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 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE - GLANTZ DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/RUS - FOGO, PRM/PIM - BANKS, DRL/AE DEPT ALSO FOR H - PLEASE PASS TO HELSINKI COMMISSION ERIKA SCHLAGER 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. -------------- GOP RESPONSE -------------- ¶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 WARSAW 00001222 002 OF 003 renovated to make them more comfortable and suitable for children. -------------- UNREST AMONG REFUGEES ON THE RISE -------------- ¶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. -------------- -- 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 WARSAW 00001222 003 OF 003 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. -------------- 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