VZCZCXRO7618
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #1270/01 2780858
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050858Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9022
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1631

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 001270 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM AND EAP/MLS 
BANGKOK FOR REFUGEE COORDINATOR 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL CB
SUBJECT: UNHCR CAMBODIA ON MONTAGNARDS 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISSEMINATION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  UNHCR'S Phnom Penh office reported that 
direct arrivals of Montagnards to the UNHCR office in Phnom 
Penh makes up 75 percent of new arrivals in 2007, compared to 
40 percent of new arrivals in 2006.  During the UNHCR office 
reporting period starting May 1, the UNHCR has seen an 
increase in refugee recognitions totaling 43 percent of 
Montagnards who arrived prior to May 1 (28 cases out of 65 
first-instance decisions).  UNHCR notes that five of these 
cases have been recognized because of publicized links with 
Montagnard activists in other countries that make them more 
vulnerable to persecution if they were to return to Vietnam. 
Recently there have been only two applications for voluntary 
repatriation.  The UNHCR report says this is because of the 
new U.S. policy which has led to final rejected cases 
deciding as a group to refuse repatriation counseling.  End 
summary. 
 
INCREASE IN DIRECT ARRIVALS TO PHNOM PENH 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On October 1, the Office of the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Phnom Penh provided a 
non-public, internal report to its partners in the 
international community stating that in 2007 there have been 
269 new Montagnard arrivals, 200 of whom were direct arrivals 
to the UNHCR office in Phnom Penh.  Direct arrivals of 
Montagnards to the UNHCR office in Phnom Penh make up 75 
percent of new arrivals in 2007, compared to 40 percent of 
new arrivals in 2006.  The number of direct arrivals to Phnom 
Penh has doubled from 66 during the first four months of 2007 
to 134 direct arrivals from May 1 through September.  The 
report links the increase in direct arrivals to possible 
encouragement by Montagnards who are in the U.S, noting the 
increase in direct arrivals coincided with the May 1 date of 
implementation of the new U.S. policy on Montagnards.  For 
non-direct arrivals, the report states that in September the 
UNHCR and the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) conducted 
their fourth joint mission to Ratanakiri bringing 23 asylum 
seekers to Phnom Penh. 
 
RECENT INCREASE IN REFUGEE RECOGNITION 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The report states that there has been a recent 
increase in refugee recognitions of Montagnards who arrived 
prior to May 1.  (Note: Our Phnom Penh UNHCR office 
interlocutors told Poloff that the UNHCR has not made status 
determinations for any of the Montagnards who arrived after 
the May 1 cutoff date.  UNHCR does not expect to make final 
determinations for post-May 1 arrivals until early 2008.  End 
note.)  Of the 65 first-instance decisions, 28 were 
recognitions (43 percent) and 37 were rejections.  The UNHCR 
Phnom Penh office report states that seven of the 
first-instance recognitions were based on derivative status 
and 21 cases were recognitions based on well-founded fear of 
persecution over religion or political opinion.  Five of the 
cases were recognized because of demonstrated links with 
Montagnard activists in other countries that may make them 
more vulnerable to persecution if they were to return to 
Vietnam.  For these five cases, the matter of past 
persecution was not as important to the UNHCR determination 
as was the possible risk of future persecution, according to 
the report. 
 
DECREASE IN VOLUNTARY REPATRIATION 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) According to the report, there have been only two 
recent applications for voluntary repatriation and previous 
momentum for voluntary repatriations seems to have slowed. 
The UNHCR report states this is due to the new U.S. policy 
"which has led to the final rejected cases deciding as a 
group to refuse all repatriation counseling."  On September 
4, UNHCR submitted to the RGC the names of 21 individuals who 
have been turned down by both the UNHCR and U.S. Overseas 
Processing Entity review, and who are subject to Cambodian 
immigration laws.  The RGC has not announced plans to 
repatriate the 21 individuals but the UNHCR office said that, 
in the past, the RGC gives only a few days advance notice. 
 
CURRENT STATS ON MONTAGNARDS IN PHNOM PENH 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The report states that there are currently 379 
Montagnards in the Phnom Penh sites.  Of these, 157 persons 
 
PHNOM PENH 00001270  002 OF 002 
 
 
(41 percent) have been rejected (70 persons on first instance 
and 87 persons have exhausted their appeal with UNHCR), 78 
(21 percent) have been recognized, and 144 (38 percent) are 
pending refugee status determination.  Of the 269 arrivals in 
2007, 53 persons (20 percent) have been recognized and 66 
persons (24 percent) have been rejected.  The report states 
that 150 persons (56 percent) are pending in the first 
instance due to a backlog of cases and that an increased 
number of arrivals has resulted in refugee status 
determination interview delays of as long as two months.  In 
2007, 89 persons have departed for resettlement -- 85 to the 
United States, three to Canada, and one to Finland. 
 
UNHCR CONCERN OVER CREDIBILITY OF CLAIMS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The report unclearly suggests that a possible 
increase in contact between Montagnards in the sites and 
Montagnards who are in the U.S., and between Montagnards who 
have not yet had a refugee status determination interview and 
those who have been interviewed already, has led to an 
increase in the number of non-credible claims.  The office 
suggests that the information exchanged between the groups 
has led to "copycat claims" and that individuals who have not 
been interviewed yet want to know from others how they "can 
avoid 'failing'".  The report makes reference to the 
possibility that Montagnard groups in the U.S. are "funding 
and fueling" the movement of Montagnards into Cambodia.  The 
UNHCR office in Phnom Penh also has seen an increase in 
involvement of U.S.-based Montagnards and Montagnard advocacy 
groups trying to intervene in the UNHCR process, mainly 
through letters about individual cases. 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT.  The report implies the possibility that 
Montagnards are trying to overcome the new U.S. policy that 
Montagnards who come to the UNHCR office after May 1 will 
have their refugee claims screened only by UNHCR and will not 
have the chance of special, secondary screening for U.S. 
resettlement.  We have assurances from the UNHCR office that 
they continue to base their determinations on what they hear 
from individuals during personal interviews.  UNHCR continues 
its visits to the Central Highlands of Vietnam to assess the 
situation on the ground.  Post will work closely with the 
Embassy in Hanoi and the Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City for 
their assessment of whether UNHCR is getting appropriate 
access and information there.  Post will remind the UNHCR 
office in Phnom Penh to ensure that they continue to sort out 
legitimate refugee claims even among those applicants who 
first present "copycat claims."  Post suggests doing the same 
thing in Geneva with the UNHCR.  END COMMENT. 
MUSSOMELI