WESTERN SAHARA: CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES

C O N F I D E N T I A L CASABLANCA 000216

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG, PRM/AFR AND IO/UNP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2019
TAGS: PREF PGOV SMIG PREL PHUM MO AG
SUBJECT: WESTERN SAHARA: CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES

Classified By: Consul general Millard for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The UN-administered Confidence
Building Measures (CBMs) in Western Sahara have thus
far fallen short in achieving their underlying
political goal of pushing the parties to interact
regularly and build a relationship for future
negotiations. The CBMs, however, have provided a
vital humanitarian service by keeping alive the link
between families separated for more than 30 years
through visits by air and telephone calls. Since
2008, the UN has urged an expansion of the CBM
program by creating a road link between the camps in
Algeria and the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara
territory that would triple the number of family
exchanges in a year. The UN is hopeful that the
expansion will invigorate the parties to deal
directly with one another while the Government of
Morocco and the POLISARIO each see their own
interests advanced by the program. On a recent
visit to Western Sahara, Poloff witnessed first hand
a family exchange in Dakhla facilitated by UNHCR and
the GOM. END SUMMARY.

CBM: HOW IT WORKS
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2. (SBU) The CBMs began in 2004 as a means to
facilitate communication and contact between
families in the camps in Algeria and the
corresponding cities in the Moroccan-controlled
Sahara through family visits and free telephone
services to refugees in the camps. The program is
managed by UNHCR with the logistical support of the
United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western
Sahara (MINURSO),which provides the planes to
transport the families. UNHCR registered people who
wanted to participate in the family visit in 2004
and again in 2008. Currently there are 41,166
people registered; 27,586 or 67 percent are in
Tindouf and 13,580 are in the Territory. The
beneficiaries are required to have a direct family
link (parent, child, sibling, or spouse) with a
person in the other location and priority is given
to people with special needs, particularly the
elderly. To date 9,060 (22 percent of those
registered) have participated in a family visit.


3. (SBU) In addition to the family visits, UNHCR
provides telephone centers in four of the five
camps. The free telephone calls help the families
maintain relations and allows those who have
participated in a family visit to build on the
experience and maintain close contact with family
members. The beneficiaries are permitted one call
per week which is limited to ten minutes. To date
some 117,944 calls have been made.


4. (SBU) In the early hours on October 15, before
the sun had risen, poloff observed a group of 28
Sahrawis dressed in their finest blue and white
tribal robes as they waited in the Dakhla airport.
There were elderly people and young children who
were traveling to visit a parent or sibling they had
never met or not seen for more than 30 years. The
airport had more than a dozen officials from the
Ministry of Interior (MOI) making final checks on
the manifest and to provide security. Accompanied
by a MINURSO civilian police and medical officer,
the Sahrawis boarded a noisy Anotnov-26 plane for a
two hour flight to the remote Tindouf camp in
Algeria. In the early afternoon, the Sahrawi
refugees from the camps arrived. They waited
briefly in airport terminal while their bags were
searched for any political pamphlets, POLISARIO
flags or other contraband. UNHCR then whisked the
refugees away delivering them to their families.
Poloff was not allowed by the Government of Morocco
(GOM) to observe the reunifications because,
according to UNHCR field officers, on occasions the
families display political banners or make a
demonstration.

ESTABLISHING A LAND LINK
--------------


5. (C) The expansion of the CBM program to include a
land link was first proposed during the Manhasset
Talks in 2008. During his September 2009 visit to
the region, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees Antonio Guterres secured a commitment from
the parties pending various caveats (Reftel). UNHCR
estimates that a land link would add 4,400 people to
the 2,500 participants, nearly tripling the number
of beneficiaries. The current proposal would create
a land route from Tindouf, through the berm and to
the town of Mahbes. Apart from the technical issues
related to demining, the biggest political obstacle
is that beneficiaries would pass through a five
kilometer stretch of POLISARIO-controlled territory.
The Moroccans, reluctant to give any tacit
recognition to the POLISARIO, have raised
objections, but also reassure us and the UNHCR that
if Algeria shows the right political will, they will
support the project.


6. (C) Alexander Ivanko, Political Advisor to
MINURSO, told poloff that he believes ultimately the
Moroccans will agree to some form of compromise
which likely will involve MINURSO forces
accompanying the beneficiaries through POLISARIO
territory. "They view the visits as to their
advantage," he explained. Clearly, one Moroccan
goal would be to entice refugees to return to
Moroccan-controlled Sahara. The Moroccans have
poured millions of dirhams into creating a new
Laayoune replete with modern infrastructure and,
ostensibly, ample employment opportunities. Poloff
toured the desalination plant and a state of the art
port facility. The GOM was at pains to point out
the three hospitals, a newly-constructed sports
stadium, subsidized housing, and the absence of any
shanty towns. The Moroccans believe that Sahrawi
refugees visiting their relatives in Moroccan-
controlled territory will be swayed by the favorable
conditions they find and will decide their interests
are best served by a future with Morocco.


7. (C) Despite Moroccan enticements, it is very rare
for participants to stay in Morocco during a CBM
family visit, Fatiha Abdalla, Head of Operations for
CBM measures in Laayoune, told poloff. Since 2004,
35 people have stayed on Moroccan side and two
remained in Tindouf according to Abdallah. She
cautioned that personal and family issues are
normally the deciding factors, rather than questions
of political loyalty. "There is no need to build
confidence among the families. They are of the same
blood, they have the same mentality, the same
culture; they are not estranged," said Haile an
UNHCR field officer facilitating the family visits.


BUILDING CONFIDENCE FOR WHOM?
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8. (C) While UNHCR insists on the humanitarian and
non-political nature of the family visits, Fatiha
Abdalla admitted to poloff that, in theory the
underlying assumption was that the implementation of
the CBM would compel the parties to communicate more
frequently to work out details of the visits. This
interaction and communication would provide the
basis for a relationship and hence build the
confidence of the parties. In practice, Abdalla
said, this has not happened. The parties have
refused to deal with one another directly and have
exclusively relied on UNHCR to act as the
intermediary.

COMMENT
--------------


9. (C) Nevertheless, the CBM is a valuable program
for both the humanitarian assistance it provides and
for the potential promise of political dividends.
An expansion of the program tripling the number of
beneficiaries would undoubtedly create many
opportunities for the parties to engage if they were
willing. It is a positive sign that both the GOM
and the POLISARIO see the program as beneficial
though MINURSO's Ivanko opined that Algeria, which
stands to gain little, might scuttle the deal.
Finally, the strongest selling point for the CBM
might well be that after years of disinformation
from all sides as to the conditions on the ground,
the people affected are able to see first hand the
other side and hear the experience of their
relatives.

This message was coordinated with Embassy Rabat.
MILLARD