US embassy cable - 05GENEVA1454

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GENEVA 001454 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2015 
TAGS: PREF, RW, BY, UNHCR 
SUBJECT: RWANDA/BURUNDI: LETTERS REFLECT RENEWED CONCERN AT 
UNHCR 
 
REF: GENEVA 1380 
 
Classified By: RMA Counselor Piper Campbell, reasons 1.4 b and d 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Following up on his immediate interest in 
Rwanda/Burundi (ref A), the incoming United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees has written to the Presidents of 
Rwanda and Burundi expressing concern about their actions and 
intentions regarding Rwandan asylum seekers.  UNHCR staff are 
extremely concerned about the situation on the ground and 
predict wide-scale refoulement may occur in the coming days. 
According to UNHCR officials reporting to a group of 
diplomats June 10, the GOB Minister of Interior stated that 
the GOB would take stronger action on the asylum seekers, and 
the Minister of Public Security said that his government 
contemplated muscular action ("nous mettrons du muscle") to 
return the asylum seekers to Rwanda.   UNHCR is concerned 
that, with Burundi elections over and Rwanda fearful that 
renewed flight will derail the Gacaca process, a large-scale, 
forced repatriation may be imminent.  HC-elect Guterres is 
now planning to travel to Uganda for World Refugee Day (June 
20), with travel to Burundi and Rwanda to occur only if 
meetings with Chiefs of State appear to be possible. End 
summary. 
 
2.  (C) The June 10 briefing in Geneva was organized by UNHCR 
to cover a broad range of topics on refugee issues in Africa, 
including Sudan-Chad, Somalia, and Togo (septel).  However, 
UNHCR invited participants to raise questions on any issue, 
evoking a request for an update on the current situation of 
Rwandan asylum-seekers who have fled to Burundi since April. 
UNHCR reviewed the sequence of recent events, highlighting 
developments over the past two days:  a letter from High 
Commissioner Elect Guterres to Presidents Kagame and 
Ndayizeye, presence of armed soldiers at Songore camp on June 
8, and blunt talk by Burundi's Minister of Public Security. 
 
3.  (C) USMission subsequently saw a copy of the June 8 
letter, in which Guterres stated that it is in the interest 
of all concerned that the joint Rwanda-Burundi sensitization 
campaign be replaced by a UNHCR effort to provide "detailed 
information to the asylum seekers about the situation in 
Rwanda" and promote "confidence building measures to enable 
them to make informed decisions."  He also attached a 
non-paper on "Steps to Address the Current Situation of 
Rwandan Asylum seekers in Burundi."  See text at paragraph 6. 
 
4.  (C) UNHCR Geneva also reports that on June 8 its staff at 
Songore Transit Center left the camp in response to 
intimidating force exhibited by armed soldiers (nationality 
not specified).  They report that one local staffer was 
arrested but later released.  Despite the display of force, 
the Burundi Red Cross later reported that no asylum seekers 
had been taken back to Rwanda that day. 
 
5.  (C) According to sources in Geneva, UNHCR, OCHA and the 
DSRSG in Burundi briefed the  Minister of Interior June 9 on 
the prior day's events at Songore. The Minister reportedly 
stated that the events were unacceptable, but confirmed that 
the GOB was taking "stronger actions."  Later that day, the 
Minister of Public Security reportedly told UNHCR and the 
DSRSG that no person had been returned involuntarily and that 
Burundi was abiding by international conventions.  However, 
he sated that the situation in Rwanda was stable and 
persecution was not occurring; that none of the asylum 
seekers would be granted refugee status in Burundi; and that 
he was of the opinion that most of them were fugitives from 
justice in Rwanda.  He also said that the GOR had provided 
the GOB with a list of 400 suspected criminals and 
genocidaires and that the GOB would turn them over to the 
GOR.  He reiterated that all must return to Rwanda and said 
that the GOB will inform UNHCR of its position regarding the 
asylum seekers after the June 10 GOB-GOR meeting in Muyenga. 
 
6.  (C) UNHCR Geneva expressed concern that the result of the 
Muyenga meeting will be instructions to it, from the GOB and 
GOR, to return the asylum seekers to Rwanda immediately.  As 
UNHCR cannot and will not do that, they fear that a 
large-scale refoulement may be developing. Earlier 
expectations that the situation would defuse, they said, have 
been overcome by Burundi's apparent willingness to take 
stronger action now that municipal elections are over, and 
GOR "panic" that an exodus could derail the Gacaca process. 
 
7.  (C) Text of UNHCR Non-paper on "Steps to Address the 
Current Situation of Rwandan Asylum seekers in Burundi" 
follows: 
 
-- With the completion of the transfer of Rwandan 
asylum-seekers to Songore Transit Centre in Burundi, UNHCR 
will conduct a thorough verification and registration 
process, which will lead to more reliable information on the 
numbers and areas of origin of Rwandan asylum-seekers. 
 
-- UNHCR's office in Burundi will conduct interviews with the 
asylum-seekers concerned to fully ascertain their reasons for 
fleeing Rwanda and their eventual reluctance to return.  At 
the same time, UNHCR's office in Rwanda will gather more 
detailed information on the situation in the areas of origin 
of the asylum-seekers in order to determine the validity of 
these claims.  Any concern which may arise in the monitoring 
of the situation and which may require the attention and 
possible intervention of the Rwandan authorities will be 
shared with them. 
 
-- In pursuance of UNHCR's mandate to seek durable solutions 
for person of concern, UNHCR will be actively involved in 
sharing objective information on the situation in Rwanda with 
the asylum-seekers, and in engaging in a positive dialogue on 
their possible return.  For those asylum-seekers who wish to 
return voluntarily to Rwanda, UNHCR will facilitate their 
return movement, and provide individual targeted assistance 
upon return, as required.  For this purpose, and in the 
spirit of confidence building, UNHCR's office in Rwanda will 
strengthen its returnee monitoring capacity. 
 
-- Taking into consideration the urgency and importance of 
the matter, the teams on the ground will be reinforced to 
undertake the above steps.  Both offices concerned have been 
requested to closely coordinate their activities in this 
respect. 
 
-- UNHCR proposes the convening of a tripartite meeting at an 
appropriate level between the Governments of Rwanda and 
Burundi and UNHCR to discuss the situation in further detail. 
Moley