U.S. GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR REFUGEE REPATRIATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NOUAKCHOTT 000711

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR PRM DRL/AE AF/W AND AF/EPS

DEPT PLEASE PASS USAID

ACCRA FOR USAID/WA

DAKAR ALSO FOR USAID/FFP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PHUM EAID PGOV PREL MR
SUBJECT: U.S. GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR REFUGEE REPATRIATION

REF: Nouakchott 704

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Introduction and Summary
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1. As seen reftel, Mauritanian government has begun to act on
President Abdallahi's courageous decision to put an end to the issue
of Mauritanian refugees. The refugee issue has had lasting effects
on the human rights of refugees and other victims of the 1989
Events, has impeded national reconciliation and has remained a thorn
in Mauritania's relations with its neighbors. The initiative aims
to return up to 20,000 Refugees from Senegal and Mali. UNHCR plans
to launch an appeal in August. The USG should consider responding
to the appeal.


2. Moreover, managing a population influx of this level will
require a high degree of technical and operational capacity. The
risk involved in granting refugees special access to food, housing
and employment, is great if the populations in the receiving
communities become resentful. The rapid influx of large populations
will put pressure on a system with limited capacity to deliver
services, not to mention an economy where unemployment was last
measured above 30 percent. Therefore, some programs need to benefit
the entire community.


3. In order to assist the Mauritanian Government in this vast
undertaking, Post urges Department to provide as much political,
financial, technical and in-kind support to this endeavor as
possible. There are several ways beyond responding to the appeal
that the USG can help. The Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism
Partnership (TSTCP),the Peace Corps, Democracy and Development
Programs (DDP),and EUCOM Humanitarian Assistance Programs (HAP)
would all serve as excellent vehicles for this much needed
assistance. In addition, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and
the World Food Program (WFP) could both prove to be valuable
partners in ensuring food security and building local governance
capacity.


4. We should continue to publicly support the government in this
endeavor, as the political consequences of failure are great. While
public opposition is small and coming from the extreme ends of the
spectrum, we suspect that there is more anxiety under the surface,
especially from those quarters that profited from the 1989 Events or
may have blood on their hands. The government has rightly limited
the scope of this initiative to avoid too much pressure at once on
the society. We should allow the reconciliation process to proceed
at the pace the Mauritanians feel comfortable.

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Expanding the Coverage of TSCTP
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5. Presently, the Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership (TSTCP)
plans to support youth centers, radio stations and civil society
activities along the Malian and Western Sahara borders. Adding the
Senegalese border to its geographic zones of interest would serve
the dual purpose of building governance capacity and improving
economic conditions in areas susceptible to radical ideology and
supporting the institutions responsible for administering services
to the returnees after they have arrived. By supporting youth
centers, radio stations and civil society activities that target
entire communities TSCTP funding would assist regional and local
governments in preventing resentment towards returnees on the part
of populations already present. In supporting the Mauritanian
government's refugee repatriation efforts, TSTCP would bolster its
capacity to quell ethnic tensions that could otherwise become a
rallying point for radicals and extremists.

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Democracy and Development Programs
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6. Post recommends that Democracy and Development Program (DDP)
funds be increased to allow for a program presence in areas
receiving deportees while still providing the same level of support
to projects underway elsewhere in the country. DDP currently
includes the Ambassador's Self-Help Fund, the Democracy and Human
Rights Fund (DHRF) and various accounts that support HIV/AIDS
programs. Self-help programs traditionally put small amounts of
funding towards regenerating untapped or decaying resources such as
run-down school structures, health clinics or potential but
unrealized income-generating activities. Doubling or tripling the
amount of money allocated for Self-Help programs would allow Embassy

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Nouakchott to develop between ten and twenty projects focused
specifically on communities along the Mauritanian-Senegalese border.
The 20,000 deportees repopulating Mauritanian's Southern region will
have lacked national identity and residence in their country of
citizenship for nearly 20 years. Reintegrating these individuals
into Mauritanian society will require that they understand their
civilian rights as granted by the current government. An increase in
DHRF would support this endeavor by allowing for the development of
local civil organizations as well as sensitization and human rights
awareness campaigns. Increased funds for HIV/AIDS programming would
ensure that repatriated deportees possess all of the knowledge
necessary to maintain low rates of HIV/AIDS.

