ICRC CLAIMS IT CONVINCED GOJ TO ALLOW TWO IRANIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 003657

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I, NEA/ELA, S/I AND PRM/ANE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREF IZ JO
SUBJECT: ICRC CLAIMS IT CONVINCED GOJ TO ALLOW TWO IRANIAN
KURDS ACCESS TO MEDICAL TREATMENT IN JORDAN; SEEKS DURABLE
SOLUTION

Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) ICRC Deputy Director Kim Gordon-Bates told POLOFF
and PRM Project Management Specialist on August 16 that ICRC
succeeded in convincing the Jordanian Ministry of Interior to
permit two Iranian Kurds to transit Jordan to receive medical
treatment: a critically-ill woman in her 40's and her
18-month son. Gordon-Bates said that ICRC Jordan pushed this
case, in part, to test the GOJ's responsiveness to urgent
humanitarian concerns. In a follow-up conversation on August
20, ICRC protection officer Muna Sadeq explained that after
treatment was completed at a Red Crescent clinic in Amman,
the two patients would be returned to the border camp.


2. (C) ICRC also reported it is working behind the scenes to
develop a permanent solution to the Iranian Kurds in what
ICRC claimed is "no-mans land" between the Iraqi and
Jordanian border posts at the Karameh-Trebil crossing.
ICRC's approach differs substantially from that of UNHCR,
which continues to advocate that the Iranian Kurds relocate
to Irbil where UNHCR has established a functional camp. UNHCR
would then conduct interviews at Irbil in a safer environment
and determine eligibility for resettlement. Gordon-Bates
explained that, in ICRC's view, the Iranian Kurds on the
border have lost trust in UNHCR because of unfulfilled
promises made to other Kurds who relocated to Irbil but have
not yet been resettled. He said this culminated in a UNHCR
staff member recently being beaten by Iranian Kurds. In the
wake of recent attacks against Yazidis, Gordon-Bates doubted
that the Iranian Kurds would be amenable to moving to Irbil
in the near future. He also reported that ICRC efforts to
broker a deal with the Swedes fell apart, and accused UNHCR
Jordan of sabotaging these proposed arrangements in order to
maintain pressure on the Iranian Kurds to move to Irbil.
Nonetheless, Gordon-Bates would like to realize a permanent
solution for the majority of these 194 people by the end of

2007. He acknowledged that those aged 18-24 would be
unacceptable for resettlement to most countries because of
security concerns.


3. (C) Gordon-Bates also claimed that during his last visit
to the camp, he located the actual border markers and
estimated that 80 percent of the camp is in Jordanian
territory, despite GOJ claims that it is situated in Iraq.
Gordon-Bates argued that this raises the possibility of
greater legal responsibility on the part of the GOJ. ICRC
has not raised this claim to the GOJ, however, for fear that
Jordanian border guards would then force the camp into an
even smaller space abutting what he termed an MNF-I firing
range.


4. (SBU) ICRC Jordan plans to organize a roundtable of
interested embassies (he cited the U.S., U.K., Canada,
Sweden, Norway, Australia, and the EU as examples) in
September with UNHCR and possibly the Secretary General of
the Ministry of Interior to discuss resettlement options.
He noted that the SecGen from the MOI has previously promised
him that should these individuals have onward destinations,
they would be allowed to transit Jordan (directly from the
border to the airport). Gordon-Bates appeared to be looking
for guidance on timing for such a meeting. POLOFF reiterated
USG policy, in support of UNHCR's approach, that these
individuals should relocate to Irbil where conditions are
more hospitable and where the environment would be more
conducive to determining issues of status. POLOFF cautioned
that unfounded expectations for resettlement in Western
Europe might dissuade the Iranian Kurds from following UNHCR
guidance to relocate to a safer environment.


5. (C) Comment: Post finds some of Gordon-Bates' claims
peculiar. In USG, GOI, and GOJ views, the Iranian Kurdish
camp is not in "no-man's-land" but instead is firmly within
the territory of Iraq. Furthermore, the GOJ has previously
permitted emergency medical cases from within this community
to enter Jordan for medical treatment; we are confident that
such access would still be forthcoming. Finally, Post has
seen no other reports of any UNHCR employee being assaulted
by members of this community.

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Hale