VZCZCXRO9212
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1132 2031520
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221520Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7946
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001132 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF S/E NATSIOS, AND AF/SPG 
NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREF PHUM EAID SU CD UN
SUBJECT: ARAB TRIBAL RESETTLEMENT IN DARFUR ISSUE MORE 
COMPLEX THAN INITIALLY TRUMPETED 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Resettlement Issue Outside Scope of Current Findings 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The much-anticipated report by the UN High 
Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) on the influx of Arabs from 
Chad into Darfur will determine their legal status rather 
than assess whether the Sudanese Government has launched a 
program to resettle Chadian Arabs in the region, according to 
UNHCR Deputy Head Craig Sanders (please protect).  "UNHCR is 
fairly confident that these people are refugees, fleeing from 
a general conflict," Sanders told USAID/DCHA Team Leader for 
Darfur and Poloff on July 19.  He said that more 
investigation would be needed before UNHCR could assert that 
Sudan was resettling the Chadian Arabs, a topic that was 
outside the scope of the investigation.  Citing a 
"compromised access situation" as a major hindrance, Sanders 
noted that UNHCR's assessment was "a bit of a patchwork." 
Given the legalistic nature of determining prima facia 
refugee status and the charged political environment, the 
report is undergoing extensive review for accuracy. 
 
------------------ 
Terms of Reference 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) The terms of reference for the report were: 1) 
Investigate the circumstances of flight and make a 
determination of status of those involved, 2) Develop a 
strategy for assistance, and 3) Highlight the "protection 
areas," such as nationality and land, that UNHCR will need to 
monitor.  UNHCR and the Sudanese Government's Commission on 
Refugees (COR) cooperated in their examination of the 
evidence to make a proper designation of refugee status.  The 
COR has not obstructed UNHCR's efforts to date, according to 
Sanders. 
 
---------------------------- 
Migrants Fleeing Prosecution 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The approximately 40,000 Chadians of Arab origin who 
have settled in West Darfur in recent months are the second 
wave of migrants, said Sanders.  An earlier group of 20,000 
Chadians began arriving at the end of 2005, and UNHCR had 
determined that they had legitimately fled the conflict in 
Chad.  In the case of the new arrivals, UNHCR is striving for 
a thorough assessment of the situation consistent with their 
standards of prima facia refugee status.  Some may be 
excluded from refugee status, for example, if they are deemed 
combatants or former combatants.  However, Sanders 
anticipated that UNHCR would conclude that the refugees left 
Chad based on a "well-founded fear" of the deteriorating 
security situation, either because they had been direct 
victims of violence or had feared that instability would soon 
affect them.  Without further investigation, however, UNHCR 
was unprepared to say that the 40,000 new migrants had been 
persecuted because of their ethnicity. 
 
----------------------------- 
Complexity of Ethnicity, Land 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Sanders said that reports were mixed on the 
Government's involvement with the new arrivals.  "There is 
fairly compelling evidence in some cases that the authorities 
are involved in this, in others not," he explained. 
"However, the intention of this report was never to determine 
with certainty if there was foul play."  Sanders added that 
any determination of nationality would require extensive 
investigation in the future.  Some members of the new group 
of Arab tribesmen are known to be Sudanese nationals that 
migrated to Chad in the 1970s, for example, and belong to the 
same tribal confederations found on both sides of the border. 
 UNHCR would have to initiate a formal registration program 
to determine the nationality of the new arrivals, which will 
be difficult given poor access conditions due to insecurity 
and the absence of roads.  Determining land ownership would 
prove equally complicated.  "It is very difficult on the 
basis of what we know now to come up with a rock solid, black 
and white determination on land," he said. 
FERNANDEZ