NORTHERN IRAQ'S MAKHMOUR CAMP - UNHCR ON NEXT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006493

SIPDIS


DEPT. FOR S/CT, EUR/SE AND NEA/NGA


E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2013
TAGS: PTER PHUM PREF PREL MOPS MARR TU IZ
SUBJECT: NORTHERN IRAQ'S MAKHMOUR CAMP - UNHCR ON NEXT
STEPS WITH THE TURKS

REF: STATE 261988


Classified by A/DCM Scot Marciel. Reasons 1.5 b and d.


--------------
SUMMARY
--------------



1. (C) On October 16, PolMilOff met with UNHCR Representative
for Turkey Gesche Karrenbrock on Makhmour Camp issues.
Karrenbrock hopes to meet with Turkish MFA and MOI officials
in the next two weeks to discuss next steps. She said that
Turkish press play linking the camp to the PKK was having a
negative effect on the willingness of camp residents to
voluntarily repatriate. She also complained that over one
month ago UNHCR had provided Turkey with the names of 25
Turkish refugees in Dohuk who wish to be repatriated, but the
Turks have not begun to process them. If Turkey is in a
hurry to get the Makhmour population repatriated, she
suggested, the Turks should move quickly on the Dohuk cases
to create a pull effect. Karrenbrock said that if Turkey
wants a rapid timeline for returns, it needs to institute a
more speedy and efficient processing system, and one that
offers the prospective returnees more assurance of how they
will be received in Turkey. End Summary.



2. (C) UNHCR Turkey Rep Gesche Karrenbrock told PolMilOff
Oct. 16 that the next steps for UNHCR with regard to Makhmour
Camp were for her office to meet with Turkish MFA and MOI
reps in Ankara. These meetings could take place Oct. 20 or
21, or after Oct. 27. Karrenbrock said UNHCR and theTurkish
MFA have had extensive talks on repatriating the Makhmour
population and UNHCR, and Turkish MFA seem to be on the same
page. UNHCR has not yet had discussions with MOI, which she
saw as key to the matter, and wanted to get into proposing
modalities for the returns when she meets with MFA and MOI
together. Karrenbrock explained that UNHCR would want, in
addition to monitoring visits after returns, to be able to
visit sites to which returnees will come in Turkey to assess
reception capacity and evaluate what improvements/inputs
might be required. She reported that UNHCR already monitors
without impediment the small number of Makhmour returnees
that come to Turkey each year, but that she would need
Turkish agreement for the UNHCR to do this on a much larger
scale if large numbers return from Makhmour. The first step
for UNHCR, she explained, would be to get the best possible
information to the refugees about conditions in Turkey
(specifically in the villages to which they would be
returning) and about what their options were. She emphasized
that they must not feel coerced and that they must have
options available.



3. (C) Karrenbrock said that for a returns program from
Makhmour to succeed, returnees would need to be coming back
to conditions in Turkey that were at least as good as those
they were leaving behind in Makhmour. In many cases, she
said, their home villages are in bad disrepair. She believed
the GOT needed to make a commitment to get the villages into
good shape. She worried that the GOT would respond that
since the villages were in disrepair or destroyed, they could
all just go back to Diyarbakir, a solution that would be
unacceptable from UNHCR's perspective. She said that this
issue required extensive discussion between UNHCR and GOT
authorities.



4. (C) Karrenbrock told us that over a month ago the UNHCR
had provided Turkish officials with the names of 25 Turkish
refugees in Dohuk who wanted to be repatriated to Turkey. To
date, none had been interviewed by the Turkish military in
northern Iraq, the first step on the Turkish side in
processing refugees for return. Karrenbrock said this made
her wonder about the timeline intended for repatriating the
Makhmour population. If these 25 cases could be processed
quickly and received well in Turkey, it would help induce
more returns from Makhmour. The total lack of action on the
cases by the Turks made her doubt that the Turkish system was
ready to handle the large potential case load from Makhmour,
and whether the Turks were really committed to moving quickly
on Turkish refugees in Iraq. Faster processing, she said,
would add reassurance to those interested in repatriation.
She conceded that this might improve after she discusses
modalities for return with the MFA and MOI. Karrenbrock did
say that UNHCR had asked the Turks whether the same old
system run by the same people would be used now for Makhmour
or if there would be changes. UNHCR had not yet received an
answer.

5. (C) Finally, Karrenbrock said press play in Turkey about
Makhmour, including stories citing Turkish diplomats in
Washington calling for the elimination of the PKK and the
Makhmour Camp, and Turkish generals in Ankara saying the US
should dissolve the camp, etc., were making camp residents
less likely to voluntarily return, as they feel the GOT views
them the same way as it does the PKK. If the Turks want the
camp population to return, they need to take a different
approach with the press, she said.



6. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
EDELMAN