VZCZCXRO3990
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #0784/01 2290854
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 170854Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0052
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 6079
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000784 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF and DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KIRF VM
 
SUBJECT: Khmer Krom Religious Freedom in Mekong Delta 
 
Ref: 08 HCMC 1056 
 
HANOI 00000784  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Vietnam's leadership continues to pay close 
attention to the country's Khmer Krom community, and has spent 
considerable resources to build new Theravada Buddhist pagodas, a 
Pali-language high school, and a university-level Theravada Buddhist 
Institute.  Contrary to reports from some foreign NGOs, Vietnam's 
approximately two million Khmer Krom, most of whom are concentrated 
in the Mekong Delta, are able to maintain their vibrant Theravada 
Buddhist traditions and are largely free to worship as they please. 
Theravada monks and others told a visiting IRF official that they 
were treated fairly within the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha (VBS). 
The GVN actively cultivates Theravada Buddhist leaders who support 
"national unity," even granting monks positions within local 
government.  As elsewhere, the line is political: Monks who engage 
in political dissent or activities that the government terms as 
"separatism," such as the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam or the 
"Dega" Movement in the Central Highlands, do face restrictions.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In meetings with the central Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha in 
Hanoi and later in meetings in Can Tho, Soc Trang and Tra Vinh 
PolOff and IRFOff took a closer look at religious freedom for the 
Khmer Krom ethnic minority residing in the Mekong Delta who practice 
Theravada Buddhism.  In each of the three provinces the officers met 
with Vice Chairmen of the People's Committee, heads of the Committee 
for Religious Affairs (CRA), and the Executive Council of the 
Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha.  In Can Tho, they visited the new 
Theravada Buddhist Institute.  In Soc Trang, the officers visited 
the 400 year old Bat Pagoda and the Pali Language High School.  In 
Tra Vinh Province, they visited the Ang Pagoda built in 950 AD -- 
one of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam.  The total Khmer population in 
these three provinces is approximately one million (around 27 
percent of the total population).  According to Theravada Buddhist 
monks and Protestant ministers, 98 percent of Khmer in the Mekong 
Delta are Theravada Buddhists.  In these three provinces there are 
approximately 400 Theravada Buddhist temples and pagodas. 
 
Theravada Buddhism and the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In 1981, the nine separate Buddhist sects in Vietnam were 
united into the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha (VBS).  This union merged 
both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism into one overarching Buddhist 
church.  The church is lead by a Supreme Patriarch and five 
deputies.  One of the five deputies is a Khmer Krom Theravada 
Buddhist monk.  Beneath the deputies of the Supreme Patriarch, the 
church is guided by Dharma and Executive Councils.  The Dharma 
Council's role is to address theological questions, while the 
Executive Council's responsibility is to oversee the day-to-day 
management of the VBS.  The Dharma Council has 160-170 total members 
with 30 standing members that meet monthly.  The entire Dharma 
Council meets annually at the end of each calendar year. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) According to Most Venerable Danh Nhuong, Deputy to the 
Supreme Patriarch and a leader within the Dharma Council, within the 
Dharma Council Theravada Buddhist monks are allowed to address 
individual doctrinal questions without interference from Mahayana 
members of the council.  Theravada Buddhists also confirmed that the 
day-to-day running of pagodas and community outreach are also not 
compromised by their Mahayana brethren.  Membership in both the 
Dharma and Executive councils is divided proportionally between 
Mahayana and Theravada monks based on their total membership in 
Vietnam.  The central VBS also explained that pagoda maintenance and 
restoration is managed on a rotational schedule.  Pol and IRF 
officers witnessed many newly painted and well-kept Theravada 
pagodas throughout their travels in the Mekong Delta that seemed to 
confirm this. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Khmer Krom leaders said that in reality Theravada monks 
are actually over-represented in leadership positions in the Dharma 
and Executive Councils and at the provincial and local levels where 
Khmer are prevalent.  At the provincial level, the VBS is also run 
by an Executive Council with a chief monk and two or three deputies. 
 A similar structure also exists in large cities, and the VBS is 
currently planning to emulate the GVN structure of provincial, 
district and commune leadership.  In the three provinces we visited 
-- Can Tho, Soc Trang and Tra Vinh -- all of the chief monks are 
Khmer Krom Theravada Buddhists. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Theravada Buddhist monks also participate in local 
government.  For example, the Theravada deputy to the Supreme 
Patriarch is also a member of the National Assembly and additionally 
serves as rector of the new Theravada Buddhist Institute in Can Tho. 
 The Chief Monk at the Ang Pagoda in Tra Vinh Province is also a 
member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in 
Hanoi and is Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in Tra 
Vinh Province.  Moreover, each province has Theravada Buddhist monks 
 
HANOI 00000784  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
who are also members of their provincial People's Council. 
 
Disrobing 
--------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Theravada Buddhist leaders in each province were very open 
in explaining the sensitive, but not uncommon, process of removing 
monks who had violated their vows.  Theravada monks must strictly 
obey 227 prohibitions or commandments; if they violate more than 
four -- typically involving drunkenness or sexual relations -- they 
are stripped of their monk's robes.  The process is traditionally 
handled at the pagoda or temple level where the monk resides unless 
the sin is serious or a judgment cannot be reached by the pagoda 
leadership, in which case the provincial VBS executive committee 
decides with input from other members of the executive committee. 
Once disrobed, individual monks are allowed to rejoin the monkhood 
if they confess their wrongdoings and make restitution.  Theravada 
Buddhist leaders in Soc Trang and Can Tho insisted that the 2007 
disrobing of several Khmer Krom monks was legitimate, though they 
conceded that standard procedures may not have been followed. 
 
