REFUGEE ISSUES IN GOMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 008413 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2010 TAGS: PREF PGOV EAID CG UNHCR SUBJECT: REFUGEE ISSUES IN GOMA REF: A. KIGALI 3122 ¶B. KIGALI RW 3516 Classified by Economic Officer Katherine Simonds. Reason: 1.5(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: During her Nov. 26-Dec 1 visit to Goma, Econoff discussed refugee issues with Eddie O'Dwyer, UNHCR's Acting Head of Field Office in Goma, and with Kasuku, a member of a Congolese NGO involved in repatriating Congolese Tutsis. O'Dwyer said that UNHCR and the Governor of North Kivu had overcome mutual distrust to implement a unique cooperative program to facilitate the return of refugees to Rwanda. These flows amount to about 1500 per month. O'Dwyer said UNHCR was playing no role in the return of Congolese refugees. Kasuku said that thousands of Congolese Tutsi's returning from Rwanda were desperately in need of international assistance. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) On November 28 Econoff met with Eddie O'Dwyer, UNHCR's Head of Field Office (Acting) for Goma. O'Dwyer explained that UNHCR had returned to the DRC in May of 1999 with three missions: to repatriate willing Rwandan refugees; to reactivate tripartite cooperation with the DRC and Burundi to facilitate the repatriation of Burundian refugees; and to facilitate individual Congolese repatriations. The climate at the time was one of mutual suspicion. UNHCR feared that Rwandan Hutus were being forced out of Congo against their will. The North Kivu authorities blamed the UNHCR in part for the disastrous consequences of the arrival in Congo of Rwandan refugees following the 1994 Rwandan genocide. ¶3. (C) In the absence of UNHCR, the Governor of North Kivu was responsible for the refugee issue, and his office had based its operations on the premise that all the Rwandan and Burundian refugees in Congo needed to go home. In October 1998 the North Kivu authorities began a sensitization campaign to encourage voluntary repatriation. When that didn't work, according to O'Dwyer, the Congolese in February 1999 began rounding up Rwandan hutus and sending them home. Between February and July 1999, over 13,000 Rwandans were repatriated. After lengthy discussions, UNHCR began providing limited logistical support to the repatriation campaign in July 1999, in exchange for an opportunity to interview refugees and confirm that they were returning voluntarily. In December 1999 this evolved into a formal partnership agreement. O'Dwyer said that 20 UNHCR staff members worked in the field with 80 employees from the Governor's office to coordinate assembly and transportation of refugees. Since July 1999, on average, 1500 Rwandans have voluntarily returned home each month. ¶4. (SBU) The Rwandan refugee caseload is a moving target. O'Dwyer said that UNHCR had estimated that there were some 40,000 Rwandan refugees in North Kivu in May 1999. Today, despite 37,000 repatriations, UNHCR estimates that about 40,000 Rwandan refugees remain in North Kivu. ¶5. (C) O'Dwyer said that most skirmishes between Interhamwe and RCD/RPA forces lead to the "liberation" of groups of refugees. O'Dwyer is convinced that these populations, while not precisely held hostage by the Interhamwe, are being intimidated into remaining in the Congo. A journalist who visited a refugee processing station in December 2000 told Econoff that she met with a group of these refugees who had recently gained the liberty to make their way to the UNHCR site. She described them as physically and emotionally exhausted, and she characterized their experience in Congo as a life of slave labor. ¶6. (C) On November 27, Econoff met with Kasuku, Vice President of the local Chamber of Commerce and member of the NGO most active in repatriating Congolese Tutsi's from Rwanda, "Tout Pour le Developpement" (Ref A). Kasuku was once the head of the North Kivu cattlemen's association, but he and all his fellow ranchers lost their livelihoods when the Masisi cattle herds were slain in the years following the arrival of the Rwandan refugees. He said the Congolese refugees in Rwanda wanted to come home, but both the GOR and the UNHCR were holding them back. He said Caritas and another NGO provide limited support, but Congolese Tutsi returnees desperately need more assistance. Kasuku claimed that 8000 more Congolese who had recently returned from Rwanda had nothing to eat, and pleaded for USG assistance. ¶7. (C) Econoff asked O'Dwyer about TPD and reports that pecuniary motives underlay the NGO's effort to repatriate Congolese refugees (Ref A). O'Dwyer said that UNHCR's official policy is that the return of the Congolese refugees should coincide with the second phase of implementation of the Lusaka agreement. He said that in general the UN system provides the same assistance to repatriated Congolese that it provides to other internally displaced persons. The exception is UNHCR, which has been forbidden by its regional office in Addis from providing Congolees returnees the plastic sheeting it offers other IDPs. He believes that TPD is benevolent in its desire to help those who want to come home now, and does not think the NGO receives any financial benefit based on number of returnees. O'Dwyer criticized the site chosen to receive these refugees because it is on the border of Virunga park, which makes it vulnerable to Interhamwe raids. SWING