Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03AMMAN253
2003-01-13 17:15:00
SECRET
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

JORDAN CHANGES HUMANITARIAN PLANNING TO ACCEPT

Tags:  PREF PREL EAID MOPS IZ JO OFDA 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 AMMAN 000253 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA AND PRM; PLEASE PASS TO USAID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2013
TAGS: PREF PREL EAID MOPS IZ JO OFDA
SUBJECT: JORDAN CHANGES HUMANITARIAN PLANNING TO ACCEPT
IRAQI REFUGEES IN FIRST STAGE OF ANY CONFLICT

REF: 02 STATE 262459

Classified By: CDA Greg Berry per 1.5 (b) and (d).

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 AMMAN 000253

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA AND PRM; PLEASE PASS TO USAID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2013
TAGS: PREF PREL EAID MOPS IZ JO OFDA
SUBJECT: JORDAN CHANGES HUMANITARIAN PLANNING TO ACCEPT
IRAQI REFUGEES IN FIRST STAGE OF ANY CONFLICT

REF: 02 STATE 262459

Classified By: CDA Greg Berry per 1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (S) Summary and comment: The Prime Minister, Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs and JAF Assistant Chief of Staff
confirmed in separate meetings that, in the event of
hostilities in Iraq, the GOJ would allow 10,000 to 20,000
Iraqi refugees to enter Jordan on a "temporary basis." JAF
Assistant Chief of Staff reported the GOJ would set up four
separate installations for processing of refugees and TCNs:
a staging facility on the Iraqi/Jordanian border to screen
refugees and TCNs; two camps with a capacity of 25,000 each
at Ruweished, Jordan (H-4); and a camp at Nadayim airbase
inside Iraq, to be established when events make that
possible. This is an important practical change from
previous GOJ policy and contrasts with continuing public GOJ
statements which insist that Jordanian borders will remain
closed to all except third-country nationals in the event of
hostilities. (It is essential that we respect the
Jordanians' requirement for confidentiality on this issue.
It is highly sensitive in the Jordanian political context.)


2. (S) The GOJ and UNHCR are in the process of negotiating
an MOU to delineate responsibilities but negotiations
reportedly have snagged over the GOJ's financial requests.
The GOJ has asked UNHCR for 51 million JD (approx USD 70
million) to cover its costs, but UNHCR has told us it will
cover only humanitarian assistance costs and not related
development and infrastructure costs. We will obtain a list
of Jordan's estimated assistance costs from the Ministry of
Planning and report via septel. Given this apparent change
in GOJ policy, it could be useful for members of the
PRM/USAID Humanitarian Planning Team to travel to Jordan to
brief senior GOJ officials on the planned USG humanitarian
response and possible USG support to the international
community's and GOJ's humanitarian assistance efforts. End
summary and comment.

--------------
PM: Iraqi Refugees to be Allowed Entry
--------------



3. (S) Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb informed the
Ambassador January 8 that, in the event of hostilities in
Iraq, the GOJ would allow Iraqi refugees to enter Jordan and
would provide camps and some assistance inside the Jordanian
border. The PM also referred to a memorandum of
understanding with UNHCR that would detail the arrangements
for camps and first asylum procedures.


4. (S) The PM added that he was sending a team to Geneva to
participate in UNHCR's January 12-13 planning meetings and to
encourage donors to fund a substantial refugee assistance
package for use by frontline states. Planning should be for
long-term camps and should include, inter alia, establishing
schools for refugees on the assumption that camps would
likely remain in place for six months to a year or more. The
PM asked for strong USG support for a sizable assistance
package, noting that other donors would base their
contributions on what the USG pledged. He added that initial
figures he had heard of USD 3 million in USG pledges would be
insufficient for the needs of these camps. The Ambassador
assured the PM the USG would be helpful in the effort to
ensure refugee camps were properly funded and supplied.

-------------- --------------
JAF Confirms Policy; Planning for Two Camps Inside Jordan
-------------- --------------


5. (S) In a January 12 meeting, Jordanian Armed Forces
Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (and chief of the
GOJ's crisis management center) General Mohamed Majid Al
Eitan confirmed to DCM, Refcoord and Army Attache that the
GOJ would allow 10,000 to 20,000 Iraqi refugees to enter
Jordanian territory "in the first stages of a conflict." Al
Eitan reported that the GOJ was prepared to set up four
separate refugee/TCN processing facilities and camps: one on
the Baghdad-Amman highway border crossing for initial
screening of refugees and TCNs; two 75 km inside the
Jordanian border near Ruweished (H-4),for care and
processing of refugees and TCNs; and one at an Iraqi airbase
in Nadayim, to be established only after Iraqi authority
disintegrates. (NOTE: Ruweished, Jordan is also identified
on maps as H-4. The Iraqi airbase at Nadayim often is
incorrectly identified on maps as Ruweished. The Nadayim
airbase is located in the "cut-out" that was traded from
Jordan to Iraq several years ago in exchange for similarly
sized Iraqi territory.)

