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RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHDR #0379/01 1611036
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101036Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8591
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 2910
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3441
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 1366
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0320
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1303
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0372
RUEHDS/USMISSION USAU ADDIS ABABA
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0496
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAR ES SALAAM 000379 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E JLIDDLE, PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PHUM PREF CG TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA CONGOLESE REFUGEES TRIPARTITE COMMISSION MEETING 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: May 11-13, Delegates from the United Nations High 
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the Tanzania (GOT), and the 
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) participated in the fourth 
meeting of the Tripartite Commission for the Voluntary Return of 
Congolese Refugees in Kigoma, Tanzania.  The parties agreed to 
continue facilitated repatriation; to consolidate all Congolese 
refugees into Nyaragusu camp no later than September 30; to move 
refugees already in the resettlement process to the Kanembwa 
processing center by the end of June; and to explore with the World 
Food Program (WFP) the possibility of increasing the food ration 
from three to six months as an extra incentive for the refugees to 
repatriate.  The Commission's Final Communique also included a 
commitment to avoid unintended removal of recognized refugees from 
Tanzania during actions to expel illegal immigrants.  In contrast to 
prior meetings of the Tripartite Commission, this session was easily 
concluded with very little contention between the parties on the 
content of the final communique. (NOTE: The text of the final 
communique will be forwarded to the Bureau of Population, Refugees, 
and Migration via email.)END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) The fourth meeting of the Tripartite Commission for the 
Voluntary Return of Congolese Refugees in Tanzania met in Kigoma, 
Tanzania, May 11-13.  The Commission was comprised of delegations 
from UNHCR in both Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 
UNHCR offices as well as government delegations from Tanzania and 
DRC.  The meeting was chaired by Tanzanian Deputy Minister for Home 
Affairs Khamis Kagasheki, with UNHCR Tanzania Country Representative 
Yacoub El Hillo and DRC Ambassador to Tanzania Juma Alfani Mpango as 
co-chairs. 
 
¶3. (U) Representatives from the Embassies of France, the 
Netherlands, and Belgium attended the session as observers, as did 
USG Regional Refugee Coordinator and the ECHO (European Community 
Humanitarian Organization) Representative for Tanzania and Burundi. 
Members of the press, including Bloomberg News and BBC, also covered 
the presentation of the final communique. 
 
¶4. (U) The Tripartite Commission meeting and the two days of working 
group sessions went smoothly and lacked contention.  By contrast, 
some sessions of the Tripartite Commission in 2008 were not able to 
close until the early morning hours, because of complaints from the 
Regional Commissioner in Kigoma about timelines for camp closure and 
repatriation.  One issue that raised the level of tension a bit was 
the expulsion of Congolese illegal immigrants from Tanzania. 
Several weeks prior to the Tripartite Commission meeting, the GOT 
expelled several hundred people alleged to be Congolese illegal 
immigrants.  UNHCR and GDRC asserted that recognized Congolese 
refugees were included in this group and that the GDRC was not 
notified in advance of the intent to expel these individuals.  The 
conversation on this issue continued during the Tripartite 
Commission meeting, with strong statements from both the DRC 
Ambassador to Tanzania and the Governor of South Kivu.  However, 
both GOT and GDRC representatives agreed to the language included in 
the final communique reaffirming Tanzania's right to deal with 
illegal immigrants according to its laws and through its bilateral 
relationship with the GDRC.  The statement also readdressed GOT's 
obligations under international law toward recognized refugees. 
(NOTE:  In an unusual public move, UNHCR Tanzania Country 
Representative Yacoub El Hillo stressed that presence of refugees 
outside of the refugee camps without a permit is not an offense 
punishable by expulsion under Tanzanian law.  Regional and District 
Commissioners in the refugee hosting areas have included recognized 
refugees in the recent groups of Congolese expellees under the 
pretext that they were outside the camps without permission.) 
 
¶5. (U) The GOT remains convinced that the primary rationale 
preventing Congolese refugees from returning home is concern about 
the socio-economic situation in DRC rather than ongoing insecurity. 
Deputy Minister Kagasheki expressed this sentiment, citing a 
recently-completed report from UNHCR-DRC describing the environment 
in the largest area of anticipated refugee return in South Kivu. 
(Note:  UNHCR Head of Sub-Office Bukavu, Millicent Mutuli, said that 
the report does not draw conclusions, but simply describes the 
current state of affairs.)  GDRC representatives at the Tripartite 
Commission did not disagree that these concerns play a role in 
delaying refugee return; however, they also cited the refugees' 
expressed concern about the possibility of the spread of the 
conflict from North Kivu and the potential for reprisal violence 
from the Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation de Rwanda (FDLR) in 
the region, as a result of the planned launch of Operation Kimia II 
 
DAR ES SAL 00000379  002 OF 003 
 
 
designed to eradicate the FDLR. 
 
