US embassy cable - 00KINSHASA8413

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 008413 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2010 
TAGS: PREF, PGOV, EAID, CG, UNHCR 
SUBJECT: REFUGEE ISSUES IN GOMA 
 
 
REF: A. KIGALI 3122 
     B. KIGALI RW 3516 
 
 
Classified by Economic Officer Katherine Simonds.  Reason: 
1.5(d). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: During her Nov. 26-Dec 1 visit to Goma, 
Econoff discussed refugee issues with Eddie O'Dwyer, UNHCR's 
Acting Head of Field Office in Goma, and with Kasuku, a 
member of a Congolese NGO involved in repatriating Congolese 
Tutsis.  O'Dwyer said that UNHCR and the Governor of North 
Kivu had overcome mutual distrust to implement a unique 
cooperative program to facilitate the return of refugees to 
Rwanda.  These flows amount to about 1500 per month.  O'Dwyer 
said UNHCR was playing no role in the return of Congolese 
refugees.  Kasuku said that thousands of Congolese Tutsi's 
returning from Rwanda were desperately in need of 
international assistance.  End summary. 
 
 
2. (SBU) On November 28 Econoff met with Eddie O'Dwyer, 
UNHCR's Head of Field Office (Acting) for Goma.  O'Dwyer 
explained that UNHCR had returned to the DRC in May of 1999 
with three missions: to repatriate willing Rwandan refugees; 
to reactivate tripartite cooperation with the DRC and Burundi 
to facilitate the repatriation of Burundian refugees; and to 
facilitate individual Congolese repatriations.  The climate 
at the time was one of mutual suspicion.  UNHCR feared that 
Rwandan Hutus were being forced out of Congo against their 
will.  The North Kivu authorities blamed the UNHCR in part 
for the disastrous consequences of the arrival in Congo of 
Rwandan refugees following the 1994 Rwandan genocide. 
 
 
3. (C) In the absence of UNHCR, the Governor of North Kivu 
was responsible for the refugee issue, and his office had 
based its operations on the premise that all the Rwandan and 
Burundian refugees in Congo needed to go home.  In October 
1998 the North Kivu authorities began a sensitization 
campaign to encourage voluntary repatriation.  When that 
didn't work, according to O'Dwyer, the Congolese in February 
1999 began rounding up Rwandan hutus and sending them home. 
Between February and July 1999, over 13,000 Rwandans were 
repatriated.  After lengthy discussions, UNHCR began 
providing limited logistical support to the repatriation 
campaign in July 1999, in exchange for an opportunity to 
interview refugees and confirm that they were returning 
voluntarily.  In December 1999 this evolved into a formal 
partnership agreement.  O'Dwyer said that 20 UNHCR staff 
members worked in the field with 80 employees from the 
Governor's office to coordinate assembly and transportation 
of refugees.  Since July 1999, on average, 1500 Rwandans have 
voluntarily returned home each month. 
 
 
4. (SBU) The Rwandan refugee caseload is a moving target. 
O'Dwyer said that UNHCR had estimated that there were some 
40,000 Rwandan refugees in North Kivu in May 1999.  Today, 
despite 37,000 repatriations, UNHCR estimates that about 
40,000 Rwandan refugees remain in North Kivu. 
 
 
5. (C) O'Dwyer said that most skirmishes between Interhamwe 
and RCD/RPA forces lead to the "liberation" of groups of 
refugees.  O'Dwyer is convinced that these populations, while 
not precisely held hostage by the Interhamwe, are being 
intimidated into remaining in the Congo.  A journalist who 
visited a refugee processing station in December 2000 told 
Econoff that she met with a group of these refugees who had 
recently gained the liberty to make their way to the UNHCR 
site.  She described them as physically and emotionally 
exhausted, and she characterized their experience in Congo as 
a life of slave labor. 
 
 
6. (C) On November 27, Econoff met with Kasuku, Vice 
President of the local Chamber of Commerce and member of the 
NGO most active in repatriating Congolese Tutsi's from 
Rwanda, "Tout Pour le Developpement" (Ref A).  Kasuku was 
once the head of the North Kivu cattlemen's association, but 
he and all his fellow ranchers lost their livelihoods when 
the Masisi cattle herds were slain in the years following the 
arrival of the Rwandan refugees.  He said the Congolese 
refugees in Rwanda wanted to come home, but both the GOR and 
the UNHCR were holding them back.  He said Caritas and 
another NGO provide limited support, but Congolese Tutsi 
returnees desperately need more assistance.  Kasuku claimed 
that 8000 more Congolese who had recently returned from 
Rwanda had nothing to eat, and pleaded for USG assistance. 
 
 
7. (C) Econoff asked O'Dwyer about TPD and reports that 
pecuniary motives underlay the NGO's effort to repatriate 
Congolese refugees (Ref A).  O'Dwyer said that UNHCR's 
official policy is that the return of the Congolese refugees 
should coincide with the second phase of implementation of 
the Lusaka agreement. He said that in general the UN system 
provides the same assistance to repatriated Congolese that it 
provides to other internally displaced persons.  The 
exception is UNHCR, which has been forbidden by its regional 
office in Addis from providing Congolees returnees the 
plastic sheeting it offers other IDPs.  He believes that TPD 
is benevolent in its desire to help those who want to come 
home now, and does not think the NGO receives any financial 
benefit based on number of returnees.  O'Dwyer criticized the 
site chosen to receive these refugees because it is on the 
border of Virunga park, which makes it vulnerable to 
Interhamwe raids. 
SWING