SEX SCANDAL IN ZIMBABWE REFUGEE CAMP

UNCLAS HARARE 001627 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR PRM MLANGE NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JFRAZER LONDON FOR CGURNEY PARIS FOR CNEARY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREF PHUM EAID PGOV ASEC ZI SUBJECT: SEX SCANDAL IN ZIMBABWE REFUGEE CAMP ¶1. (U) The July 1 edition of the independent "Daily News" revealed that two aid workers in the Tongogara Refugee Camp in southern Zimbabwe had been suspended after refugees lobbed charges of sexual abuse against them. The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC),which operates the camp, suspended Ernest Maigurira, its Zimbabwe program director, and Mavuvo Pambai, its community service officer, on June 25 until an investigation is completed. (Note: The Tongogara camp, in a remote area of Chipinge district of southern Manicaland province, intermittently houses between 500 and 1000 international refugees, most of whom are from Angola, Burundi, the DRC, and Rwanda. The UNHCR and the Government of Zimbabwe oversee the camp. End Note.) At least four women and eight teenage girls accused Maigurira and Pambai of requiring sexual favors from them in exchange for scholarships in Western countries, money to attend local schools, blankets, and sanitary supplies, according to the article. One accused them of keeping makeshift beds in their offices for sex with female refugees. J. Michael Graglia, an intern from the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies sent by ICMC to evaluate the Zimbabwe camp, wrote a June report detailing the allegations of abuse. Maigurira reportedly tried to have the GOZ cancel Graglia's work permit after he submitted the report to ICMC headquarters in Geneva. Maigurira denied any malfeasance and said any investigation would exonerate him. ¶2. (SBU) ICMC sent its Director of Operations, Dale Buscher, to Zimbabwe to conduct an investigation during the week of July 1 and found that "the allegations appear to be substantiated," according to additional press reporting. Buscher reportedly interviewed 26 refugees at the camp, some of whom said the abuse had been going on for at least a year. ICMC said it was "shocked and disturbed" by what it had uncovered, and that it was cooperating with local police. On July 11, poloff spoke to John Adu, UNHCR's resident representative in Zimbabwe, about the scandal. Adu relayed that UNHCR is conducting its own investigation and will have a report out by the end of the month. He added that the suspended ICMC officers are not being allowed near the camp while the investigations continue. SULLIVAN