US embassy cable - 04AMMAN1334

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001334 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2014 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, KPAL, KWBG, IZ, IS, JO, UNRWA 
SUBJECT: PRM PDAS GREENE DISCUSSES PALESTINIAN REFUGEES 
WITH UNHCR AND UNRWA 
 
REF: AMMAN 1078 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Doug Silliman per 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary and Comment:  In a February 16 meeting with 
PRM PDAS Greene, UN Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees 
Morjane requested U.S. assistance in finding durable 
solutions for 345 Iraqi-Palestinians in Jordan's Ruweished 
refugee camp.  Morjane -- to the surprise of the UNHCR Jordan 
representative and UNRWA Deputy ComGen AbuZayd -- asked that 
the U.S. consider resettling the Iraqi-Palestinians.  AbuZayd 
promised to include the issue in upcoming UNHCR-UNRWA 
consultations, which also will address registration and 
assistance issues for Iraqi-Palestinians and possibly 
registration for Palestinians outside the region.  Given the 
political ramifications of such a change in Palestinian 
refugee policy, we again recommend the Department not 
consider Palestinians for resettlement.  In a February 15 
meeting with AbuZayd, Greene also discussed UNRWA succession, 
section 301(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act, the Operations 
Support Officer program and an upcoming review of UNRWA 
emergency programs.  End summary and comment. 
 
2.  (U) PRM PDAS Richard Greene met with UNRWA Deputy 
Commissioner General Karen AbuZayd on February 15.  PRM/ANE 
Deputy Director Larry Bartlett and Refugee Coordinator Joan 
Polaschik (notetaker) also attended the meeting.  PDAS Greene 
held a separate meeting with UN Assistant High Commissioner 
for Refugees Kamel Morjane February 16 on the margins of a 
UNHCR meeting on Iraq (Iraq meeting reported septel). 
 
--------------------------------- 
UNHCR-UNRWA Cooperation; 
Solutions for Iraqi-Palestinians? 
--------------------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) UNRWA Deputy ComGen Karen Abu Zayd told PRM PDAS 
Greene that she held an initial meeting with UN Assistant 
High Commissioner for Refugees Kamel Morjane on February 15 
to outline possible cooperation on Palestinian refugee 
issues.  While most of the cooperation will address 
Iraqi-Palestinian issues (UNHCR is responsible for the 
registration and care of an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 
Palestinian refugees in Iraq), the two refugee agencies will 
also begin a dialogue on more general issues such as 
registration and assistance practices.  She noted that as 
part of UNRWA's move toward individual -- rather than family 
-- registration, UNRWA might consider asking UNHCR offices to 
register Palestinian refugees outside the region.  The two 
agencies are scheduled to hold working level consultations 
during the week of February 22. 
 
4.  (C) In a February 16 meeting with PDAS Greene, UN 
Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees Kamel Morjane 
requested U.S. support in finding solutions for the 345 
Iraqi-Palestinians remaining in Jordan's Ruweished refugee 
camp (ref).  First, UNHCR seeks U.S. support in urging the 
Government of Israel to allow these Iraqi-Palestinians to 
"return" to the West Bank and Gaza.  Acknowledging that the 
Israelis were unlikely to accede to this request, Morjane 
then asked the U.S. to consider resettling these 
Iraqi-Palestinians in the United States.  Morjane told Greene 
that UNHCR realizes the political difficulties of finding 
durable solutions for Palestinian refugees, but said UNHCR 
has a morale imperative to find solutions for this group. 
UNHCR could not expect Jordan to accept more Palestinian 
refugees and could not force this group to return to Iraq. 
Resettlement outside the region seemed to be the only durable 
solution. 
 
5.  (C) In a follow-on February 17 conversation, UNRWA Deputy 
ComGen told refcoord that Morjane had not raised this issue 
in their meeting and she was surprised he was considering the 
possibility of resettling Palestinians from an UNRWA area of 
operation.  She commented that resettlement of Palestinians 
outside the region would be interpreted as a conspiracy to 
solve the Palestinian refugee question outside a negotiated 
political settlement, with serious political ramifications. 
Moreover, under long-standing agreement between the two 
agencies, UNHCR considers for resettlement from UNRWA areas 
of operation (e.g., Jordan) only individual Palestinians with 
exceptional vulnerabilities.  AbuZayd said she would add this 
issue to the agenda of the upcoming UNHCR-UNRWA consultations 
and brief refcoord after the meetings. 
 
