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RR RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHSA #1959/01 2711031
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281031Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9699
INFO RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE 3895
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 6927
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 7174
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 1260
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 9541

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 001959 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PREF SF
SUBJECT: RESETTLEMENT SET TO GROW (CAUTIOUSLY) FROM S.AFRICA 
 
REF: A. PRETORIA 1740 
     ¶B. 08 PRETORIA 2379 
 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) On a September 7-10 visit, U.S. Regional Refugee 
Coordinator met with key counterparts in an ongoing effort to 
expand the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) in 
Southern Africa.  The program vets African applicants (of 
diverse nationalities, but from South Africa likely mainly 
Somali) for resettlement to the U.S.  USRAP anticipates 
receiving 1,800 resettlement referrals from UNHCR regionally 
in 2009 and up to 2,000 referrals in 2010.  The majority of 
the latter are expected to be from South Africa, primarily 
victims of xenophobic violence unable to integrate into local 
communities.  USRAP expansion is welcomed by the SAG as a 
concrete demonstration of international "burden sharing," 
helping to preserve the SAG's progressive asylum regime at a 
time of increasing regional restrictions on refugees.  Given 
the charged atmosphere over immigration issues, both the USG 
and SAG will take pains to avoid drawing media attention to 
this initiative.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Background - 2008: USRAP Growth Meets SAG Need 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In November 2008, officers from the U.S. Refugee 
Admissions Program (USRAP) visited South Africa to assess 
prospects for expanding the program to assist vulnerable 
foreign nationals.  With its strong economy and 
post-apartheid permissive immigration policy, South Africa 
has drawn an estimated three to five million migrants, some 
of whom are refugees.  (Note: this estimate is outdated and 
based on hearsay, but no official count exists.)  While 
Zimbabweans are the largest group of non-nationals (and most 
of them considered economic migrants), others include 
Mozambicans, Malawians, Somalis, Ethiopians, Congolese, 
Burundians, and nearly every other African nationality.  In 
mid-2008, when foreign migrants came under brutal attack by 
xenophobic mobs, the SAG was slow to respond and has since 
taken little action to prevent repeated violence (ref A). 
While nearly all foreigners displaced in the attacks have 
successfully reintegrated to their former homes or new 
communities, U.S. resettlement may be deemed the only durable 
solution for some of the asylum-seeking and refugee 
population in South Africa who are unable to reintegrate. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) welcomed the 
idea of USRAP expansion as a means to relieve migration 
pressures.  Broaching the notion of refugee resettlement with 
care to avoid offending SAG sensibilities as the haven 
"rainbow nation," we were surprised by the enthusiastic 
response of DHA's Deputy Director General Jackie McKay.  Our 
timing was ideal, he said, as his Minister had recently asked 
him to reach out to refugee resettlement countries as "burden 
sharing" partners in absorbing asylum seekers.  South Africa 
was "buckling" under the weight of the influx of foreigners, 
and their growing load on public services.  McKay warned that 
post-xenophobia critiques by media, and the SAG's inability 
to find common ground with groups like the one at Akasia, 
which refused to vacate shelters and return to their 
communities (ref B), were causing some SAG leaders to lose 
patience with liberal policies and to advocate for a more 
restrictive regime.  In this climate, the SAG saw refugee 
resettlement as a means to ease social and political 
pressures.  With caveats that USRAP could not guarantee 
Qpressures.  With caveats that USRAP could not guarantee 
transfer of any particular group or individual (nor did we 
wish to incent troublemakers or encourage smuggling), we 
agreed with DHA to work jointly on a limited and targeted 
expansion of USRAP in South Africa. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The 2008 visit also included meetings with migrant 
advocacy groups to explain the limited scope and targeted 
nature of USRAP in South Africa.  Initially concerned that 
USRAP would enable the SAG to shirk its protection duties to 
refugees and migrants, in effect rewarding it for failure, 
the Consortium for Migrants in South Africa (CORMSA) and Wits 
University's Forced Migration Studies Project (FSMP) were 
cautiously accepting of USRAP plans to consider only small 
numbers of the most vulnerable refugees referred by UNHCR 
(e.g. Somali traders, single mothers, and orphan children) 
unable to integrate into local communities.  Recognizing that 
South Africa remains a safe haven and land of opportunity for 
the overwhelming majority of African migrants, we argued that 
 
PRETORIA 00001959  002 OF 003 
 
 
small-scale resettlement would not eliminate the SAG's 
responsibilities to refugees -- and would in fact help afford 
the SAG needed space to develop protection and integration 
programs for those remaining in South Africa. 
 
---------------------------- 
UNHCR Identifying Candidates 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  The U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has 
in the past submitted relatively few resettlement referrals 
from South Africa, but at USRAP urging it is now ramping up 
its capacity to meet higher targets.  From January through 
August last year, UNHCR referred only 22 family cases (15 
Somali, six Congolese, and one Rwandan), totaling 78 persons, 
to the U.S. from South Africa.  For full-year 2008 the number 
was 94 cases, totaling 315 persons.  By contrast, from 
January through August this year UNHCR had referred 751 
persons.  Regional Resettlement Officer Shant 
Dermegerditchian was optimistic that UNHCR would meet USRAP 
regional targets of 1,800 individuals this calendar year and 
submit referrals of up to 2,000 persons in 2010.  The 1,800 
Southern Africa referrals UNHCR plans to submit to USRAP in 
2009 dwarf the 370 referrals it expects to make to Australia, 
the 150 to Canada, and the 50-75 to the Netherlands and the 
Nordic countries. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) UNHCR estimates of refugees needing resettlement 
from Southern Africa indicate that South Africa is 
potentially the region's main source of referrals: 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Estimated Resettlement Need  - Southern Africa 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Number          Country 
--------------------------------------------- - 
2,000           South Africa 
1,200           Zambia 
750             Zimbabwe 
400             Malawi 
300             Mozambique 
200             Namibia 
140             Botswana 
100             Angola 
--------------------------------------------- - 
5,090           Regional total 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Source: UNHCR Pretoria 
 
 
(Note: Nearly every one of these persons, including those in 
Zimbabwe, is a non-national of the source country cited. 
These are applicants who have already crossed at least one 
border out of their home countries.  End Note.) 
 
