GOP ENGAGEMENT DE-ESCALATES STANDOFF WITH CHECHEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 WARSAW 001222

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PL
SUBJECT: GOP ENGAGEMENT DE-ESCALATES STANDOFF WITH CHECHEN

REFUGEES

Classified By: POL - Amy Walla for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: Polish border guards December 15 stopped a
train carrying more than 150 mostly Chechen refugees en route
to Dresden, Germany. The refugees said they were on their way
to Strasbourg to protest poor conditions for refugees in
Poland. However, they did not have permission to travel to
the rest of Europe, and so were returned to refugee centers
to await further action in their cases. The group was likely
motivated by a recent decline in the number of refugees who
receive tolerated, or 'subsidiary' status, allowing them to
remain in Poland. In a December 17 meeting with government
and NGO representatives, some leaders of the group threatened
to start committing suicide should their demand to be
transported to France within 72 hours not be met. Tensions
began to dissipate after the GOP offered to initiate dialogue
with the refugees. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On December 15, Polish border guards in the
southwest border town of Zgorzelec stopped a train carrying
156 refugees en route to Dresden, Germany. The group
comprised primarily Chechens, including families with
children, though some Georgians were also on board. The
refugees, who came together from four different refugee
centers in Warsaw, Radom, Lukow, and Smoszewo, said they were
on their way to Strasbourg to participate in a "march for
peace," with the goal of shedding light on the situation for
Chechen and Georgian refugees in Poland.


3. (SBU) Earlier, Polish rail officials had halted the train
because none of the refugees on board had a ticket. The
refugees refused to leave the train, so ticketed passengers
were offloaded and bussed to their destinations, while the
train proceeded to the Polish-German border where authorities
were waiting. According to news reports, the Chechens and
Georgians on board did not have formal refugee status, and
therefore were not allowed to travel outside of Poland. After
several hours of negotiations, the refugees exited the train
and were taken to a border patrol center in Luban, after
which the majority were transported to a reception center in
Debak, outside of Warsaw.


4. (SBU) However, 33 of the refugees are in Poland illegally,
having already received a negative decision in their cases.
These refugees have been sent to a closed detention facility
pending a court review of their case. The probable outcome
for this group is deportation. Prosecutors suggested none of
the remaining refugees, whose status is still undecided, will
face imprisonment, due to the "low social harm" nature of the
offense.


5. (C) Representatives from the Interior Ministry's Office of
Foreigner Affairs, as well as NGOs and international
organizations, met on December 17 with the refugees in Debak
to verify their basic needs were being met. According to
UNHCR Poland Director Ernest Zienkiewicz, the atmosphere
became charged after certain refugees, who Zienkiewicz,
described as 'ringleaders', began escalating their demands.
The ringleaders threatened to start committing suicide if the
refugee group was not transported to France within 72 hours.
According to Zienkiewicz, some of the refugees appeared
uncomfortable at this point and tried to leave the meeting,
but the leaders coerced them to stay. Zienkiewicz expressed
concern that actions taken by the refugees, along with recent
remarks by Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrow, were an attempt
to blow up the asylum system in Poland.

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GOP RESPONSE
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6. (SBU) The GOP's Office of Foreigner Affairs has offered to
set up a series of site visits in concert with NGO and
international organizations to investigate each complaint
raised by the refugees. The government response seems to have
mollified the crowd; for now, the refugees have accepted the
offer and have backed down on their threats. In addition to
the visit to the refugee center in Debak, President Lech
Kaczysnki called for Interior Minister Jerzy Miller to
explain the current situation and to describe measures the
government is taking to address refugee issues in Poland.
Parliamentarians also met to discuss the situation of
refugees in Poland on December 16, noting that the meal
allowances for children should be raised (currently set at 9
PLN, or 3 USD per day),and that accommodation centers
established in former prisons or military barracks could be

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renovated to make them more comfortable and suitable for
children.

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UNREST AMONG REFUGEES ON THE RISE
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7. (SBU) This is the latest in a series of incidents
involving refugees in Poland. In November, 20 Georgian
refugees were apprehended in France and deported back to
Poland, where they had originally filed their asylum
applications. In October, Moscow-based Chechen human rights
activist Imran Ezhiev and a group of approximately 30
Chechens held a press conference in Warsaw to draw attention
to what they felt was a deteriorating situation for Chechen
refugees in Poland. In addition to general complaints about
the provision of social services in the refugee centers, the
Chechens pointed to an incident in Radom earlier in the
month, where teenagers were caught throwing stones at the
refugee accommodation center, breaking several windows. And
in September, two Chechen women were attacked outside an
accommodation center in Lomza. At the press conference, the
Chechens claimed the September visit by Russian Prime
Minister Putin had caused a more "pro-Russian" stance on the
situation of refugees in Poland.


