PANAMA: PLANS FOR NORMALIZATION FOR COLOMBIANS

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000196


E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTBS SOCI PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA: PLANS FOR NORMALIZATION FOR COLOMBIANS
UNDER PROTECTED STATUS

REF: PANAMA 33

Classified By: Ambassador Barbara Stephenson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) The GOP planned to offer legal immigrant status to
individuals living in the Darien region under Temporary
Humanitarian Protection (THP) status, said MFA DG of Exterior
Policy Javier Bonagas told POLOFF on February 20. The
official census of THP persons taken in 2004 counted 542
Colombians under THP, along with 284 Panamanian family
members. According to Bonagas, the numbers of persons living
under the THP regime had fallen dramatically. The draft
legislation should be considered in the National Assembly in
late March or April. There were no plans to extend permanent
status to any other groups. The indigenous families living
in Alta Playona who were recently denied refugee status for
the second time would not be part of this group and would not
be affected by the proposed legislation.


2. (C) The status and conditions of the persons living under
THP and their families has been a major preoccupation for
NGOs and the international community for some time. Plans to
normalize their status will be welcome news in the
international community if Bonagas' plans come to fruition.
In a wide-ranging series of interviews with representatives
of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR),
the Norwegian Refugee Council, the International Organization
for Migration, the National Office for the Attention of
Refugees (ONPAR),the Jesuit Service for Refugees, the
American Red Cross and the People's Legal Assistance Center's
Program for Refugees, POLOFF heard echoed from each group
shared concerns about the precarious legal and security
situation of the persons living under THP in the remote
Darien region of Panama.

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Temporary Protection Regime
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3. (U) The "Temporary Humanitarian Protection" (THP) regime
was created in 1998 by Executive Decree 23 to address
influxes of persons who had crossed the border from Colombia
seeking refuge from the internal conflicts in that country.
The same decree also created the National Office for the
Attention of Refugees (ONPAR),the government agency with the
responsibility for carrying out government policy related to
refugees as well as persons under THP. Under the THP regime,
groups of individuals are given temporary humanitarian leave
to live in Panama for a period of two months without
permission to work or attend school. In practice, the
two-month limit has never been enforced, as many persons
under THP have lived in the Darien for nearly 10 years.


4. (C) Panamanian law clearly states that beneficiaries of
THP status do not/not have "the same rights and benefits
given to refugees under international conventions."
Furthermore, the THP law does not specifically authorize
protected individuals to legally work, attend school, or
travel without the express permission of a GOP
representative. The primary concern of NGOs is the lack of
mobility for individuals under THP, according to Osiris
Abrego of the Jesuit Service for Refuges. As they cannot
legally work, most persons under THP work illegally as
fishermen or seasonal agriculture workers. Some women work
as artisans, creating indigenous handicrafts. To fill in the
gaps, they receive food aid from UNHCR, IOM and other
organizations what also run projects providing safe drinking
water, gas stoves and medical supplies as well as
constructing emergency shelters and providing transportation
to Panama City to process THP paperwork.

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Who and Where?
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5. (C) According to an official census taken under the
auspices of ONPAR and Colombian officials in June of 2004,
542 Colombians live under the THP regime in the Darien with
their 284 Panamanian family members, for a total of 826
individuals and 198 families. These families live in the
communities of La Palma (7 families),Yaviza (20 families),
Puerto Obaldia (27 families),El Real (4 families),Yape (15
families),Boca de Cupe (47 families) and Jaque (78
families). The ethnic background of the individuals is
primarily indigenous and Afro-Colombian (concentrated in
Central Darien near Yaviza and Boca de Cupe). A new census
was undertaken in November and December of 2008 by ONPAR.
Although the results of the census have not yet been
released, Plutarco Pedreschi, interim Director of ONPAR
reported to POLOFF on January 15 that the numbers of persons
under THP had gone down significantly in all parts of the
Darien. The Colombians under THP in Puerto Obaldia are now
32 (81 in 2004); in Jaque now there are 121 Colombians
registered under THP (214 in 2004),and in the Yaviza/El
Real/Yape/Boca de Cupe region, where there were once 238
Colombians, there are now 202.


