US embassy cable - 05GENEVA1553

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GENEVA 001553 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PRM FOR PDAS RICHARD GREENE, USAID FOR RMT TSUNAMI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2010 
TAGS: PREF, UNHCR 
SUBJECT: UNHCR RE-ENGAGEMENT IN INDONESIA FOR TSUNAMI RELIEF 
 
REF: SPATT-PITOTTI EMAIL OF 06/20/2005 
 
Classified By: REFUGEE COUNSELOR PIPER CAMPBELL; REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D 
) 
 
1. (C)  SUMMARY:  Asia Director Janet Lim described the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR's) 
plans to re-engage in post-Tsunami operations in Indonesia at 
a donor briefing in Geneva June 20.  UNHCR's June 14 
Memorandum of Understanding with the Indonesian government 
will allow the organization to provide supplies and technical 
assistance for up to 35,000 shelters in Banda Aceh, the Nias 
islands, and North Sumatra.  The MOU states that UNHCR will 
work under the authority of the UN country team, will not 
engage in traditional refugee operations, and can only 
operate in a "low key manner."  Donor Relations Chief 
Jean-Noel Wetterwald said UNHCR is not actively fundraising, 
as it has adequate funds for this project if it can draw on 
previously obligated Tsunami funding.  While the Dutch have 
already de-obligated their Tsunami funding from UNHCR, 
Germany and Japan appear willing to support this initiative 
with existing funding.  Although they are more circumspect in 
public, Lim and other UNHCR officials have confided to us 
privately their hope that access to Aceh will allow UNHCR 
delegates to better assess local security/human rights 
conditions, foster ties with local authorities, and allow for 
more accurate determinations of potential repatriation of 
Acehnese asylum seekers. END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U)  Asia Director Janet Lim announced UNHCR plans to 
re-engage in post-Tsunami operations in Indonesia at a June 
20 donor briefing attended by Refugee and Migration Affairs 
staff Joe Cassidy and Mark Spatt.  UNHCR officials signed an 
MOU with the Indonesian government June 14 to provide 
supplies and technical assistance for shelter construction in 
Banda Aceh, the Nias islands, and North Sumatra.  (UNHCR had 
pulled out of Indonesia in March, after being notified by the 
government that their presence was no longer acceptable.) 
Their revived plans include the construction or renovation of 
up to 35,000 structures in communities along 200km of the 
west coast, beginning with a pilot project of 1000 structures 
in Kreung Sabe.  Detailed specifics of scope and location 
will be determined after needs-assessments and in conjunction 
with other UN agencies.  The MOU remains in force until 
December 31, 2005, but can be extended after that -- which 
Lim said would be necessary to meet the housing target. 
 
3. (U)  The MOU (text transmitted to PRM/MCE on 06/20) 
specifically mentions that UNHCR will not engage in refugee 
operations and can only operate in a "low key manner" without 
the use of "flags or stickers which identify it as the 
refugee agency."  UNHCR's four expatriate staff will operate 
out of municipal government offices in Banda Aceh and operate 
under the authority of the UN country team.  The project will 
be implemented by the NGO RedR Australia.  UNHCR's housing 
program will be part of an "integrated community-based 
approach" complementing the construction of additional 
nonresidential structures, such as mosques, schools, and 
multifamily shelters.  UNHCR's Senior Desk Officer Andrew 
Harper said that a long-term challenge will be land rights, 
given the post-Tsunami absence of legal documentation and 
collapse of some tribal land allocation structures. 
 
4. (U)  Donor Relations Chief Jean-Noel Wetterwald said UNHCR 
is not "actively fundraising."  UNHCR has adequate funds for 
this project if it can draw on the funding previously 
obligated by donors to post-Tsunami activities.  The Dutch 
representative cautioned that they have already de-obligated 
money initially pledged to UNHCR for post-Tsunami response 
and would not likely replace it, but the Germans and Japanese 
seem ready to support financially the reestablishment of 
UNHCR's presence. 
 
5. (C)  COMMENT:  Lim was clear that the language of the MOU 
commits UNHCR to working solely on the housing project.  In 
response to MissionOff Cassidy's question about whether UNHCR 
staff could perform refugee-related activities, however, she 
and Harper indicated that they see UNHCR presence on the 
ground in Aceh as an important achievement itself.  In 
private meetings, they have told us they see a UNHCR presence 
in Aceh as a means to better assess local security/human 
rights conditions, foster ties with local authorities, and 
allow for more accurate determinations of potential 
repatriation of Acehnese asylum seekers.  In this more 
crowded briefing, they were more circumspect, although Harper 
did allude to a "balance" between abiding by the letter of 
their agreement with the government and their other 
institutional interests.   END COMMENT. 
Moley