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,

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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