---------------- 
UNRWA Succession 
---------------- 
 
6.  (C) AbuZayd confirmed to Greene that UNRWA Commissioner 
General Peter Hansen intends to step down after his current 
term expires in February 2005.  She cautioned, however, that 
Hansen could change his mind if he believes the U.S. is 
pushing for his ouster.  AbuZayd said Hansen was taken aback 
by recent comments from the UNSYG's office that the U.S. 
would not want Hansen to remain in office for another term 
and asked specifically that AbuZayd probe U.S. intentions. 
Assuring AbuZayd that the U.S. would not launch an overt 
campaign to oust Hansen, Greene noted that the U.S. 
nonetheless prefers that Hansen's third term become his last. 
 AbuZayd confirmed that she plans to stay on as Deputy ComGen 
until August 2005, to ensure continuity during the transition 
to a new ComGen. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Section 301(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU) Greene told AbuZayd that the U.S. continues to be 
concerned that UNRWA take all possible measures to ensure 
that no assistance is provided to terrorists, as stipulated 
in section 301(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act.  Referring 
to a February 6 letter from PRM A/S Dewey to UNRWA ComGen 
Hansen, Greene explained that the U.S. strongly encourages 
UNRWA to take a broader view of what constitutes an act of 
terrorism, particularly in the context of "work accidents," 
explosions in refugee shelters that result from presumed 
bomb-making activities.  The technical explanation provided 
in UNRWA's November 2003 letter to A/S Dewey simply was not 
sufficient.  Greene suggested that the Department's legal 
advisors should speak directly to UNRWA legal counsel. 
AbuZayd responded that UNRWA took the U.S. concerns seriously 
and had already drafted a response to A/S Dewey's letter. 
However, she urged the U.S. to look at UNRWA's policies and 
practices rather than its technical interpretation of U.S. 
law and UN conventions on terrorism. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Operations Support Officers Program 
----------------------------------- 
 
8.  (U) Explaining that the manager's report to the FY04 
omnibus appropriations bill urged the Department to provide 
funds to make UNRWA's Operations Support Officers (OSO) part 
of the agency's regular programs, Greene asked AbuZayd why 
the agency had not done so.  Greene explained that the U.S. 
Government found the OSO program to be an effective oversight 
tool for the agency and hoped that it could be continued 
beyond the current emergency in the West Bank and Gaza. 
AbuZayd responded that limits on UNRWA international staff 
members, set by UN Headquarters, preclude any regularization 
of the OSO program.  UNRWA international staff positions for 
its regular programs currently are limited to 110.  UNRWA 
employs an additional 43 internationals beyond the UN HQ 
limit (including 14 OSOs funded by the U.S.) but with the 
caveat that they are short-term positions funded by 
individual donors.  Regularization of the OSO program would 
require UN HQ to raise the limit on UNRWA international 
staff. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Review of UNRWA Emergency Programs 
---------------------------------- 
 
9.  (U) Noting that there is a large, global demand on 
limited U.S. emergency assistance funds, Greene informed 
AbuZayd that the U.S. Government plans an expanded monitoring 
mission to review UNRWA emergency programs.  Tentatively 
planned for April, the mission will look at UNRWA emergency 
programs in the West Bank and Gaza, focusing on program 
prioritization, identification of beneficiaries and the 
programs' impact.  AbuZayd welcomed the mission, noting that 
it could complement an EC review of West Bank programs and 
the UK-financed external review of all UNRWA programs. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
10.  (C) We -- as well as the UNHCR Jordan Representative -- 
were surprised by Morjane's proposal to resettle 
Iraqi-Palestinians from their temporary place of asylum in 
Jordan.  UNHCR resettlement of a group of Palestinian 
refugees would constitute a departure from existing 
Palestinian refugee policies and, in the context of Israeli 
PM Sharon's statements about unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, 
would likely be viewed in the region as something far more 
significant than a humanitarian solution for a small number 
of refugees.  We again recommend that the Department not 
consider Iraqi-Palestinians for the U.S. resettlement program. 
 
11.  (U) PDAS Greene cleared this message. 
 
12.   (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered. 
GNEHM