US embassy cable - 05GENEVA1605

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GENEVA 001605 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, UNHCR 
SUBJECT: UNHCR: REGIONAL ISSUES AND IDPS DISCUSSED DURING 
DONOR CONSULTATIONS 
 
1. (U) Summary:  Donor government representatives and NGOs 
were in full attendance at UNHCR,s May 18-19 informal 
consultations.  Then-acting High Commissioner Wendy 
Chamberlin led the meeting, flanked for the regional sessions 
by Assistant High Commissioner Kamel Morjane and the entire 
senior management team.   Septel reports on progress towards 
results-based budgeting and priority-based management.  This 
cable focuses on UNHCR,s policy on internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) and regional priorities.  End Summary. 
 
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REGIONAL DISCUSSION 
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2. (U) USDEL opened the regional discussion, asking UNHCR 
Directors to describe how in each region their 2006 budgeting 
and priority setting exercise -- called the country operation 
plan (COP) process -- ensured that beneficiaries such as 
women and children received proper attention and were 
mainstreamed into all aspects of programming.  USDEL also 
wanted to know how UNHCR balanced between meeting refugee 
needs and identifying money for self-reliance and how the COP 
process supported the move forward on standard indicators. 
 
3. (U)  Europe: Responding to a Russian question about UNHCR 
involvement in the issue of stateless people in Latvia, 
acting Director Rob Robinson confirmed UNHCR is involved in 
looking at arbitrary statelessness in the European region and 
described efforts to draft an action plan. 
 
4. (U) Africa: USDEL expressed concern over a proposed 
decrease in funds for West Africa during a time when UNHCR 
will accrue significant expenses related to Liberian 
repatriation as well as some increased cost with Togolese 
refugees.  The Dutch added concern over the gaps between 
protection and assistance that are evident in the 2006 budget 
for Africa.  Director David Lambo listed a number of reasons 
why there is a decrease in the Africa budget, starting with 
local integration and self-reliance for refugees.  He 
explained that UNHCR is pushing host governments to develop 
self-reliance programs that will in some cases lead to local 
integration in countries such as Guinea and Gabon.  In other 
countries, UNHCR is facing resistance from governments that 
restrict refugee access to farming or are tired of providing 
land.  UNHCR has only spent 5 percent of its under-funded 
budget for self-reliance projects in the past two years. 
 
5. (U) Lambo described the COP exercise in the Africa region 
as mostly successful.  The exercise identified standards that 
were uneven in some areas.  UNHCR will use the Operational 
Reserve I in 2005 to see if these gaps can be filled before 
2006.  Lambo also discussed UNHCR,s constant struggle to 
mainstream refugee women and children,s programs due to the 
lack of continuity with UNHCR staff and government officials, 
but he asserted this should be accomplished by 2006. 
 
6. (U) Chad/Sudan:  Explaining why UNHCR was taking the lead 
in southern Sudan in repatriation and reintegration, Director 
Jean-Marie Fakhouri talked about how the collaborative 
approach is based on sectoral assignments but protection is 
&cross-sectoral.8  Therefore, in consultation with other UN 
actors in Khartoum, the decision was taken to handle two 
areas on a geographic (vice sectoral) basis.  UNHCR has 
responsibility for IDPS and refugees in these two areas. 
UNHCR is attempting to rebuild capacity, primarily in 
Equatoria.  Answering a question about UNHCR,s countrywide 
role, Fakhouri referred to the Protection Framework and 
UNHCR,s lead of the protection working group for Southern 
Sudan.  There is also a Core Returns Task Force that has 
elaborated a Framework for Returns that includes registration 
for IDPS, transportation for vulnerables and distribution of 
return packages. 
 
