HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL FOR LIBERIAN REFUGEES IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ABIDJAN 000906

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR PRM/AFR/CACHANG
BRUSSELS FOR MMEZNAR
GENEVA FOR RMA
ACCRA FOR REFCOORD
MONROVIA FOR BPATEL AND AMEYERS
DAKAR FOR USAID/OFDA/RDAVIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2016
TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL IV
SUBJECT: HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL FOR LIBERIAN REFUGEES IN
GUIGLO

REF: A. ABIDJAN 723


B. ABIDJAN 885

ABIDJAN 00000906 001.2 OF 004


Classified By: REFCOORD NICHOLAS HILGERT FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (U) Summary: Abidjan-based Refugee Coordinator (RefCoord)
visited Guiglo from August 1-3 to meet with UNHCR field
representatives and visit the Nicla Refugee Camp for Liberian
refugees. There are approximately 10,500 Liberian refugees
in the northern Refugee Welcome Zone (ZAR),of which 5,987,
or 57%, are in the Nicla camp. Many refugees in Nicla still
have pending U.S. resettlement cases. Saber Azam, UNHCR
Representative, told RefCoord he is outlining a strategy to
close Guiglo in 2006 and said he supported an OPE visit in
the near future to clear out pending resettlement cases. OPE
should consult closely with UNHCR regarding the timing of any
future visits. End Summary.


2. (U) Abidjan-based Refugee Coordinator (RefCoord) visited
Guiglo from August 1-3 to meet with UNHCR field
representatives and visit the Nicla Refugee Camp for Liberian
refugees. RefCoord also met with a group of Liberian
refugees in Guiglo town and visited the internally displaced
persons' (IDP) camp with USAID/OFDA Principal Regional
Representative Regina Davis on August 3. A report on the IDP
camp visit will be sent separately.

UNHCR Figures on Liberian Refugees
--------------


3. (U) Zeidane Ould, Head of Office for UNHCR Guiglo,
informed RefCoord that there are approximately 10,500
Liberian refugees in the northern Refugee Welcome Zone (ZAR),
of which 5,987, or 57%, are in the Nicla camp (UNHCR
estimates there are approximately 38,000 Liberian refugees in
Cote d'Ivoire, mostly integrated in local villages). This is
an increase from 2005 when the Nicla refugees represented
only around 38% of the refugee population in the same region.
The majority of the remaining Liberian refugees are in the
southern ZAR, the region around Tabou, in southwest Cote
d'Ivoire. The Nicla refugees are mostly ethnic Krahn (74%)
and originate from Grand Gedeh County in Liberia. A further
1,348 Liberian refugees live in Guiglo town, just 7km from
Nicla camp. Nicla is the only remaining refugee camp in Cote
d'Ivoire (ref. A). The other main concentration of Liberian
refugees in the northern ZAR is in Danane (1,523),west of
Guiglo near the Guinean border.


4. (U) UNHCR Guiglo assisted the voluntary return of just
over 6,100 refugees to Liberia from the northern ZAR in 2005,
approximately 120 of whom came from the Nicla camp. UNHCR
has only assisted 181 refugees to return from this region in

2006. Slightly more women than men are returning from the
northern ZAR. In 2005 the gender balance was 57% female and
43% male for the region. Currently it is 55% female and 45%
male. The ratio in Nicla camp has not changed from 2005 (54%
female to 46% male).


5. (U) UNHCR faces several challenges in the northern ZAR,
not the least of which was the destruction of their property
in Guiglo in January during anti-UN rioting, and the
subsequent evacuation of their staff for several weeks from
the area. UNHCR is currently running their operations out of
the former guest-house in Guiglo. Local staff are based in
Guiglo town and Zeidane must return to Duekoue each night
(thirty minutes away) per UN security restrictions on
international staff. Other challenges include poor road
conditions on transportation routes to Liberia. A final, and
perhaps greater issue for the Nicla refugees, is their
continued hope for resettlement to the United States.

