VZCZCXRO6668
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0277/01 0611210
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021210Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2385
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 4874
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2644
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2509
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3118
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0950
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 3354
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000277 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, PRM, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF UNHCR TX
SUBJECT:  OVERVIEW OF REFUGEE SITUATION IN TURKMENISTAN 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet distribution 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  According to the UNHCR Representative in 
Turkmenistan, refugees who arrived from Tajikistan during the 1990's 
have either returned home or been granted citizenship.  Integration 
of the largely ethnic Turkmen group has gone well and UNHCR's work 
with the group will end this year.  There are smaller groups of 
prima facie and mandate refugees, mostly from Afghanistan, many of 
whom have also been resident since the 1990's.  Although UNHCR 
handled refugee determination and protection functions until 
recently, the State Migration Service has now taken over that role. 
UNHCR will assume the role of a watchdog for Government compliance 
with the Refugee Convention and domestic law.  The organization also 
tracks the issue of statelessness, which is a post-Soviet legacy 
that continues to affect thousands of residents.  END SUMMARY. 
 
MOST REFUGEES FROM TAJIKISTAN BECAME CITIZENS 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On February 25, Political Officer and Political Assistant 
met with UNHCR Representative in Turkmenistan, Brita Helleland, to 
discuss the current refugee situation and her organization's work. 
Helleland remarked that currently there are few refugees in 
Turkmenistan.  The major refugee issue was resolved in 2005 when the 
Government granted citizenship to approximately 10,000 refugees from 
Tajikistan, primarily ethnic Turkmen, who came to Turkmenistan 
during Tajik civil war.  An additional 8,000 refugees returned to 
Tajikistan.  Helleland said the former refugees who remained in 
Turkmenistan have integrated well.  Most settled in remote areas of 
Lebap and Mary provinces where they were given either virgin land or 
land in tiny villages where the refugees make up eighty percent of 
the population.  They mostly work as farmers and, according to 
Helleland, some have been quite prosperous, although infrastructure 
in these areas is poor. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) During the past two years UNHCR has implemented a 
Japanese-funded program on integration of refugees into Turkmen 
society.  Within the framework of this program UNHCR carried out 
projects on sanitation and clean water, construction of health 
facilities in villages, vocational training of refugees, 
construction of workshops - mechanical for men and sewing for women 
- to generate income, and school renovations.  All projects were 
carried out in coordination with the relevant Government agencies or 
ministries.  The program will end in October and no UNHCR follow-up 
is planned since the members of this group have become citizens. 
 
OTHER REFUGEE GROUPS ARE SMALL IN NUMBER 
 
¶5.  (SBU) There remains a group of 600 prima facie refugees from 
Afghanistan who arrived in Turkmenistan in 1994 via Iran.  Their 
refugee status is based on conditions in Afghanistan during Taliban 
rule.  In 1994 they received residence permits in Turkmenistan. 
Many of them are traders conducting business.  They retain Afghan 
passports and leave and reenter Turkmenistan without difficulty. 
Most of these individuals are also ethnic Turkmen. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) UNHCR also recognizes 63 mandate refugees in Turkmenistan, 
down from 80 eight months ago.  Their number declined due to 
receiving residence permits or citizenship.  Among them are 31 
Afghans, plus Armenians, Chechens and Azerbaijanis.  The mandate 
refugees from Afghanistan want to resettle elsewhere because of 
cultural and language differences.  The men typically work in 
bazaars or as mechanics.  It is difficult for their children to get 
an education.  The Azerbaijanis and Armenians want to stay and UNHCR 
is lobbying on their behalf for either permanent residence status or 
citizenship. 
 
NO ASYLUM SEEKERS FOR YEARS 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Helleland noted that there have been no asylum seekers in 
Turkmenistan for several years.  She pointed out the anomaly that 
while no Afghan asylum seekers are apparently showing up in 
Turkmenistan, there has been an increase of Afghans seeking asylum 
in Tajikistan.  Helleland wondered whether a potential Afghan asylum 
 
ASHGABAT 00000277  002 OF 003 
 
 
seeker would be accepted and processed properly at the Turkmen 
border, noting that while UNHCR has trained Turkmen officials about 
their obligations in such cases, it does not have the cpacity to 
monitor activity at border crossings. 
 
GOTX WILL MAKE REFUGEE DETERMINATIONS 
 
¶8.  (SBU) State Migration Service officials are responsible for 
handling cases at the border crossing.  Until recently, the 
Government allowed UNHCR to make the determination about whether or 
not a person was a refugee.  In January President Berdimuhamedov 
announced that the Migration Service would determine the status of 
refugees and issue refugee documents.  As a result, UNHCR activities 
in Turkmenistan will be reduced, although UNHCR will keep training 
and advising the Migration Service on refugee and statelessness 
issues.  Helleland said UNHCR in Turkmenistan would develop its role 
as a watchdog to make sure the Government abides by the Convention 
and its own law. 
 
TURKMENISTAN'S HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO AFGHANISTAN 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Helleland mentioned that Turkmenistan provides 
humanitarian assistance to northern Afghanistan, mostly populated by 
ethnic Turkmen, providing them with subsidized electricity, 
constructing schools, hospitals and railways, providing flour and 
clothing.  Such assistance might be aimed at reducing the potential 
flow of Afghan refugees into Turkmenistan.  According to Helleland, 
while there is nothing to suggest that there would be a large flow 
of Afghan refugees to Turkmenistan in the near future, if unrest 
moved into northern areas of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan could expect 
to receive a large number of refugees. 
 
UPDATING REFUGEE LEGISLATION 
 
¶10.  (SBU) UNHCR is working with Government to amend Turkmenistan's 
Refugee Law of 1997, which was adopted in cooperation with UNHCR. 
According to Helleland, the current law is "not too bad, but is not 
well implemented."  Also, the law has not been updated to reflect 
more recent trends in refugee issues, resulting in "gaps" in 
protection, including complementary forms of protection, protection 
from new forms of persecution, including non-state persecution, and 
confidentiality in the procedure.  UNHCR is a part of 
inter-ministerial group to revise the refugee law, which Helleland 
hopes would be adopted in the fall of this year. 
 
UNHCR STATELESSNESS MANDATE 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Apart from its refugee mandate, UNHCR also addresses the 
issue of statelessness.  "The problem of statelessness is a bigger 
problem in Turkmenistan than we had expected," Helleland said.  The 
statelessness problem is caused by the demise of Soviet Union and 
existing gaps in citizenship law of former Soviet republics.  In 
2007, around 8,500 stateless persons were registered in 
Turkmenistan.  According to Helleland, the figure now exceeds 
12,000, not including children under the age of 16.  From Government 
sources, UNHCR learned that 4,500 applications of stateless persons 
have been submitted to the State Commission in charge of considering 
permanent residence permits or citizenship.  Apparently, these cases 
are complete, but a presidential review is being delayed because the 
commission wants to be able to submit a larger number of 
applications for the President's review.  Helleland explained that 
compiling the necessary documentation is an onerous task requiring 
17 documents, some of which are valid for only two weeks. 
 
¶12. (SBU) COMMENT:  The field for UNHCR activity in Turkmenistan 
appears to be shrinking as the Government takes more responsibility 
for refugee matters and former refugees are largely integrated. 
This was no doubt facilitated by the fact that most of the refugees 
were ethnic Turkmen from neighboring Tajikistan and Afghanistan.  As 
Helleland made clear, the Turkmen Government relied heavily on UNHCR 
in handling refugee cases in the past, which also no doubt 
contributed to its positive past performance.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
ASHGABAT 00000277  003 OF 003 
 
 
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