UNITED KINGDOM BEGINS RELOCATION OF SOME IRAQI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LONDON 001087

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR PRM AND NEA/I

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2018
TAGS: PREL PREF PHUM EU IZ UK
SUBJECT: UNITED KINGDOM BEGINS RELOCATION OF SOME IRAQI
LOCALLY EMPLOYED STAFF


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Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Maura Connelly for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. The first three participants in HMG's
program to relocate selected Iraqi employees who worked for
the British Government in Iraq arrived in the UK on April 8.
According to John Burran, head of the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO) Office on Assistance to Iraqi
Locally Employed Staff (LES),75 Iraqis have signed up for
HMG's relocation plan, of whom 63 have chosen the option of a
financial payout rather than the option of resettlement in
the UK. Within the FCO, the number of applicants choosing
the financial package under the new program is seen as a
possible indication Iraqis view the situation as improving
and are willing to use the package to rebuild their lives in
Iraq. Any Iraqi national who worked for HMG on or since
August 8, 2007, may apply for relocation to the UK under this
new HMG program; Iraqi nationals who worked for HMG after
January 1, 2005 and left employment before August 8, 2007 are
not eligible for this new program and the financial package
option; these cases of former staff will continue to be
handled through the existing HMG resettlement program for
refugees resident in third countries, called "Gateway," in
coordination with the UNHCR. Information on HMG's new Iraqi
LES assistance program is available on the FCO website at
http://www.fco.gov.uk. End summary.

First Iraqis Resettled Under New Plan
--------------


2. (SBU) On April 8, a RAF transport aircraft landed at RAF
Brize Norton after a night flight originating in Basra, Iraq,
carrying three Iraqi men and 15 of their family members.
The arrivals were participants in a program announced by the
Brown Government last August as an addition to the existing
"Gateway" relocation program for Iraqi refugees. The new
program which, unlike the Gateway Program is managed by the
Foreign Office rather than the Home Office, was announced
last summer, shortly after Prime Minister Brown took office.
Under the new program, qualified participants have the option
of accepting either a financial award to start a new life in
Iraq or resettlement in the UK.

Who Qualifies
--------------


3. (SBU) Poloff met on April 11 with John Burran to discuss
the new resettlement program and its operation. The new
program is open to "Serving Staff," i.e., LES who were either
employees of the UK military or other HMG agency in Iraq on
August 8, 2007, and have completed at least 12 months in
their position or, if they worked less than 12 months, were
forced to leave because their jobs were terminated for
operational reasons or due to exceptional circumstances, e.g.
threats or intimidation. (Embassy note. August 8, 2007 was
the date Prime Minister Brown publicly announced a review of
HMG's assistance to its LES in Iraq. End note.) Not
qualified to participate in this new relocation program are
"Former Staff," LES who worked for HMG in Iraq and completed
a minimum of 12 months' service but were employed by HMG on
or after January 1, 2005 and left employment before August 8,

2007. These Former Staff may instead apply to relocate to
the UK under the existing "Gateway" program, a traditional
refugee resettlement program, under which an Iraqi LES
resident in a third country applies for refugee processing
through the UNHCR and is resettled in the UK under standard
refugee processing criteria. Former Staff do not have the
option of a financial package in lieu of resettlement.


4. (U) More specifically, the various resettlement programs
for Serving and Former Staff is available to those who worked
in the following capacities: as direct employees of the UK
Armed Forces or Ministry of Defense (MOD); for the British
Embassy in Baghdad or Embassy Offices in Basra and the
Kurdistan Region; as direct employees of the Department for
International Development (DfID); worked under the Basra
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT); or were engaged by HMG

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to carry out police training programs.

Key Elements of the New Program
--------------


5. (C) Burran emphasized two aspects of the new assistance
plan. First, the plan is meant to preserve the integrity of
HMG's wider immigration and asylum policies and does not
change HMG's existing refugee mechanisms. It is a one-time
program designed for Iraqi LES in recognition of "the unique
and outstanding contributions accomplished under
extraordinary conditions by Iraqi LESs contributing to the
British mission in Iraq." The second key aspect is that the
plan is a "reward based scheme," unlike current refugee and
asylum resettlement programs which can require an assessment
of personal threat before resettlement can take place.
Burran said the new plan requires a LES to whom assistance
will be offered to meet the work and time in position
criteria, beyond that no further assessment of risk is
required. Burran told Poloff that two individual applicants
have challenged the refusal to qualify for the new program;
both challenges failed in UK courts.

