A LETTER, DIALOGUE, SILENCE: UPDATE ON EXIT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 000598

SIPDIS

ROME PLEASE PASS TO DHS

DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/A (PLEASE PASS TO DHS/USCIS)

SENSITIVE -- ENTIRE TEXT -- NOT FOR INTERNET POSTING

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF CVIS KE
SUBJECT: A LETTER, DIALOGUE, SILENCE: UPDATE ON EXIT
PERMITS FOR PRIORITY 3 AND VISA 93 REFUGEES

REFTEL: A) NAIROBI 525
B) NAIROBI 413


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The GOK recently informed Refcoord and
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that the
government would soon stop issuing exit permits for refugees
not recognized by UNHCR. A large percentage of refugees
resettled out of Kenya fall into this category. Refcoord
has been working with partners to maximize speedy departures
of such refugees and with the government to try to maximize
the grace period, while continuing dialogue aimed at
avoiding the shutdown if possible. IOM has received an
official letter giving a final date for exit permits for
"non-UNHCR" refugees, but the head of Refugees Department in
the government has verbally indicated that the program may
continue for now. He has said he wants assistance with his
department's capacity to make refugee status determinations,
but has not yet provided details. For now, no bookings have
been cancelled. END SUMMARY.

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Background
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2. (U) Definitions: Priority 3 (P-3) beneficiaries are
refugees for whom a petition known as an "affidavit of
relationship" (AOR) has been filed through DHS Citizenship
and Immigration Services (CIS) by an "anchor relative" who
has been admitted to the U.S. either as a refugee or an
asylee, or has become a Permanent Resident Alien. Such
"anchors" can file for parents, spouses, or unmarried
children who are refugees. CIS rules on the refugee claim
as well as the credibility of the relationship. Visa 93
beneficiaries are similar, but the "anchors" must be
Permanent Resident Aliens who were admitted to the U.S. as
refugees, the beneficiaries are limited to derivative
spouses and unmarried children under 21 years old, and the
petition is form I-730. Both categories are significant
parts of the refugee resettlement program out of Nairobi,
which covers East, Central, and Southern Africa.

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Background Continued: the Shut-down Message
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3. (SBU) On January 24, Peter Kusimba, the new "Head of
Refugees Department" at the Ministry of Immigration and
Registration of Persons, told Refugee Coordinator (Refcoord)
that "the message from my government" is: Kenya will not
continue issuing exit permits to those not identified by the
UNHCR as refugees (see ref B). Since that time, Refcoord
has been working with GOK officials, both directly and
through IOM representatives who know the officials, in an
attempt to either change the ruling or else maximize the
"grace period" in which to move existing approved Priority 3
and Visas 93 refugees. END BACKGROUND.

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We've Spent a Lot Already
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4. (SBU) After the January 24 meeting with Kusimba, Refcoord
immediately began working with partner organizations IOM and
JVA (the Joint Voluntary Agency, which does pre- and post-
CIS processing of refugees) to maximize departures in
February and weeks immediately following. On February 1,
Refcoord was informed that Kusimba might be willing
"administratively" to delay the "stop issuing" order on exit
permits if Refcoord and IOM could make the case to him.
When contacted by IOM, he agreed verbally to extend the
March 1 cutoff date until he could meet with IOM and
Refcoord. (IOM pays a penalty if it cancels bookings less
than a month before a flight. Without Kusimba's assurance,
IOM would have had to begin rolling cancellations of
bookings starting February 1.) With the help of JVA and
IOM, Refcoord compiled approximate figures for money spent
on each of the CIS-approved P-3 and Visas-93 refugees, and a
total number of those approved: about 4,800. Assuming that
JVA had spent three quarters of last year's per-refugee
figure, and IOM had spent one quarter of its per-refugee
figure, Refcoord came up with an estimate of 2.4 million
dollars already spent on these approved refugees.

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Official Grace Period: One Month
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5. (SBU) On February 2 Bill Lorenz of IOM sent Refcoord a
scanned copy of an official letter from Kusimba's boss at
the Ministry of Immigration, Permanent Secretary Emmanuel
Kisombe. The letter, addressed to IOM's David Derthick,
instructed him that "persons to be considered for
resettlement in other countries shall be restricted to those
who are duly recognized as refugees and hold valid documents
issued by the Government of Kenya and UNHCR...The embassies
shall be informed of this decision with a request that they
comply..." The letter notes that some arrangements have
already been made for refugees NOT fitting this description,
and states "it is decided that you be given one month to
finalize all cases...This means that with effect from 1st
March 2006 all departure cases will have fulfilled the
description of refugees."

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New Crackdown on ALL Illegals Coming Up
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6. (SBU) On February 3, Refcoord, accompanied by Bill
Lorenz, called on Kusimba in his office. The atmospherics
were better than on January 24, in that Kusimba was alone,
but he began by announcing that the government would be
starting an unannounced six-month crackdown on all illegal
aliens in the country "next week." As this appeared to rule
out any reversal of the ruling, Refcoord presented the
spending figure for approved refugees and asked that the six-
month crackdown coincide with a six-month exit permit grace
period, given that it would take that long to move most of
the approved refugees. He noted the considerable
expenditures on these approved refugees to date. Kusimba
took the spending figure on board, and said he would take it
back to the Permanent Secretary and then see what
flexibility the PS could offer.

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Offer to Help is on Hold
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7. (SBU) Refcoord asked Kusimba if there were anything the
U.S. might be able to do for the Government of Kenya to help
in this situation. Kusimba then alleged that Kenya is "not
treated as a partner" by the U.S. as well as by UNHCR.
Specifically, he said his government has forwarded needy
refugee cases to UNHCR for resettlement, but with no answer
at all. He then made a plea for training and equipment
(i.e. computers) that would allow his section to conduct
refugee status determinations itself. Refcoord said he
would relay the request to Washington. He asked Kusimba
when he could hear details of what the GOK would like, and
Kusimba said he would have an answer by February 8.
However, Kusimba did not answer repeated telephone calls on
February 8 and 9 from IOM personnel. When he finally
answered his phone, he seemed annoyed at being pursued, but
assured an IOM representative that business as usual should
continue for the time being, so "don't worry."

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What About UNHCR?
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8. (SBU) Refcoord has kept UNHCR fully informed of these
discussions with the GOK. Several persons have asked, why
can't UNHCR simply "approve" U.S. approvals in some way? We
do not want to ask UNHCR to simply rubber-stamp CIS
decisions, despite confidence in CIS and however convenient
that might be for the program. One intermediate option
might be for P-3 applicants to register with UNHCR as asylum
seekers. Given the 9-month backlog (ref B),this would not
lead to quick refugee status determinations by UNHCR.
However, as a good-faith effort by P-3 refugees, it might be
enough for the GOK to accept their presence in the country,
and with luck allow them to depart if approved, rather than
wait long months for an interview that would duplicate the
CIS and JVA efforts and would lead to approval in most cases
anyway. This idea will be taken up, if appropriate, when
discussions resume.

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Comment
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8. (SBU) It seems very likely that Kusimba simply cannot get
an answer yet from his Permanent Secretary. Given the
turmoil the government is going through (ref A),that is not
surprising. Until an answer is received from Kusimba, we do
not know what kind of grace period is on offer, or whether,
with the offer of assistance in the air, the GOK will back
down on the exit permit shutdown for the time being.

BELLAMY