VZCZCXYZ0022
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEK #0778 1460941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 260941Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY BISHKEK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7483
INFO RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT PRIORITY 0692
RUEHSI/AMEMBASSY TBILISI PRIORITY 0551
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0241
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1338
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1959

UNCLAS BISHKEK 000778 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TBILISI FOR REFCOORD 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM (E. TOURE AND N. IRIS) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF KG
SUBJECT: BISHKEK PROPOSAL - 2006 AMBASSADORS' FUND FOR 
 
REFUGEES 
 
REF: BISHKEK 626 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Post is pleased to propose PRM support 
through the Ambassador's Fund for Refugees for UNHCR efforts 
to mark World Refugee Day on June 20, particularly two 
cultural programs as well as an information campaign designed 
to highlight the rights of refugees and focus attention on 
their plight.  Throughout the past year, the Embassy has 
worked closely with UNHCR to protect the rights of Uzbek and 
other refugees in Kyrgyzstan.  Marking World Refugee Day in 
Bishkek will serve to reinforce with both the Kyrgyz 
government and public Kyrgyzstan's international obligations 
to protect the rights of refugees, particularly those of the 
four Uzbek refugees remaining in Kyrgyz custody and who at 
risk of refoulement back to Uzbekistan.  Post also proposes 
using $1,000 for scholarships for refugee children.  The 
total cost of the proposal is $3,000.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In April UNHCR Bishkek approached Post and asked 
for $8,800 in financial assistance to hold a series of 
events, including cultural programs and an information 
campaign in honor of World Refugee Day on June 20.  According 
to UNHCR Bishkek, UNHCR Geneva provided no money to UNHCR 
Bishkek this year to mark World Refugee Day.  In previous 
years, UNHCR Bishkek received full funding from UNHCR Geneva 
to mark World Refugee Day in an effort to highlight the 
plight of refugees and raise public awareness about 
Kyrgyzstan's international obligation to protect the rights 
of asylum seekers and refugees.  This year, UNHCR hopes to 
put on the cultural programs in Bishkek and Osh, provide 
training/seminars for journalists on refugee issues, conduct 
a nationwide information campaign, including in schools, to 
raise public awareness of refugee issues.  Given events of 
the past year, UNHCR Bishkek feels it is particularly 
important to publicly and visibly mark World Refugee Day this 
year.  Considering the attention paid to refugee issues over 
the past year, World Refugee Day events are also likely to 
receive widespread coverage in Kyrgyzstan.  The OSCE Center 
in Bishkek as well as the Swiss Embassy in Tashkent have 
already contributed $1,800 and $1,000, respectively, to the 
UNHCR World Refugee Day effort. 
 
¶3.  (U) Post further proposes providing $1,000 in 
scholarships to refugee children in Kyrgyzstan. 
 
¶4.  (U) Post's implementing partner in the World Refugee Day 
project will be UNHCR Bishkek, which has extensive experience 
planning and hosting World Refugee Day events in the past. 
Post's implementing partner for the refugee scholarships will 
be the Adilet Legal Clinic, which has extensive experience 
working with refugees and was Post's implementing partner for 
a previous grant under the Ambassador's Fund for Refugees. 
 
 
¶5.  (U) Post certifies that it has the authority and capacity 
to award a grant to the proposed recipient(s) by the end of 
the current fiscal year. 
YOVANOVITCH