Resettlement from Cote d'Ivoire
--------------


6. (U) The United States resettled some 7,000 Liberian
refugees from Cote d'Ivoire over the last several years.
According to UNHCR, some 4,000 were resettled directly from
Nicla camp. Last summer, a final group of refugees was
interviewed in Abidjan for resettlement. Many were refused
and returned to Nicla, but others returned holding papers
that indicated their cases are on hold pending further
information. According to Zeidane, refugees often open their
meetings with UNHCR with a group prayer and call on God to

ABIDJAN 00000906 002.2 OF 004


help them resettle to the U.S. The refugees in Nicla point
to the ongoing crisis in Cote d'Ivoire as proof that they are
in imminent danger and have stated their refusal to return to
Liberia. At the same time, Nicla refugees have also enjoyed
significant health, food distribution, education, and
vocational training benefits up to now, benefits that their
fellow Liberians just down the road in Guiglo and in the
surrounding villages do not receive.

Nicla: A Colorful Past
--------------


7. (C) Since the beginning of the Liberian conflict,
refugees in Cote d'Ivoire were welcomed into local villages
where, in most cases, they shared common ethnic ties with the
Ivoirian community. The government established a refugee
welcome zone (ZAR) which stretched from Tabou in the
southwest, all the way along the Liberian border to Danane.
However, in 1995 Ivoirian residents in the Tai region, north
of Tabou, forced Liberian refugees from their villages after
many were implicated in violence on both sides of the border.
The refugees from this area moved north to Guiglo, where
UNHCR agreed to open the Nicla camp just outside of town in
order to provide security and other assistance to the
refugees. According to UNHCR, local militia groups recruited
refugees in Nicla in 2002 to help counter a rebel offensive
in the area. The camp was once again the focus of rumored
recruitment in 2004, but has largely retained its civil
character.


8. (C) UNHCR reports regular tensions and occasional
threats to its personnel from refugees in the camp. UNHCR
staff in Guiglo said the refugees have thrown stones at the
Representative's car in the past and some staff said they
believe many in the camp are former combatants in Liberia,
but offered no proof of this charge to RefCoord. Although
the current security situation in Guiglo remains in flux as
the UN and Ivoirian authorities try to push forward on the
dismantlement process for local militias (ref. B),there is
no obvious or immediate threat to the refugees from the local
population.


9. (U) However, UNHCR is not taking any chances and has
reopened discussions with the ONUCI Benin Battalion forces
that have redeployed to Guiglo after the departure of the
Bangaldeshi forces in January to establish a contingency plan
in case of a generalized outbreak of fighting in the region.
RefCoord noted during his trip to Guiglo that the new ONUCI
base is located on the dirt road leading to the Nicla camp,
just off the main route into Guiglo. This base also happens
to be located directly across from the internally displaced
persons (IDP) camp managed by the International Organization
for Migration (IOM).

RefCoord Meeting with Nicla Refugees
--------------


10. (U) RefCoord met with the Nicla Refugee Committee (LRRC)
and with a larger audience of 200-300 refugees on August 2.
RefCoord was greeted upon arrival by about 10 women holding
picket signs stating, "Repatriation Never, Evacuation Ever!"
and other similar slogans. In both meetings RefCoord
stressed that the U.S. group resettlement program for
Liberian refugees had ended, and that those refugees
expecting a new mission to identify candidates for
resettlement should instead focus their attention on return
to Liberia or local integration in Cote d'Ivoire. RefCoord
highlighted the significant disparity in refugee assistance
in host countries compared to Liberia, and explained that
assistance outside Liberia would continue to decline in 2007.
In both meetings the LRRC Chairman said that the Nicla
refugees would stick together as a group, and that they
accepted the U.S. decision to "abandon" them now. He stated
that the majority of the Nicla refugees are ethnic Mandingo
and Krahn, had supported Doe during the war, and are targeted
in Liberia. He said that Mandingo are being "massacred" in
Nimba County and that the current President in Liberia is not
allowing Mandingos into the government.


