DOMINICAN REPLY ON RESETTLEMENT OF CHINESE UIGHUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 001782 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR S/WCI AND WHA/CAR J ROSHOLT E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM PTER PINR DR SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPLY ON RESETTLEMENT OF CHINESE UIGHUR DETAINEES REF: STATE 89997 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Roland W. Bullen, Reasons 1.4(b) and ( d) ¶1. (C) Political Unit Chief delivered Reftel talking points on the resettlement of Uighur detainees to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Undersecretary for Judicial Affairs Miguel Pichardo Olivier expressed concern regarding the possible security threat posed by the detainees. He also commented that this case was unusual in that he normally deals with refugees and individuals presently residing in the Dominican Republic that are requesting legal residency. ¶2. (C) Pichardo pledged to present our request to the Dominican Government's Refugee Commission, an inter-agency board that he chairs and that makes recommendations to Foreign Minister Troncoso. The Embassy will report any subsequent Dominican response and actions. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: The tone of Pichardo's reply was matter-of-fact, revealing neither an inclination to accept or a preference to reject the U.S. request. He simply offered to put the request through the proper channels, which he judged to be the Refugee Commission. At this time, the Embassy's assessment is that the Dominicans are unlikely to accept any Uighurs absent handsome U.S. funding to do so. They are already struggling to handle a legal and illegal immigrant population that numbers in the hundreds of thousands. We are not aware of the Dominicans having ever objected to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Troncoso visited the facility in 2006 and commented that it was entirely justified and well run. This report and extensive other material can be consulted on our SIPRNET site, http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/ BULLEN