CODEL KOLBE DISCUSSES DPRK REFUGEE ISSUES, MORE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ULAANBAATAR 000682

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM, H, PRM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF EAID MG KN KS
SUBJECT: CODEL KOLBE DISCUSSES DPRK REFUGEE ISSUES, MORE
WITH MONGOLIAN GIA OFFICIALS


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Brian L. Goldbeck for reasons 1.
5(B) and (D)


1. (C/NF) SUMMARY: Mongolian General Intelligence Agency
(GIA) officials told visiting CODEL Kolbe that since 1998
Mongolia had facilitated the resettlement in South Korea of
1,976 North Koreans and that 136 were presently in Mongolia
being processed. To date, all North Koreans crossing into
Mongolia from China have asked to be resettled in South
Korea. GIA officials said Mongolia does not consider the
North Koreans to be "refugees," noting Mongolia has not
signed -- and does not intend to sign -- the UN Convention on
the Status of Refugees (UNCSR). Rather, consistent with its
obligations under the UN Human Rights Declaration, Mongolia
provides humanitarian assistance to North Koreans migrants,
helping them to resettle in South Korea. It is Mongolian
policy not to permit North Korean migrants to remain
permanently -- in camps or otherwise -- in Mongolia. A senior
GIA official noted that, if they wished to go to South Korea,
the U.S., or elsewhere, they could do so. Interestingly, GIA
officials said the GOM has not signed the UNCSR for fear that
doing so would open it to a large influx of Chinese
"economic" refugees. (Note: Mongolia is extremely wary of
China and Chinese influence, to the extent of limiting the
number of Chinese permitted to reside in Mongolia to less
than 20,000. End Note.) Kolbe noted the U.S. Congress has
expressed its willingness to accept North Korean refugees.
Kolbe also urged caution regarding North Korean
money-laundering and counterfeiting operations, and GIA
officials noted they had cooperated fully with U.S. Embassy
officials in this regard. GIA officials also sought
increased intelligence and information exchange regarding
potential Islamic fundamentalist concerns. END SUMMARY.


2. (C/NF) Chairman Jim Kolbe, accompanied by the Ambassador,
Representatives Crenshaw and Baird, three staffers, FSN
interpreter, and DCM (notetaker),met, at the CODEL's
request, September 1 with officials from Mongolia's General
Intelligence Agency. (NOTE: Other meetings for Kolbe's
September 1-3 visit to follow by septel.) After
congratulating Mongolia on its 800th anniversary, Chairman
Kolbe opened the meeting by thanking the Government of
Mongolia (GOM) for its active participation in the war on
terrorism, in particular for its participation in the
coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turning to the issue of
North Korean refugees, Kolbe said he understood this was a
sensitive issue for the GOM, adding that Congress appreciated
Mongolia's humanitarian assistance efforts in this regard.
Kolbe said Congress had expressed its willingness, through
the North Korean Human Rights Act, to accept North Korean
refugees in the U.S. Kolbe said he was aware of some
practical difficulties in this process, such as the lack of a
US Department of Homeland Security representative at Embassy
Ulaanbaatar and the limited number of international flights
and destinations in and out of Mongolia.


3. (C/NF) In response, Mr. Jargalsaikhan, the GIA's Deputy
Chief, replied that Mongolia does not see the North Koreans
as "refugees," but rather as illegal migrants. Mongolia has
not signed the UN Refugee Convention. But Mongolia
recognizes and fulfills its responsibilities for these people
as part of its International Human Rights Convention
responsibility. The first North Koreans began arriving in
1998, when six arrived. The number had risen to 644 in 2005
and, to date in 2006, some 358 North Koreans had transited
Mongolia, of which 136 were currently in Mongolia in
processing for resettlement in South Korea. Altogether,
Mongolia has facilitated the resettlement in South Korea of
1,976 North Koreans, he said. He repeatedly stressed the GOM
saw this as a humanitarian, not a refugee, matter.
Jargalsaikhan indicated Mongolia would not force DPRK
refugees to return to the DPRK, intimating that neither does
Mongolia wish them to stay in Mongolia. He added that if
they wished to go to South Korea, the U.S., or elsewhere,
they could do so.


4. (C/NF) As to processing of DPRK refugees, the GOM does not
ask those presenting themselves at the border either their
origin or destination, but turns them over to ROK authorities
in Mongolia who conduct the vetting and processing of these
people for onward resettlement in South Korea, to date, the
ultimate destination for all such people. There had been

cases of Chinese ethnic Koreans misrepresenting themselves as
North Koreans. The average stay for North Koreans in
Mongolia before moving on to South Korea was about three or
four months, he said. Asked who maintains the facilities in
which the North Koreans remain pending departure,
Jargalsaikhan said the South Korean Government pays for some
costs and the GOM pQs for housing and guard costs. The most
common entry point is the porous and isolated southern and
southeastern border with China, across the Gobi Desert. North
Koreans walk across the border, most often in organized
groups with the assistance of NGOs or corrupt Chinese border
officials. There were cases of some getting lost and
perishing in the desert. Asked why Mongolia did not ratify
the UN Convention on Refugees, Jargalsaikhan replied that
Mongolia was sparsely populated, so "just imagine the numbers
that might come from China," given China's over-population
and lack of farm land.


5. (C/NF) Congressman Kolbe also noted that North Korea
maintained an Embassy in Ulaanbaatar and that North Korean
currency counterfeiting was an on-going concern.
Jargalsaikhan said the GOM was aware of the problem and was
watching it closely; the GOM had cooperated with the Embassy
in a recent case in which $1 million in U.S. dollars and 2
million Japanese Yen had been carried into the country by
North Korean couriers. He said close liaison had been
maintained with U.S. Embassy reps, who expressed satisfaction
at the GOM's cooperation. (Note: The Mongolians intercepted
the currency and allowed USSS and Japanese authorities to
examine it before it was returned to the North Koreans. None
of the currency was counterfeit. End Note.)


6. (C/NF) Asked how else the USG and the GOM might
cooperate, Jargalsaikhan said some training was already being
provided, but that the GOM would welcome greater intelligence
and information exchanges on Islamic activities. There were
reports that in recent years Islamic radicals were seeking
inroads in Mongolia. Questioned as to whom and how many,
Jargalsaikhan said some from "Arabic" countries and Turkey.
He acknowledged that, to date, there had been no terrorist
attacks against the GOM.


7. (C/NF) COMMENT: This is the first time post has been
told that concern about being overwhelmed by Chinese
immigrants/refugees (presumably referring to the 4.8 million
ethnic Mongolians in Inner Mongolia) underpinned its decision
not to sign on to the UNCSR, given Mongolia's small
population of 2.83 million spread over a landmass the size of
Alaska. END COMMENT.


8. (SBU/NF) GIA attendees: Mr. Jargalsaikhan, GIA Deputy
Chief, Mr. Altansukh, Section Chief, Mr. Myagmardorj, Deputy
Director of Department, Mr. Dashzeveg, Deputy Director of
Department, Mr. Dulguun, Interpreter.


9. (U) CODEL Kolbe departed and did not have the opportunity
to clear this cable.
GOLDBECK