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 ISLAMABAD 00003630 002 OF 002 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 -------------- - ¶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