US embassy cable - 05GENEVA1771

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GENEVA 001771 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2015 
TAGS: KG, PREF, PREL, UZ, UNHCR 
SUBJECT: UZBEK ASYLUM SEEKERS: GENEVA MEETINGS WITH UNHCR, 
KYRGYZ MISSION 
 
REF: BIRDSALL-PRM EMAIL 07/20/2005 
 
Classified By: RMA Counselor Piper Campbell; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Summary.  US Mission Geneva Refugee and Migration 
Affairs (RMA) Counselor and Refugee Officer met with UNHCR 
staff representing the Bureaus for Central Asia, Europe, and 
Protection July 20 to press for details on the status of 
efforts and plans to relocate 455 Uzbek asylum seekers from 
Kyrgyzstan to a third country; Ambassador Moley followed up 
on the matter with his counterparts from Romania and Ukraine 
July 21.  Three parts of UNHCR are at work on the matter, 
under the direction of the head of the Central Asia bureau. 
UNHCR's Central Asia Bureau is clearly seized with the 
urgency of this matter and nearly desperate to physically 
relocate the Uzbeks within a matter of days. The Europe 
Bureau is focused on requests from potential evacuation 
states for assurances and timetables.  The Division of 
International Protection supports relocation, but has 
reservations about the legal status of the Uzbeks once they 
reach an evacuation site, and the merits of pursuing a 
package deal.  A tally indicates that plans are pretty firm 
for 23 refugees who could be resettled to western European 
states, 30 who could be moved to Moldova for a temporary 
stay, and 40 more to the Czech Republic, where they would be 
mainstreamed into its national asylum system.  Romania has 
indicated, but not confirmed, that it might accept the entire 
group on a temporary basis; the Ukraine remains undecided but 
at least one of its conditions - that it not receive all the 
asylum seekers - appears achievable.  Switzerland also is now 
considered a possible evacuation site.  In a separate meeting 
with USMission officer, a Kyrgyz diplomat re-emphasized the 
urgency of the matter and suggested that his Minister of 
Foreign affairs may not be able to forestall much longer the 
Prosecutor General's wish to comply with the Uzbek 
extradition requests.  End summary. 
 
Meeting with UNHCR: 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
2.  (C)  Central and Southwest Asia, North Africa and Middle 
East (CASWANAME) Bureau Director Ekber Menemencioglu led the 
July 20 meeting for UNHCR.  USMission representatives asked 
who chairs the internal task force which now meets daily on 
this issue; Menemencioglu said his bureau has the lead; this 
was confirmed by UNHCR's subsequent appointing of 
Menemencioglu as the Focal Point.  RMA Counselor made it 
clear that availability of referral slots would not be an 
issue; when UNHCR Resettlement Director hesitated, RMA 
Counselor reiterated that the US has said consistently that 
it would accept any and all referrals.  RMA Counselor stated 
that for this meeting, the focus should be on the urgent need 
to confirm humanitarian evacuation destinations and plans. 
 
3.  (C)  Europe Bureau (EUR) said the Czech Republic was very 
definite about taking 40 of the Uzbeks into its asylum system 
(i.e. neither "evacuation" nor "resettlement;" this is a 
creative approach that contributes to resolving the crisis.) 
EUR confirmed that Moldova was also in agreement to receive 
30 evacuees under conditions which can be met, e.g. no public 
comments and processing for resettlement to third countries. 
Western European states, initially contacted to provide 
emergency resettlement for 29 Uzbeks detained in Kyrgyzstan, 
have accepted 23 individuals (11 in detention and 12 of their 
family members at the Jalalabad camp). UNHCR therefore has 
located destinations for 93 people.  Division of 
International Protection (DIP) asked if the USG is still 
pursuing a package deal, where all 455 Uzbeks (less any known 
to be excludable) would be evacuated at the same time. 
USMission said yes.  Menemencioglu noted that for UNHCR this 
approach is also the preferred option, but not policy. DIP 
returned to the issue later, expressing doubts about this 
approach.  CASWANAME was supportive of the US strategy and 
replied that a partial movement would "precipitate an 
immediate response" locally which would be detrimental to 
those who remained behind. 
 
4.  (C) EUR noted that Romania had a positive experience in 
accepting the humanitarian transfer of several hundred Balkan 
refugees in the 90s so that they could be processed for 
resettlement to the U.S.  Ambassador Moley spoke with his 
Romanian counterpart July 21 and RMA followed up with UNHCR. 
As of 1830 local time, we understand that the Romanian Prime 
Minister is likely to take a decision shortly, that both the 
Romanian Ambassador and UNHCR seemed to think the decision 
would be positive.  High Commissioner Guterres is meant to 
call the Romanian PM this evening.  Mission will follow up to 
try to confirm that call has taken place and to obtain a 
readout. 
 
