This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS AMMAN 002061 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR NEA AND PRM 
CAIRO FOR REFCOORD CHEYNE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREF KPAL IZ JO
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN REFUGEES AT JORDAN-IRAQ BORDER 
 
REF: A. A. BAGHDAD 918 
     ¶B. B. AMMAN 2046 
 
¶1.  (U)  Reached on March 21, Jordan,s Interior Minister, 
Eid al-Fayez, responded positively to the Ambassador,s 
request that UNHCR be granted access to the 89 Palestinian 
refugees now on the Jordan-Iraq border.  His staff later 
confirmed to Ambassador that the minister had issued his 
authorization.  UNHCR staff told poloff mid-day March 21 that 
they had the authorization in hand and were en-route to the 
border. 
 
¶2.  (U)  Fayez in turn asked for our help in improving 
communication with Iraqi counterparts; the Iraqi Interior 
Minister was not returning his calls.  Foreign Minister 
al-Khateeb, in Paris, had reached Iraqi Foreign Minister 
Zebari to convey Jordan,s position that it would not accept 
the refugees and asked that they be allowed to return to Iraq. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Action Request:  The issue of accepting refugee 
flows is radioactive in Jordan; 201 Iranian Kurdish refugees 
formerly resident in Ramadi, for example, have remained in 
Iraqi-Jordanian no man's land for over 19 months.  Jordan,s 
position, like UNHCR,s, is that allowing refugees into 
Jordan will only invite a cascade of Palestinians in Iraq to 
seek asylum in Jordan, and that a solution can only lie in 
providing a greater measure of security to Palestinians in 
Iraq or arranging their asylum in a third country better 
equipped to host refugees.  Embassy Amman recommends 
engagement with Iraqi authorities to encourage 
Jordanian-Iraqi contacts to find a solution in support of 
UNHCR guidelines. 
HALE