Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASHGABAT872
2009-07-13 11:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:  

IRAN/TURKMENISTAN: UNHCR REPORTS NO MOVEMENT OF

Tags:  IR PGOV PHUM PREF PREL TX 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHAH #0872 1941151
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 131151Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3123
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5416
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0102
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3660
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000872 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/IR AND SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2019
TAGS: IR PGOV PHUM PREF PREL TX
SUBJECT: IRAN/TURKMENISTAN: UNHCR REPORTS NO MOVEMENT OF
IRANIANS BUT QUIETLY CONSIDERS CONTINGENCIES

Classified By: Charge Richard Miles. Reasons 1.4(b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 000872

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/IR AND SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2019
TAGS: IR PGOV PHUM PREF PREL TX
SUBJECT: IRAN/TURKMENISTAN: UNHCR REPORTS NO MOVEMENT OF
IRANIANS BUT QUIETLY CONSIDERS CONTINGENCIES

Classified By: Charge Richard Miles. Reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) In a July 9 conversation with Iran Watcher, the UNHCR
Representative in Turkmenistan said her office has received
no indications that Iranians have been attempting to cross
into Turkmenistan recently to seek protection in the wake of
the protests and arrests in Iran that followed the June 12
presidential election. Brita Helleland, who heads the UN
refugee agency's small office in Ashgabat and is its only
expatriate staff member, said that she is in frequent contact
with Turkmenistan's State Migration Service, and has not
heard from them of any increase in Iranians coming to
Turkmenistan. Nevertheless, her office is watching events in
Iran closely and thinking about Turkmenistan's level of
preparedness should the situation in Iran become unstable.
They do not believe that Iranians fearing political
persecution in Iran would normally choose to come to
Turkmenistan: Most are discouraged from trying by
Turkmenistan's strict visa regime, she said, which requires a
sponsor and official "Letter of Invitation" (issued by the
State Migration Service) before a visa can be issued,
although residents of Iranian border regions may receive a
short-term, three to five-day entry permit at the border.
Given the fact that Iran shares its longest land border with
Turkmenistan, however, and the relative ease and safety of
reaching this border compared to some others, such as those
that Iran shares with Afghanistan or Pakistan, UNHCR believes
an influx of Iranians to Turkmenistan should not be
discounted should the situation in Iran deteriorate
significantly.

LOOKING AHEAD


2. (C) Helleland said that there are currently no Iranian
refugees or asylum-seekers in Turkmenistan, where the
majority of refugees are of Afghan and other nationalities.
In light of the protests and arrests that followed Iran's
presidential election four weeks ago, Helleland said that she
and her staff have discussed possible scenarios should the
situation in Iran worsen: She said they predict that if
Iranians fearing persecution were to begin leaving Iran for
Turkmenistan, they would likely approach the U.S. and other
western embassies to apply for visas or seek refugee status.
They also possibly could seek assistance from UNHCR,
bypassing the Turkmen authorities entirely. UNHCR is
concerned, she said, that Turkmen authorities have no
infrastructure along the border with Iran, such as reception
centers, where they would be able to assist entering
refugees. (NOTE: The only reception center in Turkmenistan,
built by UNHCR, is along the border with Uzbekistan at Ferab.
END NOTE.) Helleland is also concerned that Turkmen
authorities could refuse entry to Iranians seeking refuge in
Turkmenistan, although it is prohibited from doing so under
the 1951 Refugee Convention, to which it is a party, as well
as its own refugee statute enacted in 1997. UNHCR has
provided training in refugee protection to Border and
Migration services employees. Officially, the Border Guards
are supposed to turn asylum-seekers over to the Migration
Service, but they fear there is "no guarantee" that they
would follow that procedure should Iranians present
themselves at the border and claim asylum.


3. (C) COMMENT: Ashgabat sits just 35 kilometers from the
Iranian border and is two hours by car from Mashhad, Iran's
second largest city. Although an influx of asylum-seekers
from Iran appears unlikely at this time, UNHCR is wisely
considering the consequences should this occur in the future,
noting that the Turkmen government at present would be
ill-equipped to manage such a situation. END COMMENT.
MILES