UNHCR IMPATIENT WITH MOZAMBIQUE'S REFUGEE PROGRAM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000428



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TAGS: KCRM, PREF, PHUM, KWMN, SMIG, ELAB, KFRD, MZ

SUBJ: UNHCR IMPATIENT WITH MOZAMBIQUE'S REFUGEE PROGRAM





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1. (U) Summary: On March 20 the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) sponsored a two-day

retreat to work with the National Institute for the Aid of

Refugees (INAR),the Mozambican government office in charge

of refugee issues, to establish a strategic country plan

for 2007-2009. Invitees representing the donor community,

local and international NGOs, and government officials

gathered to discuss all relevant aspects of Mozambique's

refugee program. The retreat revealed UNHCR's impatience

with the GRM's stalled process of determining refugee

status, and raised a number of other questions. The

relatively comfortable, generous conditions at Mozambique's

Maratene camp appear to be luring refugees from central and

eastern Africa. The newly arrived head of UNHCR Mozambique,

Victoria Akyeampong, clearly has much work to do. End

Summary.



2. (U) The retreat began with Deputy Minister of Foreign

Affairs Eduardo Koloma's keynote speech addressing the major

strategic objectives of the GRM's refugee program, including

creating provincial offices for INAR (currently based in

Maputo),seeking training programs - including immigration

and law enforcement screening programs at key border posts -

for all officials involved in handling refugee issues,

supporting UNHCR's commitment to voluntary repatriation with

a particular focus on Rwandan refugees, improving refugee

identity document production, and reinforcing refugee rights

with an emphasis on unaccompanied minors.



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Budget Cuts

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3. (U) For their part, the Mozambican office of UNCHR

admitted to budget constraints this year (they expect to

only receive 80% of last year's budget),while faced with

increasing demands on services and resources. The new head

of UNHCR's Mozambique office, Victoria Akyeampong, appealed

to the audience to come up with innovative solutions on how

more could be done with less. She said current Mozambican

policy whereby refugees (even those without status) have

been receiving unlimited access to services at the Maratene

camp for years on end is simply untenable; she suggested a

compromise in which people asking for asylum or refugee

status would be given six months of unlimited support,

during which time the GRM would have to make a status

determination. Depending on the determination, the refugee

would be offered third-country resettlement, voluntary

repatriation, or local integration.



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UNHCR Unhappy Over Stalled Refugee Status Determinations

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4. (SBU) Several times during the retreat, heated debate was

followed by awkward silence. UNHCR was very critical of

Mozambique's currently paralyzed refugee status

determination (RSD) process, which has ground to a halt over

protracted bureaucratic stipulations and a lack of personnel

to carry them out. Example: not a single RSD decision was

made in calendar year 2005, leaving hundreds of refugees or

asylum seekers in limbo, and UNHCR along with other donors

providing food and services indefinitely.



5. (U) INAR officials explained the RSD process in detail.

INAR employs two people to conduct the initial interview

when refugees arrive at the camp. Dossiers on each person

are painstakingly put together by these two individuals and

then sent to Maputo for review by the Eligibility

Commission, an interagency task force charged with rendering

an RSD decision based on the file contents. The Commission

then sends the files to the Minister of Interior for

approval and signature. The Commission is supposed to meet

four times a year, but often does not. Additionally, last

year Interior Minister Pacheco did not review a single case

passed to him by the Commission, and has not yet done so

this year, either.



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The Lure of Mozambique and Maratene Camp

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6. (SBU) Other important questions emerged during the

retreat, such as why are Congolese, Somalians, and Rwandans

crossing up to three countries to declare refugee status

here in Mozambique? Why not stay in neighboring countries?

It seems that Maratene has earned a reputation for being a

"five-star" camp, and the city of Nampula fertile ground for

business opportunities. As if to punctuate the point,

during the conference INAR chief Rosa Chissaque received a

telephone call from the border post at Lichinga (Niassa

province, near the border with Malawi) and announced that 18

more Congolese had just requested asylum in Mozambique.

What is the justification for continuing to support refugee

programs in Mozambique, given donor fatigue and in the

absence of active conflict in the region? And why doesn't

the GRM have a clear integration strategy?



7. (U) The refugee population in Mozambique, rather than

dropping, has actually grown somewhat in the past year.

Among the 6,100 refugees in Mozambique, there is one

Afghani, one Cuban, one Bangladeshi, one Palestian, and one

Ethiopian. The clear majority are Congolese, Rwandan and

Burundian, although there are also handfuls of Angolans,

Liberians, and Zimbabwean.



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Comment

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8. (SBU) Victoria Akyeampong told PolOff she was sent here

from Geneva three months ago to "clean things up." UNHCR's

exit strategy is to phase out its presence here by 2010, as

it does not see a justification for the growing refugee

population. An Ivy League graduate (and U.S. legal

permanent resident),Ms. Akyeampong clearly has the skills

and force of personality to realize her mission. However,

the issue is one of partnership, and in INAR she has an

indecisive partner hamstrung by bureaucracy.