6. (S) JAF planners have identified four separate groups of
displaced persons likely to seek assistance in Jordan in the
event of hostilities in Iraq. First, foreign diplomats and
Western nationals fleeing Iraq would be granted immediate
entry to Jordan for repatriation through commercial flights
from Amman's Queen Alia airport. Second, TCN workers
resident in Iraq (believed to number up to 100,000 mostly
Egyptian and Sudanese nationals) would be screened and
registered at a processing facility on the Baghdad-Amman
highway border crossing, where they would be sent in waves to
the two camps near Ruweished until they could be repatriated.
(IOM has separately confirmed to us its plans to repatriate
TCNs with bus transport to Aqaba and then ship transport to
Nuweibeh, Egypt. IOM can handle processing of 2,000 TCNs per
boatload. IOM has contracted with appropriate transport
companies, but warns that key bus companies could be occupied
with Hajj pilgrims if hostilities begin before the end of the
Hajj, o/a February 12-13.) Third, the GOJ is prepared to
accept an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Iraqi refugees "on
humanitarian grounds," and only at the early stages of a
conflict in Iraq. Like TCNs, these initial Iraqi refugees
would be screened at the staging facility on the
Iraqi-Jordanian border and moved to the camps at Ruweished.
However, General Al Eitan made clear the GOJ would not accept
into Jordan "bad" Iraqis -- former members of the military or
otherwise suspect Iraqis -- and would instead hold them at
the screening center and possibly the stage two camp at
Nadayim airbase. Fourth, the GOJ believes the estimated up
to 100,000 Palestinians resident in Iraq could seek to enter
Jordan in the event of hostilities in Iraq. Al Eitan
confirmed that the GOJ would not allow Palestinians to enter
Jordan, telling emboffs that Jordan "suffered a lot" from the
1990-91 influx of Palestinians from the Gulf and is not
prepared to accept a similar influx. The GOJ therefore plans
to hold the Palestinians at the screening center on the
Iraqi-Jordanian border and would facilitate assistance to
Palestinians only in that area. Al Eitan added that the GOJ
believes most Palestinians resident in Iraq are without any
papers -- UNRWA registration or Iraqi travel documents.

--------------
GOJ Requests USD 70 Million in Support
--------------


7. (S) General Al Eitan confirmed that the GOJ is in the
process of negotiating an MOU with UNHCR to delineate
responsibilities and, most importantly from the GOJ's
perspective, secure financial assistance for humanitarian
assistance provided by the GOJ. According to Al Eitan, the
GOJ has estimated its humanitarian expenditures at 51 million
JD (approx USD 70 million). 15 million JD (USD 21 million)
are required to set up the staging ground at the
Iraqi-Jordanian border, two camps inside Jordan at Ruweished,
a later camp on the Iraqi side of the border, and a military
headquarters in the field. Al Eitan confirmed that the 51
million JD covers anticipated military and civilian
expenditures and said emboffs could obtain a detailed
breakdown of anticipated GOJ costs from the Ministry of
Planning. (Comment: From Al Eitan's brief description of
the services the GOJ is prepared to provide, the GOJ appears
to have thought through important logistical issues such as
water (the JAF has requested six desalination units and
accompanying water tankers) and health care (one JAF field
hospital has been assigned for refugee assistance) and
transport. Yet the GOJ also appears to seek compensation for
development projects such as water pipelines, sewerage
systems and electricity grids. Army Attache will obtain a
more detailed list of JAF assistance plans, and USAID Mission
Director and Refcoord will meet with the Minister of Planning
January 13 to obtain the GOJ's detailed financial request.)


-------------- --------------
UNHCR's Perspective: Progress but Financial Hurdles Remain
-------------- --------------


8. (S) In a one-on-one meeting following a January 9 donor
briefing, UNHCR Representative Sten Bronee confirmed to
refcoord that the GOJ had agreed to accept Iraqi refugees
inside Jordanian borders. In order to protect GOJ political
equities, UNHCR has agreed that the camps at Ruweished will
not be for "refugees" but will be for "displaced people" with
the understanding that this group would include Iraqi
refugees. Bronee commented that the GOJ seems to have
realized it could have a huge public relations disaster if it
is caught unprepared with several thousand Iraqi asylum
seekers on its border. However, the GOJ also wants to make
sure it has financial support from the international
community, as it feels that it was "burned" by providing
services without compensation during the 1990-1991 refugee
crisis. Bronee said the GOJ has asked the UN for guarantees
that it will be reimbursed for all refugee-related expenses.


