US embassy cable - 03AMMAN1622

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001622 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA AND PRM; PLEASE PASS TO USAID 
ROME FOR FODAG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2013 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, EAID, MOPS, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: REFUGEE AND TRANSIT CAMPS IN JORDAN NEARLY READY 
FOR OPERATIONS 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Doug Silliman, per 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (U) This is a joint Embassy/DART message. 
 
2.  (U) UNHCR REFUGEE CAMP:  As of mid-day (local time) on 
March 18, GOJ workers were laying water/sanitation 
infrastructure -- water tanks, latrine pits, a trench system 
and cesspools.  UNHCR has not yet received authorization from 
the GOJ to erect rubhalls and tents.  Once authorization is 
given, UNHCR will set up tents for 5,000 refugees (1,000 
tents) and will have the ability to expand the camp site in 
modular increments of 5,000 persons, up to a total of 20,000 
persons.  UNHCR has moved non-food items for 10,000 refugees 
to warehouse near Ruweished and has deployed a team of five 
staff to Ruweished (identified on USG maps as Ruwayshid or 
H-4), including its senior logistics officer, national 
protection officer and security officer.  It will share 
office space with the Hashemite Charitable Organization, 
designated by the GOJ to serve as host-country coordinator 
for refugee issues.  UNHCR has identified the following NGO 
implementing partners:  OXFAM for water; Middle East Council 
of Churches for sanitation; and Japan Platform for medical 
care.  WFP will provide food. 
 
3.  (U) IOM/JRCS TRANSIT CAMP FOR TCNS:  As of March 13, key 
infrastructure for the transit camp -- one 17,000 liter water 
tank, rows of latrine toilets, a trench system and cesspools 
-- was in place.  Late on March 17, the GOJ gave the Jordan 
Red Crescent Society (JRCS) authorization to erect a rubhall 
and 1,000 tents; JRCS is doing so today, March 18.  The 
International Federation of the Red Cross/Red Crescent 
Societies has provided non-food items for 5,000 TCNs. 
Although the JRCS had identified the Jordanian Evangelical 
Committee for Relief and Development as its implementing 
partner for food services, neither has funds available to 
actually purchase food.  According to IOM, the transit camp's 
water needs will be supplied by the GOJ's Ministry of Water, 
but IOM will have to pay for the water and its transportation 
(see para 4).  GOJ officials, however, told emboffs March 13 
that water for the transit camp would be supplied from a well 
approximately 3 km to the east of the transit camp.  IOM has 
established an office in Ruweished that is fully connected to 
IOM offices throughout the region, and will have five staff 
in place there on the morning of March 19.  IOM will also 
establish a two-person office in Aqaba on March 19, to 
facilitate onward transportation of Egyptian and Sudanese 
nations.  (Refcoord/DART funding recommendation:  Because the 
needs and supposed funding arrangements identified by the GOJ 
and JRCS keep shifting, we recommend that all funds for camp 
management services -- including food and water -- continue 
to be directed toward IOM.  As the overall lead agency for 
TCN issues, IOM is better positioned to identify and respond 
to emerging needs, and our funding would therefore have the 
greatest flexibility if implemented through IOM.) 
 
4.  (U) WATER:  UNHCR and IOM report that water for both 
camps will be supplied by the GOJ's Ministry of Water, from 
the well dug near Ruweished and treated by the US-funded 
reverse osmosis purification unit.  IOM will be required to 
purchase the water at a cost of USD 6.5 per cubic meter.  IOM 
will also need to pay separately for transport of water from 
the well (located near the refugee camp) to the transit camp, 
a distance of approximately seven km.  JRCS will distribute 
water within the TCN transit camp.  UNHCR is still 
negotiating its water arrangements with the GOJ but has made 
arrangements with OXFAM to distribute water within the 
refugee camp. 
 
5.  (C) ACCESS TO EASTERN JORDAN:  The biggest remaining 
obstacle is access to all points east of Safawiye for UNHCR 
and IOM's NGO implementing partners.  The GOJ most likely 
will close this entire area at the onset of hostilities in 
Iraq.  The GOJ has informed IOM that permission has been 
granted for its staff and vehicles to travel to Ruweished but 
that documentation will be issued at a later date, presumably 
the onset of hostilities.  UNHCR's documentation will be 
arranged through the Hashemite Charitable Organization.  Yet 
none of IOM or UNHCR's NGO implementing partners yet have the 
appropriate authorization to travel to eastern Jordan -- a 
bureaucratic obstacle that could potentially slow down relief 
efforts.  We will continue to work with the GOJ to ensure 
that an appropriate system is established to grant permits to 
NGOs to access eastern Jordan. 
 
6.  (C) We also note that JAF officials have repeatedly 
stated that authorization for IOs and NGOs to move in the 
closed military area will be point-to-point only, e.g., for 
organizations to travel to a specific camp or to the border. 
Relief organizations will not be allowed to deviate from 
their plans and travel to a different destination once they 
have been granted access to the military area.  Because two 
different sets of relief agencies will be working in the two 
different camps, we do not anticipate any problems in this 
"point-to-point" access system. 
GNEHM