NINEWA PLAIN: DIVERSE COMMUNITIES WANT JOINT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BAGHDAD 001705 SIPDIS REL ACGU E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM IZ SUBJECT: NINEWA PLAIN: DIVERSE COMMUNITIES WANT JOINT PROJECTS REF: A. BAGHDAD 1575 ¶B. BAGHDAD 1571 Classified By: NINEWA PRT LEADER JASON HYLAND: 1.4 (B) AND (D) This is a joint Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT)/USAID message. ¶1. (C) Summary and comment: May 27-30 meetings by USAID and Senior Advisor Krajeski in the Ninewa Plain area, home to significant Christian, Yezidi, Shia Shabak, Turkmen, Kurdish and Arab populations, focused on the state of internally displaced persons (IDP) in Ninewa, the possible uses by USAID of the $10 million fund for the Ninewa Plain authorized by Congress, and resolution of disputed territory issues. The consultations revealed that singling out certain minority groups for assistance could cause resentment among community members, particularly during the ongoing resolution of disputed territory issues. The contrast between the living conditions of the Herki IDPs and Christian IDPs living in al Hamdaniya could not have been more startling. Christians throughout Ninewa appear relatively well off and secure; they appear to have no immediate requirements for emergency humanitarian assistance on a large scale. Based on this visit, USAID and the PRT are exploring infrastructure improvements, such as electricity, sanitation and water supply, and employment generation activities. ¶2. (SBU) Summary, cont: PRT Ninewa facilitated a series of meetings May 27-30 in the Ninewa Plain. The Ninewa Plain includes portions of the Tel Keif, Sheikhan and al Hamdaniya districts east and north of Mosul. The meetings were with a USAID Baghdad delegation that included USAID Iraq Acting Mission Director Denise Herbol as well as representatives of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and the USAID Iraq Program Office. In addition, the PRT facilitated a separate set of meetings with Special Advisor on Northern Iraq Ambassador Thomas Krajeski. End Summary and Comment. -------------- Background on Ninewa Plain IDPs -------------- ¶3. (SBU) IDPs are a significant issue facing Ninewa Governorate. Iraq-wide, Ninewa is second only to Baghdad in IDP population. There is only ONE formally recognized camp and few other concentrated settlements. The majority of IDPs in Ninewa are spread throughout the communities of the Governorate. Similar to other Governorates, the IDPs in Ninewa face difficulties concerning access to basic services and support. Final disposition of the IDP population is a concern for the Provincial Government and settled population alike, as IDPs are perceived to cause a security concern and economic stress for the communities in which they settle. There is also a general concern that IDPs in disputed areas will be used to affect the Article 140 referendum. ¶4. (SBU) The Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) monitors approximately 12,118 displaced families, or 66,924 individuals, throughout Ninewa Governorate. The majority of these are located within Mosul (n.b. these numbers reflect IDPs registered with MoDM; the Ninewa PRT is unaware of any evidence that there are a large number of unregistered IDPs). IDP populations are comprised of the following ethnic groups: Herki (a clan of formerly pro-Saddam Kurds), Christian (Chaldean, Assyrian, and Armenian),Shabak (Shiite),Turkmen (Sunni and Shia),Yazidi, and Kurds. -------------- Herki Kurds are Most Pressing IDP Issue -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The USAID Baghdad delegation traveled on 28 May to several IDP locations on the outskirts of Bartalla, a large town in the ethnically and religiously mixed district of al Hamdaniya. At the first stop, the delegation visited a camp populated by individuals from the Herki tribe and other Kurdish groups. According to reports from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the area, in 1991 a number of Kurdish IDPs from the Herki tribe began to settle in five military forts in the vicinity of Bartalla. Many other Kurdish people came from different parts of Ninewa province starting in 2003. As of mid-2007, the five forts and surrounding areas hosted approximately 12,000 Kurdish IDPs. Approximately 65 percent of this total arrived in 1991, with the remainder joining them since 2003. The Herkis are known as a tribe that supported Saddam Hussein and thus have not been welcomed by government officials from BAGHDAD 00001705 002 OF 004 Ninewa province or the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Unwelcome and ostracized, they remain displaced and live in difficult conditions in the forts and surrounding houses. ¶6. (SBU) Conditions for the IDPs in the forts and surrounding homes are basic, but adequate. They have some access to water, sanitation, education, and HEALTH care, although significant improvements could be made to essential services and access to social services. They live in crowded, spartan quarters with few amenities, as is typical for many urban and rural poor in Iraq. Those IDPs interviewed by the USAID team indicated that they received the Government of Iraq-sponsored Public Distribution System ration basket (PDS). A report from an international NGO indicates that many of the IDPs in the forts and surrounding area work as day laborers, migrant laborers in other parts of northern Iraq, farm nearby land or serve in the Iraqi Army. -------------- Christian IDP Facility Spacious, Clean -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The USAID Baghdad delegation also visited a Christian IDP facility to view the living conditions of these Christians and assess any potential assistance that could be provided by USAID. The Christian IDPs live in a walled-off apartment complex built with funding from KRG Minister of Finance Sarkis Agjahan. The apartments were spacious, clean and full of quality furniture and appliances, including air-conditioners and refrigerators. The Christian IDP apartment complex included a lighted soccer field. Sarkis also provides the Christian IDPs with a monthly stipend, food rations and HEALTH care. ¶8. (SBU) The Christian IDPs interviewed at the impressive IDP facility came mainly from Baghdad, Basra and Mosul. Most said they fled due to fear of violence directed at them from Al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists. Fearing for their lives, they traveled to Ninewa, their historical homeland. They have found security and support in the form of financial and material assistance from Sarkis and the KRG. The Christians have manned