Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07COTONOU224
2007-03-22 13:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Cotonou
Cable title:
BENIN: REDUCTION IN TOGOLESE REFUGEE POPULATION
how-toVZCZCXRO2743 PP RUEHMA RUEHPA DE RUEHCO #0224 0811339 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 221339Z MAR 07 FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9375 INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 0126 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0299
UNCLAS COTONOU 000224
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF/W (DBANKS) AND PRM (CCHANG)
PARIS FOR D'ELIA
KAMPALA FOR FLINTROP
LONDON FOR HAHN
ACCRA FOR REFCOORD BLUHM
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PHUM EAID BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: REDUCTION IN TOGOLESE REFUGEE POPULATION
REF: COTONOU 0030
UNCLAS COTONOU 000224
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF/W (DBANKS) AND PRM (CCHANG)
PARIS FOR D'ELIA
KAMPALA FOR FLINTROP
LONDON FOR HAHN
ACCRA FOR REFCOORD BLUHM
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PHUM EAID BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: REDUCTION IN TOGOLESE REFUGEE POPULATION
REF: COTONOU 0030
1. (SBU) A UNHCR official told TDY PolOff on March 21 that the
Togolese refugee population in Benin now stands at an estimated
5,900, down from a high of some 25,000 immediately after Togo's
political crisis erupted in early 2005. This number represents
those Togolese refugees living both within and outside of the UNHCR
refugee camp. Since March 2006, 2,500 refugees have returned to
Togo with UNHCR assistance, and UNHCR estimates that an even larger
number have returned spontaneously without direct UN aid.
2. (U) None of the 2005-era Togolese refugees have been resettled by
UNHCR to third countries, but UNHCR contends that they are working
toward the resettlement of those with serious medical conditions.
(NOTE: Benin also shelters, according to UNHCR, 6,246 other
refugees, including several hundred Ogoni from Nigeria, and some
pre-2005 Togolese. END NOTE.)
3. (SBU) Of the 5,900 Togolese refugees remaining from the 2005
events, UNCHR estimates that more than half will return to Togo at
the end of the 2007 school year in June, when Togolese elections are
over. UNCHR plans to facilitate the integration of the remaining
refugees at the Agame camp through the placement of their children
in local schools outside of the camp.
BROWN
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF/W (DBANKS) AND PRM (CCHANG)
PARIS FOR D'ELIA
KAMPALA FOR FLINTROP
LONDON FOR HAHN
ACCRA FOR REFCOORD BLUHM
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PHUM EAID BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: REDUCTION IN TOGOLESE REFUGEE POPULATION
REF: COTONOU 0030
1. (SBU) A UNHCR official told TDY PolOff on March 21 that the
Togolese refugee population in Benin now stands at an estimated
5,900, down from a high of some 25,000 immediately after Togo's
political crisis erupted in early 2005. This number represents
those Togolese refugees living both within and outside of the UNHCR
refugee camp. Since March 2006, 2,500 refugees have returned to
Togo with UNHCR assistance, and UNHCR estimates that an even larger
number have returned spontaneously without direct UN aid.
2. (U) None of the 2005-era Togolese refugees have been resettled by
UNHCR to third countries, but UNHCR contends that they are working
toward the resettlement of those with serious medical conditions.
(NOTE: Benin also shelters, according to UNHCR, 6,246 other
refugees, including several hundred Ogoni from Nigeria, and some
pre-2005 Togolese. END NOTE.)
3. (SBU) Of the 5,900 Togolese refugees remaining from the 2005
events, UNCHR estimates that more than half will return to Togo at
the end of the 2007 school year in June, when Togolese elections are
over. UNCHR plans to facilitate the integration of the remaining
refugees at the Agame camp through the placement of their children
in local schools outside of the camp.
BROWN