VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNT #0608/01 1511257
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301257Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9714
INFO RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 3990
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA 0203
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 4605
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0487
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1201
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0279

UNCLAS TASHKENT 000608 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN, DRL, AND PRM 
PRM FOR MATTHEW JOHNSON AND PASSY POMEROY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: GRANT SUBMISSIONS FOR FY 2008 TAFT 
FUND FOR REFUGEES 
 
REF: A. STATE 35430 
     ¶B. STATE 6779 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Post solicited and received two submissions 
for the FY 2008 Taft Fund for Refugees (formerly the 
Ambassadors' Fund for Refugees) announced in reftels, one 
from the International Professional Education Development 
Assistance Center (PROFED) proposing to assist Afghan and 
Tajik refugees in Tashkent, and the other from Ayol va 
Zamon's Surkhandarya Regional Centre aimed at assisting 
Afghan refugees in Termez.  The total amount requested for 
both programs is under 20,000 dollars.  We believe that 
special consideration should be given to proposals for 
funding from local organizations in Uzbekistan, as the 
government in recent years has forced the closure of the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office 
and many other international humanitarian organizations in 
the country.  Refugees, particularly from Afghanistan, also 
continue to face harassment, social prejudices, and even 
deportation back to their home countries.  End summary. 
 
SITUATION FOR AFGHAN AND TAJIK REFUGEES IN UZBEKISTAN 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Uzbek law does not provide for the granting of asylum 
or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, and 
the government has not established a system for providing 
protection to refugees.  Following the 2005 Andijon events, 
the government forced the closure of hundreds of local and 
international organizations, including the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Tashkent, 
which had assisted Uzbek refugees who had fled into 
Kyrgyzstan following the Andijon events.  In March 2007, the 
government announced that UNHCR mandate certificates would 
not be considered as the basis for extended legal residence, 
and persons carrying such certificates must apply for the 
appropriate visa or face deportation.  The government thus 
appeared to be effectively ending an agreement with the UNHCR 
in place since 1999, under which the government had tolerated 
the presence of mandate refugees despite not having ratified 
the 1951 Convention on Refugees and its 1967 protocol. 
 
¶3.  (U) The government considered Afghan and Tajik refugee 
populations economic migrants and subjected them to 
harassment and bribery when they sought to regularize their 
status as legal residents.  Most Tajik refugees were ethnic 
Uzbeks; unlike their Afghan counterparts, Tajik refugees were 
sometimes able to integrate into and were supported by the 
local population.  Although most Tajik refugees did not face 
societal discrimination, many of them faced the possibility 
of becoming officially stateless, as many carried only old 
Soviet passports rather than Tajik passports.  The UNHCR 
reported that Afghan refugees had no access to the legal 
labor force and therefore, had limited means to earn a 
livelihood.  Afghan refugees routinely face harassment and 
discrimination, which has increased in recent years.  In 
2007, there were several reports of police detaining Afghan 
refugees and tearing up their UNHCR refugee certificates, 
stating they were meaningless.  There were also several cases 
of Afghan refugees being forcibly deported back to 
Afghanistan, where they faced potential persecution.  In late 
2007 - early 2008, UNHCR also engaged in a re-evaluation of 
each and every Afghan refugee case to try and weed out the 
economic migrants among them. 
 
GRANT SUBMISSION FROM PROFED 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) (a) Applicant: International Professional Education 
Development Assistance Center (PROFED) 
(b) Requested Funding: USD 15,000 
(c) Project Title: Providing Assistance and Vocational 
Training for Refugees and Non-Citizens Residing in the 
Republic of Uzbekistan (Tashkent) 
(d) Project Duration: 6 months 
(e) Abstract: PROFED is an organization engaged in providing 
various forms of assistance to refugees and non-citizens, 
primarily of Afghan and Tajik origin, currently residing in 
Tashkent. The primary goals of the program are: to help 
protect the well-being of refugees by providing a place of 
refuge in Tashkent while concurrently providing assistance 
 
with resettlement and repatriation; to provide medical, 
social, and material support services; to address problems 
arising from the negative local perceptions and treatment of 
refugees as well their lack of citizenship; to provide 
general educational programs, including offering programs 
consisting of no less than 6 hours a day of professional 
education for refugees not attending local schools; to strive 
for a 95 percent graduation rate from PROFED educational 
programs, with the aim of at least 60 percent of graduates 
obtaining employment in Uzbekistan. 
 