6. (C) Jean-Philippe Antolin of IOM expressed skepticism of
these numbers, claiming that ONPAR "would not open its eyes"
to more recently-arrived Colombians needing international
protection, and probably "did not look too hard" to find all
of the Colombians listed in the 2004 census. IOM, along with
others such as Merete Hanson of the Norweigan Refugee
Council, also expected that some Colombians had returned home
to Colombia, or left their town of registration to seek
employment opportunities elsewhere in Panama. "There are at
least 200 more recently arrived Colombians scattered
throughout these settlements," said Jose Euceda of UNHCR.
Euceda concurred with the opinion that the GOP was not making
much effort to locate illegal Colombians in the Darien,
whether needing protection or not.


7. (C) All persons under THP living in the Darien now have
Panamanian identification cards, according to Pedreshi of
ONPAR. Until recently, persons under THP were not given
identification by the GOP, leading to harassment by local
police, said Antolin of IOM. ONPAR had maintained for years
that persons under THP should carry their Colombian
identification cards and had no right to or need for
Panamanian identification. However, during the 2008 census,
efforts were made to provide identification cards to all
persons under THP. Further, NGOs have long reported that
many Panamanian children born to THP persons were not given
birth certificates by local officials. This has also been
corrected, according to Pedreschi of ONPAR, as part of the
November-December 2008 census. All NGOs and international
organizations interviewed greeted this news, of the ID cards
and birth certificates, with some skepticism.

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Immigrant Status for persons under THP
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8. (C) A draft law is currently being circulated among
government agencies by Javier Bonagas, Director General of
Exterior Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that
would change the status of the Colombians from Temporary
Humanitarian Protection (THP) to legal immigrants. The
administration and oversight of the individual cases would be
transferred from the National Office for the Attention of
Refugees (ONPAR) to the Migration Directorate, which is part
of the Ministry of Government and Justice (MOGJ) said Bonagas
in a February 20 interview. Bonagas noted that many of the
persons under THP could be admitted as permanent residents as
spouses or children of Panamanian citizens, and said that the
others could be admitted under "a humanitarian provision."
The Migration Law (Law 3 of February 22, 2008) and the
implementing regulations (Executive Decree 320 of August 8,
2008) do not currently allow persons, other than those
accepted as refugees, to apply for permanent residency for
humanitarian reasons. Under the regime proposed by Bonagas,
the individuals would be given the same rights to work, move
within the country and attend school as legal immigrants.

9. (C) Bonagas did not foresee any problems securing
National Assembly support for the draft legislation in late
March or early April. Bongagas claimed also to be the author
of Law 25, which was approved by the National Assembly in May
2008, created a one-time process through which individuals
who had been in refugee status for more than ten years could
apply for permanent residency. This legislation will benefit
an estimated 733 persons, according to Pedreshi of ONPAR,
most of whom are from Ecuador, Nicaragua, El Salvador and
Guatemala, as well as some African nations.


10. (C) COMMENT: The MFA and the MOGJ are the primary
players in the debate over the status of persons under THP.
Although POLOFF first learned of Bonagas' draft legislation
from Plutarco Pedreshi of ONPAR, Pedreshi acknowledged that
his office was an implementer only and would receive its
marching orders from the Foreign Ministry (MFA). Euceda of
UNHCR has also said that any changes to the status of these
individuals would need to come from the MFA, with the
concurrence of MOGJ. END COMMENT.

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Life in the Darien - Tough for THP
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11. (C) All NGOs and international organizations interviewed
expressed great concern for the safety and well-being of
individuals living under THP in the Darien. The general
dearth of GOP presence for all Darien residents is evident in
the poor quality of health and education facilities and lack
of safety and security provided. This situation negatively
affects those living under THP even more than Panamanian
citizens as THPs require government permission to travel
outside of their village of registration, asserted
Jean-Philippe Antolin of IOM and echoed by every other NGO
and international organization providing services in the
Darien. To receive permission to travel, most persons must
petition one of the three ONPAR regional offices, located in
El Real, Boca de Cupe and Jaque. Jose Euceda of UNHCR noted
that he has encouraged ONPAR to open a regional office in
Puerto Obaldia, a major transit area located on the Caribbean
coast directly on the border with Colombia, to no avail.
Although persons under THP living near Puerto Obaldia (120
total, according to the 2004 census) are supposed to travel
overland El Real to receive permission to travel, they can
also receive it by visiting the local police station.


