Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
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08DAMASCUS477 | 2008-07-06 16:02:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Damascus |
VZCZCXRO0460 OO RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV DE RUEHDM #0477/01 1881602 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 061602Z JUL 08 FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5150 INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5151 RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA IMMEDIATE 0636 |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 000477 |
1. (C) Summary: In June 23-26 meetings with UNHCR, IOM, WFP, UNICEF, donor country representatives, and other organizations workings on Iraqi refugee assistance and resettlement issues in Syria, Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugee Issues, Ambassador James Foley heard: (1) Iraqis in Syria continued to be anxious about their visa status. The SARG had pledged not to deport Iraqis already in Syria, but it currently is issuing visa extensions on a month-to-month basis; (2) WFP and UNHCR reported the opening and operation of food distribution sites after a one-month hiatus; (3) WFP had received provisional SARG permission for establishing a food voucher program, and told us it would be seeking additional funding to meet 2008 budget shortfalls; (4) Donor country reps in Syria supported continuing pressure on GOI to donate more refugee assistance. Some argued for direct bilateral assistance to the SARG. End Summary. Iraqi Anxieties About Visa Status -------------------------- 2. (C) On June 24 Ambassador Foley met with Phillipe LeClerc and the UNHCR assistance and resettlement team to discuss assistance issues and the "bottom-line" budgetary needs of UNHCR. Foley also met with six Iraqi outreach workers from UNHCR who described their assessment of the Iraqi population in Syria. Some participants expressed their distrust for the Malki government and stated that they would not return to Iraq under the current GOI. 3. (C) UNHCR reps emphasized the growing anxiety of Iraqis due to the their ambiguous legal status in Syria. Iraqis with children were given extended visas set to expire on June 30, the end of the academic year. The SARG had indicated to UNHCR officials that it would extend visas on a month-by-month basis until September, after which longer extensions "may be possible." UNHCR was pressing the SARG for clarity about when the SARG would honor its commitment to extend visas to parents of Iraqi school children for the upcoming academic year. World Food Program (WFP) Set to Rollout Voucher Program -------------------------- 4. (SBU) WFP representative Pippa Bradford briefed Foley on the growing need for food assistance support. The rise of food prices and the economic situation in Syria had adversely affected WFP acquisition of staple foods(rice and grains). Bradford announced that WFP had obtained provisional permission from the SARG to establish a voucher program through state-run grocery stores in Damascus. She believed vouchers would dramatically cut acquisition and transportation costs to WFP, while providing refugees with a broader range of food products as well as the in-kind assistance provided by USG. UNHCR Unveiled Registration and Food Distribution Site -------------------------- 5. (SBU) On June 25, Foley visited the new UNHCR Registration Center and Food Distribution Center in Dumaar, where Iraqi refugees interview for refugee status, receive medical treatment, and collect a two month WFP food packet. UNHCR food distribution sites had been on hiatus for the previous month, after the closing of the central Damascus distribution in April. Operations at the new site appeared to be running smoothly as refugees filed in and out of the site by UNHCR provided transportation, or waited in the spacious and child-friendly waiting areas. 6. (SBU) UNHCR expected to register 270,000 refugees by the end of 2008 through UNHCR mobile registration drives and the registration site in Dumaar. The dual registration and food distribution center was also designed to be easily converted from a registration site into a resettlement site when conditions in Iraq become hospitable to facilitate returning the refugees to Iraq. Donor Country Ambassadors Talk Assistance and Resettlement -------------------------- 7. (C) CDA Corbin and Ambassador Foley hosted a frank DAMASCUS 00000477 002 OF 002 dialogue with donor country representatives from Japan, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Iraq. Foley recapped his meeting with D/FM Miqdad the previous day, and stressed the U.S. commitment to providing assistance to meet Iraqi humanitarian needs. He urged donor countries to do more to help meet the need of the Iraqi refugee populations in Syria and acknowledged the $15 million contribution by GOI. 8. (C) The German Ambassador criticized USG sanctions on Syria for undercutting the economic growth of Syria and thereby having a negative impact on the Iraqi refugee population. He argued that a healthy Syrian economy was essential for providing better opportunities for the Iraqi refugees in the country. Other representatives, including the Japanese and the EU Ambassadors, called for both bilateral and multilateral assistance to SARG and said they were trying to balance their engagement between these two tracks. The Japanese Ambassador argued that his government could resettle six thousand refugees from Syria by the next fiscal year. Participants from the British, Danish, and Norwegian Embassies discussed the merits of ascertaining the "real" number of Iraqi refugees in Syria, and generally agreed that priority should be givent to assessing the needs of the most vulnerable refugees. International Medical Corps/ Syrian Arab Red Crescent (IMC/SARC) Clinic Visit -------------------------- 9. (SBU) Foley and his delegation visited an IMC/SARC clinic in Sayyed az-Zaynab, an underprivileged suburb of Damascus that hosts a large cross-section of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees. The small clinic provided a wide variety of medical and dental services to Iraqi refugees and some Syrians. The clinic director described the need for more medical equipment, preferably from the U.S., to provide greater care for patients with cancer and heart complications. UNICEF Seeks Programs to Benefit Iraqi and Syrian Students -------------------------- 10. (SBU) CDA Corbin and Ambassador Foley welcomed UNICEF representative in Syria Sherazade Boualia. Boualia said she was eager to work with U.S. refugee programs that would benefit Iraqi and Syrian students. She raised the educational environment in Syria and underscored the concerns of many parents of school age children regarding the extension of visas until the beginning of the new school year in September. CORBIN |