VZCZCXRO7497
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #1651/01 2571604
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141604Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6354
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3699
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1209

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001651 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH, AND PRM, BANGKOK FOR REFUGEE 
COORDINATOR, GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PREF CB VM
SUBJECT: UNHCR CLAIMS "BIG STEP FORWARD;" PLAN OF ACTION WITH GVN ON 
STATELESS KHMERS 
 
REFS:  A) HANOI 1463  B) HANOI 301 
 
HANOI 00001651  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) In a new development, the United Nations High Commission on 
Refugees (UNHCR) has claimed a "big step forward" toward resolution 
of the 30-year old cases of more than 9,000 stateless Khmer persons 
in Southern Vietnam.  According to UNHCR, in August, the Cambodian 
Government (GOC) informed the Government of Vietnam (GVN) that it is 
unable to provide any records or information about the citizenship 
of said individuals.  With this development, the GVN has changed 
these individuals' legal status from "foreign nationals" to 
"stateless persons," providing them a path to naturalization under 
the GVN's Nationality Law.  The GVN Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
(MFA) and UNHCR have drafted a proposed Plan of Action for the 
naturalization process and submitted it to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan 
Dzung for final approval.  In a meeting with Ambassador Michalak, 
the MFA Consular Department confirmed the new cooperation and plan. 
With the GOC out of the picture and the GVN now recognizing these 
individuals as "stateless," resolution of the cases looks promising. 
 UNHCR has asked Post to "encourage" the process, including the use 
of its public diplomacy resources.  UNHCR would welcome a 
congressional visit focused on this issue if it could occur before a 
proposed November launch date for the Plan of Action. 
 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In the mid to late 1970s, thousands of Cambodian residents 
fled Cambodia as and after the Khmer Rouge came to power.  The 
majority of those individuals who arrived in Vietnam were granted 
refuge by the GVN.  Some of these refugees were later resettled in 
third countries, and most of the remainder were able to return to 
Cambodia once the situation in Cambodia had stabilized.  However, 
approximately 9,500 Cambodian residents who had sought refuge in 
Vietnam were not accepted for resettlement and were denied the right 
to return to Cambodia by the GOC.  The GOC asserted at the time and 
continues to assert that, following a check of the country's civil 
records, no proof existed to confirm that these individuals ever 
possessed Cambodian citizenship.  Almost all of these individuals 
are ethnic Chinese or ethnic Vietnamese. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Denied the chance to resettle in a third country and the 
right to return to their country of origin, thousands of Cambodian 
refugees remained in Vietnam in a situation of statelessness.  While 
this group was initially settled in a number of refugee camps in and 
around Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), humanitarian assistance in these 
camps ceased in 1994.  Since then, approximately 7,000 refugees have 
left the camps in search of work and opportunities in and around 
HCMC.  A further 2,200 remain in four villages in which the camps 
once operated.  These individuals have now lived in Vietnam over 30 
years and many have children and grandchildren born in Vietnam; yet, 
they do not enjoy the same rights as Vietnamese citizens; including 
the right to own property, comparable access to education, and 
public healthcare benefits.  Most of these individuals continue to 
live in adverse conditions as stateless persons. 
 
UNHCR HAS TAKEN LEAD ON RESOLUTION 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) For the last several years, UNHCR has been trying to 
resolve these cases, working with the GVN and GOC, and pushing for a 
solution involving Vietnamese naturalization.  The GVN Prime 
Minister's Directive of 2000 and its amendment on December 15, 2006 
called for a naturalization process.  However, this process 
initially required the GOC to officially classify the individuals as 
non-Cambodian citizens and required each individual to obtain a 
Cambodian certification of citizenship renunciation before the GVN 
would consider naturalization.  UNHCR conducted surveys and 
identified all such individuals, creating name lists that both 
governments have now shared.  However, the situation between the GVN 
and GOC reached a stalemate on technical immigration issues and the 
issue of Cambodian citizenship renunciation. 
 
UNHCR:  AFTER AUGUST MEETING, GOC NOW "OUT OF PICTURE" 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) UNHCR Deputy Regional Representative Giuseppe De Vincentis 
told PolOff that, following a meeting in Phnom Penh on August 20-21, 
2007 between GVN DPM/FM Pham Gia Khiem and GOC DPM/FM Hor Namhong, 
the situation has completely changed and the GOC is now "out of the 
picture."  In this meeting, the GVN reportedly presented the GOC 
with a list of Khmer individuals and requested GOC certification of 
renunciation of citizenship for the group.  The GOC's official 
 
HANOI 00001651  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
response was, according to UNHCR documentation, "since these people 
cannot present any proof that they were Cambodian citizens...[and 
since] the government has no archive about these people...they are 
not peoples of concern to Cambodia." 
 