11. (U) RefCoord stated that there are no current reports of
returnees being targeted for persecution in Liberia, much
less massacred, and encouraged the refugees to focus on
inclusive dialogue that did not divide Liberians from each

ABIDJAN 00000906 003.2 OF 004


other. RefCoord also explained that Mandingo from other host
countries are returning to Liberia and that UNHCR is
reporting an 80% success rate in settling property claims for
all returnees. (Note: According to UNHCR Nzerekore in
Guinea, of the some 23,000 ethnic Mandingo in the refugee
camps there at the beginning of 2006, more than 12,000 have
already returned to Liberia this year. End note.) Still,
RefCoord stressed that return to Liberia is a voluntary
decision and that those Liberians who did not wish to return
would not be forced to do so. RefCoord pointed out that U.S.
assistance in Cote d'Ivoire also supports integration in the
local villages and that UNHCR plans to make local integration
a key component of their repatriation planning through 2007.
RefCoord also recognized in the audience at least two
refugees formerly residing in the recently closed Tabou
Transit Center (TC).

Pending Resettlement Cases
--------------


12. (U) After the meeting RefCoord walked through the camp
with a group of refugees. Many of them showed RefCoord forms
from DHS dating back to September 2005 requesting more
information before completing their files. Other refugees
showed forms indicating a finding of ineligibility for
various reasons, including misrepresentation, fraud, and
alien smuggling. Some refugees even had papers showing
refusal of an appeal of ineligibility. RefCoord explained
that the United States would process all eligible family
reunion files still open or submitted before September 30,
but that for those refugees holding ineligibilities, or with
otherwise closed cases, they needed to focus on whether or
not they intended to return to Liberia or stay in Cote
d'Ivoire, not resettlement to the United States. It is
clear, however, that many refugees are simply not able to
read or understand the finely worded explanations of the
decisions on their cases.

UNHCR's Plans
--------------


13. (U) Saber Azam, UNHCR Representative, reiterated to
RefCoord on August 9 UNHCR's plans to close the Nicla camp by
the end of 2006, although he stressed that the Nicla camp
would not be demolished as was the case with the TC in Tabou,
but probably "converted" into an Ivoirian village, which it
already resembles. In this regard UNHCR will work out a
closure strategy with the Prefect in Guiglo. He believes the
majority of the refugees who will choose to remain in Cote
d'Ivoire arrived in 1990 and are already more or less
self-sufficient. Azam said he wants to reinvigorate UNHCR's
tripartite agreement with Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia, bringing
officials from the two countries together more regularly. In
addition, Azam said UNHCR plans to intensify their public
information efforts vis-a-vis the Nicla refugees and said he
had agreed with UNHCR Monrovia to support a high-level visit
of a Liberian official to Nicla.

Comment
--------------


14. (U) UNHCR originally hoped that by downplaying U.S.
resettlement for Liberian refugees they would be able to
promote return to Liberia. The PRM statement announcing the
end of group resettlement and establishing a deadline for the
submission of affidavits of relationship for family reunion,
or P-3 cases, seems to have helped them achieve that
objective for the most part. However, in terms of promoting
repatriation from specific camps, such as Nicla, UNHCR's
strategy does not seem to have made much difference in
generating return numbers. In fact, overall return figures
from Cote d'Ivoire this year (1,800) are significantly lower
when compared to last year (13,498),although much of that
might be seasonal. Azam told RefCoord he would support an
OPE visit (implementing NGO partner) in the near future to
help clear out pending resettlement cases, suggesting that
any interviewing be conducted in Abidjan. RefCoord believes
this approach might help separate out refugees in Nicla from
those with no chance for resettlement and could reinforce
UNHCR's message that camp-based services are ending, thus
promoting return as a viable option. OPE should consult
closely, and early on, with UNHCR and brief UNHCR staff in
Abidjan on numbers remaining as well as administrative

ABIDJAN 00000906 004.2 OF 004


procedures tied to the P-3 process so UNHCR can also better
inform refugees as they move forward.
Hooks