VZCZCXRO5822
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGV #0936/01 3121418
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071418Z NOV 08
FM USMISSION GENEVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7399
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GENEVA 000936 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR RALBRIGHT 
AMMAN FOR REFCOORD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PHUM
SUBJECT: AMB. FOLEY DISCUSSES IRAQ REFUGEE ISSUES WITH 
GENEVA HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Ambassador James B. Foley, Senior 
Coordinator for Iraqi Refugee Issues, visited Geneva from 
October 28-30 to meet with Geneva humanitarian organizations 
and donor missions.  He was accompanied by Shirley Woodward 
from PRM/ANE.  Foley held meetings with officials from UNHCR, 
ICRC, IFRC, IOM, WHO, ICMC, and held a round-table discussion 
with more than 15 donor mission representatives.  The visit 
allowed Ambassador Foley the opportunity to brief officials 
on U.S. views of the current return of Iraqi refugees and the 
need for continued strong assistance to Iraqi refugees in 
host countries in the region.  End Summary. 
 
TIME TO BEGIN PLANNING FOR REFUGEE RETURNS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On October 28, DCM Storella hosted a dinner for 
Ambassador Foley with key contacts from the Geneva-based 
humanitarian organizations.  Participants included Erika 
Feller, Assistant High Commissioner, UNHCR; Andrew Harper, 
Chief, Iraq Support Unit, UNHCR; Redhouane Saadi, Regional 
Advisor, IOM; Ibrahim Osman, Deputy Secretary General, 
International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent 
(IFRC); Dominik Stillhart, Deputy Director of Operations, 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); Eric 
Laroche, Assistant Director General, WHO; Johan Ketelers, 
Secretary General, International Catholic Migration Center 
(ICMC). 
 
¶3.  (SBU) There was general consensus among the group that 
the government of Iraq's current effort to promote refugee 
returns is not credible and that the government is not 
capable of receiving massive numbers of returnees.  At the 
same time, all agreed that the GOI did need technical support 
to help build its capacity to respond to possible large-scale 
refugee returns in the future.  Several participants said 
that the bulk of refugees planning to return to Iraq will 
look closely at how well internally displaced persons (IDPs) 
are welcomed back in their places of former residence and 
will place a high premium on security conditions in their 
specific neighborhoods before returning. While conceding that 
the GOI remains unlikely to provide any direct support to 
refugees in neighboring countries, there was agreement on the 
need for the GOI to improve its outreach efforts towards the 
refugees, which would, in turn, increase their confidence in 
the government when the refugees do return to Iraq. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Discussants agreed that to provide effective 
support and increase the international community's 
credibility, UN agencies need to boost their presence inside 
Iraq and to increase their work beyond the international zone 
in Baghdad.  According to several participants, this will 
also build confidence among local populations when they see 
greater international presence in different parts of the 
city.  Stillhart and Osman both said that despite problems 
with senior level management in the Iraqi Red Crescent 
Society (IRCS), it still has the best local network of 
contacts throughout Iraq for the delivery of humanitarian 
relief. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Feller expressed concerns that several European 
countries are anxious to send Iraqis now offered temporary 
asylum status back to Iraq and may be over-eager to accept 
news of increased security in Iraq.  She has been engaging 
them to discourage non-voluntary returns at this point, or at 
least to consider returns on a phased approach, e.g. limiting 
them to those returning to areas known to be safe.  Harper 
also mentioned that the Netherlands is hosting an EU 
Conference in the Hague next month that is designed to look 
at conditions of return in Iraq but lamented that UNHCR is 
not invited to this conference. (Note: Both Harper and IOM 
officials separately confided that Danish Immigration 
officials met with them this week to talk about possible 
returns to Iraq and inquired as to access to social services 
in places like Kirkuk.  Harper, however, said that he is 
unclear as to what exactly Denmark is interested in.  End 
note.) 
 
