Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10SANAA211
2010-02-02 15:26:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Embassy Sanaa
Cable title:  

FEARS OF AL-SHABAAB TIES PROMPT ROYG REVIEW OF

Tags:  PREF PTER PREL SMIG PGOV UNHCR SO YM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYN #0211/01 0331526
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 021526Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3695
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0301
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0273
RUEHAE/AMEMBASSY ASMARA 0704
RUEHDJ/AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI 0605
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
S E C R E T SANAA 000211 

SIPDIS
NOFORN

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD, INR JYAPHE, PRM/AF JDEUTSCH
ADDIS FOR REFCOORD INGA HEEMINK
AMMAN FOR REFCOORD RUSTY INGRAHAM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2020
TAGS: PREF PTER PREL SMIG PGOV UNHCR SO YM
SUBJECT: FEARS OF AL-SHABAAB TIES PROMPT ROYG REVIEW OF
POLICY ON SOMALI REFUGEES

REF: A. SANAA 2116

B. SANAA 1851

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

S E C R E T SANAA 000211

SIPDIS
NOFORN

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD, INR JYAPHE, PRM/AF JDEUTSCH
ADDIS FOR REFCOORD INGA HEEMINK
AMMAN FOR REFCOORD RUSTY INGRAHAM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2020
TAGS: PREF PTER PREL SMIG PGOV UNHCR SO YM
SUBJECT: FEARS OF AL-SHABAAB TIES PROMPT ROYG REVIEW OF
POLICY ON SOMALI REFUGEES

REF: A. SANAA 2116

B. SANAA 1851

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY. The ROYG's recent call for universal
registration of all refugees in Yemen has raised fears among
African refugees, particularly of Somali origin, that they
will be deported due to the ROYG's suspicions of Al-Shabaab
support to terrorist elements and to the Houthi rebels in
Sa'ada. The ROYG has declared that all refugees must
register within two months or risk deportation and has
reportedly stepped up patrols and roadblocks outside refugee
centers known to host large numbers of Somalis. This
crackdown comes on the heels of Somali militant terrorist
group Al-Shabaab's pledged support for the Houthi rebels in
northern Yemen and for Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP). Aid workers report that refugees have been detained,
interrogated, and deported based on nothing more than
unsubstantiated claims of terrorist or Houthi affiliation.
Meanwhile, migration and aid experts believe the ROYG's call
for all refugees to register within two months is unrealistic
and points to hidden motives. Some of these officials
suggest that the call for registration could be a first step
towards expelling refugees, especially those of Somali
descent, based on dubious claims of terrorist affiliation,
while the ROYG's true motivations may lie somewhere in
between concerns on the security front and a desire to
diminish what is viewed as a costly economic burden. END
SUMMARY.

THE AL-SHABAAB SCARE
--------------


2. (C) The Ministry of Interior announced on January 18 that
all refugees must register within the next two months or else
they will be deported. Such a move represents a departure
from the ROYG's previous policy of granting all Somali
migrants prima facie refugee status. Somalia's extremist

terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, which is carrying out an
armed rebellion against Somalia's Transitional Federal
Government (TFG),has voiced support for al-Qa'ida in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Houthi rebels in northern
Yemen. Yemen's Al-Watan Online, an Arabic publication known
to support ROYG views, published a report declaring that
Al-Shabaab's connection to AQAP and the Houthis prompted the
ROYG to take "urgent precautionary measures to initiate a
comprehensive record of African refugees and infiltrators
into Yemen."


3. (C) Anecdotally, surveys of Somali refugees conducted by
the International Organization of Migration (IOM) have turned
up a few Somalis who admitted to traveling to Yemen to seek
training with AQAP, but it is not clear whether or not they
were members of Al-Shabaab or simply acting on their own.
Stefano Tamagnini, IOM's Chief of Mission for Yemen, told
PolOff on January 26 that the vast majority of Somali
refugees are simply trying to escape a dangerous situation in
their homeland and are in search of employment opportunities
in Yemen and beyond in the Gulf. While Tamagnini affirmed
the value of a registration process for refugees, he warned
of potential ROYG over-reaction to rumors of terrorist
elements among the refugee population. "The ROYG has other
motives for registering refugees...they are reacting to the
Shabaab scare."


