REFUGEE AND TRANSIT CAMPS IN JORDAN NEARLY READY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001622

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA AND PRM; PLEASE PASS TO USAID
ROME FOR FODAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2013
TAGS: PREF PREL EAID MOPS IZ JO
SUBJECT: REFUGEE AND TRANSIT CAMPS IN JORDAN NEARLY READY
FOR OPERATIONS

Classified By: A/DCM Doug Silliman, per 1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (U) This is a joint Embassy/DART message.


2. (U) UNHCR REFUGEE CAMP: As of mid-day (local time) on
March 18, GOJ workers were laying water/sanitation
infrastructure -- water tanks, latrine pits, a trench system
and cesspools. UNHCR has not yet received authorization from
the GOJ to erect rubhalls and tents. Once authorization is
given, UNHCR will set up tents for 5,000 refugees (1,000
tents) and will have the ability to expand the camp site in
modular increments of 5,000 persons, up to a total of 20,000
persons. UNHCR has moved non-food items for 10,000 refugees
to warehouse near Ruweished and has deployed a team of five
staff to Ruweished (identified on USG maps as Ruwayshid or
H-4),including its senior logistics officer, national
protection officer and security officer. It will share
office space with the Hashemite Charitable Organization,
designated by the GOJ to serve as host-country coordinator
for refugee issues. UNHCR has identified the following NGO
implementing partners: OXFAM for water; Middle East Council
of Churches for sanitation; and Japan Platform for medical
care. WFP will provide food.


3. (U) IOM/JRCS TRANSIT CAMP FOR TCNS: As of March 13, key
infrastructure for the transit camp -- one 17,000 liter water
tank, rows of latrine toilets, a trench system and cesspools
-- was in place. Late on March 17, the GOJ gave the Jordan
Red Crescent Society (JRCS) authorization to erect a rubhall
and 1,000 tents; JRCS is doing so today, March 18. The
International Federation of the Red Cross/Red Crescent
Societies has provided non-food items for 5,000 TCNs.
Although the JRCS had identified the Jordanian Evangelical
Committee for Relief and Development as its implementing
partner for food services, neither has funds available to
actually purchase food. According to IOM, the transit camp's
water needs will be supplied by the GOJ's Ministry of Water,
but IOM will have to pay for the water and its transportation
(see para 4). GOJ officials, however, told emboffs March 13
that water for the transit camp would be supplied from a well
approximately 3 km to the east of the transit camp. IOM has
established an office in Ruweished that is fully connected to
IOM offices throughout the region, and will have five staff
in place there on the morning of March 19. IOM will also
establish a two-person office in Aqaba on March 19, to
facilitate onward transportation of Egyptian and Sudanese
nations. (Refcoord/DART funding recommendation: Because the
needs and supposed funding arrangements identified by the GOJ
and JRCS keep shifting, we recommend that all funds for camp
management services -- including food and water -- continue
to be directed toward IOM. As the overall lead agency for
TCN issues, IOM is better positioned to identify and respond
to emerging needs, and our funding would therefore have the
greatest flexibility if implemented through IOM.)


4. (U) WATER: UNHCR and IOM report that water for both
camps will be supplied by the GOJ's Ministry of Water, from
the well dug near Ruweished and treated by the US-funded
reverse osmosis purification unit. IOM will be required to
purchase the water at a cost of USD 6.5 per cubic meter. IOM
will also need to pay separately for transport of water from
the well (located near the refugee camp) to the transit camp,
a distance of approximately seven km. JRCS will distribute
water within the TCN transit camp. UNHCR is still
negotiating its water arrangements with the GOJ but has made
arrangements with OXFAM to distribute water within the
refugee camp.


5. (C) ACCESS TO EASTERN JORDAN: The biggest remaining
obstacle is access to all points east of Safawiye for UNHCR
and IOM's NGO implementing partners. The GOJ most likely
will close this entire area at the onset of hostilities in
Iraq. The GOJ has informed IOM that permission has been
granted for its staff and vehicles to travel to Ruweished but
that documentation will be issued at a later date, presumably
the onset of hostilities. UNHCR's documentation will be
arranged through the Hashemite Charitable Organization. Yet
none of IOM or UNHCR's NGO implementing partners yet have the
appropriate authorization to travel to eastern Jordan -- a
bureaucratic obstacle that could potentially slow down relief
efforts. We will continue to work with the GOJ to ensure
that an appropriate system is established to grant permits to
NGOs to access eastern Jordan.


6. (C) We also note that JAF officials have repeatedly
stated that authorization for IOs and NGOs to move in the
closed military area will be point-to-point only, e.g., for
organizations to travel to a specific camp or to the border.
Relief organizations will not be allowed to deviate from
their plans and travel to a different destination once they
have been granted access to the military area. Because two
different sets of relief agencies will be working in the two
different camps, we do not anticipate any problems in this
"point-to-point" access system.
GNEHM