A/S SAUERBREY CONGRATULATES GOJ ON PROVIDING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 003752 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/09/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREF KPAL IZ JO SUBJECT: A/S SAUERBREY CONGRATULATES GOJ ON PROVIDING EDUCATION ACCESS TO IRAQI STUDENTS Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Assistant Secretary Ellen Sauerbrey congratulated the GOJ for its recent decision to expand enrollment of Iraqi schoolchildren, and focused local and international media attention on the broader needs of Iraqi refugees in the region during her August 26-29 visit. Her announcement of the USG's 30 million USD pledge to the UNHCR/UNICEF joint appeal for Iraqi education was the central event, and generated positive coverage of USG efforts in support of Iraqis in Jordan. Sauerbrey met the Ministers of Planning and Education, UNHCR and UNICEF officials, and NGOs working with Iraqi refugees, and visited the DHS and contract personnel responsible for refugee resettlement processing. END SUMMARY. Media Outreach -------------- ¶2. (U) On August 28, A/S Sauerbrey visited the West Shmeisani Girls School to announce PRM's $30 million pledge to the UNHCR/UNICEF joint appeal to help Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon meet the educational needs of Iraqi children. A/S Sauerbrey, Minister of Education Khaled Touqan, UNHCR Country Representative Imran Riza and UNICEF Country Representative Anne Skatvedt delivered statements followed by Sauerbrey's interaction with students (both Iraqi and Jordanian) and educators in several classroom settings. 145 of the school's 750 students were from Iraq, an increase of 50 percent over 2005/2006 school year figures. The media event was attended by dozens of members of the local and international press, and received front page coverage in Jordanian newspapers. Later, Sauerbrey participated in a press round table with local and international reporters, including NPR and the New York Times. She also gave a ten minute radio interview to BBC Radio. Minister of Planning Suhair Ali -------------- ¶3. (C) A/S Sauerbrey thanked Minister of Planning Suhair Ali for the GOJ's decision to expand enrollment of Iraqi children. She described U.S. assistance, including the current USD 30 million pledge and USD 9 million the USG expects to add to that, and said PRM anticipates funding approximately 30 percent of an upcoming UNHCR/UNICEF appeal for healthcare. Sauerbrey expressed concern that details of the GOJ's expanded enrollment policy were not reaching the local school level, citing reports by NGOs working with Iraqi families. She encouraged additional outreach to Iraqi parents to inform them of available support for registration fees and other costs. ¶4. (C) The Minister outlined the challenges Jordan faced supporting a large Iraqi population and expressed appreciation for U.S. assistance, highlighting the recent USD 80 million supplemental for Jordan (USD 10 million of which was intended for education and HEALTH needs of displaced Iraqis). She said the pressure on Jordan's economy went beyond education and HEALTH to include costs for water, energy, subsidies, and the burden of an increased current account deficit. "We must respond to the humanitarian needs of Iraqis, but not at the expense of our own citizens," she said, noting that the GOJ's rough estimate of the cost of this impact as of April was ONE billion dollars. According to Ali, registration of Iraqis was a necessary security measure, but inter-ministerial agreement had been reached that, for the purposes of school enrollment, Iraqi families could register through UNHCR. Ali criticized an as-yet-unreleased survey of Iraqi refugees conducted by FAFO, a Norwegian NGO, saying it appeared flawed based on other estimates, and that the perceived fear of deportation may have impacted the results. Note: This survey, provided in draft form by FAFO to the GOJ over two months ago, has not yet been released. Expectations are that the survey shows that the number of Iraqis resident in Jordan is considerably below the 750,000 estimate regularly used by the GOJ. End note. ¶5. (C) Ali described GOJ efforts to expand enrollment of Iraqis by extending the school registration deadline ONE month to September 15. Between 300 and 600 new students were registering daily, and ONE could extrapolate 8,000-9,000 additional enrollments beyond the 18,000 registered by August ¶27. Ali predicted this total would gradually increase as Iraqis gained confidence that nothing bad would happen to them as a result of their enrollment. AMMAN 00003752 002 OF 003 Minister of Education Khaled Touqan -------------- ¶6. (C) Minster of Education Khaled Touqan told the Assistant Secretary that while the GOJ had agreed to enroll all Iraqis, SIPDIS the numbers have so far been much lower than expected - only 7,000 more than last year. He said Iraqis were congregated in areas that already suffered from school crowding, but ten schools in Amman were ready to be double-shifted if needed. Sauerbrey urged that that the GOJ spread the message that assistance was available; she also suggested that the MOE use placement testing in lieu of school records, which are not available for many Iraqi refugees. Touqan agreed, and said that this effort was underway and initial