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

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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

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