GVN SAYS THEY ARE NOW OFFICIALLY "STATELESS PERSONS" 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to De Vincentis, this statement from the GOC 
allowed the GVN to make the decision to completely change the legal 
status of these people from "foreign nationals" to "stateless 
persons".  The result is that the GVN may now apply its present 
Nationality Law and naturalize these persons without any further 
action by the GOC. 
 
PLAN OF ACTION FOR NATURALIZATION 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Subsequent to the late August Phnom Penh meeting, UNHCR and 
the MFA Consular Department drafted a proposed Plan of Action for 
moving towards a naturalization solution.  Under this Plan of 
Action, the UNHCR and the GVN, will (per UNHCR documentation, text 
follows): 
 
- Organize a training workshop on the basic statelessness issues and 
international standards for senior GVN officials (key players) of 
the concerned provinces/city (where the stateless persons reside); 
 
- Carry out a census and categorize all Cambodian refugees in Binh 
Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces; 
 
- Carry out a separate census and categorize all 7,000 Cambodians 
living in HCMC; 
 
- Organize training workshops for local authorities at 
communal/district levels including refugee committee people on the 
naturalization procedures; 
 
- Organize an information campaign in the areas where the refugees 
living, i.e. printing leaflets, TV, radio, etc.; and, 
 
- Start to receive applications for naturalization. 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to UNHCR, the MFA is now working with relevant 
government bodies to amend present and/or issue new legal documents 
to these stateless persons and to further facilitate the process, 
such as implementing a waiver of certain GVN naturalization fees and 
a waiver of required Vietnamese language certificates for older 
people (most of the children all speak Vietnamese).  In addition, 
the GVN will undertake an initial inter-agency mission to the South, 
according to De Vincentis.  This proposed Plan of Action has been 
submitted to PM Dzung for final approval, and UNCHR is awaiting a 
Note Verbale from MFA confirming the Plan.  UNHCR is "hopeful" that 
the operational phase could commence in November. 
 
UNHCR: GVN HAS NOW ACKNOWLEDGED "BALL IN ITS COURT" 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶9. (SBU) According to De Vincentis, this revised application of the 
law can be applied to other Khmer refugees not on the list given to 
the GOC, but included on UNHCR lists or identified by the planned 
census.  Based on these negotiations, the MFA is now eager to 
resolve these cases and fully understands the requirements of 
UNHCR's role in the naturalization process.  De Vincentis said the 
MFA has acknowledged that "the ball is fully in its court."  Under 
the Plan, UNHCR will provide much of the technical and financial 
support including subsidizing certain naturalization-related fees 
that may not be waived, producing required documentation and 
advertising.  This may require additional minor negotiations. 
 
UNHCR ASKS FOR EMBASSY SUPPORT; OPEN TO CODEL 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) De Vincentis said the best way the USG can now support 
this process is for Post to "actively encourage" the MFA - UNCHR 
Plan of Action through its high-level GVN meetings and through "its 
public diplomacy," and to push for a November start date.  He said 
UNHCR HQ's Statelessness Unit in Geneva has previously supported a 
proposed visit to Vietnam by U.S. Congresswoman Diane Watson 
(California) and that UNHCR would still support this visit if it 
took place before the Plan of Action went into operation and served 
to "encourage" the GVN. 
 
DISCREPANCIES IN ACTUAL NUMBER OF STATELESS KHMERS 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
 
HANOI 00001651  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) Ambassador Michalak met on September 7 with Truong Xuan 
Thanh, Deputy Director General of the MFA Consular Department, who 
confirmed that the GVN was working with UNHCR on a path to 
citizenship for these cases.  However, according to Thanh, 8,000 of 
the reported 10,000 stateless Khmer people have "already been 
granted Vietnamese citizenship."  This contradicts the UNHCR 
assessment that only a "small number has regularized."  There could 
be some confusion as the GVN has granted a form of legal residency 
status to many of these persons but not citizenship.  Other 
individuals were pursuing the earlier naturalization process that 
required a Cambodian certificate of citizenship renunciation. 
Clearly the initial joint GVN - UNHCR census, called for in the Plan 
of Action, will be key to the overall successful resolution of these 
cases as this should establish the legal status of each individual 
and the requirements for a permanent solution. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) After years of stalemate in resolution of these stateless 
cases, this is clearly a positive step forward and a solid 
commitment to resolving the problem by the GVN.  With action by the 
Cambodian Government no longer required, resolution of these cases 
should be much simpler.  Possible obstacles remain.  Inter-agency 
cooperation will be needed between the MFA and the Ministry of 
Justice, which has responsibility for naturalization and has failed 
to lead in the past on this issue.  In addition, there could be 
inconsistencies between the lists of individuals that have already 
been identified as "stateless" and the new lists that will be 
developed from the proposed census and criteria called for in the 
Plan of Action.  A strong commitment from the Prime Minister's 
office will likely be needed.  We will follow developments closely 
in the weeks to come and report on progress toward implementation of 
the UNHCR-GVN Plan of Action. 
 
MICHALAK