Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DARESSALAAM379
2009-06-10 10:36:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Dar Es Salaam
Cable title:  

TANZANIA CONGOLESE REFUGEES TRIPARTITE COMMISSION MEETING

Tags:  PGOV PINR PHUM PREF CG TZ 
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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101036Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8591
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 2910
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3441
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 1366
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0320
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1303
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0372
RUEHDS/USMISSION USAU ADDIS ABABA
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0496
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAR ES SALAAM 000379 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E JLIDDLE, PRM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR PHUM PREF CG TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA CONGOLESE REFUGEES TRIPARTITE COMMISSION MEETING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAR ES SALAAM 000379

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E JLIDDLE, PRM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR PHUM PREF CG TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA CONGOLESE REFUGEES TRIPARTITE COMMISSION MEETING


1. (U) SUMMARY: May 11-13, Delegates from the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR),the Tanzania (GOT),and the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) participated in the fourth
meeting of the Tripartite Commission for the Voluntary Return of
Congolese Refugees in Kigoma, Tanzania. The parties agreed to
continue facilitated repatriation; to consolidate all Congolese
refugees into Nyaragusu camp no later than September 30; to move
refugees already in the resettlement process to the Kanembwa
processing center by the end of June; and to explore with the World
Food Program (WFP) the possibility of increasing the food ration
from three to six months as an extra incentive for the refugees to
repatriate. The Commission's Final Communique also included a
commitment to avoid unintended removal of recognized refugees from
Tanzania during actions to expel illegal immigrants. In contrast to
prior meetings of the Tripartite Commission, this session was easily
concluded with very little contention between the parties on the
content of the final communique. (NOTE: The text of the final
communique will be forwarded to the Bureau of Population, Refugees,
and Migration via email.)END SUMMARY


2. (U) The fourth meeting of the Tripartite Commission for the
Voluntary Return of Congolese Refugees in Tanzania met in Kigoma,
Tanzania, May 11-13. The Commission was comprised of delegations
from UNHCR in both Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
UNHCR offices as well as government delegations from Tanzania and
DRC. The meeting was chaired by Tanzanian Deputy Minister for Home
Affairs Khamis Kagasheki, with UNHCR Tanzania Country Representative
Yacoub El Hillo and DRC Ambassador to Tanzania Juma Alfani Mpango as
co-chairs.


3. (U) Representatives from the Embassies of France, the
Netherlands, and Belgium attended the session as observers, as did
USG Regional Refugee Coordinator and the ECHO (European Community
Humanitarian Organization) Representative for Tanzania and Burundi.
Members of the press, including Bloomberg News and BBC, also covered
the presentation of the final communique.


4. (U) The Tripartite Commission meeting and the two days of working

group sessions went smoothly and lacked contention. By contrast,
some sessions of the Tripartite Commission in 2008 were not able to
close until the early morning hours, because of complaints from the
Regional Commissioner in Kigoma about timelines for camp closure and
repatriation. One issue that raised the level of tension a bit was
the expulsion of Congolese illegal immigrants from Tanzania.
Several weeks prior to the Tripartite Commission meeting, the GOT
expelled several hundred people alleged to be Congolese illegal
immigrants. UNHCR and GDRC asserted that recognized Congolese
refugees were included in this group and that the GDRC was not
notified in advance of the intent to expel these individuals. The
conversation on this issue continued during the Tripartite
Commission meeting, with strong statements from both the DRC
Ambassador to Tanzania and the Governor of South Kivu. However,
both GOT and GDRC representatives agreed to the language included in
the final communique reaffirming Tanzania's right to deal with
illegal immigrants according to its laws and through its bilateral
relationship with the GDRC. The statement also readdressed GOT's
obligations under international law toward recognized refugees.
(NOTE: In an unusual public move, UNHCR Tanzania Country
Representative Yacoub El Hillo stressed that presence of refugees
outside of the refugee camps without a permit is not an offense
punishable by expulsion under Tanzanian law. Regional and District
Commissioners in the refugee hosting areas have included recognized
refugees in the recent groups of Congolese expellees under the
pretext that they were outside the camps without permission.)


5. (U) The GOT remains convinced that the primary rationale
preventing Congolese refugees from returning home is concern about
the socio-economic situation in DRC rather than ongoing insecurity.
Deputy Minister Kagasheki expressed this sentiment, citing a
recently-completed report from UNHCR-DRC describing the environment
in the largest area of anticipated refugee return in South Kivu.
(Note: UNHCR Head of Sub-Office Bukavu, Millicent Mutuli, said that
the report does not draw conclusions, but simply describes the
current state of affairs.) GDRC representatives at the Tripartite
Commission did not disagree that these concerns play a role in
delaying refugee return; however, they also cited the refugees'
expressed concern about the possibility of the spread of the
conflict from North Kivu and the potential for reprisal violence
from the Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation de Rwanda (FDLR) in
the region, as a result of the planned launch of Operation Kimia II

DAR ES SAL 00000379 002 OF 003


designed to eradicate the FDLR.


