HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES MEETS WITH

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000513 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF IZ SUBJECT: HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES MEETS WITH AMBASSADOR CROCKER Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: On February 16 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres and his party were hosted for dinner by Ambassador Crocker. Guterres also held a morning meeting with CG Petraeus who was joined by the Ambassador. Guterres told the Ambassador that UNHCR would be assigning five permanent international staff in Baghdad; this is one component of a significant increase in overall staffing levels for the UN in Iraq. In his meetings with senior Iraqi officials, Guterres laid out his plans to work closely with the GOI to upgrade humanitarian assistance to Iraqi IDPs and refugees in neighboring countries and to develop a work plan with the appropriate Iraqi ministries to expand their capacity to meet the needs of refugee and IDP populations and to prepare plans for return of refugees. Also discussed in the meetings were the future of the Makhmour Refugee Camp and the situation of the residents of the Ashraf Refugee Camp (ARC). END SUMMARY. HIGH COMMISSIONER VISIT TO THE REGION ¶2. (C) On February 16 and 17 UNHCR High Commissioner Guterres visited Baghdad and Erbil. This visit was part of a nine day visit to the region intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the situation of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Damascus, and IDPs and returning refugees in Iraq. Accompanying the High Commissioner on the visit throughout the region was Radhouane Nouicer, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Bureau, UNHCR, Geneva, Ron Redmond, Head Media Relations and Public Information Service, UNHCR, Geneva, Marco Roggia, Representative, and UNHCR Iraq Operations, Amman, and Ravi Solanki, the UNHCR Senior Field Safety Advisor. At the dinner meeting with the Ambassador and accompanying the High Commissioner throughout the Iraq portion of the visit was Niyazi Moharromov, Deputy Representative, UNHCR Iraq Operations. High Commissioner Guterres met with the Special Representative of the Secretary General Staffan de Mistura, who also accompanied the High Commissioner to the meeting with the Ambassador. Lieutenant General W.R. Rollo, Deputy Commanding General, MNF-I was also at the Ambassador's meeting as well as POL/MIL Counselor Ambassador Marcie Ries, POL Counselor Matthew Tueller, Christopher Crowley, USAID Mission Director and the refugee ;coordinator. ¶3. (C) On February 16 in Baghdad the High Commissioner met with PM Noori Al Maliki, President Jalal Talbani, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, Vice President Taraq Al Hashimi, Foreign Minister and Interior Ministers Hoshyar Zebari and Jawad Al Bolani, Deputy Foreign Minister Haj Hmoud, Deputy Interior Minister and Head of the Permanent Committee for Refugee Affairs Adman Al Assadi, Minister for Human Rights Wijdan Salem, Minister of Displacement and Migration Sultan and MNF/I Commanding General David Petraeus. In Erbil on February 17 the High Commissioner met with KRG officials President Masoud Barzani, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Minister of Extra Regional Affairs Mohammed Ihsan, and Minister of Interior Affairs Karim Sinjari. ISSUES RAISED AT MEETING WITH THE AMBASSADOR ¶4. (C) Increased UNHCR Staffing in Iraq. During dinner with the Ambassador the High Commissioner announced that UNHCR would be increasing their international staffing in Iraq from one TDY staff to five permanent international staff assigned to Baghdad. This is a lead component in the announced UNAMI increase in staff from the current ceiling of 85 to 140 international personnel. In line with other international and governmental organizations with operations in Iraq, security has been a driving factor for the UN in assigning international staff to work within Iraq and continues to be a factor. The High Commissioner acknowledged that security remains a concern but stated that UNHCR has been a lead agency for the UN in going into high risk situations. Danger to staff cannot be completely contained and even with the dangers that staff may face, it is time that UNHCR took the lead and came to Iraq with significant professional international staff. The High Commissioner expressed a hope that with UNHCR in the lead, other UN humanitarian agencies will follow. ¶5. (C) Makhmour Refugee Camp. The High Commissioner raised the stalled negotiations concerning the Makhmour Refugee Camp and the need to proceed on talks with the GOI, GOT and UNHCR to resolve this long-standing issue and find a durable solution for the residents of this camp. Guterres told General Petraeus that the main sticking point is Turkey's unwillingness to soften its position with respect to camp residents' demands for certain guarantees upon repatriation. In a side discussion with refcoord, Marco Roggia stated that UNHCR intends to survey the camp residents to determine their BAGHDAD 00000513 002 OF 002 ideas of a satisfactory durable solution. UNHCR will also discuss the specific cases of camp residents with the GOT to determine what these residents would face if and when they return to Turkey, i.e., an amnesty for some and perhaps legal or criminal charges for others. Such discussions would provide the camp residents with specific information upon which to base a decision about returning to Turkey. In this discussion there was also an acknowledgment that a permanent UNHCR presence in the camp would increase the likelihood of success in negotiations with the GOT as UNHCR could more knowledgeably address the issue of the civilian nature of the camp. ¶6. (S) Ashraf Refugee Camp. In discussions with the Ambassador, Guterres acknowledged that MEK members at Ashraf Camp required attention and a durable solution. The Ambassador made clear that legal impediments to the USG accepting former members of a terrorist group were unlikely to change. Guterres said that finding countries in which to resettle members of this group was the only likely durable solution since the other options -- local integration or repatriation -- were not realistic. UNHCR has approached several countries in attempts to resettle residents of the camp but to date, no country has committed to accepting any specific cases. UNHCR believes that several countries could be persuaded to accept the bulk of the Ashraf residents if the U.S. were to accept a token number. ¶7. (C) Palestinian Refugees. There was a brief discussion concerning moving forward with the offer from the Government of Sudan on resettling 2,000 of the Palestinian refugees. The Ambassador noted that these Palestinians had little connection to extremist groups and were likely to become productive and law-abiding residents of Sudan if resettled there. ¶8. (C) Capacity Building with the GOI. The High Commissioner noted that his staff has significant expertise in the area of managing returning refugees and IDPs and intends to use this expertise to survey the needs of these populations and to build the capacity of the various components of the GOI with responsibilities for assisting refugees returning from neighboring countries and IDPS returning from internal displacement. He told General Petraeus that with the upgraded presence UNHCR would focus on upgrading assistance to IDPs, developing the capacity of the GOI to deal with returning refugees, and pressuring the GOI to do more to assist Iraqi refugees outside the country. He noted that from his meetings with Iraqi refugees in Damascus, there was enormous frustration and feeling that they had been abandoned by their government. CROCKER