PALESTINIAN REFUGEES IN IRAQ - TARGETED VIOLENCE DOWN BUT

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 000506 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR NSC SAMANTHA POWER AND SCOTT BUSBY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM PREL IZ SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN REFUGEES IN IRAQ - TARGETED VIOLENCE DOWN BUT HARASSMENT CONTINUES ¶1. (SBU) Summary: UNHCR reports that it has not seen an increase in targeted violence against Palestinians in Iraq. It does report an increase in: accounts of harassment at the many checkpoints found throughout Iraq; reports of arbitrary and targeted detentions following terrorist incidents in Baghdad and Mosul; and the number of Palestinian refugees registering with UNHCR in Syria. UNHCR is looking into indications of possible fraud and abuse in the Ministry of Migration and Displacement (MoDM) administered UNHCR rental subsidies program. UNHCR plans to improve its registration system, counseling procedures and reporting mechanisms to better understand and address the situation faced by Palestinians in Iraq. End summary. ¶2. (U) UNHCR told Embassy Refugee Coordinator that there has not been a report of targeted violence against Palestinians in Iraq in at least the last nine months. UNHCR does report that it has received increasing accounts of harassment at the many security checkpoints found throughout Iraq. While UNHCR has been successful in facilitating the issuance of national identification cards to Palestinians, recipients report that they are harassed by GOI officials and civilians when they present the identification cards at checkpoints. It is thought that many continue to use fraudulent Iraqi nationality documents to travel within the country. Likewise, there has been an increase in reports of arbitrary targeted detentions of Palestinians following terrorist incidents in Baghdad and Mosul. UNHCR has repeatedly acted as an intermediary and been successful in convincing the Ministry of Interior to release Palestinians when there are no formal charges and little evidence against them. They report that they can now facilitate the release of detainees in 24 to 48 hours due to having the appropriate contacts and procedures in place. ¶3. (U) UNHCR reports that there has been anecdotal evidence of more Palestinians fleeing to Syria and continuing on to Turkey and Europe through irregular means. There has been an increase in the number of Palestinians registering with UNHCR in Syria although this may be attributed to an increase in willingness to register not an increase in number of refugees fleeing. There are very few Palestinians trying to flee Baghdad for the Al Waleed refugee camp despite the fact that the U.S. and European countries are resettling approximately 1600 Palestinian refugees from the camp. ¶4. (SBU) Recognizing that there are gaps in its registration records of Palestinians in Iraq, UNHCR plans to complete a thorough review of its registration records in the coming months. The Senior Protection Officer in Iraq said that UNHCR plans to interview more thoroughly cases that were registered several years earlier to see which still have durable solutions available to them in Iraq and which should be referred for third-country resettlement. In the hope of improving the counseling of Palestinians on their rights and options, UNHCR is conducting more comprehensive training of its national staff. While UNHCR has said that the vast majority of the 12,000 Palestinians living in Iraq should not be referred for third-country resettlement, the process of identifying and referring the most vulnerable cases has already started. This month the U.S. accepted a resettlement referral for a Palestinian family living in Baladiyat, Baghdad. The family has an eight year-old child who QBaladiyat, Baghdad. The family has an eight year-old child who suffered a head injury during a rocket attack on the predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in 2006. The young boy received only minimal treatment by the ill-equipped Red Crescent hospital in the Palestinian refugee community and is now suffering serious medical complications, including epilepsy, as a result. Following more attacks, the family attempted to flee to Syria in 2007 but was stopped at the border. They lived in the Al Waleed refugee camp on the border for several months before returning to Baghdad. ¶5. (SBU) UNHCR acknowledged that it needs to more thoroughly monitor and control the MoDM administered UNHCR rental subsidies program that assists Palestinians. There are signs of irregularities in the administration of the subsidies which may indicate possible fraud and abuse. An increasing number of Palestinians report that they were denied access to the program arbitrarily and others report that they have not received the subsidy after completing the registration process. HILL