US embassy cable - 03AMMAN6177

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 006177 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DHS FOR BCIS 
ATHENS AND ROME FOR BCIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PREF, PGOV, KPAL, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: ALTERCATION AT RUWAISHED REFUGEE CAMP COULD 
ENCOURAGE GOJ TO MOVE CAMP TO NO MAN'S LAND 
 
REF: AMMAN 6028 
 
Classified By: Amb. Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (b)(d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C)  Four residents of Ruwaished refugee camp set 
themselves and a UNHCR trailer on fire September 23, leading 
to "rioting" in the camp, including attacks on UNHCR staff, 
who were forced to flee.  The Jordanian Interior Minister 
contacted UNHCR to urge that the situation be brought under 
control soon.  UNHCR expressed concern that this incident may 
encourage the GOJ to move the camp's population -- which 
includes 80 UNHCR-recognized refugees seeking resettlement in 
the U.S. -- to the "no man's land" camp just outside the 
Jordanian border checkpoint on the Jordan-Iraq border.  A 
commitment from DHS to send a resettlement mission could help 
delay any GOJ action to move the camp residents.  END SUMMARY 
 
 
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RUWAISHED CAMP RESIDENTS BURN SELVES, TRAILER 
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2.  (SBU)  UNHCR Jordan Rep Sten Bronee told RefCoord that 
there had been an altercation at UNHCR's Ruwaished refugee 
camp on September 23.  Bronee was at the camp that day to 
speak with Somali and Sudanese rejected asylum seekers. 
While he was speaking to representatives of this group, four 
rejected asylum seekers barricaded themselves in an adjacent 
trailer and set themselves and the trailer on fire.  Police 
and UNHCR staff had to break into the trailer to rescue the 
four -- one of whom was injured seriously and medevaced to 
Amman for treatment.  A second suffered moderate injuries. 
After this incident, residents of the camp "rioted" and 
attacked UNHCR staff.  Bronee said that, at this point, he 
and other UNHCR staff retreated to their vehicles and fled 
the scene.  Jordanian Badia (rural) police who patrol the 
site restored order. 
 
3.  (C)  Bronee reported that Jordanian Interior Minister 
Habashneh had called him at home that evening to say that the 
situation at the camp had gotten "out of control" and must be 
rectified quickly.  Bronee said that he fears this incident 
will speed up GOJ efforts to move the camp's population from 
Ruwaished to the "no mans land" camp just outside the 
Jordanian border post on the Amman-Baghdad highway (ref). 
Bronee pointed out that the Ruwaished camp still contains 
many UNHCR-recognized refugees who are awaiting resettlement 
-- including 80 who are being considered for resettlement in 
the U.S. 
 
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GOJ REPORTS SEIZURE OF "ARMS CACHE" 
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4.  (C)  In a related issue, Bronee said the Interior 
Minister reported to him that the GOJ had discovered an "arms 
cache" in the no-mans-land camp.  Added to the already 
difficult conditions at the NML camp, Bronee said that he is 
even more concerned for the safety and security of refugees 
there. 
 
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COMMENT 
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5.  (C)  We, too, believe that this violent incident at 
Ruwaished could encourage the GOJ to try to move Ruwaished 
residents to NML before UNHCR can find a permanent solution 
for the 550 camp residents who have not been accepted as 
refugees by UNHCR.  As noted in ref, a positive commitment 
from DHS to a November resettlement mission would bolster our 
case with the GOJ to delay transfer of the remaining camp 
population to NML. 
 
6.  (U)  CPA Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ 
 
or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET 
home page. 
GNEHM