Religious Holidays and Education 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The Khmer Krom monks with whom we spoke reported they are 
allowed to celebrate all of their religious holidays for their 
entire length and are not required to seek permission from local 
officials.  Nor are there restrictions on Khmer youth joining the 
monkhood.  The monks noted that it is very common for young males to 
join for three years or longer and then later leave the monkhood. 
Of the approximately 50,000 Buddhist monks nationwide, 8,000 are 
Theravada, though an additional 4,000 "short-term" monks also reside 
at the more than 500 Theravada Khmer temples in the Mekong Delta. 
The central CRA provides copies of Theravada scriptures to most of 
the pagodas in the region.  Traditionally, most of these temples 
oversee intensive programs in Pali language during the summer when 
children are out of school. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) According to GVN regulations, any village with more than 
100 households is permitted to build a temple, and PolOff and IRFOff 
observed many being constructed.  Economic growth has resulted in 
increased donations to build individual temples.  In Soc Trang, 
Khmer Krom monks commented that it used to take 15-20 years to raise 
enough money to build one new pagoda, but that these funds are now 
easily raised in a year or a year and a half.  Monks in all three 
provinces noted that Theravada pagodas are expanding their 
charitable assistance based on increased donations from followers as 
well.  The pagodas traditionally assist in giving food support and 
in building homes for the poor in their communities.  In Tra Vinh 
Province, all major religions -- including Catholic, Cao Dai, Hoa 
Hao and Buddhist -- join together for a community "welfare day" to 
assist the poor. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) At all levels of education, Khmer students are present in 
numbers proportional to their population.  Vietnamese is taught in 
elementary school, but in grades 6-12 Khmer students receive 
education in both Khmer and Vietnamese.  Many pagodas offer 
additional Khmer-language courses.  As part of the government's 
program to support ethnic minorities, Khmer students at all levels 
are exempt from school fees.  According to statistics provided by 
the People's Committees of the three provinces, there are more than 
315 schools that teach both Khmer and Vietnamese, and these serve 
nearly 150,000 students.  The 6,000 Khmer teachers at these schools 
represent more than 20 percent of all the teachers in the three 
provinces.  Additionally, 70 percent of Khmer students graduate from 
the 9th grade (compared to 80 percent of the majority ethnic Kinh), 
and of the Khmer students who enroll in high school, 71 percent 
graduate.  In addition, the three provinces manage a total of 15 
ethnic Khmer Krom boarding high schools that serve more than 4,000 
students, and an additional two schools are under construction. 
Currently, the three provinces boast more than 2,000 ethnic Khmer 
university or technical school students.  Khmer families also 
benefit from other government programs focused on ethnic minorities 
such as free health insurance. 
 
Theravada Buddhist Institute 
---------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) At the recommendation of the Dharma Council, the central 
Executive Council of the VBS in April 2006 voted to open a new 
university-level Buddhist institute in Can Tho dedicated to teaching 
Theravada Buddhism.  In July 2007, the first class of 68 students 
from 9 southern provinces matriculated.  At the institute, classes 
are taught in Khmer, Pali and Vietnamese, while Sanskrit is also 
offered to enable students to read ancient Theravada scriptures. 
The school is currently finishing plans to construct a permanent 
facility for the institute, which the rector hoped would be 
completed by the end of 2010.  The GVN donated land for the new 
 
HANOI 00000784  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
facility, as well as half of the construction costs.  Once the new 
facility is completed, the institute plans to have a total of 800 
students, with room and board provided.  The rector said that the 
school receives most of its teaching materials from Cambodia and 
Thailand, an while the institute initially encountered some 
difficulties in finding qualified teachers -- most of the monk 
professors at the institute previously studied at the Mahayana 
Buddhist Institute in HCMC -- an exchange program now allows 
teachers from Cambodia and Thailand to teach at the institute. 
 
Pali Language High School 
------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The Pali Language High School, founded in 1994 by the Soc 
Trang People's Committee, covers two city blocks in downtown Soc 
Trang and includes dormitories for students, several temples and the 
Soc Trang history museum.  The school's rector also serves as Vice 
Chair of the National Dharma Council and as Chief Monk of the VBS in 
Soc Trang Province.  The school serves Khmer Krom students from 13 
provinces throughout the Mekong Delta, admits 50-70 students each 
year, and is extremely competitive.  The GVN gives each student a 
monthly stipend of 520,000 VND ($29) in addition to providing free 
room and board and health care. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Before entering the school, most of the students would 
have already been monks for at least three years and completed the 
mandatory three-year elementary monk education.  The school offers a 
5 year educational program covering grades 6-12.  According to the 
rector, some graduates of the high school return to their home 
pagodas and oversee Pali language courses there, but a majority of 
the graduates leave the monkhood to find good jobs once they have 
acquired a quality education.  The most exceptional students proceed 
to attend either the Mahayana Buddhist Institute in HCMC or the 
Theravada Buddhist Institute in Can Tho.  Over 700 students have 
graduated from the High School in its 15-year existence.  In 2005, 
the Ministry of Education and Training invested 28 billion VND ($1.6 
million) to assist in the expansion and in building a new campus. 
The school is currently renovating its older facilities and hopes to 
expand further. 
 
¶14.  (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Ho Chi Minh City 
and cleared by the IRF Office. 
 
MICHALAK