7. (U) Americas:  Director Philipe Lavanchy talked about how 
the Mexico Plan of Action has given UNHCR the opportunity to 
focus on needs in the region and was reflected in the recent 
COP exercise.  Protection and durable solutions are UNHCR,s 
main concerns as it continues to assist Colombian refugees in 
Ecuador and negotiates the resettlement of Columbians 
refugees in Brazil.  The United Kingdom expressed concerns 
over the large number of Colombians in Ecuador and asked how 
UNHCR planned to respond.  Lavanchy replied that UNHCR needs 
to see what will happen with the new government before it 
develops new activities.  UNHCR believes that the best 
approach to Colombian refugees and IDPs is to focus on the 
situation as it affects the region.  Lavanchy also said that 
UNHCR and OCHA are coordinating well and developing 
activities in the urban areas. 
 
8. (U)  In the Caribbean, UNHCR is seeking to form a unit in 
the Washington office that can respond to mass outflows of 
asylum seekers.  Lavanchy also said that UNHCR needs to 
reinforce its representation in Caribbean countries by 
fielding strong honorary liaisons.  He thanked the USG for 
its support of the regional protection officer position in 
Miami. 
 
9. (U)  Asia:  Donors raised the IDP situation in the region, 
UNHCR,s support for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, and the 
protracted refugee situation in Burma and Thailand.  Director 
Janet Lim first noted the uneven performance of the COP 
exercise in Asia.  Although there were some good results 
reflected by training on age and gender mainstreaming in 
India, UNHCR needs to provide more focused COP training 
rather than rely on written instructions.  The integration of 
refugee women and children had been successful in some 
countries.  Lim described UNHCR efforts to implement 
self-reliance programs in Nepal and Bangladesh as very 
politicized.  She added that UNHCR needs partners to help 
them work with governments.  In West Timor, UNHCR plans to 
wrap up its program for unaccompanied minors.  In Nepal, Lim 
said that security continues to be a problem for everyone 
including the camp refugees; there are reports of Maoist 
insurgents present in the camps.  She urged donors to put 
more political pressure on the Nepalese government to make 
refugees a priority.  In Sri Lanka, UNHCR is assisting with 
the repatriation of 5,000 IDPs. 
 
10. (U) CASWANAME: Donors asked UNHCR to describe its 
response to sexual and gender-based violence in the Middle 
East, North Africa and South Asia, and to provide insight on 
UNHCR,s plans beyond 2006.  Director Ekber Menemencioglu 
described UNHCR,s relationship with most of the Central 
Asian governments as good with the exception of Uzbekistan. 
UNHCR has persuaded Turkmenistan to grant Tajik refugees who 
are ethnic Turkmen citizenship.  In Kyrgyzstan, the 
government has already given most Tajik refugees (ethnic 
Kyrgyz) citizenship and in Kazakhstan, the government is 
considering doing the same for Tajik refugees who are 
ethnically Kazakh.  UNHCR still struggles to provide 
protection for Chechen refugees in the region, particularly 
in Kazakhstan.  UNHCR has lowered the number of Afghan 
refugees in the region through U.S. and Canadian resettlement 
programs.  Capacity building projects will continue for 
refugees in the region. 
 
11. (U) Responding to Russian and U.S. questions on 
Uzbekistan, Menemencioglu said there were 560 Uzbek refugees 
in the Jalalabad oblast in Kyrgystan.  UNHCR is negotiating a 
longer permit for the refugees to stay in the country and is 
making plans to move them away from the border.  Relief items 
have been distributed and more supplies were in transport 
from Khorog, Tajikistan to Osh.  Considering most of the 
refugees are young men, Menemencioglu said that refugee 
status determination is the best solution for the time being. 
UNHCR can manage 560 refugees, however, if there is another 
mass migration, UNHCR will need to bring in additional 
assistance.  UNHCR urged donors to put pressure on the Uzbek 
government not to continue its use of &undue force8 and to 
keep the borders open. 
 
12. (U) Afghanistan: UNHCR has reached a critical juncture in 
its repatriation program; a difficult outstanding problem is 
Afghan refugees who are not willing to return.  UNHCR 
continue to negotiate with host governments on local 
integration efforts.  In Afghanistan, UNHCR has been working 
on capacity building projects and is in the process of to 
register IDPs.  Sexual and gender-based violence continues to 
be a problem; UNHCR is looking at resettlement as a solution 
for women who have been abused. 
 
