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R 191057Z FEB 09
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NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0123
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RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0113
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TASHKENT 000194 
 
SIPDIS SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR SCA, DRL, PRM, AND DHS/USCIS 
PRM FOR MATTHEW JOHNSON, NANCY LONG, AND TERRY RUSCH 
MOSCOW FOR LISA KIERANS, SUSANNE SINCLAIR-SMITH, AND SUSANNE GIBBONS 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 
AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-02-19 
TAGS: PREF KWMN PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI UNDP UNHCR AF UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: AFGHAN REFUGEES DESCRIBE HARRASSMENT; 
DEPORTATIONS 
 
REF: a) TASHKENT 156; 08 TASHKENT 1306 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Richard Fitzmaurice, Poloff; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: On February 12, poloff met with 25 Afghan refugees 
at the office of a Tashkent-based NGO which provides humanitarian 
assistance to refugees.  The Afghans alleged widespread harassment 
by government officials, and some refugees experienced forced 
deportation back to Afghanistan.  They also claimed they would face 
persecution if returned to Afghanistan and complained about the 
resettlement process.  In addition, the refugees expressed 
appreciation for the assistance they received from the NGO, which 
in 2008 was provided U.S. State Department support.  We continue to 
believe that Afghan refugees remain one of the most vulnerable 
groups in Uzbekistan and we support efforts to encourage other 
countries to accept greater numbers of such refugees at the UNHCR 
Resettlement Working Group meeting in Geneva on February 24 and 25. 
End summary. 
 
 
 
MEETING WITH AFGHAN MANDATE REFUGEES 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶2.  (C) On February 12, poloff met with 25 Afghan refugees, 
including the Chairman of the Afghan Community in Uzbekistan, at 
the office of Tashkent-based International Professional Education 
Development Assistance Center (PROFED), a Tashkent-based NGO which 
provides humanitarian assistance and educational training to 
refugees in Uzbekistan.  Since the closure of UNHCR's office in 
Tashkent in 2006, UNDP has been responsible for monitoring the 
welfare of refugees, mostly from Afghanistan, who had been 
previously granted UNHCR mandate certificates in Uzbekistan.  In 
2006 and 2007, UNDP supported PROFED's operations, and in 2008 the 
organization received funding through the State Department's Taft 
Fund for Refugees.  Since 2007, Afghan refugees have been 
increasingly harassed by Uzbek authorities, who have deported a 
substantial number of refugees back to Afghanistan in recent 
months.  The Uzbek government claims that the Afghans are economic, 
not political, refugees (ref A). 
 
 
 
ESTIMATES OF NUMBER OF MANDATE AND "ILLEGAL" REFUGEES 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (C) PROFED's director Natalya Krokhmal reported there were 
approximately 750 Afghan refugees left in Uzbekistan with UNHCR 
mandate certificates (Note: UNDP recently provided us with a 
similar estimate, ref A).  In addition, she reported that PROFED 
has registered an additional 1,230 "illegal" Afghan refugees, the 
majority of which entered Uzbekistan since the closing of UNHCR's 
office in 2006 and therefore could not be issued UNHCR mandate 
certificates.  In the past year, she reported that nearly 500 new 
Afghan refugees had entered Uzbekistan.  In certain cases, PROFED 
has assisted the travel of these refugees to UNHCR offices in 
Almaty and Bishkek. 
 
 
 
REFUGEES DESCRIBE HARRASSMENT; DEPORTATIONS 
 
------------------------------------------- 
 
TASHKENT 00000194  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶4.  (C) When poloff asked how many of the refugees present had 
experienced harassment by government authorities, almost all of the 
refugees raised their hands.  The refugees complained of being 
frequently detained by Uzbek authorities, who often demanded bribes 
of 10,000 soums (approximately 7 dollars) to let them go.  They 
also complained that authorities ignored their UNHCR mandate 
certificates and in some cases seized their documents or tore them 
up. In some cases, the refugees already had been forcibly deported 
to Afghanistan and later returned to Uzbekistan.  They explained 
that other refugees who recently had their mandate certificates 
seized by Uzbek authorities were afraid of being deported and were 
currently in hiding. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (C) The refugees and PROFED confirmed a report by UNDP in 
Tashkent that Uzbek authorities have forcibly deported almost 70 
Afghan refugees from Uzbekistan back to Afghanistan since October 
2008 (ref A).  Of those recent deportees, the refugees explained 
that approximately 40 of them have since found some way to return 
to Uzbekistan, while they have not heard from the others.  One 
female refugee reported that she had lost contact with her husband 
since he had been deported back to Afghanistan and feared that he 
had been harmed. 
 
