Washington Indochina Update # 5
March 2002
February and March are among the busiest times of the year for delegations and conferences involving Cambodia, Laos, and/or Vietnam and the US. Recent highlights have included a joint conference on Agent Orange in Hanoi, a religious freedom commission visit to Vietnam and Laos, and a Vietnamese labor delegation to the US, as well as regular diplomatic exchanges. The Fund for Reconciliation and Development has held public events in Washington as well, regarding Cambodian commune elections, US-Lao bilateral cooperation, and unexploded ordnance or "bombies" in Laos.
Cambodia fastest-growing of all US trade partners. A study by Ed Gresser of the Washington-based Progressive Policy Institute, after reviewing trade data, shows that US trade with Cambodia has risen nearly 200-fold since Cambodia received normal trade relations (NTR) in 1996. Cambodian exports to the US, predominately garments, seafood and precious gems, have increased from less than $6 million in 1996 to nearly $1 billion. Gresser notes that "success in trade has gone together with a serious effort, though one with some flaws, to develop modern labor policies…[T]rade policy, if carefully conceived and based on incentives for improved policies rather than on sanctions, can make a useful contribution."
Gresser’s data also shows US imports from Laos, which does not have NTR, declining from $16 million in 1996 to $4 million last year. At an average effective tariff rate of 45%, Lao exports to the US face the highest duty of any US trading partner by nearly three times. Vietnam’s exports to the US already exceeded $1 billion in 2001 before NTR came into effect. Trade analysts expect the volume of trade in both directions to as much as double in 2002.
US trade delegation visits Vietnam. A delegation from the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) visited Vietnam from February 20-28, led by Elena Bryan, USTR director for Indochina and India. The US delegation, including the director in charge of garments and textiles, discussed implementation of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and plans for a new agreement covering textile and garment exports.
Vietnamese labor delegation visits Washington, New York. A group of Vietnamese labor leaders, including First Vice Minister Nguyen Luong Trao of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), came to the US from March 2-13, meeting with US labor groups and members of Congress. Topics of discussion included Vietnamese labor relations, US investment assistance and the effects of the BTA. The visit was hosted by the US-Vietnam Trade Council.
Possibilities for normalizing trade with Laos. The Fund for Reconciliation & Development and the Mennonite Central Committee held a public forum on March 4 to discuss the state of US-Lao relations, with a particular focus on trade. Speakers included representatives of Laotian-American groups, business cooperatives, US nonprofit organizations, and the State Department. Some members of the group also met with Congressional staff the following day. Despite some remaining obstacles, panelists at the forum expressed optimism about chances for improvement in US-Lao cooperation and Congressional passage of the BTA, which was signed in December 1998. A summary transcript of the event will be posted soon on FRD’s website (www.ffrd.org).
US involvement in Cambodia-Vietnam repatriation process. Since the tripartite agreement between Cambodia, Vietnam and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) over repatriation of asylum-seekers from Vietnam’s Central Highlands in late January, the US has continued to monitor the process carefully. (Despite some language to the contrary, none of the nearly 1,000 people in camps in northeast Cambodia has been designated a refugee.) The State Department expressed dissatisfaction with an alleged April 30 return deadline agreed to by the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments without UNHCR consent. In return, Vietnam criticized what it saw as attempts to complicate and delay the return process.
In a February 22 statement, a State Department spokesperson said that "We expect the governments of Vietnam and Cambodia to adhere to the letter and spirit of the January 21 trilateral agreement to resolve the [asylum-seekers] problem in compliance with international conventions and humanitarian imperatives." US Ambassador to Cambodia Kent Wiedemann offered to resettle some of the asylum-seekers in the US "if the UNHCR makes the judgement that some [people] should not be returned for safety reasons." This suggestion brought more complaints of interference from the Vietnamese government, but at present all sides have agreed to continue negotiations.
Report on Central Highlands available. A balanced and detailed report on the situation in the Central Highlands, entitled "Vietnam: Indigenous Minority Groups in the Central Highlands," is available on the UNHCR website (http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rsd). Search under "Vietnam" and list reports by date; the report is the second on the list.
State Department releases human rights reports. The yearly Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, prepared by the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, were released on March 4. (See http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001.) The reports focus on civil and political rights, and do not generally assess social and economic rights. However, the topics included in the report have expanded in recent years to include gender equality, human trafficking and labor issues. By comparing this year’s report with those of previous years on the same country, one may reach a sense of the relative changes in a country’s human rights situation over time.
The reports systematically exclude discussion of human rights which the US Government frequently violates or which are controversial in the US, such as use of the death penalty or denial of basic health coverage to poor people. Also unmentioned are the connections between US foreign and military policy and human rights problems in other countries. The Guardian (Britain) noted that this year’s reports "tone down criticism of countries vital to [the] war on terror," with "some evidence of censorship."
Countries with different economic systems or a history of conflict with the US often come in for particularly harsh criticism, while US allies (such as Indonesia or the Philippines) are generally treated with somewhat more leniency. There is no human rights report for the US, although independent human rights organizations do produce such reports.
In particular, the judgments passed on a country’s overall human rights record seem arbitrary, and not necessarily connected with the details of individual incidents described in the body of the report. Why, for instance, is Vietnam’s record said to have "worsened" while others have not, and without any particular explanation? Why are landmines included as a human rights issue in Cambodia and Thailand, but not in Laos or Vietnam (where most casualties come from US-origin mines and bombs)?
A detailed comparison of treatment of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam with several neighboring countries is available by request from washington@ffrd.org.
