UAE - Iraqi expats not rushing to return home

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 002217

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP AND NEA/NGA

E.O. 12958; DECL: 07/05/2009
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON IZ TC
SUBJECT: UAE - Iraqi expats not rushing to return home

Ref: Abu Dhabi 1308

Classified by Richard A. Albright, Charge d'Affaires,
a.i., reasons 1. 5 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Iraqi expatriates residing in the UAE
are not rushing to return to their homeland now that
there has been a transfer of power from the Coalition
to a sovereign Iraqi government. On the contrary,
most of the estimated 60,000 Iraqis living in the UAE
are taking a wait-and-see approach about returning
because they do not perceive Iraq as being safe yet,
according to Baghdad Mayor Ala's Al-Tamimi and the
Iraqi Ambassador to the UAE, Kussay Mahdi Salih. End
Summary.


2. (C) Baghdad Mayor Ala'a Al-Tamimi, in Abu Dhabi for
a brief family visit July 1-5, told Polchief that
Iraqi expatriates in the UAE have told him that they
are very reluctant to go home. Some say they would
fear for their lives and for the lives of their
families. "The time is not right yet," said Al-
Tamimi, a resident of Abu Dhabi since 1998.


3. (C) Iraq's Ambassador to the UAE, Kussay Saleh,
told Polchief July 5 that he has not heard of any
Iraqi expatriates wanting to return to Iraq. They are
fearful of the security situation in Iraq, he said.
"If people see that life is getting better, we would
hear about more people requesting to go home." Saleh,
who is planning a reception for Iraqis and Coalition
embassies in the coming days, said he understands why
Iraqis are being prudent about going back to Iraq. "I
will tell you the truth. I am afraid of returning. I
have a wife and children with me" in Abu Dhabi, and do
not want to expose them to the risks, he said.


4. (C) Al-Tamimi, who kept his wife and college-bound
son in Abu Dhabi for security reasons when he was
elected Mayor of Baghdad by the City Council on April
18 (see reftel),said he sees one of his missions,
besides managing Baghdad's work force and public works
projects, as trying to convince Iraqi expatriates that
it is safe to go back. He said he has a
straightforward message for the numerous Iraqi
expatriates who call on him to inquire about the
situation on the ground in Iraq: "It's no longer time
for words; it's time for action."


5. (C) Al-Tamimi said Iraqis in Baghdad and in other
Iraqi cities prove every day that they are prepared to
make sacrifices to get their country back on its feet.
Last month, after a car bomb had killed dozens of
Iraqi citizens, including police recruits, Al-Tamimi
said he was struck by the large number of Iraqis who
returned to the same site the following day to seek
jobs in the new Iraqi police force. The killers try
to discourage Iraqis, he said, "but the spirit lives
on."


6. (C) One of Al-Tamimi's best friends in Abu Dhabi,
Niazi Sadiq, a surgeon, told Polchief that he intends
to return to Iraq in September is first trip back
to his homeland in 30 years. "I want to explore how I
can make a contribution in the medical field," he
said. However, Niazi said he is not contemplating
relocating to Iraq permanently.


7. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
ALBRIGHT