VZCZCXRO0931
PP RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR
DE RUEHTO #0428/01 1021327
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121327Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5254
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0777
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000428 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S:HTREGER 
AF/RSA:MHARPOLE 
PRM: SDENTZLER 
STATE PASS TO MCC FOR WATSON AND GAULL 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PREF PHUM KWMN SMIG ELAB KFRD MZ
SUBJ: UNHCR IMPATIENT WITH MOZAMBIQUE'S REFUGEE PROGRAM 
 
 
MAPUTO 00000428  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified - Handle Accordingly 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  On March 20 the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) sponsored a two-day 
retreat to work with the National Institute for the Aid of 
Refugees (INAR), the Mozambican government office in charge 
of refugee issues, to establish a strategic country plan 
for 2007-2009.  Invitees representing the donor community, 
local and international NGOs, and government officials 
gathered to discuss all relevant aspects of Mozambique's 
refugee program.  The retreat revealed UNHCR's impatience 
with the GRM's stalled process of determining refugee 
status, and raised a number of other questions.  The 
relatively comfortable, generous conditions at Mozambique's 
Maratene camp appear to be luring refugees from central and 
eastern Africa.  The newly arrived head of UNHCR Mozambique, 
Victoria Akyeampong, clearly has much work to do.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The retreat began with Deputy Minister of Foreign 
Affairs Eduardo Koloma's keynote speech addressing the major 
strategic objectives of the GRM's refugee program, including 
creating provincial offices for INAR (currently based in 
Maputo), seeking training programs - including immigration 
and law enforcement screening programs at key border posts - 
for all officials involved in handling refugee issues, 
supporting UNHCR's commitment to voluntary repatriation with 
a particular focus on Rwandan refugees, improving refugee 
identity document production, and reinforcing refugee rights 
with an emphasis on unaccompanied minors. 
 
----------- 
Budget Cuts 
----------- 
 
¶3. (U) For their part, the Mozambican office of UNCHR 
admitted to budget constraints this year (they expect to 
only receive 80% of last year's budget), while faced with 
increasing demands on services and resources.  The new head 
of UNHCR's Mozambique office, Victoria Akyeampong, appealed 
to the audience to come up with innovative solutions on how 
more could be done with less.  She said current Mozambican 
policy whereby refugees (even those without status) have 
been receiving unlimited access to services at the Maratene 
camp for years on end is simply untenable; she suggested a 
compromise in which people asking for asylum or refugee 
status would be given six months of unlimited support, 
during which time the GRM would have to make a status 
determination.  Depending on the determination, the refugee 
would be offered third-country resettlement, voluntary 
repatriation, or local integration. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
UNHCR Unhappy Over Stalled Refugee Status Determinations 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Several times during the retreat, heated debate was 
followed by awkward silence.  UNHCR was very critical of 
Mozambique's currently paralyzed refugee status 
determination (RSD) process, which has ground to a halt over 
protracted bureaucratic stipulations and a lack of personnel 
to carry them out.  Example: not a single RSD decision was 
made in calendar year 2005, leaving hundreds of refugees or 
asylum seekers in limbo, and UNHCR along with other donors 
providing food and services indefinitely. 
 
¶5. (U) INAR officials explained the RSD process in detail. 
INAR employs two people to conduct the initial interview 
when refugees arrive at the camp.  Dossiers on each person 
are painstakingly put together by these two individuals and 
then sent to Maputo for review by the Eligibility 
Commission, an interagency task force charged with rendering 
an RSD decision based on the file contents.  The Commission 
then sends the files to the Minister of Interior for 
approval and signature.  The Commission is supposed to meet 
four times a year, but often does not.  Additionally, last 
year Interior Minister Pacheco did not review a single case 
passed to him by the Commission, and has not yet done so 
this year, either. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
The Lure of Mozambique and Maratene Camp 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
MAPUTO 00000428  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Other important questions emerged during the 
retreat, such as why are Congolese, Somalians, and Rwandans 
crossing up to three countries to declare refugee status 
here in Mozambique?  Why not stay in neighboring countries? 
It seems that Maratene has earned a reputation for being a 
"five-star" camp, and the city of Nampula fertile ground for 
business opportunities.  As if to punctuate the point, 
during the conference INAR chief Rosa Chissaque received a 
telephone call from the border post at Lichinga (Niassa 
province, near the border with Malawi) and announced that 18 
more Congolese had just requested asylum in Mozambique. 
What is the justification for continuing to support refugee 
programs in Mozambique, given donor fatigue and in the 
absence of active conflict in the region?  And why doesn't 
the GRM have a clear integration strategy? 
 
¶7. (U) The refugee population in Mozambique, rather than 
dropping, has actually grown somewhat in the past year. 
Among the 6,100 refugees in Mozambique, there is one 
Afghani, one Cuban, one Bangladeshi, one Palestian, and one 
Ethiopian.  The clear majority are Congolese, Rwandan and 
Burundian, although there are also handfuls of Angolans, 
Liberians, and Zimbabwean. 
 
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Comment 
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¶8. (SBU) Victoria Akyeampong told PolOff she was sent here 
from Geneva three months ago to "clean things up."  UNHCR's 
exit strategy is to phase out its presence here by 2010, as 
it does not see a justification for the growing refugee 
population.  An Ivy League graduate (and U.S. legal 
permanent resident), Ms. Akyeampong clearly has the skills 
and force of personality to realize her mission.  However, 
the issue is one of partnership, and in INAR she has an 
indecisive partner hamstrung by bureaucracy.