4. (S/NF) Reporting through sensitive channels suggests
there may have been some communication between Al-Shabaab and
AQAP leadership in early January, but there is still no hard
evidence of an Al-Shabaab presence in Yemen. Additionally,
there has been no solid evidence of Somali fighters in Sa'ada
alongside the Houthis as the ROYG has claimed. (NOTE: ROYG
officials have claimed that "Somali fighters" collaborating
with the Houthis have been found dead in Sa'ada, without
presenting any evidence in support of its claim. It is more
likely that any Somalis that may have been found in the
Sa'ada area were en route to Saudi Arabia and simply
following the major migration path for refugees seeking jobs
in the Gulf. END NOTE.) Ayman Nasser, editor of
independent, Aden-based Al-Tariq newspaper, told PolOff on
February 2 that one of his field reporters had received

unconfirmed reports that a few recruiters had approached
Somali refugees with light arms experience near the Kharaz
camp on behalf of Al-Shabaab.

"WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME"
--------------


5. (C) Leila Nasser of the UNHCR office in Aden, where most
African refugees in Yemen are processed, told EmbOff that the
majority of Somalis and migrants from other Horn of Africa
nations are seeking safety and economic opportunities. Those
stopped and detained by ROYG security forces looking for
possible terrorists or those suspected of having Houthi
connections "were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
According to Nasser, African refugees automatically come
under suspicion, especially if they are picked up in the
northern regions of Yemen, even though they are actually
trying to get to Saudi Arabia or other Gulf countries where
there are more lucrative employment options. Yemen's
Political Security Organization (PSO) can take any refugee
they suspect of terrorist or Houthi ties from the camps
without evidence. Only one refugee has been taken from the
Kharaz UNHCR camp for suspected terrorist ties that Nasser
knows of, but she said, "in the north, the numbers of
refugees taken to prison for alleged terrorist ties are much
higher."


6. (C) Post and PRM have noted concerns regarding refugee
access to the camps and third-party monitor access to
detained refugees. An unknown number of refugees are never
documented and are taken into ROYG security custody before
they ever reach one of the refugee centers, often intercepted
along the coast or in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea before
or right after they land. (NOTE: PolOff witnessed large
numbers of prisoners of African origin being held in a
Central Security prison in Hodeida in November. When asked,
the prison warden admitted they were all pre-trial prisoners
being held without any formal charges except that of illegal
immigration. The prisoners, among them Somalis who are
entitled to prima facie refugee status, had not been granted
access to their embassies due to the belief that "they are
all cooperating with the Houthis in Sa'ada." END NOTE.)

A NUMBERS GAME
--------------


7. (C) Extrapolating from recent years' rates of
registration of Somali refugees, some estimates suggest that
Yemen is currently home to 600,000 to 700,000 Somali refugees
(by far the largest component of the refugee population),in
addition to refugees from a number of other African nations
including Eritrea and Ethiopia and, in lesser numbers, Kenya
and Djibouti. According to the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),77,800 new arrivals
travelled from the Horn of Africa to its registration centers
in the south in 2009, which represents a 55 percent increase
from the 50,200 that arrived in 2008. (NOTE: UNHCR is
legally bound to report only those arrivals from Somalia that
have passed through its registration centers and have been
granted official refugee status, but it acknowledges that the
influx is much larger than what is captured by official
statistics. END NOTE.) Samer Haddedin, UNHCR Refugee
Coordinator, told PolOff on February 2 that "nobody knows how
big the population really is, but we believe the government's
800,000 estimate is inflated for political purposes." The
bulk of Yemen's Somali refugees arrived in steady streams
since 1992, however these numbers have been increasing
sharply in the last three years. According to Haddedin,
"Though no one is sure, we think almost 50 percent of the
migrant and refugee population arrived in the last two
years."