12. (C) Local health centers can be found in Yaviza, El
Real, Jaque, Boca de Cupe and Obaldia. Persons under THP
have no right to GOP-funded health services, but often
receive them if local health officials are willing to provide
them. For advanced treatment, persons under THP must receive
permission to travel from local officials, but NGOs report
that they often cannot afford the gasoline needed to
transport them to locations where treatment is available.
Further, Antolin of IOM reported that public health services
were repeatedly shut down in Jaque in 2007 and 2008 due to
threats from the FARC.


13. (C) All Darien residents, including those under THP,
suffer from the general lack of public secondary education.
Education beyond sixth grade can only be found in the larger
towns, such as Jaque, Yaviza and Puerto Obaldia. In order to
attend, children must board - at their parents' expense - in
the larger cities.

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Safety - a central concern
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14. (C) A Colombian citizen living under THP in the town of
Boca de Cupe was murdered by guerillas from the FARC's 57th
Front on February 18, according to Claudio Delfabro of UNHCR
and press reports. Three guerillas reportedly killed
Aureliano Sepulveda, who had been living in Boca de Cupe
since 1996 and was described by Delfabro of UNHCR as a
prominent community leader of the THP population in that
village.


15. (C) The quality and quantity of police presence was
generally considered by the NGOs to be negligible to
non-existent, a matter of significant concern not only for
THP beneficiaries but for Panamanians in general in the
region. The persons living under THP, like other Darien
residents, have no expectation that the National Police will
protect them from the FARC, according to Antolin of IOM.
Most interaction with the police comes in the form of
harassment, according to Roberto Briton of the American Red
Cross, because most persons living under THP, until recently,
did not have Panamian-produced identification cards and the
police officers, most of whom come from the interior of the
country, have prejudice against Colombians. "They hate the
FARC, but what are they going to do?" asked Briton. "They
have to get along somehow."


16. (C) IOM, in conjunction with NRC, has established a "web
of community monitors" in three different Darien communities
who are in contact with IOM staff member Eduardo Silgado
approximately every 10 days in order to keep tabs on large
influxes of individuals and internal displacement events.
This network has also reported the movement of armed elements
that caused the international displacement of 200-400
indigenous Panamanians (Reftel A). This pilot poject is
currently operating with only Silgado of IOM as the point of
contact.

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No help planned for Embera families
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17. (C) Sixty-two individuals (10 families),of the
Embera-Wounaan indigenous group who have been living in Alta
Playona since 2005 were denied refugee status for the second
time in October 2008 by Panama's National Eligibility
Commission, an inter-agency Committee which formally extends
refugee status on the recommendation of ONPAR. According to
Jean-Philippe Antolin of IOM, the leader of these indigenous
families had come into conflict with a FARC leader in the
Choco district of Colombia. As a result, their leader was
murdered and several group members were locked in a church
and burned to death. The remaining members fled via the
Bohaya river and found their way to Alta Playona.
Originally, twelve families arrived in Alta Playona, but two
families have since returned to Colombia or disappeared into
Panama, according to UNHCR's Euceda. The results have not
yet been publicly disclosed.


