US embassy cable - 03DJIBOUTI1703

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 001703 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2008 
TAGS: EAID, PREF, PHUM, DJ 
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI: EXPULSIONS UPDATE 
 
REF: A) DJIBOUTI 1633 B) DJIBOUTI 1674 
 
Classified By: CONS/PD C.BEAMER FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
1. (U) On July 26 Djiboutian Interior Minister Abdoulkader 
Wais announced that all undocumented foreigners must leave 
Djibouti by August 31, a deadline which was later extended to 
September 15.  According to Djiboutian security officials 180 
illegal aliens were seized in the Ambouli neighborhood of 
Djibouti city on September 16.  The illegals were to be held 
overnight and repatriated on September 17.  Sweeps continued 
on the 17th in the downtown market area of Djibouti.  80 
individuals were reportedly arrested on the 17th. 
International media present in Djibouti report that the 
sweeps took place in relative calm.  Media reports from 
unidentified Djiboutian government sources continue to 
portray the USG as the primary force behind the expulsion 
policy.  END SUMMARY. 
 
THE POLICY 
---------- 
 
2. (C) The July 26 announcement by the Djiboutian Government 
that all undocumented foreigners had 35 days to leave the 
country was followed by an intense public awareness campaign 
in the local state media.  The tone of Interior Minister 
Wais's public statements led everyone to believe that 
security forces were prepared to enforce this policy. 
Government officials cite security concerns, high 
unemployment, and public sanitation as their primary 
motivations for this policy but President Ismail Omar 
Guelleh's re-election campaign in 2005 is also an important 
factor.  Expulsion is seen as a way of providing jobs for the 
high numbers of unemployed in Djibouti that do not sense any 
trickle down from the recent economic boom brought on by the 
presence of coalition forces.  The "cleaning up" emphasis put 
on the expulsion campaign is being used to help Guelleh 
overcome the derisive nickname of "President Poubelle" 
(President Trash Can) he acquired as a result of the 
disintegration of public works and sanitation during his 
administration.  Djiboutian critics of the U.S. engagement in 
their country bolster their argument that the U.S. is behind 
the expulsion policy by pointing to the fact that both 
President Guelleh and Minister Wais are Ethiopian born and 
would not have the courage, power, nor will to enact this 
policy if the order did not come from the world super power. 
 
3. (C)  Small scale sweeps and repatriations in Djibouti city 
began as early as mid-August.  In late August, Wais extended 
the deadline to September 15 after several large 
demonstrations.  By early September the Djiboutian 
authorities reported that over 80,000 illegal aliens had left 
the country voluntarily.  Quantifying the statistical reports 
of departing illegals is difficult however as estimates range 
from 30-120,000.  Djiboutian League of Human Rights (LDDH) 
president, Jean-Paul Noel, reported two separate incidents in 
late August of repatriates dying in the open desert after 
having been deposited at the frontier by Djiboutian 
authorities without food or water.  Ethiopian exile 
opposition groups claim the expulsion is being used to target 
legitimate asylees for persecution and possible execution in 
Ethiopia.  Comment: While reports of such targeting are 
credible, we have no evidence it is taking place as part of 
the expulsion. 
 
THE REFUGEE GAME 
---------------- 
 
4. (C) On September 11 UNHCR authorities reported that 
roughly 15,000 people had descended upon a transit center 
built in the Ali Sabieh district to screen asylum seekers 
(see ref B).  A week before Minister Wais's July announcement 
UNHCR committed to refurbishing a Mengistu-era transit center 
in the southern district of Ali Sabieh to process 
approximately 2,500 asylum seekers (largely Ethiopian Oromo) 
that had been registered with the Djibouti office for nearly 
10 years.  In addition, the Djiboutian National Office for 
Refugees and Displaced persons (ONARS) had been delivering 
(comment: selling) asylee status cards in recent years to the 
tune of some 10,000.  Seeing an opportunity for aid (comment: 
and reportedly at the urging of Djiboutian authorities) 
thousands of individuals with and without various identity 
documents descended upon the ill prepared transit center in 
early September.  UNHCR Djibouti director W. Collins Asare 
reported that much of the problem stemmed from a rumor that 
individuals at this transit center were to be processed for 
relocation in Canada, the U.S., and Australia.  On September 
14, World Food Program logistics coordinator and security 
advisor Robert Gillenwater reported that the Government had 
cleared out the camp significantly and that WFP was providing 
a small emergency ration to individuals quitting the camp for 
foreign frontiers.  A UNHCR protection officer who preferred 
not to be named stated that he felt many of the individuals 
who departed the transit center were Djiboutians with ONARS 
asylee status who returned to Djibouti city when they 
realized there was no hope of being relocated to a third 
country. 
 
THE SWEEPS 
---------- 
 
5. (C) Speculation has abounded from the outset regarding the 
degree to which the Djiboutian authorities would pursue their 
expulsion policy.  LDDH published a white paper on September 
14 declaring that the entrance into private homes by security 
forces was unconstitutional and unacceptable.  The decree 
went on to quote Minister Wais as saying that "our raids will 
be focused on suspected alien havens."  A Djiboutian police 
officer reported that the instructions they received from 
their chief, Hassan Djama, were "you know where the 
non-Djiboutians live...go find them."  Security forces 
reportedly arrested 180 individuals in the Ambouli 
neighborhood on September 16 in pacific fashion.  BBC 
stringer Jonah Fisher reported that the sweeps had a staged 
effect as security forces videotaped themselves apprehending 
illegal aliens with extreme politeness. 
 
THE ECONOMY 
----------- 
 
6. (C) The short term impact of this policy is already being 
felt by every woman in Djibouti who is cooking and cleaning, 
frequently for the first time in her life.  The shortage of 
skilled and low wage laborers is hitting commercial and 
private sectors alike.  Long term however, the policy could 
go a long way in regularizing the Djiboutian employment 
market and prohibiting Djiboutian employers from exploiting 
their labor.  For this to be successful Djibouti will need to 
consider lowering its high public health and social security 
taxes on employers.  Neither system works efficiently and 
both workers and employers complain of the significant drain 
it places on them while accomplishing nothing. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
7. (C) The atmosphere in Djibouti city is tense for the 
undocumented and the people who employ them as speculation 
continues on where the next round of sweeps will take place. 
The expulsions appear to be occurring in relative calm, 
however the LDDH did report that one individual was shot and 
killed in Ambouli on the 16th while fleeing from police. 
With that exception in mind, the significant international 
media attention on the ground seems to have focused the 
Djiboutian leadership's attention on restraining their 
security forces during the operations. 
 
8. (C) The ongoing effort by Djiboutian authorities to pass 
the responsibility for this Djiboutian policy to U.S. 
security interests is likely a result of internal domestic 
pressure.  Many of Djibouti's most powerful businessmen are 
suffering large losses as their labor costs rise and they 
attempt to train entire staffs.  Despite Post's public 
disassociation from the policy international media outlets 
(AFP, RFI, VOA, BBC) continue to feel the best story is the 
one leaked by Djiboutian authorities that the U.S. is behind 
the policy. 
 
SMITH