UZBEKISTAN: PLIGHT OF AFGHAN REFUGEES WORSENING

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000156 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA, DRL, PRM, AND DHS/USCIS PRM FOR MATTHEW JOHNSON, NANCY LONG, AND TERRY RUSCH MOSCOW FOR LISA KIERANS, SUSANNE SINCLAIR-SMITH, AND SUSAN NE GIBBONS AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-02-10 TAGS: PREF PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI UNDP UNHCR AF UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: PLIGHT OF AFGHAN REFUGEES WORSENING REF: a) 08 TASHKENT 1306 CLASSIFIED BY: Richard Fitzmaurice, Poloff; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) The newly arrived head of the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Refugee Support Unit in Tashkent, Ustina Kupreychik, reported that the situation for Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan has worsened since the fall (ref A). According to Kupreychik, 67 Afghan refugees have been forcibly deported or coerced to leave Uzbekistan since October 2008, with the last known forcible deportation occurring on February 3. She noted that many of the Afghans who are deported find ways to re-enter Uzbekistan. There are currently about 780 Afghan refugees remaining in Uzbekistan, though this number includes refugees who have been recently deported, as UNDP still considers their cases "open" (Note: Since the closure of UNHCR's office in Tashkent in 2006, UNDP has been responsible for monitoring the welfare of refugees with UNHCR mandate certificates in Uzbekistan. End note.) ¶2. (C) Kupreychik, a UNCHR employee, reported that UNHCR was prepared to discuss the plight of Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan with resettlement countries at the upcoming UNHCR Resettlement Working Group meeting in Geneva on February 24 and 25. However, she reported that the issue would not be included in the conference's formal agenda. ¶3. (C) Kupreychik noted that Sweden, which previously accepted a significant number of Afghan refugees, has only 70 slots for refugee resettlement for all of Central Asia in 2009. Since January 2006, the United States has approved 444 Afghans in Uzbekistan for resettlement, while approval for another 86 Afghan refugees is currently pending. During that time, 496 Afghan refugees were rejected for resettlement, mainly because of past associations with KHAD, the former Afghan Soviet puppet regime's intelligence service. ¶4. (C) Kupreychik requested that the United States consider interviewing 20 additional Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan for resettlement who have never been previously interviewed. Noting that the situation for the refugees was deteriorating, she asked that the United States try to interview the refugees sooner than later. She confirmed that none of the additional refugees have KHAD associations and promised to send the Embassy more information about the refugees soon. COMMENT -------------- ¶5. (C) Given the deteriorating situation for Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan, we support U.S. and UNHCR officials raising their plight with resettlement countries, especially Nordic ones, at the upcoming UNHCR Resettlement Working Group meeting in Geneva. As other resettlement countries are more likely to accept additional Afghan refugees from Uzbekistan this year if the United States also accepts more refugees, we encourage DHS/CIS to consider returning to Uzbekistan in the near future to conduct interviews with the 20 or so Afghan refugees who have not been previously interviewed. . NORLAND To view the entire SMART message, go to URL http://repository.state.sgov.gov/_l ayouts/OSSSearchResults.aspx?k=messageid:f115 f961-ad29-4489-b783-35dc964ea557