CHARGE HOSTS IRAQ REFUGEE DISCUSSION WITH GENEVA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GENEVA 000434

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SUBJECT: CHARGE HOSTS IRAQ REFUGEE DISCUSSION WITH GENEVA
MISSIONS

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) Summary and Comment: During a lunch for key donor
country reps, the Charge outlined the new US strategy for
Iraq and made a pitch for additional funding, particularly
for UNHCR's new proposal to lay the groundwork for
sustainable returns for Iraqi refugees and internally
displaced. Participants supported the US strategy and agreed
with the logic of investing in returns as a means of
consolidating stabilization in Iraq. They were not
optimistic, however, of convincing their capitals to come up
with additional funding, given limited resources and
competing demands by higher-profile crises, such as Pakistan.
They also bemoaned that Iraq does not seem like a high
priority for the UN leadership. It seems clear that, to be
successful in garnering new funding, the U.S. will have to
engage at the political level with European leaders to
convince them that Iraq is a US priority and that supporting
returning Iraqis now is a good investment in ensuring
stability in Iraq and allowing Iraqi asylees in their
countries to eventually return home. We recommend also
engaging with the UN leadership in support of a robust return
of the UN to Iraq. End Summary and Comment.


2. (SBU) Charge hosted a lunch for Ambassadors and
representatives from eight Geneva Permanent Missions on June
4 to discuss U.S. strategy in Iraq, including our approach to
providing assistance to returning Iraqi refugees and
displaced persons, and to encourage greater donor support to
UNHCR's activities to meet the needs of these populations.
Ambassadors from Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden
attended, as well as representatives from Denmark, France,
Germany, and Japan. Also participating from the Mission's
Refugee and Migration Section were Peter Mulrean and Nick
Hilgert.

New U.S. Strategy For Iraqi Refugees
--------------


3. (SBU) The Charge noted that President Obama had just
delivered his speech in Cairo reaching out to the Muslim
world. An important element of his approach was for the U.S.
to deal with Iraq responsibly. President Obama had launched
a review of U.S. Iraq policy on his first day in office that
had identified three pillars of the new Administration's Iraq
strategy. These were: the removal of U.S. combat brigades
from Iraq; sustained diplomacy on behalf of a more peaceful
and prosperous Iraq; and a comprehensive U.S. engagement
across the region. Dealing responsibly with Iraqi displaced
was an important humanitarian concern, but it also was
critical to supporting Iraqi stability and development. The
Charge noted that an increasing number of IDPs as well as
refugees are returning to their places of origin inside Iraq,
and that the U.S. anticipates more Iraqi families will return
this summer, once the school year has finished. The
countries represented around the table had a strong interest
in supporting these trends for humanitarian reasons, for
political reasons related to our overall efforts in Iraq and
the broader Middle East and because support for sustainable
returns in safety and dignity were the best way of reducing
requests for asylum outside Iraq.


4. (SBU) The Charge also raised UNHCR's recent briefing to
Geneva missions, during which UNHCR's Jordan Representative
talked about ensuring greater "balance" between assistance
provided in refugee host countries and that provided to
returnees once inside Iraq. He pointed out that
approximately 80% of all registered refugees originate from
Baghdad itself, meaning that special effort needs to
concentrate on improving the sustainability of returns in
this area. The Charge clarified that the U.S. does not
believe now is the time to push for large-scale return, but
that it is necessary to ensure that UNHCR will be in a
position to welcome voluntary returnees in a comprehensive
and dignified manner.


5. (SBU) The Charge outlined UNHCR's new project proposal,
"Facilitating the Transition from Asylum to Return and
Reintegration," with a budget of $97.5 million for the period
2009-2010. In the project UNHCR is expanding services it is
already providing inside Iraq under its $299 million CAP
appeal. In addition to shelter and increased legal and
protection support, UNHCR is adding cash assistance to help
returnees in the transition period following their return.
While it uncertain when significant returns will happen, it

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is essential to get the support mechanisms in place now. In
this regard, Mulrean said it is noteworthy that for the first
time in the refugee crisis UNHCR is trying to "get ahead of
the curve" in responding to expected needs for future
returnees. The CDA concluded by saying the U.S. will soon
announce a $20 million contribution to the new project
alongside additional contributions to UNHCR's CAP. We
distributed copies of the UNHCR project proposal at the end
of the lunch.

