Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 64621 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 09DJIBOUTI1029, CITING SECURITY CONCERNS, GODJ DENIES ACCESS TO SINGLE MALE

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #09DJIBOUTI1029.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09DJIBOUTI1029 2009-08-06 13:44 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Djibouti
VZCZCXRO6388
RR RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHDJ #1029 2181342
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061344Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0712
INFO SOMALIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHDJ/AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI
UNCLAS DJIBOUTI 001029 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E AND PRM/AFR 
ADDIS ABABA FOR REFCOORD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL ASEC PTER DJ SO
SUBJECT: CITING SECURITY CONCERNS, GODJ DENIES ACCESS TO SINGLE MALE 
SOMALI REFUGEES 
 
REF: 09 DJIBOUTI 593 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  Citing national security concerns, Djibouti's 
Ministry of the Interior decided August 3 to bar all young, single 
male Somali asylum seekers from entering Djibouti.  GODJ officials 
are concerned about the possibility that Al-Shabaab elements might 
try to infiltrate Djibouti by posing as refugees.  During joint 
GODJ-UNHCR screenings conducted at Djibouti's border with Somalia 
on August 3 and 5, only families and vulnerable applicants were 
allowed interviews, with UNHCR reporting that 14 single males were 
denied permission to enter Djiboutian territory on August 3.  UNHCR 
continues to reinforce to GODJ officials its position that all 
South/Central Somalis should have access to protection in Djibouti, 
and that full screening of all applicants, rather than a blanket 
disqualification for one certain group, is the appropriate tool for 
addressing security concerns. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
2. (SBU) Early on August 3, Minister of the Interior Yacin Elmi 
Bouh decided to close Djibouti's southern border to all 
undocumented single males originating from Somalia, including 
asylum seekers claiming to be of South/Central Somali origin. 
UNHCR Representative Ann Encontre told RSO that this decision 
followed media coverage on August 2 of renewed Al-Shabaab threats 
against Djibouti, and was motivated by national security concerns 
that Al-Shabaab elements might try to infiltrate Djibouti by posing 
as legitimate refugees or asylum seekers.  No time frame was given 
for the duration of the restriction. 
 
 
 
3. (SBU) Later in the day on August 3, UNHCR and the Ministry of 
the Interior's National Office for Assistance to Refugees and 
Disaster Stricken People (ONARS) conducted a joint screening of 
asylum seekers at the Loyada border post between Djibouti and 
Somalia.  According to UNHCR, 14 single males aged 18-42 were 
refused access to Djiboutian territory during the screening, as per 
the ministerial decision.  The 14 remained outside Djiboutian 
territory, although UNHCR predicted that some would likely try to 
seek entry illegally through other non-official border crossings. 
Only families and vulnerable applicants were interviewed in "no 
man's land," with 5 Somali families/16 persons from southern 
Somalia granted entry as refugees after simplified screening 
procedures.  According to ONARS, the bar against single men does 
not extend to men arriving as part of family groups.  UNHCR 
reported that the policy of excluding young single men continued 
during the next joint screening on August 5, although information 
on the number of applicants turned away was not yet available. 
 
 
 
4. (SBU) Encontre said that despite the new ministerial decision, 
UNHCR's position remained that all South/Central Somalis should 
have access to protection.   Applicants suspected of involvement in 
"1F" activities under the 1951 Convention Related to the Status of 
Refugees should undergo a full-fledged refugee status determination 
(RSD), she said.  "For reasons of national security and given the 
vulnerability of the Djibouti border," Encontre told RSO, UNHCR 
would "advise the screening of all applicants and not the 
application of restrictive policies leading to uncontrolled, 
illegal movements."  She also noted that UNHCR was following up on 
cases of two Somalis reportedly arrested and detained since August 
2 in Ali Sabieh on national security grounds. 
 
 
 
5. (SBU) COMMENT.  Post will continue to monitor this situation 
closely.  As UNHCR has noted, the current prohibition on single 
male Somalis echoes Djibouti's stance in May of this year, when 
GODJ officials argued that some unaccompanied males of military age 
among a group of 52 Somali migrants offloaded in Djibouti from the 
USS Lake Champlain did not qualify for refugee status in Djibouti 
(reftel).  END COMMENT. 
WONG