¶7.  (SBU) UNHCR is currently conducting a nation-wide 
Protection Needs Assessment which will yield policy insights 
and also identify refugees for whom resettlement is deemed 
the only durable solution.  The Assessment's initial output 
will be an in-depth report profiling the problems encountered 
by refugees which inhibit their full integration in South 
Africa -- from xenophobic violence and common crime to 
difficulties renewing documentation and accessing public 
services, particularly schools for children.  From South 
Africa's population of 60,000 full-fledged refugees, over 
200,000 asylum seekers, and countless undocumented migrants, 
UNHCR estimates the Assessment will interview 3,000 families 
(or roughly 7,500 individuals), of which perhaps 2,500 
persons (30-35 percent) are projected to be eligible for 
resettlement consideration.  UNHCR has already referred about 
60 of the most urgent protection cases identified during its 
Assessment to resettlement countries, including to the USRAP. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) NGOs like Mapendo and the International Catholic 
Migration Commission (ICMC) have received funding from UNHCR 
(via USRAP) to expand UNHCR's resettlement capacity in the 
region.  In South Africa, specifically, Mapendo has seconded 
Qregion.  In South Africa, specifically, Mapendo has seconded 
one staff member who is already operating in UNHCR's Pretoria 
office and expects another seconded staffer to arrive by 
early October.  UNHCR's Dermegerditchian confirmed that four 
ICMC staffers were also embedded in UNHCR regional offices 
(two in Pretoria, and one each in Zambia and Zimbabwe) 
assisting UNHCR's resettlement operations.  Finally, we are 
encouraging UNHCR and DHA to work more closely to link DHA 
data bases of asylum seekers to UNHCR's resettlement program 
to identify vulnerable refugees. 
 
----------------------- 
 
PRETORIA 00001959  003 OF 003 
 
 
IOM Will Submit Costing 
----------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) U.S. Refugee Coordinator (RefCoord) also met with 
the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which 
provides operational support to UNHCR / USRAP in Southern 
Africa in the forms of medical screenings and transportation 
to the U.S.  Noting that UNHCR has launched a public-private 
Protection Working Group (PWG) in (belated) response to 
2008's xenophobic attacks, IOM agreed with us that the SAG 
should take a leadership role in any such fora.  IOM told us 
privately that UNHCR had waited until a late stage to include 
Home Affairs, which had then been "taken aback" by SAG 
departments being tasked without participating in planning. 
A do-over meeting to fill in this groundwork was scheduled 
for September 17.  Resettlement officer Sheikha Ali invited 
us to leverage the PWG and IOM's upcoming meetings with DHA 
to build our own bridges within Home Affairs. 
 
------------------ 
DHA Still on Board 
------------------ 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Building on past meetings in November 2008 and 
April 2009, poloff and RefCoord met again with Home Affairs 
to ensure transparency with the SAG, and to seek further 
avenues for collaboration.  Ms. Nompumelelo Tyobeka, Deputy 
Director of Refugee Affairs, responded positively to UNHCR 
progress in building a resettlement caseload.  (Note: she 
asked pointedly about the Akasia group -- clearly a thorn in 
the SAG's side.)  She welcomed the idea, floated with McKay 
in April, of a periodic dialogue between DHA and key 
international missions (U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia) to be 
arranged by UNHCR but led by DHA.  Tyobeka's boss, Mrs. 
Busisiwe Mkhwebane-Tshehla, would likely represent DHA in 
talks about DHA programs (e.g. "turnaround" project), 
policies (e.g. permits for Zimbabweans), and needs (e.g. for 
support to counter xenophobia).  In addition to significant 
funding to UNHCR and IOM, RefCoord suggested State/PRM might 
offer expert exchanges on issues such as migration and 
integration, including via possible nominations to the 
International Visitors Program.  Tyobeka encouraged a meeting 
between Ambassador Gips and DHA Deputy Minister Malusi 
Gigaba, recently assigned the portfolio of refugees and 
migrants.  Lastly, Tyobeka sought assurance that USRAP was 
not to be promoted in local media, lest it be easily 
politicized. 
 
------------------------------ 
Prospects for Wider Engagement 
------------------------------ 
 
¶11.  (SBU) COMMENT: Post hopes to build on our fledgling 
working-level collaboration with Home Affairs to forge senior 
linkages at the Minister-Ambassador level.  Our core messages 
on resettlement will be that USRAP is expanding on a limited 
basis and will target the most vulnerable; that this is a way 
to ease xenophobic pressures and preserve the SAG's 
progressive stance on immigration (when UNHCR tells us other 
African countries are becoming more restrictive); and that 
while we will maintain coordination with DHA and NGOs, we 
wish to keep resettlement programs under the media radar lest 
they be twisted for political purposes.  (The furor over 
Canada's granting of asylum to a white South African is 
evidence of how sensitive these issues can be.)  With 
RefCoord building USRAP, and poloff joining in DHA-led 
dialogues, we should soon have a sound foundation for an 
Ambassadorial call on Minister Dlamini-Zuma or her deputy. 
With the new administrations of Presidents Zuma and Obama 
yielding dividends of greater dialogue, Home Affairs is one 
Qyielding dividends of greater dialogue, Home Affairs is one 
potential target for building new bridges.  End Comment. 
 
GIPS