US embassy cable - 04PANAMA2997

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PANAMA 002997 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/IRIS/BARONE AND WHA/CEN/PIERCE 
BOGOTA FOR COLLEEN HOEY 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PHUM, PGOV, CO, PM, LABOR, HUMAN RIGHTS,POLMIL 
SUBJECT: PANAMA REFUGEE NEWS: GOP COOPERATES, COMMISSION 
ACTIVE 
 
 
REF: PANAMA 813 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (SBU)  Since the United Nations High Commission for 
Refugees (UNHCR) established a permanent office in Panama in 
April (reftel), the GOP has cooperated increasingly with the 
UNHCR and other NGOs to assist the approximately 821 
displaced Colombians in the Darien border area.  Under the 
Torrijos administration, the Panamanian Refugee Commission 
has done an about face - convening frequently to diligently 
deliberate on its 75-case backlog.  The UNHCR expects the 
Refugee Commission's outstanding cooperation to decline as 
the typical refugee in Panama changes from poor 
border-crosser to middle class plane passenger and the 
Commission is flooded with applications. 
 
 
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GOP ASSISTS DISPLACED COLOMBIANS 
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2.  (SBU)  In the last six months of the Moscoso 
administration, the GOP improved cooperation with the UNHCR 
and other NGOs in providing services to the approximately 821 
displaced Colombians in the Darien border area.  The GOP 
placed a member of the GOP refugee agency (ONPAR) in Jaque on 
Panama's Pacific coast and in El Tuira in central Darien. 
While still reluctant to classify them as refugees, the GOP 
worked with the government of Colombia and the UNHCR on steps 
to regularize the status of the displaced Colombians. 
 
 
3.  (SBU)  Under the Torrijos administration, GOP assistance 
and cooperation with NGOs consolidated.  In November, the 
UNHCR helped marry 21 mixed Panamanian/Colombian couples in 
the Darien, a step in qualifying for a visa.  For the first 
time, the GOP also helped register children born to displaced 
Colombians. 
 
 
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NEW TREND: ENTRY BY AIR 
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4.  (SBU)  According to Panama UNHCR Representative Gonzalo 
Vargas Llosa, the face of refugees in Panama changed over the 
past year.  As the security situation along the Colombian 
border improved, poor, rural, indigenous Colombians no longer 
cross into Panama to flee violence.  Instead, small-scale 
Colombian entrepreneurs and plantation owners flee to Panama 
by air, generally after refusing to pay the "vacunas" 
(payoffs) demanded by insurgents.  These Colombians have no 
problem showing Panamanian immigration the $500 required in 
order to enter Panama. 
 
 
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REFUGEE COMMISSION: DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENT 
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5.  (SBU)  Under the Torrijos administration, the GOP's 
adjudicator of permanent refugee cases, the Refugee 
Commission, dramatically improved.  After receiving training 
from the UNHCR, the Commission met for a day and a half in 
November and reviewed 25 cases, approving 12 and deferring 5 
(which the UNHCR also expects to be approved).  Because of 
derivative benefits for family members, at least 50 people 
will gain legal status through the November meeting. 
Although not required by law, the Commission is scheduled to 
meet again in December to reduce the remaining backlog of 50 
refugee cases. 
 
 
6.  (SBU)  UNHCR Representative Vargas Llosa was especially 
impressed with the careful attention Vice Minister of MOGJ 
Olga Golcher gave to presiding over the Refugee Commission, 
noting that her performance was "like night and day" compared 
with Vice Minister Perez under the Moscoso administration. 
Despite a decree requiring the Commission to meet every three 
months, under the Moscoso administration the Commission met 
only once during its last 18 months in office, reviewing ten 
cases and approving only two. 
 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (SBU)  The Refugee Commission's expeditious and 
successful resolution of refugee cases is not sustainable. 
The current 50% approval rate is on the high-end globally. 
Many new-trend middle class Colombian refugees are likely to 
file petitions in response to the Commission's favorable 
rulings.  The UNHCR expects the Commission's record to 
decline as the Torrijos administration becomes wary of 
placing its imprimatur on large numbers of Colombian 
applicants and their families.  Panamanians are sensitive to 
the large numbers of recent Colombian immigrants working 
illegally in Panama. 
 
 
WATT