VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #1651/01 2131516
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311516Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0114
INFO RUEHAE/AMEMBASSY ASMARA 0160
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 1201
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1751
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1054
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0394

UNCLAS CAIRO 001651 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/AFR, NEA/ELA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL EG ER IS
SUBJECT: EGYPT: NEW APPROACH ON ERITREAN REFUGEES 
 
REF: CAIRO 1388 
 
Sensitive but unclassified, not for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The GOE has acknowledged that it returned 
167 Eritreans that it claims did not need refugee protection 
to Eritrea, claims to have "set free" 87 who were arrested in 
Egypt but who carried UNHCR refugee identification cards, and 
is disputing UNHCR designated refugee status for 130 that the 
UNHCR processed in detention in Aswan.  In addition, UNHCR 
access to 318 Eritreans serving sentences for illegally 
attempting to enter Israel is still pending with the Public 
Prosecutor's office, according to MFA and UNHCR contacts. 
The GOE has changed its previous strategy of denying that it 
returned any Eritreans to arguing that not all Eritreans it 
arrested are in fact genuine refugees.  GOE officials are not 
against protecting Eritreans in need per se, but rather worry 
that Egypt will be forced to host an undue share of refugees. 
 End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On July 30, MFA Deputy Minister for Refugees Tarek 
El Maaty told us that there are 130 Eritreans still awaiting 
their fate in detention in Aswan since the UNHCR was allowed 
access to them in recent weeks (reftel).  He said that the 
UNHCR had determined that 128 have valid claims to refugee 
status, and are further investigating the other two.  In 
addition to the Eritreans, El Maaty reported that there were 
also 49 Ethiopians held in Aswan, four of which the UNHCR had 
determined were refugees.   Separately on July 31, UNHCR 
Deputy Regional Representative for Protection Katharina Lumpp 
confirmed that the "overwhelming majority" of Eritreans that 
UNHCR saw in Aswan deserved refugee protection, while most of 
the Ethiopians did not. 
 
¶3. (SBU) While the GOE plans to accept the UNHCR designation 
of the four Ethiopians as refugees, El Maaty said that the 
GOE disputes giving the Eritreans refugee status and is 
engaged in a formal "dialog" with the UNHCR on this point. 
He claimed that the Eritreans are military deserters - "this 
would be a crime in Egypt!" - or economic migrants.  We noted 
that Eritreans escaping military service have a well-founded 
fear of persecution if returned home, which El Maaty 
acknowledged was "an important point." 
 
¶4. (SBU) El Maaty emphasized that the GOE is formulating a 
new process for how to deal with Eritreans escaping military 
service or religious persecution.  He said that what happens 
with the group in Aswan will set a precedent for future 
cases, provided a GOE position paper on the topic (setpel), 
and said that the GOE wants to ensure that other countries 
will "share the burden" of resettling this population.  Along 
these lines, Lumpp said that the UNHCR had been given 
approval to start resettlement processing for some of the 
Eritreans held in Aswan. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In addition, El Maaty reported there were 318 other 
Eritreans in Egyptian prisons serving sentences for 
attempting to illegally enter Israel.  El Maaty and Lumpp 
confirmed that the UNHCR had requested access to this group, 
and that a decision on this access was now pending with the 
Office of the Public Prosecutor.  An additional 87 Eritreans 
had been arrested attempting to reach Israel but had been 
"set free" because they carried UNHCR refugee identification 
cards, El Maaty continued.  However, he noted that the GOE 
had returned to Eritrea 98 others who were arrested at 
various locations in Egypt and who had not claimed refugee 
status; they were "warmly welcomed" in Eritrea, he said, with 
no allegations of mistreatment of torture.  In fact, he 
noted, some had "asked to be sent back" rather than to stay 
in Egyptian jails.  The GOE also returned another 69 without 
refugee identification cards who were arrested in the Sinai 
apparently on their way to Israel, he said.  El Maaty 
provided an Arabic-language document that the MFA sent to 
UNHCR detailing Egypt's actions regarding Eritrean migrants, 
refugees, and asylum-seekers in recent months (full 
translation at paragraph 7). 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: The GOE has changed course from its 
previous strategy of denying any returns of Eritreans to 
arguing that those it returned do not deserve refugee 
protections.  GOE officials are not against protecting 
Eritreans in need per se, but are concerned that Egypt would 
be forced to host what they see as more than their fair 
share.  The GOE is seeking commitments from international 
partners to resettle some of this Eritrean population, and we 
have assured our interlocutors that the USG will consider any 
resettlement requests referred by the UNHCR.  However, the 
GOE and UNHCR will need to balance between resettling enough 
Eritreans to assuage GOE concerns and resettling so many that 
more are "pulled" to Egypt on the hopes of being resettled to 
a third country. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Begin text of MFA letter to UNHCR (informal Embassy 
translation): 
 
1) Egypt is committed to its international obligations. 
Hence, Egypt welcomed UNHCR representatives' visit to see 
detained Eritreans in Aswan. 
 