their own security force of more than 2,000 guards with financial support from Sarkis. ¶9. (SBU) Following the tour, USAID met with a leading Bartalla businessman who is Chaldean Catholic and very pro-Kurdish but well respected across the community. Several prominent leaders of various Christian sects, Shia Shabak and Yezidi minorities suggested areas for USAID intervention. Some highlights included: funding for NGOs (to support women's centers, agricultural centers, social/cultural centers, etc.); a fish farm that has fallen idle that could be restarted; a tomato paste factory that could be rehabilitated; and an aluminum factory that requires refurbishment. Another idea was the extension of a higher education facility into Bartalla, where residents said about 160 professors from the community could serve as professors. -------------- Christians' Views of Politics, Security Vary -------------- ¶10. (C/REL ACGU) When asked specifically about the $10 million authorized by Congress, ONE Al Hamdaniya leader said the Christians in his area would instead be willing to put in $20 million of their own financing for development, if only the USG would assist their aspirations to join the KRG. In a separate meeting on May 30, Ambassador Krajeski met with Tel Keif district mayor and Ninewa Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) head Basem Belo. Yezidi and Christian Tel Keif district council members also joined the meeting. Belo questioned the need to press ahead quickly on resolution of disputed territory issues, pointing out that Tel Keif does not need to constitutionally be decided through the Article 140 process. He argued from his party's script for the creation through Article 125 of an autonomous Christian homeland within Iraq as a whole, rather than within the KRG. ¶11. (C/REL ACGU) Christian leaders in Al Hamdaniya district expressed concern over a late May order that they said came from the Prime Minister disbanding the more than 2,000 security guards who assist with protection of towns in some Ninewa Plain towns. Some of those guards, currently funded by Sarkis, may be absorbed by the Iraqi Security Forces, according to the Al Hamdaniya leaders, who said they have been in contact with Ninewa's Provincial Director of Police about the guards. The bulk of the Sarkis-funded guards BAGHDAD 00001705 003 OF 004 operate in al Hamdaniya and Mosul, with few operating in the anti-Kurdish ADM areas of Tel Keif. ¶12. (C/REL ACGU) In a meeting with the USAID group, Ninewa Provincial Council Member Bassima Isa Suleiman, a Christian, focused on attracting refugees back to Ninewa with agricultural programs, jobs and housing, as well as ensuring that aid was distributed in a fair manner to benefit all groups within the Ninewa Plain rather than a specific minority group. In a meeting with the USAID delegation, Belo stressed the need for job creation, encouraging entrepreneurship and infrastructure improvement, specifically water pumping stations. He also expressed a strong interest in learning more about Community Stabilization Program activities in his district. -------------- --- Governor Sees Agriculture Helping Minority Areas -------------- --- ¶13. (SBU) On May 27, the USAID Baghdad delegation met with Ninewa Governor Duraid Kashmoula to inquire as to what USAID could do to assist the religious minorities in the Ninewa Province. Agriculture figured prominently in the Governor,s request for assistance, citing the need for technical assistance and funding to re-start the Al Jazeera Water Project. This project has been off-line for over three years as a result of GOI negligence with respect to the maintenance of pumps at the Mosul Damn that were refurbished by GRD in 2004. Coupled with a drought that has plagued the Ninewa plain for over four years, the agricultural sector in this Province has been decimated. Given Ambassador Crocker's request to USAID to consider a potential role for the Department of Defense's Business Transformation Agency (BTA),the team identified potential areas for assistance related to this issue. -------------- Business Center Reaches Into Ninewa Plain -------------- ¶14. (SBU) The USAID delegation also met with representatives from the Ninewa Economic Development Center, which collaborates with USAID's partner Tijara to provide loans to entrepreneurs. The center requested additional capital to grant more loans, suggesting that some of the $10 million fund could be channeled through its already established Al Hamdaniya branch office, which is run out of a women's center in the district's capital of Qara Qosh. -------------- Comment: Joint Possibilities -------------- ¶15. (C/REL ACGU) Throughout the meetings on how the $10 million Congressional fund might be spent, the message of community-wide involvement across ethnic and sectarian lines was consistent. Singling out certain minority groups for assistance could cause resentment among community members, particularly during the ongoing resolution of disputed territory issues. Other ethnic groups in Ninewa could be potentially disaffected by programs specifically targeting Christian communities, raising security concerns for that population. For the Herkis inhabiting the forts around Bartalla, a political solution may be required to allow them to return to their areas of origin. The contrast between the living conditions of the Herki IDPs in the military fort and the conditions of Christians also living in al Hamdaniya could not have been more startling. Christians throughout Ninewa appear relatively well off and secure; they appear to have no immediate requirements for emergency humanitarian assistance on a large scale. There may be some vulnerable families that could benefit from additional support, but, as a group, the Christian IDPs visited in Ninewa appear to be relatively privileged. Sarkis's largesse among the al Hamdaniya Christian community appears to be an attempt to win support for the KRG. ¶16. (C/REL ACGU) Based on this visit, USAID and the PRT are exploring infrastructure improvements, such as electricity, sanitation and water supply, and employment generation activities. Some projects of particular interest may be computer and vocational training programs with stipends for participants, youth/sports programs, hiring IDPs to do cleaning projects, sewing/tailoring workshops for women, and improving a currently existing fish farm. Other projects may include employment and credit demand surveys, refurbishment BAGHDAD 00001705 004 OF 004 of the Al Jazeera irrigation system, increased support for the Ninewa Business Center, and an expansion of conflict mitigation programs. BUTENIS