AFGHAN REFUGEE UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000619

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL AF PK
SUBJECT: AFGHAN REFUGEE UPDATE

Classified By: Anne W. Patterson for reasons 1.4 (b),(d).


1. (C) Summary: UNHCR has suspended operations to assist
Afghan refugees in repatriating from Pakistan. Repatriation
from Peshawar is suspended until at least April 1, pending an
assessment that it is safe for UNHCR personnel and refugees
to participate. Repatriation from Quetta is also suspended,
due to efforts to free UNHCR,s Quetta sub-office Director
John Solecki, who was abducted February 2. The Ministry of
State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) and UNHCR signed a Letter
of Mutual Intent on March 13 extending the temporary stay of
Afghan refugees in Pakistan to 2012. End Summary.

GOP Agrees to Host through 2012
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2. (U) The Ministry of State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON)
and UNHCR signed a Letter of Mutual Intent on March 13
extending the temporary stay of Afghan refugees to 2012. The
letter states that SAFRON will extend the validity of proof
of registration (PoR) cards to Afghans living in Pakistan
until the end of 2012. The letter further says that the
revised strategy for management of Afghan refugees beyond
2009 would be reviewed and approved at the Cabinet level.


3. (U) The letter also states that UNHCR will actively engage
the international community to fund the 140 million USD
Refugee-Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) program over five
years. Note: RAHA and its UNDP-implemented twin, the Refugee
Affected Areas program, will benefit Pakistani communities
and Afghan refugees through development projects in 21
affected districts through health, education, small
infrastructure and water and sanitation projects.


4. (U) UNHCR says there are currently 1.7 million registered
Afghans in Pakistan, residing in refugee villages or
scattered among host communities.

Insecurity Delays Repatriation of Afghan Refugees from
Pakistan
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5. (C) In February UNHCR announced that its offices in
Afghanistan and Pakistan would postpone assisted repatriation
for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Repatriation operations
were suspended for the winter at the end of October 2008, and
UNHCR had planned to resume operations March 1. As of March
19, UNHCR planned to reopen the voluntary repatriation center
(VRC) in Peshawar on April 1, if security conditions permit.
The VRC in Quetta will remain closed until Solecki is
released.


6. (SBU) Refugees &check out8 of Pakistan at VRCs operated
by UNHCR and the Government of Pakistan. The
refugees-turned-returnees &check in8 to Afghanistan at
encashment centers operated by UNHCR and the Government of
Afghanistan. Encashment centers are so called because
returnees receive their repatriation and transportation
stipends of nearly $100 per person, plus a food allowance,
during processing there. In 2008, 276,000 Afghan refugees
used this process to return from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
Returnees said that insecurity and inflation in Pakistan
convinced them to move home, despite a dearth of jobs and
services in Afghanistan. Assisted repatriation from Iran
operates much differently. Suspending operations at Pakistan
VRCs and Afghanistan encashment centers will have no impact
on repatriation from Iran.


7. (C) In late February the Chief Commissioner for Afghan
Refugees told Islamabad Refugee Affairs Specialist (RAS) that
the delays were due to security concerns in Northwest
Frontier Province and Baluchistan. On March 4 UNHCR
Pakistan,s assistant country representative Killian
Kleinschmidt told Regional Refugee Coordinator that
repatriation operations were suspended at the request of the
Government of Pakistan.


8. (C) Kleinschmidt admitted that UNHCR remained severely
shaken by the February 2 abduction of Quetta sub-office
chief, Amcit John Solecki, and murder of his driver, Syed
Hashim. The UNHCR Pakistan country representative and her

ISLAMABAD 00000619 002 OF 002


deputy were working full-time to secure Solecki,s release.
UNHCR would not resume repatriation operations in Quetta
until the Solecki case was resolved.


9. (C) On March 15 UNHCR Afghanistan Country Representative
Ewen MacLeod advised Regional RefCoord and Kabul RAS that
repatriation operations would not resume until April 1, at
the earliest. MacLeod had sought assurances from UNHCR
Pakistan that conditions between Peshawar and the Khyber Pass
were safe enough to send returning refugees, their families,
and their earthly possessions. He was dissatisfied with the
response and did not want to create incentives for refugees
to cross through an active counter-insurgency campaign.


10. (C) Comment: UNHCR,s interest in assisting voluntary
repatriation is tempered by concern about its staff,s safety
in Pakistan, and risks to returning refugees traveling to and
through the Khyber Pass. UNHCR Pakistan remains shaken by
the Solecki abduction. The delay puts would-be returnees in
a quandary. Insecurity is likely to continue to push Afghan
refugees from Pakistan, but repatriation subsidies create an
incentive to remain until UNHCR resumes operations. We have
been impressed by the refugee grapevine, however, and believe
the refugees will obtain accurate enough intelligence to
judge whether and when to return to Afghanistan.





PATTERSON