REQUEST FOR RESETTLEMENT ASSISTANCE OF CERTAIN

S E C R E T OTTAWA 003065 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2015 TAGS: KAWC MOPS PREL PTER PHUM PREF PINR SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR RESETTLEMENT ASSISTANCE OF CERTAIN DETAINEES FROM GUANTANAMO REF: SECSTATE 183800 Classified By: POL/MC - BRIAN FLORA FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (S) On October 12, 2005 POL M/C raised the Uighur resettlement issue with Michael Small, Acting ADM (Assistant Deputy Minister) for Global Affairs at Foreign Affairs Canada. Small, who is also Director General for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, had been briefed by FAC,s Senior Advisor for Migration and Refugees, Kathryn Porter, who was demarched last week by PolOff on the same subject. Porter joined the meeting. ¶2. (S) Small assured POL M/C that the Government of Canada would take our request very seriously. He could not commit to a positive decision, as much depended upon the admissibility of the individuals in question under Canadian law. He also asked why the USG couldn,t issue some sort of humanitarian parole for them; POL M/C replied that settlement in the US had been carefully considered, but the individuals, backgrounds made this exceptionally difficult under the INA. Small did accept that resettlement outside of China was essential, and that the humanitarian plight of the individuals would continue to grow unless they were placed in a safe environment where they could be welcomed and settled into a community. ¶3. (S) Porter noted that the list of the 22 detainees had already been taken to the appropriate office at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for examination and review. She commended close and ongoing contact between CIC and the PRM Bureau on such issues and referred to a &resettlement protocol8 which was signed as a side agreement to the Safe Third Agreement. This provided, she thought, for a referral to Canada of up to 200 complicated or exceptional resettlement cases per year. Porter said a handful of Haitian detainees had already benefited from the program, and this might be a vehicle to take care of some of the Uighurs under consideration. She promised to keep us informed as the vetting and processing developed. Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa WILKINS