Options for Assistance
--------------


6. (SBU) Burran provided further background on the
assistance being offered to Serving and Former Staff.
Serving Staff are offered one of three options: a one time
financial settlement; exceptional leave to enter the UK
through application made by their former employers; or
resettlement in the UK through the previously existing UK
Gateway refugee resettlement program. Burran said whichever
option a LES chooses he/she cannot change their mind later;
it is a one-time offer and an irreversible decision. The
financial package is a payment equivalent to one month's
salary for every two months employed, plus 10 percent of the
total sum for each dependent up to five dependents. The
maximum payment would be for 18 months and the minimum for
six months. The second option requires an application be
submitted by the agency or department that employed the LES
and the applicants stay in Iraq while their cases are being
considered. If approved, the recipients are then transported
to the UK, met upon arrival and given an "integration
package" -- government assistance in finding UK employment.
The first three Iraqis who arrived in the UK aboard the
military aircraft are being relocated in Scotland under this
option. The third option available to "Serving Staff" is
closely aligned with the UK's existing Gateway resettlement
program, run in coordination with the UNHCR, and would be
available for an LES applicant living outside of Iraq in a
third country.

Dependents
--------------


7. (U) Burran said that the determination of which
dependents may accompany an LES in resettlement is based upon
existing British regulations on dependent criteria, not Iraqi
or Muslim criteria. This means that the UK will not accept a
husband with multiple wives or children from those wives.
Applicants will be coming to live in the UK and are expected
to live by UK marital laws, explained Burran. If an
applicant has two, three or four wives he must pick one wife,
or a civil partner, to accompany him. Children must be under
the age of 18 and not leading independent lives with their
own families.

The Program By the Numbers
--------------


8. (C) Burran told Poloff that the new LES relocation
program is a joint effort of the FCO, the Home Office, DfID
and MOD. The FCO estimates that since the beginning of
operations in Iraq, the British government has employed
thousands of Iraqis in various capacities; some for only very
short periods of time. When considering the criteria for the

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various programs, HMG assesses there are approximately 450
eligible "Former Staff" with 1000-2000 dependents who may
apply for the Gateway program. The Gateway program for Iraq
does not have an "expiration date," said Burran, but it is
"unlikely" applications for the program will be accepted
indefinitely.


9. (C) Burran said it is thought within the FCO that the
number of applicants choosing the financial package under the
new program indicates the Iraqis see the situation improving
in their country and want to stay and use the package to get
a "head-start" rebuilding their lives in Iraq. There is,
however, some concern the eligible Iraqis may be taking the
financial option because the relocation application into the
UK takes too long to process.

Three to Six Months to Relocate
--------------


10. (C) Burran said the time to process an application under
the new Iraqi LES assistance program and for the applicant to
then travel to the UK had been three to four months for the
first three individuals under the program; the average length
of time to process a Gateway application can be up to six
months. Under the new program for Serving Staff,
applications are submitted by the agency which employed the
applicant in Iraq. Upon receipt, the application is sent to
the UK for an intelligence screening to determine if there is
evidence of a criminal record, possible association with war
crimes or participation in terrorist organizations. A panel
of members from the employing HMG departments in Iraq review
the application, discuss any extenuating circumstances,
determine eligibility, decide on accepting or rejecting the
application and issue notification to the applicant of the
panel's findings.

Comment
--------------


11. (C) Though creation of the Iraqi LES assistance program
was considered under the Blair administration, serious
efforts to get the program up-and-running were not undertaken
until UK media criticized the Brown government in the summer
of 2007 for "abandoning loyal LES staff." Burran offered no
estimate of the number of "Serving Staff" who could qualify
under the new program. Currently, this rewards based
relocation or financial package program only exists for Iraq;
it does not exist for LES personnel serving with British
forces in Afghanistan, for example. Burran said there are no
plans to initiate such a program in Afghanistan.

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