Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06CAIRO639
2006-02-02 14:50:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

SUDAN REFUGEES: UNHCR COMPLETES ITS WORK WITH

Tags:  PREF PHUM PREL ASEC CVIS EG SU UNHCR 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000639 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

FOR PRM/A, PRM/AFR, PRM/ANE, PRM/MCE, NEA/ELA, AND AF
GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL ASEC CVIS EG SU UNHCR
SUBJECT: SUDAN REFUGEES: UNHCR COMPLETES ITS WORK WITH
DETAINEES BUT HAS CONTINUING SECURITY CONCERNS.


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY

Reference: Cairo 480 and previous.

-------
Summary
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000639

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

FOR PRM/A, PRM/AFR, PRM/ANE, PRM/MCE, NEA/ELA, AND AF
GENEVA FOR RMA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL ASEC CVIS EG SU UNHCR
SUBJECT: SUDAN REFUGEES: UNHCR COMPLETES ITS WORK WITH
DETAINEES BUT HAS CONTINUING SECURITY CONCERNS.


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY

Reference: Cairo 480 and previous.

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) Although some Sudanese asylum seekers were released
during the week, 155 remain in detention following their
forcible eviction from a sit-in in a downtown park December

30. UNHCR has completed its evaluation of all of those still
in detention and will present its final report to the GOE
February 2. It will report that 14 have valid refugee
claims after all appeals have been processed. About half
the valid claims are by newcomers who were not previously
registered with UNHCR. The remaining valid claims are from
old `closed files' who were able to establish a valid
refugee claim by producing new evidence. On humanitarian
grounds, UNHCR will officially request that the GOE not
deport any of the detainees, at least for the time being.
UNHCR was advised some time ago that the GOE will conduct an
investigation into the December 30 incident but UNHCR cannot
confirm that this is under way. In the meantime
investigators from UNHCR's Office of the Inspector General
(OIG) are in Cairo on a lessons-learned mission. According
to Sudanese government media reports the Sudanese will also
send a delegation to Cairo to investigate the incident.
UNHCR's Cairo office is struggling to deal with large
numbers of angry Sudanese - most of them previously denied
cases - demanding refugee status. End Summary

-------------- --------------
UNHCR Completes its Work - 14 Given Refugee Status
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) UNHCR Cairo's Deputy Representative, Damtew
Dessalegne briefed RefCoord February 2 about the status of
the Sudanese asylum seekers still in detention following the
violent eviction of 2,100 demonstrators from Mustafa Mahmoud
Park December 30 following a 14-week sit-in. During the
past week, 28 have been released - including several minors
and those who had lost their UNHCR registration documents -
leaving 155 in detention. UNHCR has completed its evaluation

of all of them and will present its final report to the GOE
tonight (February 2). It will tell the GOE that it has
determined that only 14 of those in detention have valid
refugee claims. Half of the valid claims are by newcomers.
The remaining new claims are from old `closed files' who
have now been able to establish a valid refugee claim by
producing new evidence.

-------------- -
UNHCR Will Ask the GOE Not to Deport - For Now
-------------- -


3. (SBU) In its February 2 Note Verbale, UNHCR will ask the
GOE to refrain from deporting any detainees on humanitarian
grounds, at least for the time being, to give them time to
recover from the trauma of the December 30 police action. It
will also ask for the release of those who have family
members in Cairo with valid UNHCR registration documents.
UNHCR has been unable to confirm media reports that the GOE
has decided not to deport any of the demonstrators.

--------------
Investigations Under Way
--------------


4. (SBU) RefCoord met February 2 with Clementine Nkweta-
Muna, Head of the Inspection Unit in UNHCR's OIG. Nkweta-
Muna's team of four from the OIG and from the International
Protection Department has been in Cairo for a week
conducting a lessons-learned exercise. They have met with
the GOE, embassies, NGOs and the American University's
Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Department and will
return to Geneva tomorrow. We were able to brief Nkweta-
Muna about the activities of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement
Program in Cairo and to discuss the lead-up to the December
30 incident and our response to it. Dessalegne noted that
the GOE's MFA had advised UNHCR some weeks ago that it would
conduct its own internal investigation of the incident but
UNHCR has received no confirmation that such an
investigation is under way. In the meantime, the official
Sudanese news agency, SUNA, has reported that the government
of Sudan will send a delegation to Cairo to probe the deaths
of 27 Sudanese during the December 30 incident.

-------------- --------------
UNHCR Cairo Operating in a `Very Tense Environment'
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU) Dessalegne reports that the Cairo office (which
had been closed during the demonstration) continues to be
under considerable pressure from angry Sudanese demanding
refugee status. The numbers of Sudanese coming to UNHCR's
office has dropped to between 400-600 a day from the peak of
around 800 a day last week (reftel). Some of these are
newcomers requesting registration and some are filing for
replacement documents, but most are old, denied (and
appealed) cases clamoring for their cases to be reopened and
to be given refugee status. According to Dessalegne, this
is a `very tense environment' with many of the previously
denied cases showing up every day. UNHCR is concerned for
the safety of its staff and is seeking guidance from Geneva
about how to deal with the situation.

Ricciardone