ARAB TRIBAL RESETTLEMENT IN DARFUR ISSUE MORE

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001132 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF S/E NATSIOS, AND AF/SPG NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREF PHUM EAID SU CD UN SUBJECT: ARAB TRIBAL RESETTLEMENT IN DARFUR ISSUE MORE COMPLEX THAN INITIALLY TRUMPETED -------------- -------------- Resettlement Issue Outside Scope of Current Findings -------------- -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The much-anticipated report by the UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) on the influx of Arabs from Chad into Darfur will determine their legal status rather than assess whether the Sudanese Government has launched a program to resettle Chadian Arabs in the region, according to UNHCR Deputy Head Craig Sanders (please protect). "UNHCR is fairly confident that these people are refugees, fleeing from a general conflict," Sanders told USAID/DCHA Team Leader for Darfur and Poloff on July 19. He said that more investigation would be needed before UNHCR could assert that Sudan was resettling the Chadian Arabs, a topic that was outside the scope of the investigation. Citing a "compromised access situation" as a major hindrance, Sanders noted that UNHCR's assessment was "a bit of a patchwork." Given the legalistic nature of determining prima facia refugee status and the charged political environment, the report is undergoing extensive review for accuracy. -------------- Terms of Reference -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The terms of reference for the report were: 1) Investigate the circumstances of flight and make a determination of status of those involved, 2) Develop a strategy for assistance, and 3) Highlight the "protection areas," such as nationality and land, that UNHCR will need to monitor. UNHCR and the Sudanese Government's Commission on Refugees (COR) cooperated in their examination of the evidence to make a proper designation of refugee status. The COR has not obstructed UNHCR's efforts to date, according to Sanders. -------------- Migrants Fleeing Prosecution -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The approximately 40,000 Chadians of Arab origin who have settled in West Darfur in recent months are the second wave of migrants, said Sanders. An earlier group of 20,000 Chadians began arriving at the end of 2005, and UNHCR had determined that they had legitimately fled the conflict in Chad. In the case of the new arrivals, UNHCR is striving for a thorough assessment of the situation consistent with their standards of prima facia refugee status. Some may be excluded from refugee status, for example, if they are deemed combatants or former combatants. However, Sanders anticipated that UNHCR would conclude that the refugees left Chad based on a "well-founded fear" of the deteriorating security situation, either because they had been direct victims of violence or had feared that instability would soon affect them. Without further investigation, however, UNHCR was unprepared to say that the 40,000 new migrants had been persecuted because of their ethnicity. -------------- Complexity of Ethnicity, Land -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Sanders said that reports were mixed on the Government's involvement with the new arrivals. "There is fairly compelling evidence in some cases that the authorities are involved in this, in others not," he explained. "However, the intention of this report was never to determine with certainty if there was foul play." Sanders added that any determination of nationality would require extensive investigation in the future. Some members of the new group of Arab tribesmen are known to be Sudanese nationals that migrated to Chad in the 1970s, for example, and belong to the same tribal confederations found on both sides of the border. UNHCR would have to initiate a formal registration program to determine the nationality of the new arrivals, which will be difficult given poor access conditions due to insecurity and the absence of roads. Determining land ownership would prove equally complicated. "It is very difficult on the basis of what we know now to come up with a rock solid, black and white determination on land," he said. FERNANDEZ