US embassy cable - 03AMMAN5550

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005550 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA AND PRM; DHS FOR BCIS 
CPA FOR WYLLIE; ATHENS AND ROME FOR BCIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2013 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, KPAL, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN ALLOWS 386 PALESTINIANS TO LEAVE UNHCR 
REFUGEE CAMP; HOPES TO CLOSE CAMP BY OCTOBER 
 
REF: AMMAN 4001 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale, per 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary and comment:  On August 24, the GOJ allowed 
386 Palestinians (Palestinian-Jordanian women, plus their 
Palestinian-Iraqi families) to leave the UNHCR refugee camp 
at Ruweished and reside permanently in Jordan.  While 
announcing the decision, GOJ officials stated that the 
refugee file is now "completely closed," and plans are 
underway to close the UNHCR camp and move the 500 remaining 
refugees to no-man's land.  PM Abul Ragheb confirmed to the 
Charge August 28 that the GOJ hoped to close the UNHCR camp 
in October and urged the U.S. to speed up its plans to 
consider some of the refugees for resettlement.  The GOJ 
seems eager to resolve the new war-related refugee caseload 
and could well move toward deportations of those without 
UNHCR refugee status or any claims to Jordanian residency. 
Stepped-up U.S. engagement on this issue -- including an 
early DHS resettlement mission and CPA authorization for 
Palestinians to return to Iraq -- will be key to continued 
GOJ patience.  End summary and comment. 
 
2.  (SBU)  On August 24, the GOJ allowed 386 Palestinians to 
leave UNHCR's Ruweished refugee camp and reside permanently 
in Jordan.  This group includes all "mixed marriages" from 
the camp -- Jordanian citizens of Palestinian origin married 
to Palestinian-Iraqi men, plus their children (ref).  In 
announcing the decision, the GOJ made it clear that this 
policy did not constitute a change in either its 
long-standing insistence upon the right of return for 
Palestinian refugees or its citizenship policies.  (Many East 
Bankers view the GOJ's decision to admit these 
Iraqi-Palestinians as permanent residents of Jordan as a de 
facto move toward Queen Rania's controversial 2002 proposal 
that Jordanian women be granted the right to transmit 
citizenship to their children.)  In public statements, PM 
Abul Ragheb and other GOJ officials also made it clear that 
Jordan would not accept any further refugees from Iraq and 
was considering plans to close the UNHCR refugee camp and 
move all 500 remaining refugees to the UNHCR camp in no-man's 
land, between the Iraqi and Jordanian border posts. 
 
3.  (C) Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb confirmed to the 
Charge August 28 that the GOJ hoped to "be done with the 
refugees" no later than October.  The Charge urged the PM to 
reconsider his position, briefing him on U.S. plans to 
consider Sudanese, Somalis and possibly Iranian Kurds for 
resettlement as well as our efforts to organize the voluntary 
repatriation of Palestinians to Iraq.  Emphasizing the GOJ's 
growing impatience with the refugee situation on the border, 
Abul Ragheb asked the U.S. to consider handling these 
resettlement cases on an expedited basis. 
 
4.  (SBU) Following the departure of the "mixed marriages," 
roughly 500 Palestinians, Sudanese and Somalis (including a 
group of 80 individuals that UNHCR hopes to present as a 
group referral for resettlement in the U.S.) remain in the 
UNHCR refugee camp.  UNHCR reports that tensions are now 
quite high in the camp, as the remaining Palestinians fear 
that they will not be allowed to reside in Jordan and the 
Somalis and Sudanese who have not qualified for refugee 
status fear they will be deported.  Both groups have begun 
hungerstrikes, while a Somali attacked a UNHCR vehicle on 
August 27.  Another 1,000 Iranian Kurds and undocumented 
others remain in no-man's land between the Iraqi and 
Jordanian border posts.  UNHCR Representative Sten Bronee 
plans to once again formally ask the GOJ to allow the 
no-man's land population to enter the UNHCR camp at 
Ruweished, a request he acknowledges the GOJ is unlikely to 
accept. 
 
5.  (C) Comment:  The GOJ is unlikely to allow any other 
refugees -- Palestinian, Somali, Sudanese or Iranian Kurd -- 
to enter Jordan.  The 386 Palestinians allowed to leave the 
UNHCR refugee camp were Jordanian citizens and their 
immediate families and the GOJ's treatment of them therefore 
has no bearing on its refugee policies.  Jordan has a strict 
policy against local integration of all refugees, which is 
reflected in its various agreements with UNHCR.  (Jordan's 
past decision to grant citizenship to nearly all of its West 
Bank Palestinian refugees has no bearing on the current 
situation as it is tied to Jordan's previous claim to the 
West Bank and is not considered by the GOJ to be a precedent 
for other Palestinians.)  The GOJ seems increasingly eager to 
find a solution for the new war-related refugee caseload and 
could well move toward deportations of those without UNHCR 
refugee status or any claims to Jordanian residency. 
Stepped-up U.S. engagement on this issue, including an early 
DHS resettlement mission (requested for early November 2003) 
and CPA authorization for Palestinians to return to Iraq 
(when conditions improve and UNHCR can once again handle 
organized returns) will be crucial to continued GOJ patience. 
 
6.  (U) Cairo-based regional refcoord cleared this message. 
 
7. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
HALE