ICRC: FOCUS ON HEALTH, WATER AND SANITATION IN IRAQ 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Ambassador Foley also met with Beatrice 
Megevand-Roggo, Head of Operations for the Middle East and 
North Africa at ICRC.  Roggo said that ICRC's 2009 Iraq 
Program will have a budget of around CHF 95 million (approx. 
USD 85 million), or ten percent smaller than its 2008 
program.  She attributed the decrease mostly to the costs in 
scaling up ICRC's presence in 2008 and the fact that there 
 
GENEVA 00000936  002 OF 003 
 
 
has not been additional massive displacement this year.  ICRC 
will concentrate on the health and water/sanitation sectors 
inside Iraq.  Roggo explained that ICRC's approach will be to 
address community needs and not just to provide assistance to 
returnees (IDPs) in its activities.  She noted that targeting 
only IDPs for assistance could create tension among residents 
who have remained in place over the years and who may 
perceive returning refugees and IDPs as privileged 
individually, albeit a burden for the community.  Thus, 
ICRC's projects will be in areas with a high concentration of 
IDPs but will aim to benefit the entire community.  Roggo 
cautioned that militia groups will have greater influence in 
rural areas if international assistance does not also target 
areas outside of Baghdad.  According to Roggo, ICRC has 
offices in Baghdad, Najaf and Basra, it has just opened an 
office in Ramadi, and plans to open another office in Kirkuk. 
 Roggo explained that the public perception of ICRC is also 
improving.  ICRC had severely limited its exposure following 
the bombing of its Baghdad office in 2003, such as driving in 
unmarked vehicles and not advertising its work on community 
projects.  ICRC is increasingly using the Red Cross symbol on 
its vehicles in select areas and communicating through public 
means its assistance activities in Iraq so that the local 
population understands what ICRC is doing. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Ambassador Foley explained that most refugees will 
wait to see how well IDP returns go before deciding whether 
or not to return to Iraq.  Foley described current efforts to 
return IDPs to their former communities that have been 
supported by MNF-I and GOI military units as having been 
surprisingly successful in even the most difficult 
communities in Baghdad, such as Hurriya.  Roggo said she is 
encouraged by this, but wondered whether or not such 
expensive, smaller-scale operations can be sustained 
financially and/or politically when applied at a much broader 
level, particularly in those parts of Baghdad that have been 
thoroughly "cleansed" ethnically.  Roggo pointed to 
experience in the Balkans that shows just how hard it can be 
for people to return to areas occupied by opposing ethnic 
populations.  She said that although it is not politically 
correct to discuss at this early stage, she is not convinced 
that returns to all such ethnically "cleansed" areas in 
Baghdad will be possible.  Roggo said that while some 
returnees do go to their original homes, others are going to 
other parts of the city and renting their homes out to other 
Iraqis in their communities of origin.  Finally, Roggo said 
another key factor for refugees will be the rehabilitation of 
major infrastructure in Iraq.  She said that not all Iraqi 
refugees left for security reasons, but that day-to-day 
living inside Iraq had become so difficult for many Iraqis 
that leaving was the only rational solution.  She explained 
that corruption is a major factor behind the poor delivery of 
services from the GOI. 
 
IOM: CLOSE COOPERATION ON RESETTLEMENT 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) At IOM, Ambassador Foley met with Pasquale Lupoli, 
Director of Operations; Davide Mosca, Director of Migration 
Health Department; Michel Tonneau, Chief of Movement 
Management Division; Marco Boasso, Chief of the Emergency 
Division; and Redhouane Saadi, Regional Advisor.  Foley 
thanked IOM for the strong support on Iraqi resettlement in 
FY2008 and stated that the U.S. is aiming even higher in 
FY2009 on Iraqi return numbers.  Foley also discussed efforts 
to improve IOM access in Syria but noted that the latest 
crisis in relations would make significant change unlikely in 
the short run.  Tonneau said the EU is sending an assessment 
team to the region next week, composed of ten EU Member 
States, in order to look at the possibility of an EU program 
for Iraqi resettlement.  IOM noted that the numbers of any 
Iraqis to be resettled from this effort would likely be 
small, but he is encouraged that France is leading this 
initiative as it has recently agreed to resettle some 400-500 
Iraqis, mostly from Syria and Baghdad. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Foley mentioned that in-country processing seems to 
be going well but asked if IOM could consider boosting its 
current in-country staff from six to eight officers and to 
extend deployment of its staff from four to six weeks on a 
rotational basis.  Foley stressed this had not been decided 
yet within PRM but that it was important IOM not have any 
personnel gaps in order to ensure a steady flow of referrals. 
 IOM replied that there are many issues that would need to be 
considered, particularly with regard to the workload on its 
staff, but he agreed that IOM cannot allow staffing gaps. 
Tonneau requested further feedback from PRM as to what sort 
of financial support IOM would receive.  In response to a 
question from Foley on employment verification of in-country 
 