SOMALIS UNDER EXTRA SCRUTINY
--------------


8. (U) Shabeele Media Network, an independent online
publication based in Mogadishu, reported on January 23 that
Somali refugees in Yemen have been subject to more scrutiny
following Al-Shabaab's threat to send fighters to take up
arms against the ROYG. According to Shabeele, Somali

refugees have been banned from traveling from camp to camp or
from residing outside one of the refugee camps, and ROYG
security forces have established roadblocks outside of the
Qaras Refugee camp where more than 25,000 Somali refugees
reside. Haddedin told PolOff on February 2 that he had heard
reports of Somalis being subjected to "extra hardships and
discrimination, and the government is limiting the movement
of the Somalis. If a Somali is found without a registration
document, the security forces can arrest them." Al-Watan
Online also reported that the ROYG has tightened its security
measures along the coasts and other locations because
"terrorists and saboteurs have been recruiting Somali
refugees in the Ras al-Arah area of Lahj and trafficking them
to some areas of Sa'ada." President Saleh, in an interview
with Abu Dhabi TV on January 12, lamented the fact that
Al-Shabaab's statement of support to AQAP would require ROYG
security forces to alter their stance regarding Somali
refugees. Saleh warned that "the Somalis should be cautious
and track the infiltrators in their villages and camps and
immediately report them to the security forces, so that they
(the rest of the Somali refugee population) would not
experience any form of harassment by the security forces."

THE SOMALI SCAPEGOAT
--------------


9. (C) Oakley Duff, President of Odyssey Migration Control
and head of IOM's recent assessment of Yemen's border
security and migration policies, told PolOff on January 26
that, "all the officials I have met with recently have a new
mantra, 'Security is our number one priority.'" Calling the
new deadline for refugee registration "completely
unrealistic," Tamagnini questions how the ROYG would
accomplish a thorough and fair registration of refugees in
the timeframe they have indicated, especially considering the
ROYG's lack of a viable plan and the Somalis' fear of
wrongful imprisonment. "The vast majority of refugees,
particularly Somalis, will refuse to register because they
will fear that they'll be thrown into jail or deported." An
estimated 95 percent of Yemen's refugees are from Somalia.
Haddedin told PolOff on February 2 that "the government is
thinking of changing the legal status of the Somali refugees,
so that no new arrivals could claim prima facie refugee
status." In addition to security concerns, ROYG officials
have repeatedly voiced other reasons to reject Somali
immigrants, including a belief that Somalis are bringing
disease, crime, and greater unemployment to Yemen (REF B).
Colonel Lotf A. H. Al-Baraty, the General Director of the
Yemen Coast Guard's Aden district, told PolOff that "Somalis
are the source of huge economic costs on Aden and bring
disease and begging to our streets." (NOTE: UNHCR and aid
donations cover the bulk of the financial costs associated
with hosting Somali refugees in Yemen, and disease rates
among refugee populations in the camps are actually lower
than among the general Yemeni populace. END NOTE.)

COMMENT
--------------


10. (S/NF) While Al-Shabaab may have issued statements of
support to AQAP, the lack of evidence of an Al-Shabaab
presence in Yemen suggests that its support to AQAP remains
largely ideological and rhetorical rather than logistical at
this point. The vast majority of Somali refugees in Yemen
pose no terrorist threat to the ROYG, though the perceived
economic burden they represent for a central government that
has difficulty providing basic services to its own citizens
has created resentment, social segregation, and
discrimination among the Yemeni populace. Furthermore, the
lack of a viable plan to register all refugees within the two
months the ROYG has allotted suggests that this measure could
provide a pretext for deportations of Yemen's large Somali
refugee population. END COMMENT.
SECHE