VZCZCXRO6316
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPG #0223 0991316
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081316Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0228
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0088

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000223 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
PRM/ANE FOR ADRIENNE NUTZMAN, EUR/NCE FOR ALEX TRATENSEK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF IZ EZ EUN
SUBJECT: CZECHS STRETCHED BY AFGHANISTAN AND UNLIKELY TO DO 
MORE ON IRAQ REFUGEES 
 
REF: STATE 30028 
 
(SBU) Czech MFA desk officer for Iraq, Sylva Sulaimanova, 
noted that the Czechs provided over two million crowns 
(roughly 200,000 USD) to the UN High Commission for Refugees 
last year.  Unfortunately, she indicated that it would be 
quite difficult for the Czechs to provide the same level of 
support this year, given their limited resources and their 
substantial additional commitments in Afghanistan (Note: In 
March 2008, the Czechs established a PRT in Lowgar province 
in Afghanistan.  The GOCR has substantially increased its 
funding for infrastructure development in Afghanistan and 
more than doubled its troops on the ground.  End Note.) 
While the Czechs share our concerns about the growing number 
of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria as well as internally 
displaced persons, Sulaimanova noted that the Czechs have a 
small number (in the low hundreds) of refugees settled here 
in the Czech Republic and that any GOCR funds would be used 
to address the needs of these refugees first. 
Graber