GENEVA 00000936  003 OF 003 
 
 
SIV applicants, Tonneau said that IOM is already doing this 
for Sweden, New Zealand, and Australia, albeit on a very 
limited basis. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Foley also explained that the U.S. does not 
believe that now is the time to promote large-scale 
repatriation of Iraqi refugees and described the GOI's recent 
efforts as ill-advised and asked IOM to work closely with 
MODM in order to strengthen its capacity to deal with ongoing 
IDP returns.  Foley also raised the issue of IOM's Iraq Chief 
of Mission's recent unauthorized visit to Syria, which had 
led to serious friction with the Syrian authorities and 
suggested that IOM should reexamine its representation in 
Iraq.  Lupoli expressed his view that there had been an 
unfortunate misunderstanding between IOM and the GOS, but 
said that IOM does plan to send the new IOM DG, Bill Swing, 
to Syria and Jordan and hopefully to Iraq in the near future, 
something the previous DG had never done. 
 
UNHCR: MOVE OUT OF THE GREEN ZONE 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Ambassador Foley held a separate meeting with 
Andrew Harper on UNHCR's Iraq planning for 2009.  Harper 
reiterated UNHCR's plans to focus on building up its capacity 
in Baghdad and plans to reinforce cooperation with partners 
inside Iraq, including MODM and some 2,300 local NGOs that 
have been referred to UNHCR by MFN-I and the Iraqi Security 
Forces.  He noted that the current U.S. Battalion has 
provided contact information and comments for its 47 existing 
local partners.  He also repeated UNHCR's plans to open eight 
return assistance centers.  Foley and Harper also discussed 
resettlement in FY2009 and Foley underscored the importance 
that UNHCR boost its monthly referral numbers, particularly 
in Syria, so that the U.S. can meet its goals for the coming 
year.  Foley also questioned UNHCR's figures for Iraqi 
resettlement needs in the region, which are currently at 
100,000 persons.  Harper agreed that this figure is somewhat 
out of date and explained that UNHCR would soon begin 
reviewing its eligibility guidelines for Iraqis.  (Note:  In 
a separate conversation with RMA Officer, Harper said the 
figure would likely drop to 50,000-60,000 in need of 
resettlement.  End note.)  Foley also encouraged Harper to 
ensure the assistance component to refugees in host countries 
is not overlooked in its 2009 Appeal.  Harper indicated that 
he believes UNHCR will be fine if the Iraq program is fully 
funded. 
 
MEETING WITH DONOR MISSIONS 
--------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Ambassador Foley ended his meetings with a 
briefing to donor missions.  Participating Missions included: 
Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Czech Republic, Germany, Australia, 
the European Commission, Finland, Canada, Estonia, the 
Netherlands, UK, Turkey, Japan, France, Egypt, and Kuwait. 
Foley reviewed for the Missions his visit to Baghdad and 
Jordan and U.S. plans for resettlement of Iraqis in FY2009. 
The main message he communicated was that while the U.S. 
agrees with the overall objective of the GOI to support the 
return of refugees, the U.S. does not agree with the current 
methodology used to return Iraqis nor with the timing.  Foley 
also noted that it would be difficult for the USG to continue 
funding the humanitarian agencies' Iraq programs at the same 
levels as in 2008 and he made a strong pitch for other donors 
to step up to the plate in support of UNHCR's 2009 Iraq 
Program. 
 
Ambassador Foley has cleared this cable. 
TICHENOR