More than 54 percent of school age refugee children in 
Uzbekistan do not attend local schools. This includes more 
than 98 percent of female refugees, 72 percent of whom lack 
even basic qualifications for employment.  Children studying 
via the PROFED program are frequently unable to attend local 
schools, primarily due to their inability to speak local 
languages (Uzbek, Russian) and social prejudices which 
portray them as uneducated, unemployed, violent, and a source 
of crime.  These perceptions rarely acknowledge the 
disenfranchisement and ostracism that refugees experience in 
Uzbekistan.  By providing educational services to refugees, 
PROFED hopes to better integrate refugees into their 
community and help them secure employment. 
 
GRANT SUBMISSION FROM AYOL VA ZAMON 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) (a) Applicant: Ayol va Zamon (Surkhandarya Regional 
Center for Increasing the Socio-Economic Activity of Women 
and Youth) 
(b) Requested Funding: USD 4,998 
(c) Project Title: Organization of Professional and Legal 
Education to Support Refugees Residing in Termez 
(d) Project Duration: 6 months 
(e) Abstract:  The Ayol va Zamon (AVZ) Surkhandarya Regional 
Center was established in 2000 with the goal of providing 
medical, material and educational assistance to refugees 
residing in the Surkandarya province of Uzbekistan, 
particularly Afghan refugees in Termez.  AVZ reports that 
refugee living conditions in Surkandarya remain poor, and 
that unemployment continues to be a considerable source of 
vulnerability for refugee women.  In particular, Afghan 
refugees face language and other barriers to accessing 
education and learning job skills.  AVZ's proposal aims to 
increase refugees' employment opportunities in Termez by 
improving their vocational skills through four professional 
courses: sewing and embroidery, computer literacy, artistic 
embroidery (beadwork), and computer repair and servicing. 
AVZ aims to offer to train five refugee women in each of the 
four courses every month for six months, providing vocational 
training to a total of 120 refugees over six months.  AVZ 
notes that decreasing unemployment will also improve the 
social status of the refugee women, reduce intra-family 
conflict, and help refugee families integrate into the local 
community. 
 
Ayol va Zamon also reports a significant gap in reproductive 
health knowledge within the refugee population in Termez.  To 
address this knowledge gap, Ayol va Zamon proposes to 
organize six seminars on "Human Rights: Reproductive Rights," 
specifically on how and with whom to address reproductive 
health and rights issues. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Both PROFED and Ayol va Zamon have submitted strong 
proposals for the FY 2008 Taft Fund for Refugees that address 
the critical education, employment, and health needs of 
Afghan and Tajik refugees in the country.  Both organizations 
have years of experience working with refugees in Uzbekistan 
and were recommended to poloff by the United Nations 
Development Program (UNDP) office in Tashkent, which assumed 
responsibility for overseeing Uzbekistan's UNHCR mandate 
refugees after the departure of UNHCR in 2006.  The two 
proposals are also complimentary in that each of them focuses 
on one of the two major refugee population centers in 
Uzbekistan: Tashkent and Termez.  We believe that special 
consideration should be given to proposals for funding from 
local organizations in Uzbekistan, as the government in 
recent years has closed the UNHCR office and many other 
 
international humanitarian organizations in the country, 
forcing surviving local organizations like PROFED and Ayol va 
Zamon to pick up the slack.  Refugees, particularly from 
Afghanistan, also continue to face considerable harassment, 
social prejudices, and even deportation back to their home 
countries. 
NORLAND