FRANCE AGREES KENYA SHOULD INCREASE ASSISTANCE TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001396 SIPDIS ADDIS ABABA AND NAIROBI FOR REFCOORDS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2019 TAGS: PREF PREL UNHCR KE FR SUBJECT: FRANCE AGREES KENYA SHOULD INCREASE ASSISTANCE TO SOMALI REFUGEES REF: STATE 100710 Classified By: Kimberly Krhounek, Acting Political Counselor, REASON: 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The GOF agrees with the U.S. that Kenya should do more to assist refugees from Somalia in Kenya. MFA staff is considering how to approach Kenya; one possibility would be for FM Kouchner to raise the issue with Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga during the latter's October 20-21 visit to Paris. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) We discussed reftel with MFA Kenya desk officer Fatiha Saou on October 14. Saou said that the GOF agreed with the U.S. that Kenya could and should do more to assist Somali refugees who cross into Kenya. She said, however, that the MFA was considering how best to raise this issue with Kenya. Saou noted that Kenya was already providing valuable assistance with respect to piracy in the Horn of Africa region, and that it was asking for increased support to cope with detaining and prosecuting the pirates. Moreover, France and others were already pressing Kenya on a host of good governance and democracy issues. She said that "we have to be careful in how we approach them on the Somali refugees" in light of pressures created by the piracy and good governance issues. This would help avoid "creating resentment" on the Kenyan side. ¶3. (C) Saou said that it might be possible for FM Bernard Kouchner to raise the refugee issue with Kenyan PM Odinga, scheduled to visit Paris October 20-21. Saou said that she was responsible for preparing the briefing materials for Kouchner and other senior GOF figures (Odinga will also meet with PM Francois Fillon and Jean-Louis Borloo, Minister of State for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development, Oceans, Green Technology, and Climate Negotiations). She said she would prepare the papers for Kouchner so as to include material on possible increased Kenyan support for Somali refugees and the suggestion that he raise the subject with Odinga "in a non-confrontational way." Saou said she was reasonably certain that this would survive intra-GOF vetting but cautioned that it was not yet a done deal. RIVKIN