PALESTINIANS IN POST-SADDAM IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002626

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA AND PRM; PLEASE PASS TO USAID
KUWAIT AND NICOSIA FOR DART

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/01/2013
TAGS: PREF PREL PHUM KPAL IZ JO UNSC
SUBJECT: PALESTINIANS IN POST-SADDAM IRAQ

REF: CAMPBELL/PRM MAY 2 E-MAIL

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


1. (C) Summary and Comment: The estimated 90,000 long-term
Palestinian residents of Iraq reportedly are losing the legal
protection, privileges and access to government services
extended by the Saddam government, resulting in a flow of
more than 800 Palestinians toward Jordan since the onset of
hostilities. Palestinian refugees in Iraq are not covered by
UNRWA's mandate and therefore have no alternative to Iraqi
government services. Absent coalition plans to ensure access
to basic social services for Palestinians in post-Saddam
Iraq, the PLO plans to seek a new UNGA resolution to expand
UNRWA's mandate to Iraq. UNRWA is not interested in a new
mandate and doubts the PLO's efforts will be successful.
Although UNHCR is prepared to provide assistance to
Palestinians fleeing post-Saddam Iraq, a new Palestinian
refugee population queuing on international borders could
prove destabilizing throughout the region. To prevent that
refugee flow, we believe the authorities in Iraq should
examine ways to ensure that protection and basic services are
extended to Palestinians resident in Iraq. End summary and
comment.

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Background -- Protection & Privileges Under Saddam
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2. (U) The 90,000 Palestinians resident in Iraq are believed
to be a mix of original 1948 refugees and their descendants
(roughly 30,000) as well as more recent arrivals who have
migrated to Iraq for economic and political reasons.
(Comment: Because Palestinian refugees in Iraq are not
covered under UNRWA's mandate, there is no practical
difference between UNRWA refugees and ordinary Palestinians
resident in Iraq. UNRWA status only gives Palestinian
refugees the right to access UNRWA services in areas under
UNRWA's mandate -- Gaza, West Bank, Jordan, Syria and
Lebanon. It does not provide legal protection or in any way
influence a sovereign state's decision to admit or deny entry
to Palestinian refugees.) Under the Saddam regime,
Palestinians resident in Iraq had rights to legal residency,
including travel documents, and access to free government
services such as health and education. According to PLO
Refugee Affairs official Mohamed Abu Bakr, a significant
portion of the Palestinian population in Iraq also enjoyed
preferential housing arrangements, paying nominal rent or
sometimes even no rent at all. Because very little
information is available about the Palestinian community in
Iraq, it is unclear what percentage of this population was
financially dependent on subsidized housing.

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Housing Evictions & Threats of Reprisals
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3. (C) Palestinians in post-Saddam Iraq appear to be losing
at least some of these privileges. On April 15, PLO Official
Abu Bakr reported to refcoord that 27 Palestinian families in
Baghdad's Baladiyat neighborhood had been evicted from their
homes because their landlords no longer agreed to the low
rents previously guaranteed by the Saddam government. These
families sought shelter in a football stadium near the
Palestinian embassy and have been there ever since. ICRC
officials subsequently confirmed to US Mission Geneva that a
total of 120 Palestinian families have been driven from their
homes in this neighborhood and are in need of both protection
and basic humanitarian assistance (ref). According to an
April 27 report in the Arabic daily newspaper Al Sharq Al
Awsat, another 1500 Palestinian families are in danger of
being evicted from their homes. PLO and UNHCR officials
worry that Palestinians may be subjected to politically based
evictions as well. Nabil Musawi, an aide to INC leader Ahmed
Chalabi, was widely quoted in mid-April (including in the
Jerusalem Post) as having suggested that any Arabs expelled
from their homes in northern Iraq would be welcome to expel
Palestinians from their homes in Baghdad.

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Access to Government Services?
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4. (C) In addition to shelter needs, the PLO's Department of
Refugee Affairs fears that long-term Palestinian residents of
Iraq will lose access to free health and education services
formerly guaranteed by the Saddam regime. Abu Bakr told
refcoord that because Iraq is not covered by UNRWA's mandate,
Palestinians in Iraq do not have any alternative to Iraqi
government facilities. Abu Bakr asked whether the coalition
forces had long-term plans to ensure that Palestinians
retained access to Iraqi government services. Absent such
plans, he continued, the Palestinians would seek to extend
UNRWA's mandate to Iraq. Palestinian Observer to the UN
Naser Al Kidweh already has been instructed to seek UN
support for the General Assembly resolution required to
change UNRWA's mandate. (UNRWA Deputy Commissioner General
Karen Abu Zayd later told refcoord UNRWA was not interested
in expanding its mandate and expressed doubts that the PLO's
planned approach to the General Assembly would be effective.)

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Palestinians Already Fleeing Iraq
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5. (SBU) The changing status of Palestinians in post-Saddam
Iraq has already resulted in the movement of Palestinians
from Iraq to Jordan, with more than 800 having sought entry
since the onset of hostilities. As of mid-day on May 4, 762
Palestinians have been admitted to the UNHCR refugee camp at
Ruweished, while another 40 remain in the Jordan Red
Crescent's TCN transit camp. (Approximately 100 Palestinians
in the UNHCR camp hold Jordanian citizenship but have elected
to stay in the camp with their family members who do not
possess Jordanian passports.) UNHCR protection officials
report that the Palestinians have provided a range of reasons
for fleeing Iraq. Some report that they have been physically
threatened and told that they no longer were welcome in
post-Saddam Iraq, while others report that they have been
evicted from their homes due to post-Saddam rent increases.
A large number of these Palestinians (163 today, May 4) are
unaccompanied young men, some of whom have told UNHCR they
would like to study in Jordan and may have lost access to
Saddam-guaranteed scholarships in Iraq. Other young men
appear to be economic migrants, simply looking for better
opportunities in Jordan. Although the GOJ in early April
allowed a group of 40 Palestinians to enter Amman on a
temporary basis (with guarantees from Jordanian family
members that their stay truly would be temporary),the GOJ is
unlikely to allow any Palestinians to enter Jordan from the
UNHCR refugee camp until the steady flow of new Palestinian
arrivals from Iraq (estimated at 30-50 per day) abates.

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Comment
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6. (C) The Palestinians, like other groups viewed as
supporters or guests of Saddam Hussein, are in danger of
losing their privileges and possibly suffering political
reprisals in post-Saddam Iraq. If the post-Saddam government
does not extend legal protection and basic services to
Palestinians, they most likely would seek refuge in Jordan in
increasingly large numbers -- a political and economic burden
the GOJ has indicated it will not accept. While UNHCR is
prepared to meet the needs of Palestinians fleeing
post-Saddam Iraq, creation of a new Palestinian refugee
population queuing on international borders could be a
destabilizing factor throughout the region. To prevent that
refugee flow, we believe the authorities in Iraq should
examine ways to ensure that protection and basic services are
extended to the Palestinian population of Iraq.
BERRY