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Peace Corps Assistance
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7. Peace Corps may also be an effective resource for the Mauritanian
government in this regard. Peace Corps volunteers currently work in
seven functional areas: including, Girls' Education and Empowerment
(GEE),Environmental Education (EE),English Teaching (ED),Small
Enterprise Development (SED),Information and Communication
Technology (ICT),Community Health Education (HE),and Agroforestry
(AGFO). Volunteer sites have already been assigned for the 2007-2008
year, though Peace Corps might make a modest commitment to aiding
returned deportees and the communities absorbing them through future
volunteers or Crisis Corps. These endeavors would of course be
contingent upon the support and articulated need of both the
Mauritanian government and the local communities in which volunteers
serve. Peace Corps' contribution must be initiated by the Government
of Mauritania and must be separate from State Department diplomatic
strategy for Mauritania.

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EUCOM Humanitarian Assistance
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8. EUCOM's Humanitarian Assistance (HAP) programs traditionally
provide for infrastructure support in the form of health clinics,
school equipment, wells and other physical structures that have a
direct and immediate impact on the surrounding communities. HAP
programs have run the gamut from long-term, large-scale type
projects such as health clinic and school construction to
small-scale, short-term programs such as providing desks for schools
where students previously sat on hard cement floors. These
short-term style projects must cost less than USD 2,500 and can be
targeted across communities several at time.
By assisting local, regional and national governments' efforts and
abilities to provide services to returnees and communities along the
Senegalese border, HAP programs will enhance the legitimacy of a
government that has been a reliable partner in the War on Terror and
provide needed support to populations in the poorest regions of
Mauritania.

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National Democratic Institute Programs
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9. In a meeting with EmbOffs, NDI Resident Director and Senior
Maghreb Region Representative Gerard Latulippe indicated that NDI
has funding for peace and reconciliation programs from the National
Endowment for Democracy. EmbOffs urged NDI to consider utilizing
this funding first for local governance capacity building, noting
that integrating returnees with host the population and equalizing
delivery of services amongst residents and returnees will prove a
considerable challenge. NDI should consider broader peace and
reconciliation programs, such as creating a type of truth
commission, when the government and people are ready.

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Financial Support for the World Food Program
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10. Increased foreign assistance in the form of food donations, as
well as financial and technical contributions to schools, clinics,
wells, youth centers, and income generating activities will be
essential. World Food Program (WFP) Representative indicated to
Charge and Political Officer on July 31 that WFP plans to assess the
economic situation of deportees who are to be repatriated as well as
the areas where deportees will be settled. WFP expects to find high
levels of poverty in both these areas and plans first to work
through the current PRRO, then revise its budget in order to cover
all of the food needs of the relevant populations. In addition WFP
also plans to target the communities absorbing deportees in its next

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performance strategy, set to be implemented by January, 2008. FFP
should consider an increased to donation for the present PRRO and
consider contributing to the 2008 PRRO in order to assist this
effort.

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Political Support
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11. In our meeting with Didier Laye, the UNHCR representative
stressed the importance of tri-partite agreements between Mauritania
and UNHCR with Senegal and Mali. UNHCR is seeking partners' support
to have the parties conclude the agreements to provide the proper
framework for the operation and de-politicize the matter. The
governments of Mali, and in particular Senegal, have made extremely
positive statements about the program. The refugee issue remains an
irritant in Senegalese-Mauritanian relations, such as when, in
August 2005, a coalition of refugee groups sought assistance from
President Wade for a return, to the dismay of the Mauritanian junta.
Therefore, a tri-partite agreement codifying the commitments of the
parties, and endorsed by partners, would go a long way to providing
political support for the operation.

Koutsis