8. (C) Representatives from NGOs and international
organizations disputed this assertion. Aleksandra Chrzanowska
of the Legal Intervention Association (Stowarzyszenie
Interwencji Prawnej),which provides direct assistance to
asylum seekers, expressed surprise at the claim. She said the
system of social and medical care in the refugee centers is
far from perfect. However, social and medical services are
frequently criticized in rural Poland as being subpar.
Chrzanowska observed that there is a generational divide
within refugee centers, where those who have been in the
centers for a long time do not appreciate the new waves of
refugees coming in. They complain that the newcomers cause
fights, deal drugs, and possess weapons, which generates fear
and damages the reputations of Chechens in the surrounding
community.

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IOM: REFUGEE CONDITIONS ACCEPTABLE, NOT PERFECT
-------------- --


9. (SBU) The International Organization for Migration (IOM)
estimates there are currently 6,000 to 8,000 Chechen refugees
and 4,000 Georgian refugees in Poland. The majority are
housed in open accommodation centers, where they are
permitted to move freely in the local community while their
applications for refugee status are reviewed. About 25 to 30
percent of refugees are given assistance to live outside the
centers. All children in the open centers, as well as
off-compound, are enrolled in school, and basic medical care
and welfare assistance is provided. Once a petitioner has
been granted refugee status, s/he is granted access to
additional services designed to facilitate integration into
Polish society. In 2008, Poland extended these integration
services to petitioners who had been granted "subsidiary"
status, which allows them to remain in Poland, but does not
afford full refugee rights under the Geneva Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees, most notably access to
identity and travel documents.


10. (SBU) Integration issues are at the heart of the
refugees' complaints. Until a positive decision is rendered,
refugees are unable to legally work on the local economy and
are therefore entirely dependent on welfare and social
services. Even with refugee or subsidiary status, finding
work in the Polish economy is difficult due to high
unemployment and cultural differences. Some refugees with
subsidiary status have a hard time locating adequate housing,
Those with large families find it exceptionally difficult and
so remain in the accommodation centers. In addition, although
children are registered in school, they face language
barriers and schoolyard ostracism, sometimes compelling them
to drop out. A new law, which takes effect on January 1,
2010, aims to address the latter problem by establishing a
network of mentors and tutors for children during their first
12 months in provisional status, in addition to supplemental
language classes.


11. (C) Anna Rostocka, Director of IOM's Poland office,
characterizes the refugees' unrest as partly a problem of
expectations. Some refugees come to Poland expecting to find

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a job and start building a new life right away. Others do not
intend to stay, but hope to use Poland as a transit point to
Western Europe. These expectations are aggravated by
refugees' perception of lengthy asylum procedures in Poland.
However, Zienkiewicz explained the problem with lengthy
approval procedures is often the refugees' own doing.
According to Zienkiewicz, Poland fully complies with the
stipulations in the Geneva convention. He also said its
practices are in line with those of other EU member states.
Most asylum cases are decided within six months, unless they
are especially complicated. Furthermore, Poland has recently
implemented measures to expedite processing to 30 days in
certain cases, namely those that are clearly unfounded.
Zienkiewicz remarked that cases drag on when refugees receive
a negative decision and begin filing appeals, which serve to
indefinitely prolong their stay in Poland, but in a perpetual
state of limbo.

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POLES SYMPATHETIC, BUT NOT INDEFINITELY
--------------


12. (SBU) Although Poland only grants refugee status in
two-to-three percent of all cases, until recently it granted
subsidiary status twice as often as the rest of the European
Union, according to a UNHCR report. The report also notes
that Poles are generally sympathetic to the situation of
refugees, given Poland's own struggles with political
oppression. The UNHCR recently conducted a public opinion
poll that revealed 67 percent of Poles believe refugees
should be granted permission to stay in Poland, and 50
percent said that the presence of refugees enriches Polish
culture. Only 9 percent of those polled thought that
refugees should be sent back to their country of origin.
Perhaps for this reason, according to Rostocka, granting
subsidiary status for Chechen asylum seekers used to be
almost automatic.

FEINSTEIN