VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDJ #0283/01 0961558
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061559Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0269
INFO RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDJ/AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI

UNCLAS DJIBOUTI 000283 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR AF/E, PRM/AFR, S/CRS AND USAID 
ADDIS ABABA FOR REFCOORD 
NAIROBI FOR RDRAPCHO AND REFCOORD 
GENEVA FOR KPERKINS 
AFRICOM AND CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL SMIG SO DJ ET ER XA
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI: UNHCR UPDATES CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR REFUGEES FROM 
SOMALIA AND ERITREA 
 
REF: 08 DJIBOUTI 632; 09 CIA WASHINGTON DC 3307745 
 
(RETRANSMISSION OF 09 DJIBOUTI 191, PER REF B) 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  On February 23, Ann EnContre, United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Djibouti, 
briefed Conoff on recent UNHCR activities, including UNHCR's 
latest contingency planning for a possible influx to Djibouti of up 
to 30,000 refugees from bordering countries.  She also reported on 
recent incidents on UNHCR premises, including Eritrean refugees' 
protest for resettlement and attempted arson by a disgruntled 
ex-Somali refugee.  On Eritrea, UNHCR reports a total of 179 
Eritrean military deserters are now registered in Djibouti as 
asylum-seekers.  EnContre also highlighted progress UNHCR has made 
on completing new infrastructure and improving protection at the 
Ali Adde refugee camp.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
CONTINGENCY PLANNING FOR INFLUX OF 30,000 REFUGEES 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2.  According to EnContre, UNHCR has prepared an emergency 
contingency plan for up to 30,000 additional refugees (25,000 
Somalis; 4,000 Ethiopians; and 1,000 Eritreans) in Djibouti, due to 
instability in bordering countries.  (NOTE: There are approximately 
9,000 refugees currently in Djibouti.  END NOTE.)  EnContre 
explained that if the recent election of the new Somali government 
caused increased fighting in Somalia, then a large refugee influx 
could stream into Djibouti and Ethiopia--rather than Kenya--due to 
the closure of Kenya's borders.  Close ethnic ties between 
Djiboutians and Somalis may also cause some Somalis to take refuge 
in Djibouti, as they have in the past.  Furthermore, UNHCR 
anticipates Djibouti receiving more refugees from Ethiopia's Ogaden 
region, due to increasing conflict and human rights violations 
there, and the proximity between Ethiopia and Djibouti. 
 
--------------------------- 
ERITREAN MILITARY DESERTERS 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3.  EnContre believes the unresolved border conflict between 
Djibouti and Eritrea will cause Eritreans living in border towns to 
cross over from Eritrea and seek asylum in Djibouti (on February 
26, UNHCR received Eritrean refugees from the Government of 
Djibouti).  UNHCR also reports a growing number of deserters or 
defectors from the Eritrean military:  as of early March, a total 
of 129 have been registered in Djibouti as asylum-seekers.  Of the 
129 Eritreans, 73 were recognized in December 2008 as refugees 
under UNHCR's mandate, and are currently being reviewed for 
resettlement. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
ERITREAN REFUGEES PROTEST FOR RESETTLEMENT 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  On January 21, news of the recent resettlement of Eritrean 
refugees from Ethiopia's Shimelba refugee camp caused 17 Eritrean 
refugees to protest at the UNHCR office in Djibouti.  The group 
threatened a hunger strike if their demands for immediate 
resettlement were not met, despite written assurances by UNHCR 
Protection staff that their cases would be reviewed.  Because the 
GODJ had banned public gatherings due to the UN-sponsored Somali 
reconciliation talks, the protestors were arrested, but were later 
released with UNHCR's assistance. 
 
¶5.  On February 18, UNHCR met with seven Eritrean refugees detained 
by Djiboutian authorities while seeking to cross from Djibouti to 
Ethiopia at Galilleh.  The refugees, who held family attestations 
issued by UNHCR in Djibouti and by ONARS (GODJ's refugee agency), 
claimed that the ongoing Eritrean-Djiboutian border conflict 
threatened their personal safety, as they received insults and 
hostile treatment from Djiboutians.  They also reported having lost 
their jobs because of their nationality, and requested resettlement 
in Ethiopia, Kenya, or Sudan. 
 
¶6.  UNHCR advised the refugees not to pressure the Djiboutian 
Government, as it had offered them protection for the last nine 
years.  UNHCR also noted that leaving a country of asylum involved 
serious risks, and that asking for asylum in Ethiopia would mean 
 
 
their cases would have to start from scratch.  After meeting with 
UNHCR, the Eritrean refugees expressed their readiness to return to 
Djibouti.  However, they refused to return to Djibouti City, citing 
insecurity, and requested placement instead in the Ali Addeh 
refugee camp or the town of Ali Sabieh. 
 
-------------------- 
REGISTRATION RESUMES 
-------------------- 
 
¶7.  As a result of GODJ security measures imposed in early 2009, 
when Djibouti was hosting UN-sponsored Somali reconciliation talks, 
the registration of new refugee arrivals from south and central 
Somalia (at Loyada, on the Djibouti-Somaliland border) had been 
suspended for four consecutive weeks, beginning January 14. 
Registration resumed on February 23. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
NEW CONSTRUCTION IN ALI ADDE REFUGEE CAMP 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  UNHCR has started constructing two new classrooms (size 8 x 6 
meters) and fencing around the north and east sides of the school 
compound in the Ali Adde camp, to accommodate newly arrived refugee 
children from south/central Somalia.  Three tents were given to the 
director of the school on January 26 for use as temporary 
classrooms.  School materials purchased for the refugee children 
were to be delivered to the school in mid-March. 
 
¶9.  Another project in completion at Ali Adde is a UNHCR office, to 
provide work space for UNHCR staff, such as the Senior Protection 
officer.  By the end of March 2009, UNHCR also hopes to have a 
makeshift transit center at the refugee camp. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
NGOS AND THE GODJ ASSIST WITH HEALTH CARE 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  Representatives of LIFE International, UNHCR, and the 
Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) met February 18 to 
assess cooperation among all three parties.  LIFE International (a 
2008 grantee of the Ambassador's Fund for Refugees) continues to 
provide skills training to refugee women at the refugee camp, and 
LIFE's pediatrician has begun giving reinforcement training to 
AMDA's nurses and community health workers in the areas of maternal 
health and morbidity. 
 
¶11.  On February 16, UNHCR and the Ministry of Health agreed to 
transfer the nutrition, maternity, and infant/child programs from 
the AMDA clinic to the Ministry's National Health Center at Ali 
Adde. 
 
¶12.  COMMENT.  Unlike Ethiopia, Djibouti has yet to see a 
significant influx of Somali refugees since the election of the new 
Somali government in early 2009.  Just weeks after UNHCR submitted 
a contingency plan for 25,000 Somalis, UNHCR Geneva reported that 
more than 40,000 internally displaced people had returned to 
Mogadishu.  Refugees fleeing Eritrea, or from instability in 
southern Somalia, would significantly strain Djibouti's limited 
infrastructure, which has seen the number of refugees at Ali 
Adde--its sole refugee camp--increase by 50 per cent over the last 
18 months.  END COMMENT. 
SWAN