GOI REQUESTS HELP TO CONVENE DISPLACED IRAQIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001973

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2017
TAGS: PREL PREF IZ JO
SUBJECT: GOI REQUESTS HELP TO CONVENE DISPLACED IRAQIS
WORKING GROUP

REF: A. BAGHDAD 1894

B. GENEVA 1018

C. AMMAN 2502

D. BAGHDAD 1910

Classified By: Classified by Political Counselor Margaret Scobey for re
asons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1, (C) Summary: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Undersecretary, Dr. Mohammad Hamoud, requested USG assistance
in getting the government of Jordan to convene the neighbors'
working group on displaced Iraqis. The MFA had hoped that
this working group would meet before June 15. According to
Hamoud, the GOI is willing to invest on the education of
Iraqis in Jordan and Syria and looks forward to an
opportunity discuss with these two governments where and how
Iraqi support should be applied. This willingness, he added,
is currently frustrated by the Jordanian government's
procrastination on setting a date to host in Amman this
working group meeting. The MFA Undersecretary recognizes
that the financial cost of educating thousands of Iraqi
children is substantial and will require --in addition to
Iraq's own contribution-- the support of donors' countries
and for this reason would welcome the participation of the
USG as an observer in the meetings of this working group.
The Department may want to consider approaching the
government of Jordan to encourage it to convene this working
group. End summary.

Jordanian procrastination
--------------


2. (C) Embassy Refugee Coordinator (RefCoord) met on June 11
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary, Mohammed
Hamoud, to discuss assistance for Iraqi refugees in Jordan
and Syria. Hamoud used the occasion to request USG help in
eliciting the cooperation of Jordan to convene the working
group on displaced Iraqis. (Note: The GOI prefers to refer
to Iraqis in the region as displaced Iraqis, rather than
refugees. The establishment of the working group --along
with that of working groups on energy and security-- was
agreed to during the March 10 neighbors' conference in
Baghdad and reaffirmed during the May 4 Sharm el-Sheikh
follow-up. However, none of the groups have met yet. See
reftel A. End note.) Hamoud explained that Foreign Minister
Zebari had recently spoken on the phone with his Jordanian
counterpart and told him that, if Jordan did not want to host
the meeting, it should say so and the GOI would look for an
alternative location. The Jordanian Foreign Minister, Hamoud
said, maintained that the government of Jordan (GOJ) will
convene the meeting, adding that the Jordanian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs was just waiting for other GOJ agencies to
acquiesce to a date. (Note: Hamoud speculated that the
Jordanian intelligence agency may be causing the delay. End
note). Hamoud noted that the GOI had been responsive to the
Jordanian request of producing a draft paper on issues for
discussion, and had expected the GOJ to respond with setting
a date, hopefully before June 15, for a meeting (Note: The
draft paper was sent to PRM/ANE. End note). If the meeting
does not take place before June 15, Hamoud stated that the
next opportunity for him to participate would be the last
week of June, as he was traveling to Geneva and Brussels for
talks with the UN Compensation Commission on Iraq and with
the European Union next week. (Note: Hamoud is the point of
contact on refugee issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
and the GOI lead for the working group on displaced Iraqis.
End note.) The Iraqi MFA undersecretary welcomed the US
participation as an observer in the working group's meetings.

Burden-sharing
--------------


3. (C) Hamoud stated that Prime Minister Maliki had not
decided where and how to apply the USD 25 million for
displaced Iraqis that the GOI pledged in Geneva on April 17
(reftel B). Face to face meetings with Jordanian and Syrian
officials, he added, would help the GOI make a decision.
Hamoud agreed that getting Iraqi children into school in
Jordan and Syria was a priority. To address the situation in
Syria, he said, the GOI was contemplating making a
contribution to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society for the
establishment of schools specifically for Iraqi children.
Hamoud was aware that the GOJ prefers the integration of
Iraqi children in the Jordanian educational system, and hoped
that the GOJ would change its policy of only allowing Iraqi
children who are legal residents to register in the schools
(Note: Hamoud did not seem aware of the GOJ announcement to
allow all children in Jordan to register in school, reported
in reftel C. End note.) Hamoud said that the GOI would
welcome a UNHCR appeal for the education of externally
displaced Iraqi children. He thought that the GOI could

BAGHDAD 00001973 002 OF 002


contribute to such an appeal in order to encourage donors to
follow suit. In terms of appealing to countries other than
traditional Western donors, Hamoud lamented that the Gulf
states had traditionally followed Saudi Arabia's lead, and
that the Saudis have not been very generous in assisting
Iraq. Hamoud thought that the Saudi government does not want
democracy to flourish in the region, nor is it happy with a
Shia government in Iraq. Hamoud expressed gratitude for the
ongoing USG efforts and contributions to the education of
externally displaced Iraqi children.

Humanitarian attaches
--------------


4. (C) Hamoud confirmed that the MFA had agreed to place
humanitarian attaches at Embassies in the region (reftel D).
These attaches would come from the Iraqi Ministry of
Displacement and Migration (MODM). He did not think,
however, that these new positions should be funded by the USD
25 million pledge, noting that this money should go to needy
displaced Iraqis, not to the bureaucracy. Hamoud
characterized the MFA's acceptance of attaches as a
compromise with MODM, which had wanted to establish its own
offices in the region. (Note: Hamoud was critical of MODM's
leadership, stating that MODM's push for its own offices was
motivated by the Minister of Displacement wish to leave for
Teheran to head such an office there, and by his deputy's
desire to do the same in Amman. End note.)


Comment
--------------


5. (C) Dr. Hamoud is a veteran diplomat and a constructive
interlocutor on refugee issues. His continued involvement in
the matter could lead to a more effective GOI engagement with
governments in the region hosting large numbers of Iraqis.
However, his many responsibilities as the MFA's equivalent of
a second deputy minister pull him in many directions. The
failure of the GOJ to convene the displaced Iraqis working
group before June 15 constitutes a missed opportunity to
press forward with the USG goal of facilitating the
scholarization of as many Iraqi refugee children as possible.
The Department may want to consider approaching the GOJ to
encourage it to respond promptly to the GOI's request to host
--hopefully before the end of June-- the first meeting of the
working group. End comment.
CROCKER