results were beginning to show that the message was getting out. He speculated that some Iraqi children were working due to economic hardship, and some may plan to return to Iraq in the near future, reducing the number who might register for school. He acknowledged that a few principals were turning away students - both Iraqi and Jordanian - due to overcrowding. Note: On September 2, after this visit and additional follow-up from concerned NGOs, the MOE issued a letter to local school officials clarifying procedures for enrolling Iraqi students and stressing that inability to pay school fees should not be a barrier to enrollment. End Note. ¶7. (C) Sauerbrey told the minister that the USG would continue to work to alleviate the pressure on Jordanian schools by accelerating school expansion projects in areas where double-shifting was currently planned. Touqan welcomed the support and noted the urgency of the need, stressing the importance of rapid action to provide adequate facilities. ¶8. (C) In addition to expanding schools, Touqan said "in principle any mechanism available for Jordanian students would be offered to Iraqis," including school meal programs and non-formal education. Touqan also agreed that Iraqi students would not be excluded if they fail to register by the September 15 deadline, as long as they are able to meet mandatory attendance requirements for graduation (approximately 85 percent attendance). UNHCR-Jordan and UNHCR Iraq -------------- ¶9. (C) In a joint meeting with UNHCR Jordan and UNHCR Iraq, Imran Riza, the Jordan Country Representative, described a dramatic change in the attitude of the GOJ compared to March when the Assistant Secretary last visited. He attributed much of that change to international support and the ability of allies within the government to successfully convince others to fulfill the education needs of Iraqis in Jordan. He acknowledged, however, that Jordan faced real security concerns due to the large Iraqi population. In addition to the joint UNHCR/UNICEF education appeal, Riza said UNHCR/UNICEF were finalizing a HEALTH appeal to support Iraqis in neighboring countries. Riza also said UNHCR was exploring with the GOJ ways to ensure HEALTH services for holders of UNHCR registration documents. 10.(C) On resettlement, Riza reported that UNHCR was increasing its capacity and that the quality of submissions for the resettlement program was generally high. He anticipated that departures would begin to increase soon. UNHCR was making physical changes to its facility to accommodate up to 150 cases (families) a day. UNHCR-Jordan was on target to meet its quota of 7,500 referrals to all resettlement countries by the end of the year. 7,500 more cases would be referred by UNHCR-Syria although there would be more complications for the USG in accepting those due to limited Syrian cooperation. He noted some cases of Iraqis registered with UNHCR in Syria showing up in Jordan and vice versa. Riza also asked for additional feedback from the OPE/DHS on the results of circuit rides. ¶11. (C) UNHCR Iraq Country Representative Janvier De Riedmatten briefed on UNHCR Iraq operations and highlighted the continued high vulnerability of Palestinians living in Iraq. De Riedmatten asked that the U.S. continue consideration of the nine cases previously submitted for U.S. resettlement by UNHCR and asked for U.S. help persuading Yemen to accept Palestinians for temporary resettlement. On Iranian Kurdish refugees inside Iraq, De Riedmatten said the ongoing local integration project for the approximately 3,500 refugees who moved to Qawa in 2005 was proceeding well, with Iraqi Kurdish authorities already offering citizenship to a portion of this population. UNHCR also briefed on their recent trip to Camp Ashraf to conduct refugee status determination interview with former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq. UNHCR said that 27 interviews were AMMAN 00003752 003 OF 003 conducted and are pending final decisions on their refugee status. Their preliminary opinion is that at least 26 had a credible fear of persecution if returned to Iran. Site Visits: IOM Processing Facility and Programs for Vulnerable Refugees -------------- ¶12. (C) A/S Sauerbrey toured the Overseas Processing Entity run by IOM in Amman and was briefed by Director of Resettlement David John. John said IOM was having difficulty obtaining visas for its staff in Syria, hampering their ability to oversee local employees. Sauerbrey said the U.S. Charge in Damascus was exploring the possibility of conducting DHS interviews inside the Embassy. ¶13. (U) A/S Sauerbrey toured PRM-funded projects run by Save the Children - an after-school program for Iraqi and Jordanian students - and ICMC, which offers healthcare services and provides some basic assistance items to extremely vulnerable Iraqis. Sauerbrey also met Ambassador Mohammad Al Hadid, Head of the Jordanian Red Crescent, to discuss his organization's programs that assist Iraqi refugees. Finally, A/S Sauerbrey visited the UNRWA women's center at the Wihdat Palestinian refugee camp where she met student parliamentarians and a women's group engaged in micro-enterprise activities. ¶14. (U) Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey cleared this message. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ Hale