US embassy cable - 05GENEVA2465

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GENEVA 002465 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID FOR GARVELINK AND DHS FOR CUDDIHY. 
USEU FOR MEZNAR, USUN FOR MALY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, UNHCR 
SUBJECT: UNHCR: EXCOM CABLE #1: OVERVIEW 
 
REF: STATE 178435 
 
1. (U)  Summary:  The Executive Committee of the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees met October 3-7 in 
Geneva.  As per ref a, USDEL was led by PRM acting Assistant 
Secretary Rich Greene and included representatives of USAID 
 
SIPDIS 
and DHS, as well as two NGOs.  This cable summarizes USDEL's 
activities during the week and previews reporting cables 
being drafted on bilateral meetings and Executive Committee 
(ExCom) discussion.  ExCom-related documents -- including 
speeches of High Commissioner Guterres and UN 
Secretary-General Annan -- can be found on US Mission 
 
SIPDIS 
Geneva's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/io/geneva/. 
 The official 28-page report of the 56th session, including 
the conclusions and decisions adopted by the Committee, has 
been released by the UN as document A/AC/96/1021.  It can be 
pulled by document number on the UN document site: 
documents.un.org and will be posted to Mission's website 
soon. End Summary. 
 
2. (U) LIST OF BILATERAL MEETINGS 
--------------------------------- 
 
- Nepalese HOD Ambassador Gyan Chandra Acharya 
 
- United Kingdom HOD Nick Baird, Senior Director, Immigration 
and Naturalization 
 
- Romania HOD Florin Sandu, Secretary of State, Ministry of 
the Interior 
 
- Swedish HOD Charlotte Svensson, Secretary for Migration 
 
- Indian HOD Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri 
 
- Chadian HOD Abdallah Nassour Mahamat Ali, Minister of 
Territorial Administration 
 
- Afghanistan HOD Mohammad Azam Dadfar, Minister of Refugees 
and Repatriation 
 
- Chinese Mission Counselor La Yifan -- who was the only 
Chinese representative in the ExCom Sessions 
 
- Turkish HOD Ambassador Turkekul Kurttekin 
 
- Pakistani HOD Sajid Hussain Chattha, Ministry of States and 
Frontier Regions 
 
- Japanese HOD Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki (incoming EXCOM 
Chair) 
 
- Bhutanese HOD Ambassador Sonam Rabgye 
 
- Morocco HOD Omar Hilale, Secretary General, Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs, with Mr. Chabar, Coordinator, UN Mission for 
the Referendum in Western Sahara 
 
- Australian representative Peter Hughes, First Assistant 
Secretary, Refugee, Humanitarian and International Division, 
 
SIPDIS 
Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous 
Affairs (DIMA) 
 
- Canada HOD Malcolm Brown, Assistant Deputy Minister, 
Strategic Policy, Citizenship and Immigration, accompanied 
by: Michael Small, Director General, Global Affairs Bureau, 
Foreign Affairs; Catherine Bragg, Director General, 
Humanitarian Affairs, Peace and Security, CIDA; and Micheline 
Aucoin, Director General, Refugee Affairs, CIC 
 
- Trilat on resettlement from Nepal with Denmark's Kim 
Lunding and Norway's Deputy Secretary Thor Arne Aass, Chair 
of the Working Group on Resettlement 
 
Other Events 
---- --------- 
 
3. (U) Greene and USAID's Bill Garvelink attended a 
Swedish-hosted dinner along with the Heads of Delegation from 
Uganda, the Netherlands, South Africa, Canada, Kenya, 
Switzerland, Pakistan, Colombia, and Hungary. 
 
USDEL hosted a well-attended reception at the Mission for all 
ExCom heads of delegation as well as key UNHCR staff, an OCHA 
Donor Support Group (ODSG) breakfast, and a breakfast with 
American NGOs. 
 
Greene stressed U.S. priorities in a pre-ExCom meeting with 
HC Guterres, and then in separate meetings with DHC Wendy 
Chamberlin; UNHCR Asia Director Janet Lim and her staff; 
UNHCR Sudan Director Jean Marie Fakhouri and his staff; and 
UNHCR Americas Director Philippe Lavanchy and his staff. 
Greene attended the DHC's lunch with the USDEL, a lunch 
hosted by UNHCR's Acting Assistant High Commissioner with 
African delegations, as well as a UNHCR Reception following 
the SYG's speech. 
 
Notable ExCom sessions were: (1) a panel discussion on 
Internally Displaced Persons, with HC Guterres, Emergency 
Relief Coordinator Egeland and DRC Minister of Interior, 
Decentralization, and Security, Mbemba Fundu, and (2) 
Secretary General Kofi Annan's October 6 address. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
Outside of UNHCR, Greene also met with ICRC President 
Kellenberger and, for follow up, with Beatrice 
Megevand-Roggo, ICRC Delegate General for Europe and the 
Americas.  He met separately with IFRC Secretary General 
Niskala 
 
At the end of ExCom, Greene attended a special Afghan 
Conference jointly hosted by the U.S. and UNHCR (reported 
septel.) 
Moley