IRAQI REFUGEE PROCESSING: CAN WE SPEED IT UP?

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002996 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR NEA/I STATE PASS TO DHS E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL SY JO IZ SUBJECT: IRAQI REFUGEE PROCESSING: CAN WE SPEED IT UP? Ref: SECSTATE 123392 BAGHDAD 00002996 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Summary: The U.S. has provided substantial assistance to Iraq's two million refugees, over USD 120 million in FY-07, which is considerably more than all other donors combined. Assistance also involves resettling some refugees; over 10,000 UNHCR referrals are pending. The process typically takes eight to ten months from the time a case is referred to the U.S. by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to the time the refugee sets foot in the U.S. That delay is likely to grow considerably. The major bottlenecks are the time it takes for Security Advisory Opinion (SAO) processing, and the long wait for an interview by a DHS officer in Jordan or Syria, where the majority of the refugees are located. To address these choke points, post suggests considering creating a priority track for Iraqi refugee clearance checks, and looking at other ways to conduct the DHS interview, including DHS interviewing by DVC from Washington or allowing State Dept. officers to conduct the interviews in-country. End Summary. TWO MILLION REFUGEES -------------- ¶2. (U) There are currently more than two million Iraqi refugees: at least 1.2 million in Syria, an estimated (in the absence of hard data) 500,000-750,000 in Jordan, and smaller populations in Lebanon, Egypt and Yemen. Jordan has dramatically restricted entry of new Iraqi arrivals, but as many as 60,000 Iraqi refugees per month have been pouring into Syria. However, Syria recently announced that it will impose visa requirements on some Iraqis; the effect of that is yet to be seen. ¶3. (U) Most refugees will eventually return home to Iraq. In the meantime, they and the host countries need assistance, as the refugees are putting a huge strain on state-provided services such as health care, education, and water in both countries. The U.S. is providing significant aid (over USD 122 million in FY07); the EU announced 6.2 million euros for Iraqi refugee assistance earlier this year, and the GOI promised USD 25 million in aid to Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan at a conference hosted by UNHCR in Geneva in April, although it has still not made good on its pledge (reftel). More money will be needed, and there are likely to be major new health, food and emergency assistance appeals by UNHCR and other UN agencies, and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC),over the next year. WHERE ARE THE REFUGEES GOING? -------------- ¶4. (U) Assistance also consists of admitting some Iraqis to third countries as refugees through the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) process. From January 1 through August 17, 2007, UNHCR submitted a total of 12,706 individual Iraqi refugees (4,180 cases) to resettlement countries, of which 75 percent have been referred to the U.S. Of the 3,204 individual Iraqis submitted to countries other than the U.S., the largest number have been referred to Australia and Canada. Only seven of the 27 EU countries have established resettlement programs (Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and the UK),which altogether offer 5,500 places per year for resettlement of all refugees, not just Iraqis. No EU country has offered additional places for resettlement of Iraqis. From January 1 through August 17, 2007, 1,251 Iraqi refugees have been referred to the seven EU countries. ¶5. (U) Since 2003 the U.S. has admitted 1,232 Iraqi refugees, and has now received over 10,000 Iraqi refugee referrals for consideration for resettlement from UNHCR, U.S. embassies, and through our direct access program for Locally Employed Staff (LES) and interpreters. The U.S. Refugee Admission Program (USRAP) is in the process of being significantly expanded, and in this stepped up mode, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had interviewed 3,651 refugees as of late August, of whom 2,510 have been conditionally or fully approved for resettlement. Many of the Iraqi refugees are located in countries where refugee processing infrastructure did not exist until last spring. Now that the necessary facilities and personnel are in place, we expect the number of Iraqis being referred, processed and admitted to the United States as refugees will only continue to increase. RESETTLEMENT TAKES TOO LONG -------------- ¶6. (SBU) It currently takes at least eight months from the time a case is referred to the USG by UNHCR to when a refugee actually sets foot in the U.S. In broad terms, this can be broken up into eight to ten weeks from UNHCR referral to DHS interview (steps one through four below),and another four to six months from DHS interview to arrival (steps five through nine). There is currently one DHS team BAGHDAD 00002996 002.2 OF 002 in Jordan and none in Syria, since the Syrian government has refused to issue visas to the DHS officers. On average, each DHS officer interviews 4 Iraqi cases per day, which is fewer than for other caseloads because of the more in-depth questioning required. If we assume that there are some 6,300 of the 10,000 cases that still need interviews, it would take this team alone almost two years to complete the interviews. ¶7. (SBU) Clearly this is too long. Refugees who have fled Iraq continue to be a vulnerable population while living in Jordan and Syria. The basis for UNHCR's referral for resettlement is the deteriorating protection environment in these countries of first asylum, in addition to the risk that would be posed to the individuals were they to return to Iraq. HOW CAN WE SPEED UP THE PROCESS? -------------- ¶8. (SBU) There appear be a number of bottlenecks in the processing of Iraqi refugees for admission to the U.S. We would like to offer some observations and suggestions as to how this might be speeded up. -- Namechecks/Security Advisory Opinions (SAOs): These take 30-45 days and must be completed before the DHS interview can be scheduled. We would suggest creating a priority track for all required clearance checks for Iraqi refugees, with the goal of lowering the waiting time to 15 days. We also understand that DHS is considering taking fingerprints before the DHS interview instead of at the time of the interview, which would allow some checks to begin earlier and which we would support. -- DHS interviews: There are not enough DHS interviewing officers in the region -- one team in Jordan and none in Syria. We should at least double the number of interviewing officers in Jordan, and continue pushing the Syrian government to issue visas so that DHS officers can start doing interviews in Syria. However, we should also look at real alternatives. We would suggest seriously exploring the legal and other aspects of allowing a State Dept. officer to do the interviews, or having DHS do the interviews by DVC from Washington. -- In-country processing: We have already asked the Department for the authority to do in-country processing for Iraqis who work for the Embassy and are requesting refugee status. This would at least speed up the process for those Iraqis who have put themselves and their families at risk by working with us. ¶9. (U) Post strongly urges the Department to consider these suggestions, or to propose other ways we can reduce the eight to ten months it takes for an Iraqi refugee to go through the steps needed to enter the United States. CROCKER