PAKISTAN'S VIEWS ON AFGHAN REFUGEE CONFERENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 003630

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREF PREL AF PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN'S VIEWS ON AFGHAN REFUGEE CONFERENCE

REF: STATE 118597

Classified By: Ambassador Anne W. Patterson for reasons 1.4 (b),(d).


1. (C) Summary: On November 13, Poloff and DepPolCouns
delivered reftel demarche to Imran Siddiqui, responsible for
human rights issues within the United Nations division of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Siddiqui saw the November 19
international conference on Afghan refugees as "positive" but
cautioned that Pakistan is suffering from "host fatigue."
With Pakistan receiving one-third of the historical rates of
UNHCR refugee assistance funding, he said, Pakistan is under
strain. Siddiqui said greater efforts were needed to
resettle refugees in Afghanistan as IDPs. This may mean some
refugees are resettled in unfamiliar settings in Afghanistan,
he said. Poloff met seperately November 17 with Chief
Commissioner at the GOP Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees
(CAR) Mr. Fida Mohammad Wazir, who said Pakistan's goal at
the conference was to gain entry into Afghanistan's planning
process for the return of refugees. End Summary.


2. (C) Poloff and DepPolCouns delivered reftel demarche on
November 13 to Imran Siddiqui, responsible for human rights
issues within the United Nations division of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. Siddiqui will not be attending the
conference. Pakistan's delegation to the conference will be
headed by the Minister of States and Frontier Regions Mr.
Namjud Din Khan, and will include CAR Chief Commissioner
Wazir, the CAR Director Mr. Muhammad Shahid Hussain, and the
CAR Commissioner for the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP)
Syed Jamalud Din Shah.

GOP: AFGHAN REFUGEES CAUSE A HOST OF PROBLEMS
--------------

3. (C) Siddiqui stressed the sheer volume of refugees was
not the only, or even the greatest, concern for the GOP.
Referring to the refugee camps, Siddiqui said there are
numerous problems between the refugees and local Pakistanis,
including problems with law enforcement stemming from drug
trafficking, theft, and violence. In the tribal areas and
other locations where refugees have settled outside of GOP
supervision, Siddiqui said refugee lawlessness has thwarted
GOP efforts to combat terrorism. In addition, Siddiqui
pointed to broader problems he felt Afghan refugees caused
including widespread deforestation and gross environmental
degradation, competition with local Pakistanis for jobs and
resources, and increased extremism. Radicalism in the NWFP
and across Pakistan has taken root in part because of the
Afghan refugees, Siddiqui said, because the refugees bring a
more conservative culture to Pakistan. This has helped to
allow al-Qaeda to integrate into tribal areas, increased the
local populations' sympathies for extremism, and undermined
Pakistan's efforts to effectively control its border with
Afghanistan. While these problems may look easy to solve
from the standpoint of the U.S. or an EU country, according
to Siddiqui, they pose a challenge for a developing country
like Pakistan.

UNHCR SUPPORT AND COORDINATION
--------------

4. (C) Siddiqui pointed to the immediate need for greater
coordination with the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR),and many of the donor countries, to
establish needs and attainable goals. The greatest issue for
the GOP is funding. The GOP has no desire to see the
refugees suffer, but the drain on infrastructure and systems
such as health care are significant, said Siddiqui. Siddiqui
told Poloffs he was aware of UNHCR's complaint of donor
fatigue, and its hopes for local integration of the refugees,
but the GOP sees this as impossible. Siddiqui pointed to the
much-improved living conditions the refugees find in Pakistan
as a disincentive for their return to Afghanistan. In the
past, programs offering financial incentives for refugees to
return to Afghanistan have seen some cross the border, only
to return to Pakistan after collecting their UNHCR
re-settlement money.

CREATE SAFE-HAVENS IN AFGHANISTAN
--------------

5. (C) Siddiqui thought a solution for the refugees was
their return to Afghanistan as IDPs in relatively safe
regions of Afghanistan. Pakistan is still an evolving
country with an evolving national identity, and local
integration of this number of Afghan refugees is impossible

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when it puts so much strain on so many parts of the national
and local infrastructures, he added.

WHAT THE GOP WILL SEEK AT THE KABUL CONFERENCE
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6. (C) Siddiqui was careful to state that Pakistan will
continue to adhere to the principles of voluntary and
sustainable repatriation of Afghan refugees. Pakistan will,
however, also seek greater coordination between delegations
on the issue of repatriating refugees back to Afghanistan,
and will advocate for their return to Afghanistan.


7. (C) In a Novmber 17 meeting with Poloff, CAR Chief
Commissioner Wazir said Pakistan's chief goal at the November
19 conference was to encourage greater partnership between
Pakistan and Afghanistan, vis--vis the Afghan National
Development Strategy (ANDS). Wazir felt Pakistan has not
been consulted enough, or in the right areas, in the creation
of the ANDS; he felt greater cooperation on it would increase
the chances of its success. In 2006, Wazir said, Pakistan
unilaterally devised a plan for returning IDP's and refugees
to Afghanistan without cooperative planning or implementing
participation from Afghanistan; the plan ultimately failed.
If Afghanistan takes the same tack with the ANDS, and leaves
Pakistan out of the discussion and planning, then it will be
doomed to the same fate, according to Wazir.
PATTERSON