VZCZCXRO2421
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3763/01 3351628
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 301628Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0621
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC//NSC//

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003763 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/25/2013 
TAGS: IZ PGOV PREL PREF
SUBJECT: EPRT BAGHDAD:  IDP RETURNS IN SAB AL BOUR -- 
SUCCESSFUL, SO FAR 
 
REF: A. BAGHDAD 3109 
     ¶B. BAGHDAD 3188 
     ¶C. BAGHDAD 3189 
 
Classified By: Deputy political counselor John G. Fox, reasons 1.4 (b/d 
). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Two years ago, Sab al Bour was a virtual 
ghost town, with fewer than 2,000 people of a population 
that had numbered 58,000 in 2003 (and an almost equal mix 
of Sunni and Shia).  The village could now be a model of 
reconstruction and reconciliation for other Iraqi cities. 
Over 3,500 families have returned since the beginning of 
2008, and an average of 200 people return each day.  This 
influx is due in large part to both a dramatic reduction of 
insurgent activity within the city and a successful effort 
on the part of the U.S. brigade operating in the region, 
Baghdad EPRT-5 and the GOI to develop and maintain 
essential services.  Returnees are eligible for two 
payments from the GOI:  one million Iraqi dinar (approx. 
USD 800) to assist them in re-settling into their former 
home and an additional amount if their house had been damaged 
or 
destroyed while they were away.  Returnees have been 
receiving both these payments, though often not as quickly 
as they would like.  END SUMMARY. 
 
AN EFFICIENT PROCESS 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The sub-district (nahia) council, in cooperation 
with the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM), has 
established an efficient and well-organized system to 
welcome, track and assist IDPs as they return to their 
homes.  Sab al Bour is a walled city, with only one 
entrance and exit.  Upon arrival at the town gates, IDPs 
are directed to the local governance center.  There they 
meet with nahia council representatives, produce evidence 
(typically a deed or property lease) of having formerly 
resided in Sab al Bour, complete a detailed questionnaire 
and proceed to the Joint Coordination Center (JCC).  The 
JCC, staffed by Coalition Forces (CF), Iraqi Army (IA) and 
Iraqi Police (IP), tracks all incoming IDPs in a database, 
takes each returnee's photograph and fingerprints, and 
provides them with information about government services 
available to residents. 
 
RETURNEES RECEIVING GOI PAYMENTS 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Upon re-integration into the city, IDPs are 
encouraged to apply for two GOI payments.  First, each IDP 
family is eligible for one million Iraqi dinars upon 
re-settlement into their former home, whether owned or 
rented.  According to the head of the returnee registration 
center, approximately 75 percent of returnees have received 
this amount (2/25 at the JCC estimates closer to 50 
percent).  Although the process is long and daunting to 
many residents, often taking up to six months, the vast 
majority receives payment.  Governor of Baghdad Hussein 
Tahan attributes delays in payments to the difficult task 
of vetting each claim.  He noted that he had uncovered over 
300 fraudulent applications. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Returnees whose home has been damaged or 
destroyed while they were away are also eligible for an 
additional GOI payment to assist them with rebuilding 
(reftel A).  Residents must provide evidence to the nahia 
chairman, who reviews the applications and decides which to 
forward to the Baghdad Governorate.  Since August 3 when 
Prime Minister Maliki's issuance of Order 101 established 
this fund, 118 Sab al Bour families have applied for this 
assistance.  The nahia council forwarded 68 to the Governor's 
office. Recipients, while grateful that the GOI had provided 
some assistance, repeatedly told ePRT poloff that the money 
Qsome assistance, repeatedly told ePRT poloff that the money 
was not nearly enough to enable them to rebuild houses which, 
in many cases, had been completely destroyed. 
 
WHY ARE SO MANY RETURNING? 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) The main reason for the relatively large return 
IDPs is improved security.  From October 2006 to April 
2007, 2/25 counted over 150  insurgent attacks in Sab al 
Bour, including 11 IED explosions and 26 murders.  Two 
years later, from April 2008 to October 2008, there were 
only three attacks, none of which were either IEDs or 
resulted in deaths.  This improvement has led MND-B to 
assert that the Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) Special Groups, once 
 
BAGHDAD 00003763  002 OF 002 
 
 
in control of Sab al Bour, have been defeated by the joint 
efforts of CF and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Almost all the returnees interviewed by EPRT 
poloff noted improved security as the most important factor 
in their decision, with the improvement in essential 
services such as water treatment, electricity and 
communications the second most important.  On November 15, 
Baghdad EPRT-5 officers attended the opening of one of two 
new water-treatment plants for the city, which together 
will provide potable water to a majority of the 
population.  Additionally, since the recent opening of 11kv 
and 33kv lines and an upgraded substation to serve the 
city, funded jointly by CF and the GOI, residents report 
that they have regularly been receiving six to eight hours 
of electricity per day (consistent with CF data); this is 
higher than the national average.  Many returnees also 
cited lower costs in Sab al Bour than in Baghdad (the 
location from which most IDPs have returned) and the desire 
to be reunited with extended family and friends as factors 
in their decision. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Unlike in other regions within Baghdad Province 
that have reported an increase in IDP returns recently 
(reftels B and C), squatters have not been a problem in Sab 
al Bour.  Although Prime Minister Order 101 gives ISF the 
right to forcibly evict squatters from the homes of 
returnees, no such actions have been necessary, according 
to the nahia council chairman.  According to employees in 
the IDP returnee center, approximately 300 houses remain 
uninhabited in Sab al Bour, though they expect families to 
return to them soon.  Not all return; some have chosen to 
rent their homes to other returnees, some of whom 
previously resided in Sab al Bour, and others from nearby 
areas.  There are now several small but active real estate 
offices specializing in rentals within the city. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Sab al Bour is currently a success story.  One of 
the most dangerous cities in Iraq has become a model of IDP 
returns in many respects.  As residents return in large 
numbers and begin to rebuild their homes, however, the town' 
s resources will be stretched.  Schools, health clinics and 
other public services are already at their limits. 
Residents have begun lobbying higher levels of government 
to provide them the capital and operating budgets needed to 
meet the expanding populace's needs.  As a rural nahia 
within Baghdad Province, Sab al Bour does not receive much 
attention from provincial leaders and is often left to 
solve its own problems.  Baghdad EPRT-5, together with CF, 
will continue to work with and support local and 
provincial-level 
leaders as they work to ensure the government honors its 
obligations 
to provide needed services to all of Sab al Bour's residents. 
 
CROCKER