2) UNHCR representatives met with 130 Eritreans and 49 
Ethiopians who praised Egyptian Authorities for treating them 
well. 
 
3) Egypt confirms that there are no detained Eritreans in 
other cities, which makes UNHCR's request to visit other 
detention centers without merit. As for UNHCR's request to 
meet with imprisoned Eritreans who have verdicts issued 
against them for violating Egyptian law, it is being reviewed 
by the Public Prosecutor,s office to ensure judicial 
independence in Egypt. 
 
4) Egypt has always been eager to work with UNHCR in a 
cooperative and transparent manner, and has been praised for 
such by UNHCR. However, we are concerned about not receiving 
any feedback from UNHCR after their last visit to the 
detained Eritrean group, which is an unjustified delay and 
does not reflect the cooperative spirit that we hope would 
exist between GOE and UNHCR especially since this issue has 
sparked international reaction and the circulation of 
inaccurate and undocumented information. 
 
5) History proves that Egypt hosted foreigners - including 
hundreds of thousands of refugees from 36 different 
nationalities. The total number of registered refugees 
according to UNHCR in Cairo is approximately 43,500. 
 
6) Regarding the Eritreans who were detained after trying to 
illegally enter Egypt, investigations were carried out to 
determine their identities, how they arrived in the country 
and the reason for illegally entering Egypt. These 
investigations showed that a large number of the Eritreans 
were fleeing military conscription in their country. 
Additionally, some of them are economic migrants who are 
looking for job opportunities in Israel and were using Egypt 
as a transit country. 
 
7) Investigations showed that the majority of the detained 
group did not ask for asylum in Egypt. A small group applied 
for asylum and was released to go to UNHCR.  A final group of 
Eritreans was allowed to be interviewed by UNHCR. 
 
8) The numbers included in international reports were neither 
accurate nor documented. During the investigations many of 
the detained did not have identification and provided 
Egyptian authorities with incorrect names and nationalities. 
 
  Statistics of the detained Eritreans: 
 
  - 318 were arrested while trying to infiltrate into Israel 
and they are serving in prison as per judicial verdicts. 
 
  - 87 were arrested on the borders while trying to 
infiltrate into Israel and were released after they proved to 
hold UNHCR cards. 
 
  - 98 were arrested inside Egypt and stated that they were 
looking for better economic conditions and escaping army 
enrollment in their countries and feared to return and face 
trial. 
 
  - 69 were arrested in Sinai and stated that they came from 
Eritrea through Sudan and did not apply for asylum either in 
Khartoum or Cairo.  It was clear that their intentions were 
to illegally enter Israel.  They were deported to their 
country. 
 
  - 130 Eritreans and 49 Ethiopians were arrested in Aswan 
and interviewed by UNHCR - as requested by the organization - 
to determine their need for international protection. 
 
  - An unspecified number of those arrested in Egypt who 
expressed their desire to acquire asylum in Egypt were 
released to apply at UNHCR. 
 
9) UNHCR is responsible for monitoring the member states' 
implementation of the 1951 Refugees Convention and convincing 
developed countries to cooperate in alleviating the burdens 
and facilitating the resettlement processes in an expeditious 
manner. This includes accepting more refugees for 
resettlement as part of their international cooperation 
responsibilities. 
 
10) More developed countries need to participate by 
expediting resettlement procedures for individuals who 
qualify as per the cooperation between Egyptian authorities 
and UNHCR in third countries and to increase the number of 
people they accept. This comes as part of the preamble of the 
1951 Convention: &Considering that the grant of asylum may 
place unduly heavy burdens on certain countries, and that a 
satisfactory solution to a problem, of which the United 
Nations has recognized the international scope and nature, 
cannot be achieved without international co-operation.8 
 
11) The protection of national security of a country is the 
basis for international relations and any violations 
committed by infiltrators who aim to flee to European 
counties - under the veneer of seeking asylum - is not 
acceptable, threatens security and needs to be firmly dealt 
with according to the law. 
 
End text of letter. 
SCOBEY