Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BAGHDAD2476
2005-06-12 14:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

PROGRESS ON REMOTE MANAGEMENT OF IRAQ REFUGEE

Tags:  PREL PGOV EAID PTER PREF JO IZ UN 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002476 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2025
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID PTER PREF JO IZ UN
SUBJECT: PROGRESS ON REMOTE MANAGEMENT OF IRAQ REFUGEE
PROGRAMS

REF: A. BAGHDAD 01875

B. BAGHDAD 02123

C. BAGHDAD 01649

Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Henry S. Ensher.
Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002476

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2025
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID PTER PREF JO IZ UN
SUBJECT: PROGRESS ON REMOTE MANAGEMENT OF IRAQ REFUGEE
PROGRAMS

REF: A. BAGHDAD 01875

B. BAGHDAD 02123

C. BAGHDAD 01649

Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Henry S. Ensher.
Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary. Officers in charge of UNAMI, IOM, and
UNHCR's Iraq refugee and IDP programs told visiting
PRM PDAS Rich Greene May 17-18 in Amman that the UN is
attempting to shift its focus from security to
humanitarian related activities in Iraq, but that
remote-control program management is likely to remain
a necessity in 2005, despite the UN's recent return to
Erbil and Basra. Utilizing former UN employees to
evaluate their local implementing partners, UNHCR and
IOM believe that the MODM has established its
credibility in Iraq in the last six months. END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) PDAS Greene met with UNAMI rep John Pace May

17. Responding to Greene's questions on effectiveness
of the UN's 'remote management' of operations in Iraq,
Pace said UN presence is already increasing in Erbil
and Basra branch offices, and international non-
logistics staff will begin short-term visits soon.
Accommodations, transportation, and security continue
to constrain major progress in UN activities in Iraq
as a whole. (Note: Additional personnel will focus on
constitution development, rather than humanitarian
work. END NOTE.) Pace explained that the UN in Iraq
is working extensively through implementing partners,
both international and national NGOs, to provide
humanitarian assistance. Amman-based capacity building
workshops support MoDM in its efforts to coordinate
and participate more effectively in these programs.


3. (C) Pace added that it's often a challenge to make
a distinction between Iraq "humanitarian" and
"reconstruction" activities. He noted that the UN is
developing a web site to provide hard information on
its humanitarian and other field projects; for
security reasons this will not disclose specific
information on the UN's local implementing partners.
Greene noted that housing construction initiatives
would require reliable domestic partners, information

that UN agencies have developed through their work in
Iraq.


4. (C) Greene pushed back on the UN's current
staffing posture because of the security situation.
He encouraged the UN to look hard at ways to meet its
staffing requirements, while maintaining good security
practices. He added that the UN should do more to
make others aware of the fairly extensive work it is
carrying out in country. Like it or not, the UN is
"the canary in the coal mine" when it comes to
signaling to other donors and NGOs the possibility of
effectively carrying out humanitarian and related work
in country.


5. (C) May 18 PDAS Greene took part in a joint
ProCare/IOM/UNHCR briefing on MODM capacity building.
Attendees were: (USG) Rich Greene, PDAS PRM; Poloff,
Notetaker; and (International Groups) Yacoub El Hillo,
Chief of Mission UNHCR; James Lynch, Officer in Charge
UNHCR Amman; Ghassan Shafiq Soufran, ProCare Managing
Director; Ghada Shafiq Soufan, ProCare Managing
Director; Rasha Abdel-Majeed, IOM Programme Officer
Capacity Building; Michael Stanisich, IOM Programme
Officer Capacity Building.


6. (C) During this briefing, Greene met with
ProCare's Ghada and Ghassan Shafiq Soufran,
consultants for IOM and UNHCR's capacity building
program with MoDM. Representatives from ProCare
focused on organizational improvements in MoDM in the
last six months: developing the structure of the
Ministry, drafting of basic laws, and human resource
improvements. Ghada Soufran said ProCare is still
finalizing job descriptions for Ministry jobs and
evluaing current employees. She said Ministry
employees did not until recently know their functions
in detail, and this improvement is a direct result
capacity building. Ghada added many of the 300
employees at the MoDM work in security. The PDAS
asked if downsizing MoDM was discussed, and the group
said laid off employees could seek retribution against
the Ministry. Many stressed that the Ministry's
enabling legislation is still awaiting approval.