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Internally Displaced Persons 
---------------------- 
 
13. (U)  Referring to the Secretary General,s invocation of 
an international &duty to protect,8 Wendy Chamberlin led 
the discussion on IDPs by repeating her previous announcement 
that UNHCR will be more active in the collaborative response, 
especially on protection needs.  She listed three key 
elements for UNHCR,s involvement in IDP situations: 1) if 
the population of concern was both persecuted and displaced, 
UNHCR would provide protection; 2) if an assessment 
identified the need for UNHCR,s skills to provide protection 
and the UN country team supported UNHCR,s involvement; and 
3) if funding was available to support the protection 
programs.  She admitted that in the past, UNHCR had been 
selective about the IDP situations in which it chose to 
engage, but asserted that UNHCR will now use the three 
elements as a guide to getting involved.  UNHCR plans on 
using the Operational Reserve I to jumpstart new IDP 
situations and then switch to the Supplemental Budget for 
continued support. 
 
14. (U) Donors voiced support for a structured UNHCR 
involvement in IDP situations, but had a number of questions 
concerning mandate, funding, and UNHCR,s role in the 
collaborative approach.  Protection Director Erika Feller 
asserted that UNHCR is accountable for protection concerns. 
She emphasized the need for a cross-sectoral approach, saying 
that protection would fall through the cracks if it were 
approached as a sectoral concern.  Canada said it supports 
the collaborative approach and want to see the humanitarian 
community work on developing a more predictable response to 
IDP situations.  Canada questioned why the Acting HC had 
suggested that funding would have to be additional. However, 
Canada joined USDEL in asserting that IDP programs should not 
negatively impact funding for refugee programs.  Canada 
suggested creating a new budget for IDP funding or drawing on 
the Central Emergency Revolving Fund (CERF) mechanism. 
Canada spoke for many donors that do not want UNHCR to use 
trust funds when it suggested that UNHCR issue supplementary 
appeals instead. 
 
15. (U) Chad/Sudan Director Fakhouri used the situation in 
Sudan to illustrate the need for UNHCR involvement.  He said 
that although IDPs are receiving food, they are not being 
protected.  UNHCR brings a cross-sectoral expertise to the 
collaborative approach that combines protection, coordination 
and solutions for return.  However, Fakhouri said, there is 
currently no money to support this type of approach as only 
10 percent of UNHCR,s $30 million program in Darfur is 
funded. 
 
16. (U) USDEL suggested that the conversation on IDPs needs 
to continue and repeated concerns about funding modalities of 
IDP operations.  Sweden and the USDEL expressed concern over 
the use of SURGE, saying that it is meant to fill gaps not to 
respond to entire program needs.  They urged UNHCR to look at 
other alternatives.  Finally, USDEL reminded the group that 
previous EXCOM conclusions had incorporated criteria for 
UNHCR involvement in IDP situations that included: an 
invitation by the concerned government, support by a 
competent UN organ, and a refugee-related component, such as 
the prospect of preventing persons from having to flee to 
become refugees. 
 
17. (U)  Responding to donor comments, Chamberlin said that 
it was a constant struggle for UNHCR to get money for its 
programs and that it was going to be difficult to find money 
for IDP programs.  She added that the humanitarian community 
continued to struggle with the problem of IDPs but it clearly 
needed a greater protection capacity to deal with refugees 
and IDPs.  This would include security, basic services, and 
law and order.  Erika Feller added that UNHCR needs to 
strengthen its protection capacity, including by 
re-engineering SURGE.  She suggested that UNHCR and donors 
try to draft an EXCOM conclusion on the need to protect IDPs. 
 (Comment. USDEL doubts that the time is ripe for a 2005 
EXCOM conclusion without at least a trial year for the IDP 
policy.  A policy paper provided to the Standing Committee 
for discussion or some other mechanism to frame UNHCR/donor 
consultation is the logical first step.) 
 
Moley