VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHFN #0496/01 1711750
ZNR UUUUU ZZH CCY ADXE4DC35 MSI3983 612
P 191701Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY FREETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9931
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0152
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUCNFB/FBI WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS FREETOWN 000496 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (ADDING ASEC TAG) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958 
TAGS: PREF PREL PINS ASEC SL LI
SUBJECT: Liberians Riot At Freetown UNHCR Office 
 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. On June 12, a small contingent of disgruntled Liberian 
refugees, including ex-combatants who were recently 
refused refugee status, led an assault on the Freetown 
UNHCR office.  Police arrested 61 people, but only after 
approximately $50,000 worth of damage was done to UNHCR 
vehicles and ground floor offices.  Liberians who 
participated in the assault were frustrated over the fact 
that they had not been chosen for resettlement and 
claimed that Sierra Leoneans are fraudulently obtaining 
refugee status and being resettled.  Although such claims 
are not without merit, they appear to have been 
misdirected at a low-level, local hire UNHCR staffer. 
The riot's ringleaders violence have been arrested, but 
UNHCR has advised caution around the July visit of 
Overseas Processing Entity (OPE) interviewers, who will 
interview 228 Liberian refugees for resettlement in the 
U.S.  Renewed unrest among the old caseload of urban 
refugees is indeed possible, especially since some of the 
more recently arrived, camp-based refugees will soon be 
interviewed for resettlement.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Liberian Refugees and Others Destroy 
UNHCR Vehicles, Offices 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. On June 8, approximately 100 people gathered outside 
the Freetown UNHCR office on Wilkinson Road and blocked 
the entrance for approximately three hours.  Bashir 
Fahmbulleh, who claimed to be the Chairman of Liberian 
refugees in Sierra Leone, later told a reporter that the 
reason for the protest was because a UNHCR employee was 
"selling refugee asylum privileges" to Sierra Leoneans 
for thousands of U.S. dollars and demanded that she be 
fired. 
 
¶3. On June 12, a smaller but more violent group returned 
and broke into the UNHCR compound, smashed the windows of 
23 UNHCR vehicles and plundered two of the ground floor 
UNHCR offices causing approximately $50,000 worth of 
damage.  Police arrested 61 people, charged 37, and are 
still looking for 8.  Of those arrested, 17 were Liberian 
refugees, 13 were not, and 7 (including Fahmbulleh) were 
Liberian ex-combatants whose refugee status had been 
rejected. 
 
¶4. UNHCR Representative for Sierra Leone Elike Segbor 
told PolOff that he had signed approximately 50 refugee 
status rejection letters to Liberian ex-combatants since 
his arrival in August 2005, most of them in the last two 
or three months.  They are upset, Segbor said, because 
they have not been chosen for resettlement. 
 
---------------------- 
Where Were The Police? 
---------------------- 
 
¶5. Segbor told PolOff that after the first demonstration, 
UNHCR staff discovered that the refugees planned to 
demonstrate again.  After reinforcing their security 
posture, UNHCR staff met with the police commissioner, 
who promised (and later failed) to send an extra 
contingent of officers.  When the rioting started, only 
eight unarmed police officers were guarding the gates. 
(Note: Segbor said that a group of approximately 100 
people had gathered the day before at the National 
Stadium to plan the raid, but bemoaned that the police 
had not picked up on it.  We later learned that the 
Criminal Investigation Department did pick up 
intelligence on the upcoming raid, but that the 
Operational Support Department failed to act on it - and 
the warnings by UNHCR personnel.  End Note.) 
 
¶6. On June 12 just after 1200, Segbor said, rioters tried 
to break through the gates at the UNHCR office.  The 
unarmed police, who had one radio among them, called for 
backup but there was no response.  Between 50 and 60 
demonstrators breached the gates at approximately 1225. 
Armed police arrived at approximately 1300 and were able 
to arrest some of the rioters, but by the time the police 
with riot gear arrived, the demonstration was over. 
 
(Note: Key to the dispersal of the demonstrators was most 
likely a combination of the arrest of the ringleaders and 
a heavy rainstorm that began in the middle of the riot. 
End Note.) 
 
----------------------------------- 
Resettlement Fraud Claims, Although 
Misdirected, May Have Merit 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. Fahmbulleh's claim that UNHCR local hire employee 
Inathorma Kumba was selling asylum privileges is not 
true, Segbor said.  Kumba is a community services 
assistant and has no authority when it comes to 
recommending families for resettlement, he said. 
 
¶8. That is not to say, however, that "asylum privileges" 
are not being sold, Segbor said.  Although UNHCR takes as 
many precautions as it can to verify identity and 
eliminate imposters, there is only so far that safeguards 
can go.  He has heard rumors, for example, that Liberian 
refugees selected for resettlement are selling spots for 
"family members" for $1,000 to $3,000.  There are also 
imposters who claim to have been accepted for 
resettlement who reportedly charge $1,000 to $1,500 for 
selling (nonexistent) family slots. 
 
------------------- 
July OPE Interviews 
Merit Caution 
------------------- 
 
¶9. Segbor said that his staff is identifying 228 refugees 
for Overseas Processing Entity (OPE) personnel to 
interview during the first week of July for resettlement 
in the U.S.  Segbor said that during a recent 
conversation with IOM Chief of Mission Andrew Choga, he 
cautioned that IOM may want to increase security around 
the IOM compound for the duration of the interviews. 
(Note: Refugee screening interviews will probably be held 
in the IOM headquarters building in Freetown on Signal 
Hill Road, close to the EMR and Embassy apartments.  End 
Note.) 
 
¶10. Unlike last year, Segbor said, UNHCR will be 
identifying refugees currently living in refugee camps 
for possible resettlement.  (Note: The refugees living in 
camps arrived more recently than the refugees living in 
urban areas.  In 2005, refugee interviewees were all 
selected from the urban refugee population.  End Note.) 
 
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Comment 
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¶11.  The violence on June 12 was likely triggered by the 
recent delivery of refugee status rejection letters to 
Liberian ex-combatants.  There was plenty of frustration 
to go around, though, since not all of those arrested 
were ex-combatants or even recognized Liberian refugees. 
It is possible that UNHCR's decision to recommend more 
recently arrived camp-based refugees for resettlement 
could trigger more resentment and unrest among urban 
refugees (or those who consider themselves to be such). 
The arrest of the riot's ringleaders removes the 
immediate problem, but concerns about future outbreaks of 
violence from frustrated urban refugees, weak police 
response, and possible fraud within the resettlement 
program remain and will require the continued vigilance 
of UNHCR and other stakeholders, including the USG. 
 
HULL