ICRC CONTINUES TO PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE,

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000901 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2017 TAGS: PREL PREF IZ SUBJECT: ICRC CONTINUES TO PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE, VISIT DETAINEES AND FACILITATE REPATRIATIONS ¶1. (C) Summary: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continues to operate in Iraq despite the violence. In partnership with the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, the ICRC provides thousands of internally displaced Iraqis with relief kits. The ICRC will continue to repatriate, as needed, former Mujahedeen el-Khalq (MeK) members currently at the Temporary Internment and Processing Facility (TIPF) in Ashraf. While the ICRC does not monitor the situation of MeK returnees in Iran, it is reasonably confident that the government of Iran is not harassing them. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Visiting Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration Office for Assistance in Asia and the Near East (PRM/ANE) director, Richard Albright, and Baghdad RefCoord, met in Amman with the ICRC Head of Delegation for Iraq, Karl Mattli, on February 22. Mattli presented an overview of ICRC's history in Iraq, which dates back to the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. Mattli noted that ICRC's work in Iraq since 2003 has been carried out at a high human cost: in October of 2003, ICRC's headquarters in Baghdad were bombed by Al-Qaeda, killing two Iraqi staff and injuring many others; two ICRC expatriate employees were killed in crossfire later that year; and in 2005 an Iraqi driver working for ICRC was also killed. Mattli stated that the ICRC remains in by Iraq making an exception to its policy on minimal conditions for operations. Currently, over 300 ICRC national employees operate in Iraq, together with 35 expatriates in Erbil and Amman, and a rotating expatriate presence in Basrah. ¶3. (U) Mattli explained that ICRC activities in Iraq include visits to Kurdish Regional Government and MNF-I detention centers (Note: the GOI has not invited ICRC to visit its detention facilities. End note); emergency relief; construction or renovation of water and sanitation systems in hospitals and elsewhere; renovation of mortuaries; and physical rehabilitation (limb-fitting centers). Each month, he added, the ICRC dispatches around 5,000 kits containing food and other essential items to Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) branches all over the country for distribution to internally displaced persons (IDPs). ICRC sees the greatest humanitarian needs in central Iraq, specially around Baghdad, but has projects around the country. ¶4. (C) Mattli stated that the ICRC was satisfied with its partnership with the IRCS for the distribution of assistance to IDPs. ICRC, Mattli said, had wondered if IRCS could perform at the level that ICRC demanded. IRCS showed that it could. He noted that IRCS is still working in Baghdad, despite the kidnapping of 30 staff members from one of its offices on December 17. (Note: Shia militias were suspected for the raid. While Shia staff were released shortly after their abduction, 12 Sunni staff are still being held hostage. IRCS is reportedly negotiating their release. End note). IRCS is also an ICRC partner in the transmission of Red Cross messages establishing communication between detainees and their relatives. ¶5. (C) Mattli stated that ICRC will continue to facilitate, as needed, the voluntary return of former MeK members to Iran. In 2005, he added, ICRC repatriated two hundred former MeK members from the TIPF. In 2006, the number dropped to just 11, and in 2007 there have only been two repatriations so far. Mattli traced this drop to the start of refugee status determinations for the former MeK members. Having been recognized as refugees, Mattli said, the former MeK members are hoping to be resettled in third countries. Mattli explained that ICRC does not visit former MeK returnees in Iran, but it is reasonably confident that they have not been bothered by the Iranian government. ICRC, he added, has an office in Teheran that would have received information about harassment if it were taking place. ¶6. Comment: ICRC continues to be one of the most efficient providers of humanitarian assistance in Iraq. Its partnership with IRCS is useful not only for the provision of aid, but also to progressively build IRCS humanitarian capacity and financial accountability. End comment. SPECKHARD