 
 
¶6.  (C) The refugees explained it was very difficult for them to 
support themselves in Uzbekistan.  Each family of refugees with 
UNHCR mandate status in Uzbekistan is given a maximum of 50 dollars 
per month, which they argued was not nearly enough to cover their 
expenses.  Several of the Afghan men reported that they worked as 
menial laborers at bazaars in Tashkent, where they are often 
harassed by unemployed Uzbeks from the regions.  The Afghans also 
explained that they were frequently discriminated against because 
of social prejudices which portrayed them as uneducated, violent, 
and involved in the drug trade.  Many of the refugees complained of 
sharing extremely cramped living conditions with other refugees. 
 
 
 
AFGHANS SAY THEY WILL FACE PERSECUTION IF RETURNED 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
 
 
¶7.  (C) The Afghans denied that they were economic refugees and 
argued they would face harm if deported back to Afghanistan.  They 
explained that Uzbek authorities, when deporting Afghans, simply 
drop them off at the other side of the "Friendship Bridge" over the 
Amu Darya River (which divides Uzbekistan and Afghanistan). 
Regardless of their past affiliations, the Afghans claimed that any 
returnee from Uzbekistan was viewed as a "communist" by Afghans and 
potentially faced retaliation.  Some of the refugees feared 
retaliation by specific Afghan warlords or clan leaders. 
 
 
 
¶8.  (C) Several of the younger female refugees explained that they 
had lived most of their life in Uzbekistan and were doubtful that 
they could adapt to Afghan society and its much more conservative 
attitude towards women.  Several of the female refugees feared that 
they could be persecuted for their dress (which was more or less 
 
TASHKENT 00000194  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
Western) or for having lived so long in a country like Uzbekistan 
where such dress is tolerated. 
 
 
 
REFUGEES FRUSTRATED WITH RESETTLEMENT PROCESS 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9.  (C) The refugees - several of whom had been rejected for 
resettlement by third countries, including the United States and 
Sweden - unsurprisingly expressed frustration with the resettlement 
process (Note: Nearly 500 Afghan refugees have been rejected for 
resettlement in the United States due to past associations with 
KHAD, the intelligence service of the former Soviet Afghan puppet 
regime.  End note.)  Some of the refugees complained that they did 
not know why they were rejected for resettlement, while others 
denied that they had links to KHAD or other groups guilty of 
persecution, arguing instead they were simply journalists or 
members of the intelligentsia who supported the former Afghan 
Soviet puppet regime.  Some of the refugees believed they had been 
rejected for resettlement because their children had provided 
contradictory information.  They argued their children had spent 
most of their lives in Uzbekistan and had little knowledge about 
their parents' activities in Afghanistan.  Other parents complained 
that their children had been resettled in third countries while 
they were themselves rejected for resettlement, and as a result, 
they were now unable to see their children.  They also explained 
that some of the refugees based in Termez missed their interviews 
for resettlement because they were afraid to travel to Tashkent, 
believing that they could be stopped by Uzbek authorities en route 
and deported back to Afghanistan. 
 
 
 
¶10.  (C) The refugees believed that their time in Uzbekistan was 
"limited" and most of them feared  deportation back to Afghanistan. 
They argued that the only solution to their plight was resettlement 
in third countries. 
 
 
 
REFUGEES EXPRESS APPRECIATION FOR PROFED'S ASSISTANCE 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
 
 
¶11.  (C) The Afghans expressed appreciation for the assistance they 
had been provided through PROFED.  Some of the older refugees 
suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure, and PROFED's office 
was the only place where they could receive medical care.  PROFED's 
staff intervened with local officials to allow their children to 
attend local Uzbek schools.  In cases where the children were still 
unable to attend local schools, PROFED provided classes for them at 
their office.  Several of the refugees also reported learning new 
vocational skills through courses offered by PROFED in cooking, 
sewing and embroidery, and hair design. 
 
 
 
TOUR OF PROFED FACILITIES 
 
------------------------- 
 
TASHKENT 00000194  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶12.  (C) After the meeting with the Afghan refugees, Krokhmal 
provided a tour of PROFED's facilities, which included classrooms 
and workshops.  She explained that while the refugees are not able 
to legally work in Uzbekistan, they are able to support themselves 
by offering services to neighbors and friends.  She also explained 
that some refugees who had participated in PROFED's trainings had 
used those skills abroad after they being resettled in third 
countries. 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶13.  (C) Afghan refugees remain one of the most vulnerable 
populations in Uzbekistan and we support efforts to convince other 
countries to accept greater numbers of such refugees at the 
upcoming UNHCR Resettlement Working Group meeting in Geneva.  While 
a minority of the Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan may be economic, as 
alleged by the government, we believe that many of the refugees 
face credible threats of persecution in Afghanistan.  Living in 
Uzbekistan is clearly no picnic for the majority of Afghan 
refugees, who face widespread social prejudice and harassment, 
including the threat of deportation, at the hands of Uzbek 
authorities.  At the very least, Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan 
generally face more serious threats of persecution than other 
groups in Uzbekistan which have been previously granted asylum in 
United States, including members of the local Jewish and Protestant 
communities. 
NORLAND 
 
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