DISPLACEMENT OFFICIAL DISCUSSES ATTACHES,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001910

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2017
TAGS: PREL PREF IZ
SUBJECT: DISPLACEMENT OFFICIAL DISCUSSES ATTACHES,
REFUGEES, IDPS, AND COLLEAGUE'S KIDNAPPING

REF: BAGHDAD 1894

Classified By: Acting political counselor Bob Gilchrist. Reason 1.5 (b
) and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary: The Ministry of Displacement and
Migration (MODM) Director General of Planning, Ali Shalan,
informed the Embassy Refugee Coordinator (RefCoord) that MODM
will assign refugee attaches to Iraqi Embassies in the region
to assist the estimated two million externally displaced
Iraqis in Jordan, Syria and beyond. These new positions will
be funded with a portion of the USD 25 million the GOI has
pledged for assistance to Iraqi refugees. The forthcoming
meeting (date to be determined) of the neighbors' working
group on refugees should help the GOI decide how to best
allocate the bulk of these funds. With respect to internally
displaced persons (IDPs),Shalan speculated that the recent
hike in the UN's IDP estimates may reflect updates in
registrations and reporting, rather than new displacements.
On the recent kidnapping of the head of MODM's Baghdad
branch, Ali Shalan stated that efforts were underway to seek
his release. End summary.

New attaches and use of funds
--------------


2. (C) Shalan told RefCoord on June 9 that MODM had reached
an understanding with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
to place MODM officials in Iraqi Embassies in the region, an
initiative he hoped will be well-received by host countries.
These attaches should play an active role managing or
monitoring the eventual allocation of the USD 25 million for
Iraqi refugees that the GOI pledged in Geneva on April 17.
The GOI, however, has not decided yet how these funds will be
used, other than to apply a portion of them to support these
new positions. Shalan stated that MODM favors using the
funds to reach out to Iraqi refugees directly, while MFA
would prefer to work through the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or other UN agencies.
(Note: In a previous conversation with the RefCoord, Shalan
stated that it would be very unlikely that the GOI would
transfer funds directly to the Baathist regime of Damascus.
End note.) He added that a forthcoming meeting of the
neighbors' working group on refugees --formalized during the
Sharm-el-Sheikh May 4 conference-- should help to elucidate
the best way to assist Iraqi refugees in the region. The
Government of Jordan, which agreed to host this working group
meeting, has yet to set a date for it (see reftel). In the
meantime, the GOI has submitted to the GOJ, at the GOJ's
request, a working paper that presents broadly the issues
that the working group should address, including
documentation, residency, legal protection, health, education
and decent living standards for externally displaced Iraqis.


Monitoring IDP numbers
--------------


3. (SBU) Shalan confirmed that a large part of the data in
the UNHCR-led Cluster F Iraqi displacement updates comes from
MODM (Note: Under the UN cluster system, international
organizations come together to coordinate assistance by
sector. Cluster F deals with refugees and IDPs.
Participants in the Cluster F meetings on Iraq that convene
periodically in Amman include UNHCR, the International
Organization for Migration, and a host of UN specialized
agencies. End note.) Shalan noted that MODM data, however,
reflects the number of IDPs registered through its branch
offices, rather than the actual number of displacements in a
particular time period. Shalan noted that all IDP figures
are estimates and that it is very difficult to track the
movement of people within and out of Baghdad, which he
estimated is the source of 70% of all displacements. Many
IDPs, he said, do not register immediately after their
displacement. Instead, they register if it is required to
have access to specific benefits. In recent times, he added,
the Prime Minister's decision to give IDP families returning
to their original homes in Baghdad a one million Iraqi Dinar
grant (USD 786) has resulted in an increase in the number of
registrations. These grants come from the GOI's USD 380
million fund for victims of violence and terrorism. Up to
date, Shalan said, only 53 families have completed the
process required to qualify for the grant, but they have not
received any money yet because the Ministry of Finance has
not transferred funds to the Baghdad Provincial Council,
which is charged with disbursing them.


4. (SBU) Background note: Cluster F reported in June an
increase of 86,000 IDPs from April to May of 2007. The
greatest increases were in the three Kurdish provinces, as
per data submitted by the Kurdish Regional Government (MODM
does not have branches or collect data in Kurdistan) and in

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Kirkuk, Baghdad, Diyala, Muthanna and Kerbala. It is far
from clear if these increases reflect realities on the ground
in April, or if they are the result of data updates on
previously underreported figures from a longer time period.
It is also unclear what methodology is being used to arrive
at these compiled figures. Furthermore, the inconsistent
manner in which the data is presented makes it very difficult
to compare tables from different reports. The most recent
Cluster F report estimates that a total of 822,000 Iraqis
have been internally displaced since the February 2006
bombing of the Al-Askari Shrine in Samara, and that another
190,000 were displaced between 2003 and February of 2006.
Together with the one million Iraqis displaced by the former
regime, it is estimated that there are two million IDPs in
Iraq. End background note.

Kidnapping of MODM Director General
--------------


5. (C) Ali Shalan hopes that Tofan Abd al-Wahab, the Director
General of the Baghdad branch of MODM, will be released by
his kidnappers. Abd al-Wahab and eight members of his staff
were kidnapped on June 6. His staff (reportedly all Shia)
was later released, but not Abd al-Wahab, who is a Sunni.
Shia militias are suspected of carrying out the abduction.
Shalan stated that the kidnappers allowed Abd al-Wahab to
briefly call his wife to let her know he was alive and
unharmed. The kidnappers have asked for a USD 250,000
ransom. A relative of another Director General at MODM was
conducting the negotiations with the kidnappers. Shalan did
not say if MODM money will be used to pay for the ransom.


6. (C) Comment: The eventual posting of MODM attaches at
Iraqi Embassies in the region, by itself, will not have an
immediate impact on protection and assistance for externally
displaced Iraqis. It is, however, a better alternative to
earlier MODM ambitions of setting up independent MODM offices
in the region. In the meantime, there remains an urgent need
for the Iraqi government to engage its neighbors in order to
allow Iraqi refugees access to health and education. We are
encouraging the Iraqi government to use the forthcoming
meeting in Amman of the neighbors' working group on refugees
(expected sometime in late June) to advocate and financially
support specific measures to educate thousands of Iraqi
children in Jordan and Syria. End comment.
CROCKER