New Strategy a Positive Step
--------------


6. (SBU) Swedish Ambassador Hans Dahlgren responded to the
Charge's presentation by stating that he "could not agree
more" with the focus on preparing for returns and building up
the capacity to support return. He said that the government
of Iraq also needs to do better than it has in this regard
and questioned whether or not the UN was solidly behind this
effort, or if it is mainly a UNHCR-led push. Dutch
Ambassador Boudewijn Van Eenennaam agreed with Dahlgren on
the strategy, but said that during his visits to Syria and
Jordan in his capacity as Chair of the UNHCR Executive
Committee in May 2008, he had come away with the impression
that refugee returns would be limited. He said it is clear
that UNHCR is the most effective UN agency in the region,
pointing out that most NGOs and other international
organizations are still operating out of Amman. Canadian
Ambassador Marius Grinius opined that Iraq's relations with
its neighbor Iran would play a big role in the future
stability in the region and pointed to some encouraging signs
in that regard, although many obstacles need to be cleared
before the two countries can put the past conflicts behind
them. He also felt that one of the caveats in the refugee
return planning would be whether or not internal conflict
would start up again after U.S. combat forces departed in

2010.

Return Question Needs a Higher Profile
--------------


7. (SBU) Finnish Ambassador Hannu Himanen said that, if the
current stability continued, the return of Iraqi refugees and
IDPs could, in fact, be a successful undertaking and good
investment of resources. Van Eenennaam agreed, adding that
there is tremendous human resource capacity in the Iraqi
refugee community, most notably in Jordan where the most
highly educated Iraqi refugee population is found. He noted,
however, that greater attention needs to be placed on making
the plight of Iraqi refugees known - the "CNN effect."
Financial help also needs to be concentrated on organizations
like UNHCR and ICRC, though he stressed that the
international community needs to have realistic expectations
as to the number of refugees who will return, which he did
not expect to be high for some time. Participants discussed
the need for a higher UN profile on Iraq to make it clear
that this is a UN priority and that the UN is prepared to
return in large numbers to Iraq, rather than operating out of
Amman. One idea that emerged was the value of having the
Deputy Special Representative for Secretary General (DSRSG),
who coordinates humanitarian issues, move his office
permanently to Baghdad. The DSRSG could then organize UN
Country Team coordination meetings in Baghdad, thus drawing
both UN Agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
now based in Amman to Baghdad as well.

Getting Money from Capitals is Hard
--------------


8. (SBU) The Charge reiterated the U.S. commitment to
maintaining strong levels of financial support to
organizations working with Iraqi refugees and IDPs, and
announced our imminent contribution to UNHCR's new project.
He called on others to do the same. Japanese DCM Yasushi
Takase, acknowledged that Japan has not contributed to
UNHCR's CAP appeal in 2009, but pointed to strong, bilateral
development commitments with the GOI. Peter Rasmussen,
Counselor at the Danish Mission, said that the Danish
Government had just authorized a three-year (2009-2011)
contribution of $24 million to support Iraqi refugees and
IDPs in host countries and in Iraq. He explained later that
these funds would be divided among UNHCR, UNICEF and the
Danish Refugee Council (DRC). Van Eenennaam pointed out that
in his report from his mission to Jordan and Syria in May
2008, he concluded that UNHCR remained underfunded and said

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it would be very important to support UNHCR again this year.
Grinius said that he is telling Ottawa that UNHCR is
operating very well and reported that Canadian support to
UNHCR this year will continue to be substantial and
consistent. When pressed, however, there was not much
optimism around the table of convincing their capitals to
come up with significant new funds for Iraq. Participants
pointed to competing humanitarian priorities; Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka are ongoing crises with high
public/political profiles requiring tremendous resources and
inevitably draw donor attention away from issues like Iraqi
returns. While they found the logic for funding Iraq returns
now compelling and claimed to be willing to make an argument
to capitals in its favor, they doubted there would be much
enthusiasm at home, particularly given the overall decline in
humanitarian funding resources.

Comment - Raise the Profile
--------------


9. (SBU) We came away from the discussion with the clear
impression that, however sound our strategy and the logic of
supporting UNHCR's efforts to prepare for eventual
large-scale returns in Iraq, we will not be successful in
raising significant funds from other donors unless the USG
raises the issue's political profile. Funding Iraq is not a
priority for political leaders in Europe and they have the
impression from the USG that we want their support more for
Pakistan or Afghanistan. Given competing demands and limited
resources, they need to hear from our political leadership
that Iraq too is a high USG priority and that supporting
returns of IDPs and refugees is a humanitarian/political
investment that could pay huge dividends in a fairly short
period of time. It will also allow the many Iraqi asylees in
Europe to eventually go home, relieving a burden on European
governments. Likewise, we recommend putting pressure on UN
leadership to make a robust UN return to Iraq a priority,
with all of the tough security and resource decisions that
implies. Without our political-level engagement, our
conclusion is that UNHCR will struggle just to get donors to
maintain funding for Iraq at last year's levels and the
international community may miss an opportunity to get ahead
of the curve on a key element in ensuring Iraq's future
stability.
STORELLA