Jin, his answers to our questions were 
terse and his demeanor suggested that he was uncomfortable in 
our presence.  Follow-up questions were necessary to learn more 
than basic information about his situation. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶21. (SBU) We do not know why the deportees we met on this trip 
were so ill at ease and unwilling to speak with us.  Previous 
experience suggests that returnees, especially deportees, may be 
ashamed and embarrassed within their communities because they 
either did not succeed in their goal of being resettled or were 
"fooled" by those who convinced them to cross the border.  A 
monitoring visit can remind them of that shame.  The contrasting 
behavior of Rmah Phyeo and her parents fits this hypothesis. 
Similarly, while Rmah Su was not enthusiastic about speaking 
with us, his wife did not appear tense.  Siu Blol was among the 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000880  004 OF 004 
 
 
more outspoken returnees we have visited, but he returned 
voluntarily, is more mature, and was in Cambodia for only about 
four months.  Local officials sometimes play up the shame theme, 
although they did not mention it on this trip.  We approached 
this explanation skeptically, but have come to believe it is a 
valid factor. 
 
¶22. (SBU) Many things could account for the reticence of this 
set of deportees, but their very unwillingness to speak to us 
makes it difficult to understand their situations.  There is 
little that can be ruled out.  Our current policy of more 
monitoring trips, encouraging more foreign access to the Central 
Highlands, and the stimulation of education and economic 
opportunities for ethnic minority communities remain key to 
minimizing whatever problems may exist in the area and to 
improving the lives of these individuals.  End Comment. 
FAIRFAX