5. (C)  If the Romanian option falls through, or if Romania 
does not agree to take the entire group, Ukraine still seems 
an option as per our July 21 conversations with UNHCR and 
with the Ukrainian Mission.  However, Ukraine is still in 
discussion with UNHCR about a time frame and what would 
happen to the residual caseload (i.e., those remaining on its 
territory after the timeframe passes.)  In our July 20 
meeting with UNHCR, we emphasized that UNHCR must answer 
Ukraine's questions expeditiously and in writing, and 
suggested that UNHCR provide a straightforward analysis with 
an honest focus on the majority of the asylum seekers. 
 
6.  (C)  On July 20, DIP said that the High Commissioner was 
also about to send a letter to the Swiss Foreign Minister 
formally requesting that Switzerland provide humanitarian 
evacuation and/or resettlement for the Uzbeks.  Per DIP, the 
Swiss had informally suggested in advance that the note ask 
for both, and had added "you may get an  answer that 
surprises you." 
 
7.  (C) Menemencioglu said that CASWANAME "would provide care 
and maintenance" for any residual caseload left after 
resettlement processing.  In response to a follow up 
question, he said that he meant that CASWANAME would not only 
fund the evacuees, but move them out, if necessary, from the 
"temporary evacuation site."  In discussion, there was a 
comment from UNHCR that the HC would discuss enforcement of 
the Convention Against Torture (CAT) with Human Rights 
Commissioner Louise Arbour.  In context, this seemed to 
acknowledge that some of the Uzbeks will not fall under the 
1951 Refugee Convention, and that UNHCR will look to the 
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to help sort 
out the issue of return vs. protection under the CAT. 
 
8. (C)  The Resettlement Unit said it had received a database 
giving the names and very basic biodata of the camp-based 
asylum seekers, which the USG had previously requested. 
(Note: USMission subsequently received the database from 
Resettlement and forwarded it to PRM.) The database does not 
contain enough information to begin grouping asylum seekers 
based on possible links to other countries, which USMission 
had suggested would be an efficient way to identify 
destinations for multiple-evacuation and onward resettlement 
destinations. 
 
9. (C) UNHCR has completed 26 Refugee Status Determinations 
(RSDs) thus far.  All are on detainees, and all have been 
found to qualify for international protection. (Comment: the 
Dutch Mission says that its government has already rejected 
one of the 26 who was referred to them for emergency 
resettlement, and has complained to UNHCR about its 
screening; this may be the basis for the HC's reported order 
that credible RSDs be done before referring cases for 
resettlement.  However, except for the list of names and 
statements given by the asylum seekers themselves, UNHCR may 
not have a strong sense of who this population is.    UNHCR 
is discussing the possibility of seeking additional 
information on the population from the Uzbek government and 
may also ask the International Committee of the Red Cross for 
information to clarify who was in prison in Andijan at the 
time of the prison break -- and, if possible, for what 
crimes. 
 
 
Meeting with First Secretary of the Kyrgyz Mission 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
10.  (C)  First Secretary Aidit ERKIN called RMA officer to 
request a meeting July 20.  Erkin, who had accompanied the 
Kyrgyz Ambassador in a call on Ambassador Moley July 13, 
reviewed the Kyrgyz position and asked if the U.S. had 
information on developments regarding the humanitarian 
evacuation.  He said that Kyrgyzstan does not have a 
"definite policy" on the Uzbek asylum seekers, explaining 
that the Minister of Foreign Affairs wants to abide by the 
1951 Refugee Convention and the Convention Against Torture, 
but the Prosecutor General wants to give precedence to the 
Minsk agreement and the extradition treaty with Uzbekistan. 
He noted that the Kyrgyz Prosecutor General is very powerful, 
and has a close relationship with his counterpart in 
Uzbekistan. 
 
11.  (C) For Kyrgyzstan, he continued, the political reality 
is that there are three countries whose opinions matter: the 
U.S., Russia, and Uzbekistan (noting economic and social 
interrelationships with the latter).  He was nonetheless 
quite candid about the shortcomings of the Uzbek regime.  He 
also noted that the threat of Islamic militants in the region 
is real, and that poverty and oppression in Uzbekistan 
provide fertile recruiting grounds. 
 
12.  (C) Erkin asked if we had received any definitive 
information on the humanitarian evacuation. USMission officer 
replied that we and UNHCR were focused on that issue, and had 
approached numerous countries for assistance.  Several were 
talking with us and some had indicated willingness to accept 
part of the caseload, but none had yet said it would take the 
entire caseload. In the event UNHCR cannot identify a single 
evacuation destination, USG is also working with UNHCR to 
line up enough additional countries to accept the entire 
caseload in a short period of time. 
 
13.  (C) Erkin concluded by re-emphasizing the urgency his 
government attaches to resolving the asylum seeker crisis. He 
noted that the Kyrgyz Presidential inauguration is scheduled 
for August 14, and that as the end of July approaches, 
internal pressure is mounting to get past the Uzbek asylum 
issue one way or another. 
Moley