UZBEKISTAN: AFGHAN REFUGEES DESCRIBE HARRASSMENT;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TASHKENT 000194

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-02-19
TAGS: PREF KWMN PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI UNDP UNHCR AF UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: AFGHAN REFUGEES DESCRIBE HARRASSMENT;
DEPORTATIONS

REF: a) TASHKENT 156; 08 TASHKENT 1306

CLASSIFIED BY: Richard Fitzmaurice, Poloff; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) Summary: On February 12, poloff met with 25 Afghan refugees
at the office of a Tashkent-based NGO which provides humanitarian
assistance to refugees. The Afghans alleged widespread harassment
by government officials, and some refugees experienced forced
deportation back to Afghanistan. They also claimed they would face
persecution if returned to Afghanistan and complained about the
resettlement process. In addition, the refugees expressed
appreciation for the assistance they received from the NGO, which
in 2008 was provided U.S. State Department support. We continue to
believe that Afghan refugees remain one of the most vulnerable
groups in Uzbekistan and we support efforts to encourage other
countries to accept greater numbers of such refugees at the UNHCR
Resettlement Working Group meeting in Geneva on February 24 and 25.
End summary.



MEETING WITH AFGHAN MANDATE REFUGEES

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2. (C) On February 12, poloff met with 25 Afghan refugees,
including the Chairman of the Afghan Community in Uzbekistan, at
the office of Tashkent-based International Professional Education
Development Assistance Center (PROFED),a Tashkent-based NGO which
provides humanitarian assistance and educational training to
refugees in Uzbekistan. Since the closure of UNHCR's office in
Tashkent in 2006, UNDP has been responsible for monitoring the
welfare of refugees, mostly from Afghanistan, who had been
previously granted UNHCR mandate certificates in Uzbekistan. In
2006 and 2007, UNDP supported PROFED's operations, and in 2008 the
organization received funding through the State Department's Taft
Fund for Refugees. Since 2007, Afghan refugees have been
increasingly harassed by Uzbek authorities, who have deported a
substantial number of refugees back to Afghanistan in recent
months. The Uzbek government claims that the Afghans are economic,
not political, refugees (ref A).



ESTIMATES OF NUMBER OF MANDATE AND "ILLEGAL" REFUGEES

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3. (C) PROFED's director Natalya Krokhmal reported there were
approximately 750 Afghan refugees left in Uzbekistan with UNHCR
mandate certificates (Note: UNDP recently provided us with a
similar estimate, ref A). In addition, she reported that PROFED
has registered an additional 1,230 "illegal" Afghan refugees, the
majority of which entered Uzbekistan since the closing of UNHCR's
office in 2006 and therefore could not be issued UNHCR mandate
certificates. In the past year, she reported that nearly 500 new
Afghan refugees had entered Uzbekistan. In certain cases, PROFED
has assisted the travel of these refugees to UNHCR offices in
Almaty and Bishkek.



REFUGEES DESCRIBE HARRASSMENT; DEPORTATIONS

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TASHKENT 00000194 002 OF 004




4. (C) When poloff asked how many of the refugees present had
experienced harassment by government authorities, almost all of the
refugees raised their hands. The refugees complained of being
frequently detained by Uzbek authorities, who often demanded bribes
of 10,000 soums (approximately 7 dollars) to let them go. They
also complained that authorities ignored their UNHCR mandate
certificates and in some cases seized their documents or tore them
up. In some cases, the refugees already had been forcibly deported
to Afghanistan and later returned to Uzbekistan. They explained
that other refugees who recently had their mandate certificates
seized by Uzbek authorities were afraid of being deported and were
currently in hiding.




5. (C) The refugees and PROFED confirmed a report by UNDP in
Tashkent that Uzbek authorities have forcibly deported almost 70
Afghan refugees from Uzbekistan back to Afghanistan since October
2008 (ref A). Of those recent deportees, the refugees explained
that approximately 40 of them have since found some way to return
to Uzbekistan, while they have not heard from the others. One
female refugee reported that she had lost contact with her husband
since he had been deported back to Afghanistan and feared that he
had been harmed.




6. (C) The refugees explained it was very difficult for them to
support themselves in Uzbekistan. Each family of refugees with
UNHCR mandate status in Uzbekistan is given a maximum of 50 dollars
per month, which they argued was not nearly enough to cover their
expenses. Several of the Afghan men reported that they worked as
menial laborers at bazaars in Tashkent, where they are often
harassed by unemployed Uzbeks from the regions. The Afghans also
explained that they were frequently discriminated against because
of social prejudices which portrayed them as uneducated, violent,
and involved in the drug trade. Many of the refugees complained of
sharing extremely cramped living conditions with other refugees.