7. (C) Yacoub El Hillo stressed MoDM's positive role
in Iraq. He said the Ministry is now well known by
both Iraqis and NGOs and is especially important to
NGOs because of the security situation in Iraq. MoDM
visits refugees detained in prisons and follows up
with other Iraqi Ministries. Hillo said that internal
and external recognition began with the November 2004
Fallujah campaign. According to Hillo, MoDM had 10
staff members on the ground assisting returning
families by supplying them with basic items. NGOs now
call on MoDM to respond to refugee crises because they
can quickly react and are perceived as neutral, as
opposed to being an outside invading force.


8. (C) IOM Representative for Iraq Tschannen, who is
based in Amman, stressed that IOM is ready to assist
more returns in northern Iraq but noted that most
European nations have agreed to continue refugees'
continuing residence in those nations because of
insecurity in Iraq. The UK has 5,000 potential
returnees, and IOM is waiting for the availability of
charter flights to process the group. Tschannen added
that the Dutch had indicated they had about 12,000
potential returnees. Sweden had also been in recent
contact with IOM. The Germans were handling their own
return program without IOM assistance.


9. (C) Concerning refugees in Iraq's neighboring
countries, El Hillo noted that UNHCR had 30,000
registered in Jordan under its 1998 agreement (which
requires UNHCR to secure third-country resettlement
within 6 months). He added that about 3,000 new
arrivals from Mosul had entered Syria this year.
While el Hillo thought there was a real danger that
setting criteria to determine which Iraqis would
qualify for legal refugee status would cause more
Iraqis to seek refuge in other countries than would
otherwise be the case. El Hillo noted that UNHCR
decreased its budget for next year by $8 million
because it was confident that most Iraqis can
eventually return to Iraq.


10. (C) On remote management, UNHCR argued the
establishment of new, integrated UN centers in Basra
and Erbil was a step forward but affirmed that they
were using independent contractors who were former UN
employees to evaluate its partners in Iraq. UNHCR
released a comprehensive review of all its programs in
the north and had developed, in early May, its first
evaluation report. He said UNHCR's website includes
an interactive map documenting its Iraq programs.
While discrimination, lack of documentation, language
barriers for Iraqis who had grown up in neighboring
Iran, and unemployment remained key factors, El Hillo
said the biggest problem with resettlement in the
north was the skyrocketing cost of housing. A house
that used to cost $6,000 now costs $10,000. El Hillo
noted that UNHCR is carefully monitoring its partners
and the effectiveness and sustainability of housing
projects.


11. (C) UNHCR's Jordan OIC stressed the need to press
the Iraqi Transitional Government (ITG) to move
forward with relocation of refugees currently in the
Anbar desert camp of Al Tash to Sulaimaniya as soon as
possible to stem the outflow of Al Tash residents
towards Jordan; Lynch noted that additional arrivals
could impact the GOJ agreement to consolidate the No
Man's Land population in Ruwaishid (reftel).
Although Jordan placed no explicit conditions on
UNHCR, Lynch said that UNHCR had agreed to look
"vigorously" for third-country solutions to ensure the
remaining ex-Iraqi caseload. (Note: Iraq's PM has
approved closing al Tash camp and transferring the
refugees to Sulaimaniya.)


12. (C) COMMENT: PDAS Greene's visit encouraged
UNHCR and IOM to take more direct action on the ground
in Iraq. Post welcomes this effort to increase UN
presence in Iraq and effective humanitarian action.
END COMMENT


13. (U) REO HILLA, REO BASRA, REO MOSUL, and REO
KIRKUK minimize considered.


Jeffrey