DJIBOUTI: UNHCR UPDATES CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR REFUGEES FROM

UNCLAS DJIBOUTI 000283

SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/E, PRM/AFR, S/CRS AND USAID
ADDIS ABABA FOR REFCOORD
NAIROBI FOR RDRAPCHO AND REFCOORD
GENEVA FOR KPERKINS
AFRICOM AND CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PREL SMIG SO DJ ET ER XA
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI: UNHCR UPDATES CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR REFUGEES FROM
SOMALIA AND ERITREA

REF: 08 DJIBOUTI 632; 09 CIA WASHINGTON DC 3307745

(RETRANSMISSION OF 09 DJIBOUTI 191, PER REF B)


1. SUMMARY. On February 23, Ann EnContre, United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Djibouti,
briefed Conoff on recent UNHCR activities, including UNHCR's
latest contingency planning for a possible influx to Djibouti of up
to 30,000 refugees from bordering countries. She also reported on
recent incidents on UNHCR premises, including Eritrean refugees'
protest for resettlement and attempted arson by a disgruntled
ex-Somali refugee. On Eritrea, UNHCR reports a total of 179
Eritrean military deserters are now registered in Djibouti as
asylum-seekers. EnContre also highlighted progress UNHCR has made
on completing new infrastructure and improving protection at the
Ali Adde refugee camp. END SUMMARY.

-------------- --------------
CONTINGENCY PLANNING FOR INFLUX OF 30,000 REFUGEES
-------------- --------------


2. According to EnContre, UNHCR has prepared an emergency
contingency plan for up to 30,000 additional refugees (25,000
Somalis; 4,000 Ethiopians; and 1,000 Eritreans) in Djibouti, due to
instability in bordering countries. (NOTE: There are approximately
9,000 refugees currently in Djibouti. END NOTE.) EnContre
explained that if the recent election of the new Somali government
caused increased fighting in Somalia, then a large refugee influx
could stream into Djibouti and Ethiopia--rather than Kenya--due to
the closure of Kenya's borders. Close ethnic ties between
Djiboutians and Somalis may also cause some Somalis to take refuge
in Djibouti, as they have in the past. Furthermore, UNHCR
anticipates Djibouti receiving more refugees from Ethiopia's Ogaden
region, due to increasing conflict and human rights violations
there, and the proximity between Ethiopia and Djibouti.

--------------
ERITREAN MILITARY DESERTERS
--------------


3. EnContre believes the unresolved border conflict between
Djibouti and Eritrea will cause Eritreans living in border towns to
cross over from Eritrea and seek asylum in Djibouti (on February
26, UNHCR received Eritrean refugees from the Government of
Djibouti). UNHCR also reports a growing number of deserters or
defectors from the Eritrean military: as of early March, a total
of 129 have been registered in Djibouti as asylum-seekers. Of the
129 Eritreans, 73 were recognized in December 2008 as refugees
under UNHCR's mandate, and are currently being reviewed for
resettlement.

--------------
ERITREAN REFUGEES PROTEST FOR RESETTLEMENT
--------------


4. On January 21, news of the recent resettlement of Eritrean
refugees from Ethiopia's Shimelba refugee camp caused 17 Eritrean
refugees to protest at the UNHCR office in Djibouti. The group
threatened a hunger strike if their demands for immediate
resettlement were not met, despite written assurances by UNHCR
Protection staff that their cases would be reviewed. Because the
GODJ had banned public gatherings due to the UN-sponsored Somali
reconciliation talks, the protestors were arrested, but were later
released with UNHCR's assistance.


5. On February 18, UNHCR met with seven Eritrean refugees detained
by Djiboutian authorities while seeking to cross from Djibouti to
Ethiopia at Galilleh. The refugees, who held family attestations
issued by UNHCR in Djibouti and by ONARS (GODJ's refugee agency),
claimed that the ongoing Eritrean-Djiboutian border conflict
threatened their personal safety, as they received insults and
hostile treatment from Djiboutians. They also reported having lost
their jobs because of their nationality, and requested resettlement
in Ethiopia, Kenya, or Sudan.


6. UNHCR advised the refugees not to pressure the Djiboutian
Government, as it had offered them protection for the last nine
years. UNHCR also noted that leaving a country of asylum involved
serious risks, and that asking for asylum in Ethiopia would mean


their cases would have to start from scratch. After meeting with
UNHCR, the Eritrean refugees expressed their readiness to return to
Djibouti. However, they refused to return to Djibouti City, citing
insecurity, and requested placement instead in the Ali Addeh
refugee camp or the town of Ali Sabieh.

--------------
REGISTRATION RESUMES
--------------


7. As a result of GODJ security measures imposed in early 2009,
when Djibouti was hosting UN-sponsored Somali reconciliation talks,
the registration of new refugee arrivals from south and central
Somalia (at Loyada, on the Djibouti-Somaliland border) had been
suspended for four consecutive weeks, beginning January 14.
Registration resumed on February 23.

--------------
NEW CONSTRUCTION IN ALI ADDE REFUGEE CAMP
--------------


8. UNHCR has started constructing two new classrooms (size 8 x 6
meters) and fencing around the north and east sides of the school
compound in the Ali Adde camp, to accommodate newly arrived refugee
children from south/central Somalia. Three tents were given to the
director of the school on January 26 for use as temporary
classrooms. School materials purchased for the refugee children
were to be delivered to the school in mid-March.


9. Another project in completion at Ali Adde is a UNHCR office, to
provide work space for UNHCR staff, such as the Senior Protection
officer. By the end of March 2009, UNHCR also hopes to have a
makeshift transit center at the refugee camp.

--------------
NGOS AND THE GODJ ASSIST WITH HEALTH CARE
--------------


10. Representatives of LIFE International, UNHCR, and the
Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) met February 18 to
assess cooperation among all three parties. LIFE International (a
2008 grantee of the Ambassador's Fund for Refugees) continues to
provide skills training to refugee women at the refugee camp, and
LIFE's pediatrician has begun giving reinforcement training to
AMDA's nurses and community health workers in the areas of maternal
health and morbidity.


11. On February 16, UNHCR and the Ministry of Health agreed to
transfer the nutrition, maternity, and infant/child programs from
the AMDA clinic to the Ministry's National Health Center at Ali
Adde.


12. COMMENT. Unlike Ethiopia, Djibouti has yet to see a
significant influx of Somali refugees since the election of the new
Somali government in early 2009. Just weeks after UNHCR submitted
a contingency plan for 25,000 Somalis, UNHCR Geneva reported that
more than 40,000 internally displaced people had returned to
Mogadishu. Refugees fleeing Eritrea, or from instability in
southern Somalia, would significantly strain Djibouti's limited
infrastructure, which has seen the number of refugees at Ali
Adde--its sole refugee camp--increase by 50 per cent over the last
18 months. END COMMENT.
SWAN