NORWAY AGREES WITH USG APPROACH ON SRI LANKA IDP

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000552

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PREF PTER MASS SOCI EAID EUN
CE, NO
SUBJECT: NORWAY AGREES WITH USG APPROACH ON SRI LANKA IDP
ISSUE

REF: STATE 92641

Classified By: Political/Economic Counselor Cherrie S. Daniels
for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) Norway's response to reftel demarche was uniformly
positive. Poloff met with Tone Allers, Sri Lanka Desk
officer at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
Allers, after having two days to digest the information in
the demarche and share it with the Norwegian embassy in
Colombo, stated, "We agree with absolutely everything in it
and we think it's positive that you're approaching it this
way." She said that our talking points, as well as our
demarche to the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL),address the
same issues Norway and other donors are discussing with the
GSL in Colombo.


2. (C) Allers continued by saying that Western countries
agree that there is a need to coordinate better, and to put
pressure on the GSL to speed the reintegration of refugees,
increase freedom of movement, and open up the use of host
families. Allers responded positively to our suggestions of
a new visit by Vijay Nambiar and a follow up trip by Walter
Kalin. She especially pointed to Kalin's emphasis to the GSL
on individual, rather than group treatment of refugees, which
she said was a very positive message he conveyed during his
last visit.


3. (C) Allers concluded by stating that Norway would be most
interested in hearing more from the USG on the "contact
group" idea. She said that the co-chairs meeting for
September had been canceled, and it appeared that group was
now in limbo. She clarified that the issue was not a
preference to resurrect the co-chairs group per se, but just
to understand better what we were considering for a new
"contact group."
HEG