VZCZCXRO9199
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0347/01 1190210
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 280210Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1648

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000347 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS AND PRM 
BANGKOK FOR REFCOORD TIM SCHERER 
HO CHI MINH CITY FOR TIM SWANSON 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF CB VM
SUBJECT: TWO MONTAGNARDS DEPORTED FROM CAMBODIA, TWO RAN 
AWAY 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  During an April 25 deportation, two 
Montagnard Vietnamese citizens who arrived at the UNHCR in 
Cambodia after May 1, 2007 quietly boarded a Cambodian 
Government-arranged minivan at a Phnom Penh UNHCR site and 
headed for the Vietnam border.  However, sometime during the 
previous night, two other Montagnard individuals scheduled 
for deportation on April 25 presumably ran away from the 
Phnom Penh site and have not yet been located.  A Cambodian 
Ministry of Interior official on site stated that if the two 
runaways are found or return, they will not be arrested and 
they will be deported with the next group of departing 
Montagnard individuals.  End summary. 
 
Quiet Deportation of Two Montagnards 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In an early morning deportation on April 25, two 
Montagnard Vietnamese citizens quietly boarded a Cambodian 
Government-arranged minivan at a Phnom Penh UNHCR site and 
headed for the Vietnam border.  The two individuals arrived 
at the UNHCR in Cambodia after May 1, 2007, the cutoff date 
for Montagnard arrivals to be considered for U.S. 
resettlement if UNHCR denied them refugee status.  UNHCR 
Phnom Penh stated that the two -- one female and one male -- 
arrived in June 2007, showing that current UNHCR processing 
takes approximately 10 months for someone who is turned down 
for refugee status.  The individuals were each given a 
humanitarian resettlement letter on U.S. Embassy letterhead. 
The letter explains in English, Vietnamese, and Jarai 
languages that if the individual faces persecution or 
harassment, he or she may contact Embassy Hanoi or Consulate 
Ho Chi Minh City, and provides the contact information for 
the Consulate.  There were no media or NGO representatives on 
site during the deportation. 
 
Two Others Ran Away 
------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The deportation was originally planned for five 
individuals.  When Poloff, the UNHCR, and Ministry of 
Interior staff arrived at the site in the morning, it was 
discovered that two of the individuals were missing and 
presumably ran away during the night.  UNHCR Phnom Penh staff 
has stated in previous meetings with Poloff that some 
Montagnard individuals at the sites have been known to jump 
over the site walls at night to go out drinking or to buy 
beer or other things to bring into the site.  However, 
according to UNHCR Phnom Penh, this is the first time 
individuals have run away when they were to be deported.  The 
senior Ministry of Interior (MOI) official on site for the 
deportation, Deputy Director of the Internal Security 
Department Mr. Sovann, asked for Poloff's advice when it was 
discovered the two were missing.  Poloff and the MOI official 
agreed it would be best to continue with the deportation of 
the other two in order to discourage others from attempting 
to thwart repatriation plans by running away. 
 
The Runaways Are Welcome Back at the Site 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The two runaways are now considered illegal 
immigrants.  They have been turned down for refugee status by 
the UNHCR and they entered Cambodia illegally.  Initially, 
the MOI official stated loudly in front of the other 
Montagnards about throwing the two in jail when they are 
found.  Poloff counseled Sovann not to arrest the individuals 
if they are found or if they return to the site, but rather 
to let the runaways re-enter the UNHCR site and join with the 
next group of deportees.  Sovann then agreed that the 
runaways will be allowed to come back to the site.  He stated 
that the MOI would talk to them about Cambodia's immigration 
law, and about their current status.  He also noted that if 
they run away a second time, after this "education," that 
they would be arrested.  The fifth person who was to have 
been deported has a wife at the same site who arrived after 
he did.  The wife's refugee status determination (RSD) 
processing is not yet complete and UNHCR determined that the 
husband should stay until the wife's processing is finished. 
In fact, all five individuals originally scheduled for 
deportation received humanitarian resettlement letters in 
English, Vietnamese and Jarai languages. 
 
Current Phnom Penh Site Montagnard Numbers 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000347  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) As of April 21, there were 569 Montagnards at the 
UNHCR sites in Phnom Penh -- 147 persons at Site 1, 94 at 
Site 2, and 328 at Site 3.  Site 3 holds mostly "new 
arrivals."  The UNHCR reports that there have been 161 
Montagnard arrivals since January 2008 and all of them have 
arrived directly to Phnom Penh, none through Ratanakiri or 
Mondulkiri.  The monthly breakdown is as follows:  51 
arrivals in January, 21 in February, 76 in March, and 13 so 
far in April. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Despite the MOI official's initial ranting over the 
two runaways, he showed evenness in tone when discussing what 
would happen next with Poloff.  His decision to continue with 
the deportation, and to allow the runaways to come back to 
the UNHCR site if they are found are telling signs that the 
Royal Government of Cambodia is committed to an undeterred 
yet compassionate process.  Most who were on site for the 
deportation expressed concern for the two runaways.  One 
UNHCR staffperson wondered aloud if they might have returned 
back to Vietnam on their own.  Post will continue to seek 
updates with the UNHCR and will report if there is news on 
the runaways' whereabouts. 
MUSSOMELI