¶6. (U) On May 14 the Tripartite Commission delegations traveled to 
the two remaining camps for Congolese refugees in Tanzania, Lugufu 
in Kigoma District and Nyaragusu in Kasulu District.  The 
delegations announced the planned consolidation of Lugufu into 
Nyaragusu camp beginning June 30 and set to conclude September 30, 
¶2009. (Note: this is a change from the prior agreement which would 
have closed Lugufu camp by the end of June 2009.)  Response from the 
refugees was mixed. Most of their questions centered on security in 
eastern Congo and on elements of the repatriation incentive package 
that they would receive (particularly on the food ration). 
 
¶7. (U) At each camp, the Governor of South Kivu provided an update 
on security in the province and in eastern DRC in general.  Refugee 
audiences on both camps clearly expressed disbelief at the 
Governor's assertion of Laurent Nkunda's arrest in Rwanda and showed 
concern about the possible consequences of Operation Kimia II for 
the general population.   One questioner in Nyaragusu Camp asked 
why, if there is peace in DRC, the United Nations Security Council 
approved 3,000 additional peacekeepers for the country.  In a 
poignant moment, a female refugee asked what measures were in place 
to protect women from sexual assault by both the rebel groups and 
the peacekeepers in the region.  In both camps, refugees asked 
whether they would receive a six-month food ration upon repatriation 
to DRC rather than the three months that is current practice. 
(NOTE:  During a visit by the Regional Refugee Coordinator to South 
Kivu in early May, the WFP eastern Congo representative said that 
she had refused a request from UNHCR to provide an additional 
three-month food ration to Congolese returnees.  During the 
Tripartite Commission meeting, the WFP-Kigoma representative also 
reiterated to the Refugee Coordinator that WFP Tanzania will not 
provide additional food to increase the incentive package.) 
 
¶8. (U) There are 64,676 Congolese refugees in Tanzania, distributed 
between Lugufu in Kigoma District (25,288), Nyaragusu in Kasulu 
District (38,312), and Kanembwa Refugee Processing Center (1,076). 
Of the refugees in Lugufu and Nyaragusu, 58,434 come from the 
province of South Kivu in eastern DRC, predominantly from Fizi 
territory.  In 2008, UNHCR assisted 15,490 Congolese refugees to 
repatriate from Tanzania.  Although as of May 10, 2009, only 199 
refugees had repatriated, May to October is considered the 
traditional peak period for refugees to return from Tanzania to DRC. 
There are approximately 100 families in the two refugee camps who 
are already in the process of consideration for resettlement, many 
to the United States, and who will be moved to Kanembwa refugee 
processing center by the end of June 2009.  UNHCR believes that the 
presence of these families in the camps encourages other refugees to 
delay their repatriation in the hope that they, too, will be 
considered for resettlement. 
 
¶9. (SBU) COMMENT:  GOT representatives at this Tripartite Commission 
continued to espouse a firm line on refugee repatriation while at 
the same time showing some flexibility on the actual timeline.  The 
absence of the Regional Commissioner for Kigoma from this session 
may have contributed to the cordial atmosphere and the rapid arrival 
at a final communique.  The Regional Commissioner and the District 
Commissioners from the refugee-hosting districts have been 
particularly outspoken on the timelines for camp closure during 
prior Tripartite sessions, primarily because they are eager to take 
advantage of the infrastructure that will remain in the former camp 
sites.  It is also worth noting that a recent reshuffle of 
commissioners by President Kikwete saw the arrival of a new District 
Commissioner to the area.  UNHCR encouraged the consolidation of the 
Congolese refugees into a single camp in part because this reduces 
the number of district commissioners with whom they have to 
negotiate regarding the refugees, massively simplifying this often 
complicated task. 
 
¶10. (SBU) COMMENT (CONT'D):  This Tripartite Commission meeting was 
also the last for UNHCR Tanzania Country Director Yacoub El Hillo 
who will depart Dar es Salaam this summer to take up a regional 
UNHCR position in Saudi Arabia.  El Hillo developed a close working 
relationship with GOT Minister for Home Affairs Lawrence Masha and 
prioritized a smooth relationship with the Tanzanian Government. He 
has been very accommodating to GOT requests for rapid refugee 
repatriation timelines, consolidation of refugees into smaller 
numbers of camps, and issues related to the relocation of the 
locally-integrating 1972 Burundian refugees.  He lobbied strongly 
with the international donor community to support these initiatives 
 
DAR ES SAL 00000379  003 OF 003 
 
 
- both politically and financially - often in the face of criticism 
from USG and major European donors. 
 
HANNAN