RETURNEE PROCESSING IN EASTERN BAGHDAD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003188 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREF IZ SUBJECT: RETURNEE PROCESSING IN EASTERN BAGHDAD REF: BAGHDAD 2960 Classified By: EPRT Leader Conrad Tribble for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) This is a Baghdad EPRT-2 reporting cable. ¶1. (C) Summary: The recently-opened returnee registration center in Karada has processed approximately 3,000 returnee families to the entire Baghdad province since it opened in late July, a rate of 100-200 per day. These are in addition to the 5,600 returnee families that the MoDM has registered since the beginning of 2008 at its headquarters. Most of the families on the eastern side of Baghdad have not faced the challenge of squatters in their homes and, according to the director of the center, most have received the one million dinar payment promised by the GOI to returning families. The director acknowledges the need for additional staff and resources to handle what he believes will become a much greater flow in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, ISF forces in eastern Baghdad are trying to balance the need to evict squatters with the desire to avoid getting caught up in endless property disputes. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) Baghdad EPRT-2 and 4-10 Brigade reps have visited the returnee registration center of the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) several times over the past month to develop our understanding of the process that returnees go through and the challenges facing the GOI in facilitating returns to Baghdad. The center opened July 27 and is located in the Karada district of eastern Baghdad. It is headed by MoDM official Sadek Naila and is one of two announced by the MoDM recently (reftel). The other is supposed to open on the Karkh (western) side of the capital, but as of September 25 had not yet opened. Instead, ISF leaders in western Baghdad have opened an ISF-run returnee registration center near the Muthana Airport. Septel will report on Embassy,s visit to that office; this cable reports on the Karada office and the view from eastern Baghdad. Two types of returnees ) with or without squatters -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Asked how he processes returnees, Naila described two different workflows. Families who return to an empty home (no squatters) generally move back in, then come to the center to "check back in" to their old neighborhoods. They fill out paperwork that allows them to obtain ID cards, ration cards, and other documents keyed to their new (old) address. Families must go to their neighborhood council, district council, local police station, and finally the Provincial Council to have their claim to residency verified and returned to the MoDM office. This process is designed to ensure that families are removed from the rolls at the address where they have spent their time as IDPs (and to ensure no double-dipping of IDP support funds). The center also offers assistance in reintegrating children into schools, reintegrating government employees into their old jobs, and finding small business loans. ¶4. (C) As of September 18, Naila said that the MoDM had facilitated the return of 5,103 such cases for the western side of Baghdad (including Mansour, Karkh, Abu Ghraib, East and West Rashid),and 3,538 cases for the eastern side of the capital (including Sadr City, Adhamiya, Rusafa, 9 Nissan, Karada, and Madain qada),for a total of 8,641 families. A by-neighborhood breakdown showed that 318 of these families returned to Baghdad EPRT-2's political districts of Rusafa, Karada, and 9 Nissan. Naila added that these numbers included 5,664 families who had returned between the beginning of 2008 and the center's opening; they registered with the MoDM main office. Thus his center had processed 2,977 returnee families. The center did not track returnees by religious affiliation. Asked where the IDPs were returning from, Naila said the information was not readily available though it was captured in the application forms. ¶5. (C) The second workflow concerns families whose houses are occupied by squatters. These families generally come to the center first and go through the same process as the first group. If they produce evidence of their ownership/rental of a house currently occupied, the center verifies the claim ) liaison officers from the real estate registry office, the ISF, the Governor's office, and the Implementation and Follow up Committee for National Reconciliation (IFCNR) help in this process. The center puts together a case file which is sent to the ISF Rusafa Area Command. An ISF liaison officer works with Naila (indeed participated in our meetings) to help facilitate the interaction between MODM and ISF. The ISF has orders to evict squatters within 72 hours of receiving such a packet, but has not generally followed that timetable. As of September 25, Naila said his office had processed 129 families needing ISF action to reclaim their houses, and that 76 of the required evictions had occurred. (Ironically, BAGHDAD 00003188 002 OF 002 Naila is himself one of these, an IDP who fled Baghdad last year and is hoping to return to his home in Adhamiya soon.) Increasing pressure on ISF -------------- ¶6. (C) Responsibility for executing the eviction orders in eastern Baghdad falls ultimately to the ISF Rusafa Area Commander MG Abdul Kareem (MGAK),with whom Naila appears to have a good working relationship. MGAK,s approach has evolved somewhat over the past few weeks, as the issue of IDP returns has come to the fore. Two weeks ago he insisted publicly and privately that there would be no wholesale evictions, and warned his brigade commanders and other subordinates not to let their units get caught up in property disputes without formal documentation from the MoDM. More recently, he has started to express frustration with his commanders for not moving fast enough to evict squatters from houses where returnee claims have been certified by the MoDM. We have not been able to confirm Naila's claim that evictions have occurred. Payments being made -------------- ¶7. (C) Returnees in both groups are eligible for the one million dinar (approx. $800) payment to returnees pledged by the GOI. Naila said the center does not handle payments; they are made centrally. He told us that the Minister had distributed payments to 429 families in a ceremony on September 18 and that nearly all of the 8,600-plus families thus far had received their payments; we could not confirm this independently. Naila also acknowledged that many of the squatters facing eviction are themselves IDPs, and the office is looking at how it can better assist them. They are entitled to a stipend of 300,000 dinar per month for six months when they are secondarily displaced, which is intended to help them finance other accommodations. Overworked and understaffed -------------- ¶8. (C) Naila said the flow of returnees had gradually increased since the office's July 27 opening from approximately 100 cases (families) per day to approximately 200 per day. He acknowledged that his staff and resources are not up to the challenge if the flow increases any further. He said his office would be outfitted with satellite Internet within the next couple of weeks and he had been given eight additional staff members, but he would need many more if returnees started coming in greater numbers. He had communicated this directly to the Minister of Displacement and Migration earlier in September who had promised additional resources. Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) In contrast to the western side of Baghdad, the MoDM clearly has the lead in facilitating the return of IDPs to their neighborhoods, and the working relationship with the ISF appears to be constructive. Naila impressed us favorably as a well-organized technocrat dedicated to making the returnee process as efficient and equitable as possible. He practically bristled when we asked him whether he tracks returnees by religious affiliation, saying "we are helping Iraqis, not just Sunnis or Shia." As reftel noted, it is exceedingly difficult to speak confidently of returnee numbers, but the numbers Naila's office is tracking for our part of Baghdad (318 families since July 27) is not wildly out of synch with the very rough estimates we have made based on unconfirmed, anecdotal reports since the end of August. Naila made no bones about his challenges but, unlike many Iraqi officials, did not ask for U.S. help to solve them. The center he runs is not well-situated; it is located in a small two-story house (rented from an IDP) on a side street, with minimal security and no indoor waiting area. He and his staff were very open to U.S. interest and he readily promised to provide us with weekly updates on the numbers of returnees. We will take advantage of his openness to visit his office regularly and monitor the process of returns on the eastern side as best we can. CROCKER