9. (S) Not surprisingly, UNHCR's MOU negotiations with the
GOJ have snagged over GOJ financial requests. Dismissing the
GOJ's 51 million JD figures as "enough to build an Olympic
city," Bronee said he needed a "reasonable and credible
budget" before UNHCR could sign the MOU. Bronee added that
UNHCR will not pay for development projects, such as
high-quality electrical infrastructure or permanent
hospitals. Bronee asked the USG to weigh in with the GOJ on
the need to provide detailed, credible financial figures,
hinting that perhaps bilateral donors might be prepared to
finance development projects that the GOJ wanted to complete
in conjunction with refugee assistance.


10. (S) Bronee did not report any of his discussions with
the GOJ in the broader donor briefing. Instead, he reported
only that the UN is preparing to provide assistance to "large
number of displaced people at the Iraqi-Jordanian border."
While the UN "hopes" that the GOJ will be able to provide
assistance, Bronee said that the GOJ "is not in a position to
say so at this time." Echoing comments made by Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs Shaher Bak, Bronee later told
refcoord the GOJ is unlikely to change its public position
"until the very last minute."

--------------
UNHCR Prepositioning Complete
--------------


11. (SBU) At the January 9 donor briefing, Bronee announced
that with GOJ authorization, UNHCR had prepositioned non-food
stocks (tents, plastic sheeting, kerosene heaters, cooking
sets, blankets, etc) for 36,000 at a warehouse in Aqaba. The
stocks would be used to respond to refugee flows in/toward
Jordan and/or Syria. UNHCR also has secured 8600 square
meters of additional warehouse space in Amman. Bronee noted
that overall UNHCR planning figures for the region have not
changed: 600,000 refugees distributed among Iran, Turkey,
Syria, Jordan and Kuwait. Bronee made a strong pitch for
funding, telling donors that of the USD 60 million required
to preposition supplies and respond to initial refugee flows,
UNHCR had received only USD 16 million -- 6 million from the
UN's CERF and 10 million from UNHCR's emergency fund -- all
of which must be paid back.

--------------
Comment and Action Requests
--------------


12. (S) The GOJ's apparent decision to allow Iraqi refugees
to enter Jordan in the event of hostilities in Iraq
represents an important practical change from previous GOJ
policy and contrasts with continuing public GOJ statements
which insist that GOJ borders will remain closed. Given GOJ
sensitivities on refugee questions (including its steadfast
refusal to allow large number of West Bank Palestinians to
enter Jordan),as well as its very real desire to limit the
number of Iraqi asylum seekers in Jordan, we do not expect
the GOJ's public posture to change "until the very last
minute." Nevertheless, this change in GOJ policy poses new
questions for USG humanitarian planning, such as whether an
even partially open border would attract a greater flow of
refugees toward Jordan. If so, this argues more strongly for
a DART team to be positioned in Jordan. In order to sort out
these questions, Embassy Amman would welcome a visit by a
senior member(s) of the USG's Humanitarian Planning Team, to
assess UN, IO and GOJ capabilities and to explain in greater
detail the assistance the USG could offer.


13. (S) Finally, from both a humanitarian and political
perspective, we are concerned by two key GOJ planning
assumptions. First, the GOJ made it clear that refugees
would be admitted to camps in Ruweished only in the initial
stages of conflict. The GOJ did not clarify what it intended
to do with Iraqi refugees resident in Ruweished after the
second-stage camp would be established at Nadayim airbase in
Iraq and seems to have hinted that they would be granted only
temporary admission to Jordan. We will seek clarification of
this policy and remind the GOJ of our non-refoulment
concerns. Second, we question whether the GOJ will be able
to sustain its categorical refusal to admit Palestinians
resident in Iraq. We also are concerned that Palestinians
resident in Iraq -- without UNRWA documentation or any other
documents to establish their claims to UNRWA status -- could
fall through the cracks of the UN refugee system. Although
ICRC Jordan Delegate Guy Mellet had previously indicated the
ICRC would be prepared to provide assistance to stateless
Palestinians displaced as the result of hostilities in Iraq,
we request that Geneva clarify this policy at the appropriate
time.
BERRY