6. (U) On May 14 the Tripartite Commission delegations traveled to
the two remaining camps for Congolese refugees in Tanzania, Lugufu
in Kigoma District and Nyaragusu in Kasulu District. The
delegations announced the planned consolidation of Lugufu into
Nyaragusu camp beginning June 30 and set to conclude September 30,

2009. (Note: this is a change from the prior agreement which would
have closed Lugufu camp by the end of June 2009.) Response from the
refugees was mixed. Most of their questions centered on security in
eastern Congo and on elements of the repatriation incentive package
that they would receive (particularly on the food ration).


7. (U) At each camp, the Governor of South Kivu provided an update
on security in the province and in eastern DRC in general. Refugee
audiences on both camps clearly expressed disbelief at the
Governor's assertion of Laurent Nkunda's arrest in Rwanda and showed
concern about the possible consequences of Operation Kimia II for
the general population. One questioner in Nyaragusu Camp asked
why, if there is peace in DRC, the United Nations Security Council
approved 3,000 additional peacekeepers for the country. In a
poignant moment, a female refugee asked what measures were in place
to protect women from sexual assault by both the rebel groups and
the peacekeepers in the region. In both camps, refugees asked
whether they would receive a six-month food ration upon repatriation
to DRC rather than the three months that is current practice.
(NOTE: During a visit by the Regional Refugee Coordinator to South
Kivu in early May, the WFP eastern Congo representative said that
she had refused a request from UNHCR to provide an additional
three-month food ration to Congolese returnees. During the
Tripartite Commission meeting, the WFP-Kigoma representative also
reiterated to the Refugee Coordinator that WFP Tanzania will not
provide additional food to increase the incentive package.)


8. (U) There are 64,676 Congolese refugees in Tanzania, distributed
between Lugufu in Kigoma District (25,288),Nyaragusu in Kasulu
District (38,312),and Kanembwa Refugee Processing Center (1,076).
Of the refugees in Lugufu and Nyaragusu, 58,434 come from the
province of South Kivu in eastern DRC, predominantly from Fizi
territory. In 2008, UNHCR assisted 15,490 Congolese refugees to
repatriate from Tanzania. Although as of May 10, 2009, only 199
refugees had repatriated, May to October is considered the
traditional peak period for refugees to return from Tanzania to DRC.
There are approximately 100 families in the two refugee camps who
are already in the process of consideration for resettlement, many
to the United States, and who will be moved to Kanembwa refugee
processing center by the end of June 2009. UNHCR believes that the
presence of these families in the camps encourages other refugees to
delay their repatriation in the hope that they, too, will be
considered for resettlement.


9. (SBU) COMMENT: GOT representatives at this Tripartite Commission
continued to espouse a firm line on refugee repatriation while at
the same time showing some flexibility on the actual timeline. The
absence of the Regional Commissioner for Kigoma from this session
may have contributed to the cordial atmosphere and the rapid arrival
at a final communique. The Regional Commissioner and the District
Commissioners from the refugee-hosting districts have been
particularly outspoken on the timelines for camp closure during
prior Tripartite sessions, primarily because they are eager to take
advantage of the infrastructure that will remain in the former camp
sites. It is also worth noting that a recent reshuffle of
commissioners by President Kikwete saw the arrival of a new District
Commissioner to the area. UNHCR encouraged the consolidation of the
Congolese refugees into a single camp in part because this reduces
the number of district commissioners with whom they have to
negotiate regarding the refugees, massively simplifying this often
complicated task.


10. (SBU) COMMENT (CONT'D): This Tripartite Commission meeting was
also the last for UNHCR Tanzania Country Director Yacoub El Hillo
who will depart Dar es Salaam this summer to take up a regional
UNHCR position in Saudi Arabia. El Hillo developed a close working
relationship with GOT Minister for Home Affairs Lawrence Masha and
prioritized a smooth relationship with the Tanzanian Government. He
has been very accommodating to GOT requests for rapid refugee
repatriation timelines, consolidation of refugees into smaller
numbers of camps, and issues related to the relocation of the
locally-integrating 1972 Burundian refugees. He lobbied strongly
with the international donor community to support these initiatives

DAR ES SAL 00000379 003 OF 003


- both politically and financially - often in the face of criticism
from USG and major European donors.

HANNAN