AFGHANS SAY THEY WILL FACE PERSECUTION IF RETURNED

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7. (C) The Afghans denied that they were economic refugees and
argued they would face harm if deported back to Afghanistan. They
explained that Uzbek authorities, when deporting Afghans, simply
drop them off at the other side of the "Friendship Bridge" over the
Amu Darya River (which divides Uzbekistan and Afghanistan).
Regardless of their past affiliations, the Afghans claimed that any
returnee from Uzbekistan was viewed as a "communist" by Afghans and
potentially faced retaliation. Some of the refugees feared
retaliation by specific Afghan warlords or clan leaders.




8. (C) Several of the younger female refugees explained that they
had lived most of their life in Uzbekistan and were doubtful that
they could adapt to Afghan society and its much more conservative
attitude towards women. Several of the female refugees feared that
they could be persecuted for their dress (which was more or less

TASHKENT 00000194 003 OF 004



Western) or for having lived so long in a country like Uzbekistan
where such dress is tolerated.



REFUGEES FRUSTRATED WITH RESETTLEMENT PROCESS

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9. (C) The refugees - several of whom had been rejected for
resettlement by third countries, including the United States and
Sweden - unsurprisingly expressed frustration with the resettlement
process (Note: Nearly 500 Afghan refugees have been rejected for
resettlement in the United States due to past associations with
KHAD, the intelligence service of the former Soviet Afghan puppet
regime. End note.) Some of the refugees complained that they did
not know why they were rejected for resettlement, while others
denied that they had links to KHAD or other groups guilty of
persecution, arguing instead they were simply journalists or
members of the intelligentsia who supported the former Afghan
Soviet puppet regime. Some of the refugees believed they had been
rejected for resettlement because their children had provided
contradictory information. They argued their children had spent
most of their lives in Uzbekistan and had little knowledge about
their parents' activities in Afghanistan. Other parents complained
that their children had been resettled in third countries while
they were themselves rejected for resettlement, and as a result,
they were now unable to see their children. They also explained
that some of the refugees based in Termez missed their interviews
for resettlement because they were afraid to travel to Tashkent,
believing that they could be stopped by Uzbek authorities en route
and deported back to Afghanistan.




10. (C) The refugees believed that their time in Uzbekistan was
"limited" and most of them feared deportation back to Afghanistan.
They argued that the only solution to their plight was resettlement
in third countries.



REFUGEES EXPRESS APPRECIATION FOR PROFED'S ASSISTANCE

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11. (C) The Afghans expressed appreciation for the assistance they
had been provided through PROFED. Some of the older refugees
suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure, and PROFED's office
was the only place where they could receive medical care. PROFED's
staff intervened with local officials to allow their children to
attend local Uzbek schools. In cases where the children were still
unable to attend local schools, PROFED provided classes for them at
their office. Several of the refugees also reported learning new
vocational skills through courses offered by PROFED in cooking,
sewing and embroidery, and hair design.



TOUR OF PROFED FACILITIES

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TASHKENT 00000194 004 OF 004




12. (C) After the meeting with the Afghan refugees, Krokhmal
provided a tour of PROFED's facilities, which included classrooms
and workshops. She explained that while the refugees are not able
to legally work in Uzbekistan, they are able to support themselves
by offering services to neighbors and friends. She also explained
that some refugees who had participated in PROFED's trainings had
used those skills abroad after they being resettled in third
countries.



COMMENT

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13. (C) Afghan refugees remain one of the most vulnerable
populations in Uzbekistan and we support efforts to convince other
countries to accept greater numbers of such refugees at the
upcoming UNHCR Resettlement Working Group meeting in Geneva. While
a minority of the Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan may be economic, as
alleged by the government, we believe that many of the refugees
face credible threats of persecution in Afghanistan. Living in
Uzbekistan is clearly no picnic for the majority of Afghan
refugees, who face widespread social prejudice and harassment,
including the threat of deportation, at the hands of Uzbek
authorities. At the very least, Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan
generally face more serious threats of persecution than other
groups in Uzbekistan which have been previously granted asylum in
United States, including members of the local Jewish and Protestant
communities.
NORLAND

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