Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ACCRA676
2003-04-08 10:20:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Accra
Cable title:  

CORRUPTION INSPECTION OF IOM/BANJUL COMPLETED

Tags:  GA GH INS IO PREF 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L ACCRA 000676 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR PRM, ABIDJAN AND NAIROBI FOR REFCOORDS, ROME FOR
DHS, GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2013
TAGS: GA GH INS IO PREF
SUBJECT: CORRUPTION INSPECTION OF IOM/BANJUL COMPLETED

REF: ACCRA 501

Classified By: Refcoord for Admissions Carla T. Nadeau for reasons 1.5
b and d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L ACCRA 000676

SIPDIS

STATE FOR PRM, ABIDJAN AND NAIROBI FOR REFCOORDS, ROME FOR
DHS, GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2013
TAGS: GA GH INS IO PREF
SUBJECT: CORRUPTION INSPECTION OF IOM/BANJUL COMPLETED

REF: ACCRA 501

Classified By: Refcoord for Admissions Carla T. Nadeau for reasons 1.5
b and d.


1. (C) Summary: West African Regional Refugee Coordinator
for Admissions met with International Organization for
Migration (IOM) Head of Mission to discuss the findings of
the recent inspector general's investigation at IOM branch
office Banjul. The team concluded that fraud concerns only
reached the Canadian resettlement program. While no solid
evidence of wrongdoing was uncovered, the IG team left Banjul
sufficiently suspicious to recommend a down-sizing and
restructuring of the office to include the removal of the
staffer in question. End summary.


2. (C) Upon his return from consultations in Geneva, HOM
Antonio Palosa debriefed Refcoord on the findings of the
recent IG investigation of IOM Branch Office Banjul.
Relieved that the concerns outlined in ref a. only reached
the Canadian program, Palosa appeared confident that fraud
had not tainted the US Refugee Program (USRP). Providing a
brief readout of the investigation, Palosa relayed concerns
about lack of corroborating testimony from refugees. Upon
hearing of the arrival of the investigatory team, refugees
deliberately maintained a very low profile providing little
concrete testimony of the alleged fraud perpetrated by
staffer Gomez. Despite the lack of detailed testimony, the
IG uncovered other, potentially damaging evidence that
something was amiss at the office. Specifically, Gomez had
over 20 refugee case files for the Canadian program in her
desk drawer that should have been handed over to the
Canadians. The files were at various stages of the
resettlement process and there was no reasonable explanation
as to why these specific cases were held up.


3. (C) Palosa expects that the IOM/Banjul office will be
re-shuffled and down-sized. Although the IG staff
recommended the firing of Gomez, their recommendation must be
approved by their IG superiors in Geneva. Assuming this
approval will come through, Palosa believed that Gomez will
be one of a significant number of staff to lose their job.
Noting that there are not many cases left in Banjul that need
to depart, IOM is using this opportunity to down-size and
leave a more appropriately sized staff of only two or three
to run operations.


4. (C) Comment: While it is certainly good news that IOM
does not believe the alleged fraud reached the USRP and also
that remedial action is being taken, refugee watchers should
maintain close scrutiny of the office. As little evidence
was provided by affected refugees, IOM has not managed to
discover the true depth of the alleged fraud. Furthermore,
given the refugees' reluctance to speak, it remains to be
seen if there has been some sort of quid pro quo for their
silence. End comment.
YATES