18. (C) The GOP has no plans to offer refugee or other
special status to this group, according to Bonagas. "They
are not refugees, but economic migrants," said Bonagas, who
noted that these indigenous groups with representation in
Panama and Colombia have always traveled freely between the
two countries with little regard for international borders.
He continued by noting "Some international groups do not
think we take enough refugees and went out looking" for a
group to represent their cause. He continued by stating
"They are not refugees and will not get refugee status."
(COMMENT: Bonagas did not name UNHCR but clearly implied
that he thought that UNHCR had sought out this sympathetic
group in an effort to put on a face on Panama's perceived
hostility to refugees, and convinced the 10 families to apply
for refugee status. In prior interviews, UNHCR
representatives Euceda and Delfabro have told POLOFF that
they were the first to tell the Embera of Alta Playona of
their potential status as refugees fleeing political
violence. END COMMENT)

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Ongoing Concerns with Refugee Process
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19. (C) Even if the Colombians living under THP do receive
permanent status in Panama, concerns about the refugee
recognition process in Panama will remain. ONPAR is
universally described as slow, bureaucratic and opaque by
international organizations and NGOs that work with refugee
candidates. Individuals seeking refugee status must first
undergo an "administrative review" process in which an ONPAR
employee reviews their application. Between 50%-90% of the
applications are refused at this time, according to NGOs
working with refugee applicants. All organizations
interviewed agree that a substantial number of applications
are rejected during this initial administrative review,
although they concede that it is impossible to know the exact
number. ONPAR claims not to keep data on the number of
applications rejected during this review process, and
Pedreshi of ONPAR claims that the process weeds out "clearly
ineligible" applicants that "do not meet the definition of
refugee" under Panamanian law. There is no requirement that
a reason be given for this refusal, and rejected applicants
had only the option to appeal to the same staff who had heard
their initial request.


20. (U) Applicants who pass the initial screening have their
applications reviewed by the National Commission for the
Protection of Refugees, or National Eligibility Commission
(NEC) which votes on official recognition of an applicant's
claim. The Committee, whose membership includes the below
listed individuals, approves or denies applications upon
recommendations of ONPAR staff.

Voting Members:
Vice Minister, Ministry of Government and Justice
Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Vice Minister for Work, Ministry of Labor
Director of Migration, Ministry of Government and Justice
Director General of External Policy, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs
Director General of Employment, Ministry of Labor
Executive Director of the Panamanian Red Cross
Representative of the National Police

Observing Members with speaking rights:
Regional Representative of UNHCR
Director of ONPAR
Director General of International Organizations, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs


21. (U) If denied by the Commission, applicants have 5 days
to appeal back to the Commission. Further appeals can be
made to the Minister of Government and Justice and finally to
the courts, although post is not aware of any denied case
ever using the final two options. The Commission, by law,
must meet every three months, but in practice meets less
often, having met only twice in 2008. The deliberations of
the Commission are not open to the public.


22. (C) UNHCR criticizes the extremely small number of
refugees admitted by ONPAR. Currently, approximately 1000
people have official refugee status in Panama. Pedreshi of
ONPAR reported to POLOFF that ONPAR accepts (after the
initial screening process) 200-300 individual applications
per year. According to UNHCR, an observing member of the
NEC, the final tally for 2008 was as follows:

March NEC Meeting
Cases considered - 20 (99 people)
Recognized - 2 cases (11 people)
Denied - 16 cases (79 people)
More information requested - 2 cases (9 people)

October NEC Meeting
Cases considered - 20 (94 people)
Recognized - 5 cases (23 people)
Denied - 13 cases (65 people)
More information requested - 2 cases (6 people)

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COMMENT
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23. (C) The involvement of Bonagas indicates that the GOP is
taking seriously efforts to normalize the status of the
Colombians living under THP in the Darien. Bonagas seemed
confident that the National Assembly would easily pass his
plan, despite the upcoming May 3 elections and election-year
sensitivities about "criminal Colombians." Indeed, Law 25,
which was drafted by Bonagas and gave permanent resident
status to more than 700 persons who have held the status of
refugee for more than 10 years, was passed into law with
little public comment. However, the results of ONPAR's
census of November-December 2008 have yet to be released, and
it remains to be seen whether the drop in numbers of
Colombians living under THP is a result of individuals
choosing to return to Colombia or because ONPAR is willfully
not seeking them out to be counted. Any normalization
efforts that go forward will account only for individuals
listed in the official ONPAR census of 2008. NGOs and
international organizations involved in this issue seem to
agree that any action the GOP might take would be in the
interest of removing an irritating thorn from their side and
turning unwanted international attention away from refugees
and the Darien.


STEPHENSON