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OO RUEHDBU RUEHDT RUEHLMC
DE RUEHEK #0642/01 1221116
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021116Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY BISHKEK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7257
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA IMMEDIATE 0223
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMCT/MCC THRESHOLD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 0554
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 1519
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0197
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO BRUSSELS BE PRIORITY
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1903
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1286
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000642 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2016 
TAGS: PREF PGOV PREL PHUM UZ KG
SUBJECT: UNHCR PREPARED TO RESETTLE FINAL FOUR UZBEK 
 
REFUGEES; CONTINGENCY PLANNING FOR FUTURE REFUGEES 
 
REF: A. BISHKEK 624 
     ¶B. BISHKEK 242 
 
Classified By: DCM Donald Lu, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY: On April 18, UNHCR Bishkek Chief Carlos 
Zaccagnini told PolOff that France had agreed to accept the 
accused drug dealer who is one of four Uzbek refugees 
remaining in Kyrgyzstan.  Zaccagnini said the decision to 
accept this refugee means that all four of the Uzbek refugees 
that have been detained in Osh since mid-2005 have now been 
offered refugee status by specific countries.  Despite this, 
action is unlikely on this cases until all four have had 
their cases reviewed by the Supreme Court, which has yet to 
set a hearing date for the two still awaiting their day in 
court.  Reftel A describes discussion that these four may be 
forcibly repatriated to Uzbekistan.  Zaccagnini described as 
excellent Kyrgyz government cooperation with UNHCR to plan 
for the possibility of further Uzbek refugee flows into 
Kyrgyzstan, adding that food, blankets and tents sufficient 
for 4,000 refugees had already been stockpiled in Osh, with 
considerably larger stocks on standby outside the country. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
FRANCE AGREES TO ACCEPT FINAL REFUGEE 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Zaccagnini said that France had agreed to accept the 
Uzbek refugee, Tashbayev, who had been imprisoned in 
Uzbekistan prior to the Andijon events on drug charges. 
Zaccagnini said the French decision to accept him was 
unexpected, in that both Sweden and the Netherlands had 
previously declined to offer him resettlement.  Zaccagnini 
said the French decision means that all four of the Uzbeks 
that have been in detention in Osh since July of 2005 have 
now been accepted by individual countries for resettlement 
abroad. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Nevertheless, he added, the Kyrgyz Government told 
UNHCR that no decision on whether to release to UNHCR or 
deport to Uzbekistan any of the four will be made until all 
have had their cases heard by the Supreme Court (reftel b). 
Zaccagnini said the Supreme Court had yet to set a date for 
the final two hearings.  He predicted that given the current 
political turmoil in the country, the trials would not happen 
anytime soon.  Zaccagnini said that, according to National 
Security Secretary Miroslav Niyazov, the government would 
wait until all of the trials are completed, then take "a 
political decision" on where to send the refugees. 
 
CONTINGENCY PLANNING MOVING AHEAD 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Zaccagnini described as excellent Kyrgyz government 
cooperation with UNHCR to plan for any future refugee inflows 
from Uzbekistan.  Zaccagnini said Niyazov had instructed the 
State Committee for Migration to work with UNHCR to develop 
such plans, and said he was planning a trip to southern 
Kyrgyzstan with the head of the State Agency to continue such 
planning.  Zaccagnini said that in the course of his work 
with the Kyrgyz government on this issue, it has become clear 
to him that in the event of unrest in Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz 
government would likely make no effort to prevent refugees 
from entering Kyrgyzstan. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Zaccagnini said UNHCR and the State Committee were 
currently working on a joint UNHCR-Kyrgyz memorandum, 
outlining the responsibilities of each in the event of a 
refugee influx from Uzbekistan.  He added that on May 14, 
UNHCR will provide training for Kyrgyz Government agencies 
and NGOs that would be expected to respond to any refugee 
crisis. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Zaccagnini said the entire UN Mission in Kyrgyzstan 
worked together to come up with a country plan to deal with 
 
BISHKEK 00000642  002 OF 002 
 
 
any potential influxes of Uzbek refugees.  He characterized 
the country plan as an extraordinary effort, in that UNDP and 
UNICEF rarely played any role in the past in refugee matters. 
 Zaccagnini said the country plan was part of a larger UNHCR 
regional effort to prepare for the possibility of large 
refugee outflows from Uzbekistan.  Zaccagnini said food, 
blankets and tents sufficient for 4,000 refugees had already 
been stockpiled in Osh, with considerably larger stocks on 
standby outside the country. 
 
¶7.  (C) COMMENT:  The future still looks gloomy for these 
remaining four refugees.  The determination on the part of 
the Kyrgyz Government to work with UNHCR on contingency 
planning, however, is a refreshing change from last summer. 
Then, the Kyrgyz Government seemed to believe that 
contingency planning wasn't necessary, because the Uzbek 
government would never again allow refugees to flee the 
country.  This time, the government appears determined to 
plan for the worst, probably out of the knowledge that they 
would be quickly overwhelmed by even a small influx of 
refugees.  The news on the Uzbek refugees still in detention 
was not surprising ) the government has long held that no 
decision would be made on any of the four until all of them 
exhaust their legal appeals.  Given the current high level of 
political tensions in Bishkek, it is unlikely that the 
Supreme Court will decide on the final two soon. 
YOVANOVITCH