Vietnam criticizes State Department human rights report. Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the human rights report "grossly distorted the reality in Viet Nam as it made a series of slanderous accusations with false evidence…By issuing this report, the US is interfering with Viet Nam's internal affairs. Viet Nam strongly condemns and rejects the report." The official Vietnamese press (and unofficial Vietnamese internet chatrooms) tended to view the report as symptomatic of a unilateral US foreign policy and noted US human rights problems as counter-arguments.
There was no official Cambodian or Lao response to the report.
Religious freedom commission returns from trip to Vietnam and Laos. A delegation from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), including one commissioner and staff members, visited Vietnam and Laos over the last two weeks of February. During the visit, the delegation met with government officials and religious leaders in both countries. No public statement has been made by USCIRF about the trip, either beforehand or afterwards, and the commissioners are reportedly weighing recommendations and next steps to take.
The fact that the trip took place at all is remarkable, given the politicization of religious freedom issues in Laos, Vietnam and the US and the harsh rhetoric that the Commission has exchanged with Vietnam as recently as mid-February, when a Vietnamese spokesperson labeled USCIRF testimony to Congress "totally unacceptable."
US and Vietnam agree on joint Agent Orange research. Following the March 3-6 Agent Orange conference in Hanoi, the US and Vietnam signed an agreement in principle on March 10 to conduct future joint research into the consequences of exposure to herbicides sprayed by the US during the Vietnam War. A $400,000 pilot project began during the Hanoi conference. US Ambassador Raymond Burghardt called the agreement a step forward in relations. "Americans and Vietnamese working together in pursuit of a common interest can achieve a great deal,"' Burghardt told the Associated Press.
The agreement does not include humanitarian assistance for any Vietnamese affected by Agent Orange, a group estimated at anywhere from 30,000 to one million people. While most exposure occurred decades ago, recent studies point to "hotspots," many near former military bases, where present-day residents are still threatened by dioxin in their water and food supplies.
For background on Agent Orange in Vietnam, as well as Cambodia and Laos, see articles in the March issue of FRD’s newsletter, Interchange (online at http://www.ffrd.org/interchange/index.html).
Project on Agent Orange in Laos underway. The Laos Agent Orange Survey (Project LAOS), a joint initiative of scientists and researchers including FRD, began operations early this year with the objectives of determining the extent of wartime spraying of Agent Orange and other herbicides by the US in the Lao PDR and of assessing the long-term environmental and health consequences of associated dioxin contamination. Herbicide use in Laos and Cambodia was officially denied by the US Government for decades, and no research has yet been conducted on the subject. Project LAOS also recently assisted four Laotian representatives to attend the Agent Orange conference in Hanoi. For further information, contact Roger Rumpf, Project LAOS coordinator, at rojacmir@earthlink.net.
US to increase disaster relief assistance to Vietnam. The Saigon Times reported on March 1 that the US Agency for International Development (AID) has added $1.4 million to a program on preventing natural calamities and their consequences in Vietnam. According to AID, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) programs on disaster response and mitigation in Vietnam totaled $2.49 million in fiscal year 2001.
OFDA funding in Cambodia and Laos has been minimal ($156,000 to Laos and $25,000 to Cambodia since 1998).
President's 2003 budget request includes aid to Cambodia, Laos, other areas. The proposed FY 2003 foreign operations budget, sent to Congress on February 4, includes $17 million for Cambodia "to bolster grassroots NGOs, strengthen the National Assembly, ensure fair communal elections, and begin addressing long-term education and health needs." $2 million in funding for health and economic assistance for Laos is maintained from 2002. The budget for demining programs is set to increase, and Agent Orange research funding is expected to at least stay constant from present levels.
On March 14, President Bush announced that he would seek a $5 billion increase in the foreign assistance budget, beginning in 2004. It is not yet known whether Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam would be eligible for any of the funds in this new "Millennium Challenge Initiative."
Khmer Rouge tribunal negotiations continue. The UN Special Representative to Cambodia, Peter Leuprecht, said on March 8 that he hoped the United Nations would continue to be involved in efforts to bring leaders of Cambodia’s genocidal Khmer Rouge to justice. The UN has come under pressure from member states, including the European Union, Australia and the US, to reconsider its February 7 decision to abandon talks with the Cambodian government. Leuprecht said that "very few countries support this decision" and "personally, I am not willing to give up." Cambodian experts, such as Youk Chhang of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, also continue to support a tribunal with UN involvement.
The State Department welcomed Cambodia’s statement that "the door remains open" for an agreement with the UN. A source at the State Department added, "We still hope that agreement can be reached on a credible tribunal mechanism, and we are consulting with other UN member states about this." The US stance has, however, come under criticism from conservatives in Congress. Sens. Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sent a February 12 letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan supporting the UN decision to back out of the tribunal, which they termed a "sham" and "a fatally flawed procedure." The UN withdrawal was also supported by human rights groups in the US.
Cambodian adoption cases moving towards resolution. Following the suspension of adoptions from Cambodia in December, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and State Department announced March 4 that 200 cases that were in process when the suspension occurred will be resolved by April. However, an additional 200 cases are considered "too premature to qualify." INS Cambodia task force chief Phyllis Coven said, "The Cambodian government openly concedes that there is baby trafficking going on," and stated that resumption of new adoption cases will be delayed for at least a year. Meanwhile, eight Vietnamese adoption cases that were halted by the INS still remain to be resolved.
The Washington Indochina Update is written on a monthly basis by Andrew Wells-Dang, Washington Representative of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development. Andrew can be reached at washington@ffrd.org.
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