US embassy cable - 05DUSHANBE1852

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 001852 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
EUR/CACEN 
SA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PGOV, TI 
SUBJECT: UNHCR PROGRESS AND NEED FOR HELP IN TAJIKISTAN 
 
 
1. (U) The UN High Commission for Refugees is shifting its focus 
from emergency operations in Tajikistan for remaining refugees, 
to development programs that will help to integrate the mostly 
Afghan refugee community into Tajik society.  The shift is made 
possible by Tajikistan's political stability, but is threatened 
by a demand for bribes by the State Migration Service, a 
proposal to move refugees from Dushanbe and Khojand to the 
countryside, and the arbitrary deportations that create new 
emergencies. 
 
2. (U) UNHCR has repatriated over 53,000 refugees from 
Tajikistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other CIS countries. 
An unknown number of refugees returned home without UNHCR 
assistance.  Some 1,400 refugees have also been resettled in 
Canada.  Of the 1,500 refugees who remain in Tajikistan, 98 
percent are Afghan, and the rest from Iran and Iraq.  UNHCR is 
working to find durable solutions for the remaining refugees. 
Very few refugees, mostly the elderly, handicapped, and single 
mothers, are given cash stipends.  The rest UNHCR is hoping will 
be considered for refugee status in the United States or fully 
reintegrated into society.  For those remaining in Tajikistan, 
UNHCR intends to use UNDP as an implementer for assistance, 
taking over the micro-credit, housing, and school programs that 
benefit not only the refugees, but also their local communities. 
 UNDP is responsible for development programs, and UNHCR 
considers itself more of an emergency response body, however, 
UNHCR also plans to become more involved in border security 
matters as well, particularly human rights and asylum case 
training. 
 
3. (U) The State Migration Service is often the main obstacle, 
demanding bribes for refugees to stay in country, and now 
threatening to move refugees from the major cities of Dushanbe 
and Khojand, where they have access to UNHCR, schools, and 
medical care, to the outlying countryside where they will be 
more vulnerable than ever. 
 
4. (U) Given this picture, the Embassy requests the next circuit 
ride take place as soon as possible, and the Embassy will 
actively join with UNHCR in its demarches to the Tajik 
government, urging the Tajiks to allow these refugees, many of 
whom have been here for ten years, to be resettled permanently 
with either citizenship or legal resident status so that they 
can become fully participating members in Tajik society. 
HOAGLAND 
 
 
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