UNHCR REP ON TOGOLESE REFUGEE SITUATION

UNCLAS LOME 000178 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS PARIS FOR D'ELIA AND KANEDA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREF PHUM GH BN TO SUBJECT: UNHCR REP ON TOGOLESE REFUGEE SITUATION Ref: A. ACCRA 00294, B. 06 COTONOU 0137, C. 06 LOME 0101, D. O6 COTONOU 030 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: In a March 1 courtesy call on Ambassador, UNHCR's Regional Representative Rafik Saidi said that about three-quarters of the 40,000 Togolese refugees from the 2005 political violence have returned to Togo. The UNHCR is actively seeking to encourage the remainder to go home. END SUMMARY. -------------- The time has come to return to Togo: -------------- ¶2. (U) UNHCR's Regional Representative, Rafik Saidi, and Togo Bureau Chief (a new position that reports to Saidi, who is based in Cotonou) Ibrahima Traore called on Ambassador on March 1. Saidi, in an overview of the Togolese refugee situation, indicated that about three-quarters of the original 40,000 Togolese who fled to Ghana and Benin have returned home. Saidi said that Togo reached a turning point by signing the tripartite agreement (ref. B) in February 2006, and now the time has come for refugees to return to Togo and be resettled. The UNHCR and the European Union have funds available to help resettle these refugees. He explained that funds are ear-marked for community-based projects and village improvements, as well as for individual assistance in the form of micro-financing, reconstruction aid, re-insertion assistance, and rebuilding of businesses. Saidi mentioned that the UNHCR is changing its funding priorities and henceforth focusing more resources on resettlement programs in Togo, while cutting assistance to the refugees living in camps in Benin and among the population in Ghana. -------------- -------------- Estimates of remaining refugee population: -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) The UNHCR estimates that in 2005 as many as 41,500 Togolese fled their country and sought refuge in Ghana (16,500) and Benin (25,000). While those in Benin were settled in refugee camps in southwestern Benin, those in Ghana moved into communities all along the Togo border. Today the UNHCR estimates the remaining total refugee population in Benin and Ghana at 10,000 -- equally distributed between both countries. The bulk of the return has been spontaneous and occurred in the first half of 2006. -------------- -------------- The Ad hoc Committee for Reinsertion and Reconciliation: -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) The UNHCR has been working closely with the GoT's ad hoc committee and its president, the Minister for Human Rights, to convince refugees to return to Togo. Members of the committee are focused on talking to Togolese refugees in Benin and Ghana and encouraging them to come home. -------------- Election time is June: -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Legislative elections are slated for June 24, 2007. The UNHCR is using this electoral deadline as a focal point to further encourage refugees to return to Togo. The UNHCR is hoping that the refugee population will feel a need to return to Togo to matriculate, register to vote, and receive a voter card so that they can vote on June 24. The legislative elections are an opportunity for these refugees to voice their opinion and be counted. The UNHCR noted that, to their surprise, the opposition parties, particularly the UFC, have not been very vocal about this issue, and have not been actively pushing their supporters among the refugees to return for the elections. -------------- Refugees remain suspicious: -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Saidi explained that the refugee populations remain very suspicious of the Togolese government, despite an improved political climate. Some of the refugees are also suspicious of the UNHCR, questioning why the organization wants them to return to Togo and insinuating that the international organization is under the influence of the GoT. Efforts by the UNHCR to demonstrate successful resettlement scenarios are not being well received, and the UNHCR is having a hard time convincing refugees to return to Togo. -------------- -------------- Opposition Party elements in the camps: -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Saidi mentioned that his organization has evidence of opposition party elements having infiltrated the refugee camps, and he suspects they may be discouraging the refugees from returning. (Note: A year ago, he was worried more about GoT infiltrators in the camps) -------------- -------------- Successful resettlement of 855 families: -------------- -------------- ¶8. (U) In 2006, the UNHCR worked with 855 families, totaling 2,500 individuals, to resettle them in Togo. They were resettled in three principal areas, Lome, Aneho (on the Benin border),and Baguida (just east of Lome). Every month the UNHCR checks the families' well-being and asks if they are subjected to any harassment or pressure from Togolese authorities. In the last year, not one of the 855 families, whom the UNHCR has continued to monitor, reported any form of harassment. -------------- -------------- The UNHCR asks for Embassy assistance: -------------- -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Toward the end of the hour-long meeting, Saidi asked the Ambassador to weigh in with opposition leaders and encourage them to encourage their followers in the camps to return home. He stressed again that the time had come and the conditions were right for the return of the 2005 refugees to Togo. -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Comment: Saidi has stood firm in the past in resisting pressure from the GoT to recommend that Togolese refugees to return, so his opinions about the situation are credible. The political geography of Togo has changed since the signing of the Global Political Accord by the GoT and members of the principal opposition parties in August 2006, but refugees have been slow to recognize the changes underway. Saidi is correct in saying that the elections, scheduled for June 24, provide a convenient target date for urging the last of the refugees to return to their communities, though we (and probably Saidi) believe that a certain hard core among them will never come back. End Comment. -------------- DUNN