VZCZCXYZ0031
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHQT #0883/01 2882044
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O R 152044Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0192
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0008
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0042
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0062
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0008
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV LIMA 0068
RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 0001
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 0001

S E C R E T QUITO 000883 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2029/10/14 
TAGS: PREF PHUM KCRM KWMN PGOV SMIG SNAR SOCI EC CO
SUBJECT: Refugees Programs in Ecuador Risk Benefitting the FARC 
 
REF: TD-314/054074-09; TD-314/062859-09; QUI...



id: 229886
date: 10/15/2009 20:44
refid: 09QUITO883
origin: Embassy Quito
classification: SECRET//NOFORN
destination: 08STATE20628|09QUITO609
header:
VZCZCXYZ0031
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHQT #0883/01 2882044
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O R 152044Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0192
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0008
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0042
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0062
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0008
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV LIMA 0068
RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 0001
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 0001


----------------- header ends ----------------

S E C R E T QUITO 000883 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2029/10/14 
TAGS: PREF PHUM KCRM KWMN PGOV SMIG SNAR SOCI EC CO
SUBJECT: Refugees Programs in Ecuador Risk Benefitting the FARC 
 
REF: TD-314/054074-09; TD-314/062859-09; QUITO 609; 08 STATE 020628 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Heather Hodges, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B), (C), (D) 
 
¶1. (S/NF) This is an action request.  See para. 9. 
 
 
 
¶2. (S/NF) Summary and Comment:  Embassy Quito and the Regional 
Refugee Coordinator (RefCoord) request guidance on how to respond 
to information that suspected FARC members have manipulated 
Ecuador's Enhanced Registration Program implemented by the MFA 
Directorate General for Refugees and the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) to gain refugee status in the country.  We also 
request Department guidance on how to address potential cases of 
unintended diversion of humanitarian assistance to 
terrorist/criminal groups to comply with risk-based assessment 
requirements.  GOE and UNHCR officials assert that security 
measures are in place to avoid registration of FARC members and 
that protection of, and data collection on, refugees is important. 
However, it is unclear whether the GOE is enforcing its own rules 
and what action might be taken against known FARC members.  Post 
and RefCoord request that Washington provide releasable information 
that could be shared with GOE and UNHCR officials.  End Summary and 
Comment. 
 
 
 
Manipulation of Refugee Registration and Assistance 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
 
 
¶3. (S/NF) According to GRPO reports (Refs A and B), a Revolutionary 
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) collaborator working under the 
Enhanced Registration Program (ERP) has facilitated recommendations 
for refugee status for an unspecified number of suspected FARC 
members.  The same FARC collaborator has also reportedly diverted 
humanitarian assistance from UNHCR and other relief agencies to the 
FARC in Sucumbios Province, and traveled to Colombia with an 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) medical training 
mission during which time she acted on her own to provide medical 
assistance to the FARC.  The reports also assert that the Ecuadoran 
military had passed the names of three known or suspected FARC 
members seeking asylum under the ERP to the MFA and UNHCR, but that 
both agencies did not take action and the GOE issued refugee status 
to these individuals. 
 
 
¶4. (S/NF) Post and RefCoord have not confirmed if these individuals 
were provided refugee status or asylum seeker status.  Under the 
Enhanced Registration process (see description in para. 10), any 
asylum seeker (those who seek, but have not yet been granted, 
refugee status) who is suspected of having links to illegal armed 
groups is supposed to be given an asylum seeker card -- not a 
refugee card -- and referred to the regular asylum process in Quito 
for further scrutiny.  UNHCR has reported that approximately 4 
percent of asylum seekers have been referred to the regular asylum 
process for an exclusion analysis, including an unspecified number 
of cases with suspected links to an illegal armed group.  Other 
exclusions include those determined not to be staying in the 
country or economic migrants.  These referred cases are still 
pending and may take months to resolve, assuming the GOE truly has 
will and intent to confront this issue. 
 
GOE Responds to Security Concerns 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) MFA Under Secretary of Multilateral Affairs Carlos Jativa 
told RefCoord on August 31 that security checks are a part of the 
ERP process and that he does not believe members of illegal armed 
groups would willingly expose themselves to government entities, 
noting that a refugee visa alone is not valid permission to enter 
or exit the country.  He added that an inter-agency taskforce 
(including GOE security forces) reviewed this concern when the ERP 
 
was designed and signed off on the process. 
 
 
 
¶6. (C) Under Secretary of National Defense Jorge Pena told Embassy 
officers on September 3 that collecting data on Colombian refugees 
through the registration process, including potential FARC members 
or sympathizers, was better than not knowing who was present in 
Ecuador.  However, he was unable to articulate how the GOE would 
share this data with its own security forces. 
 
 
 
UNHCR's Response to Security Concerns 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (C) UNHCR Deputy Representative Luis Varese explained to 
RefCoord and the PRM Program Officer in May that the ERP includes 
an exclusion clause for suspected members of illegal armed groups 
and police are involved in the process.  A representative from the 
Ministry of Government and Police serves as a voting member on the 
GOE Eligibility Committee.  Additionally, the last step in the 
process is the Migration Police registering those granted refugee 
status. 
 
 
 
¶8. (C) Post and RefCoord plan to engage with the GOE to urge 
stronger coordination between the MFA Directorate General for 
Refugees and security forces.  Releasable information (as requested 
in para. 9) would allow us to share our specific concerns with the 
GOE, UNHCR, and ICRC, and to request investigations of the alleged 
incidents and appropriate action if confirmed. 
 
 
 
Action Request 
 
-------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (S/NF) Action Request:  Post and RefCoord request Department 
guidance on how to respond to information (Refs A and B) that 
suspected members of the FARC have manipulated Ecuador's Enhanced 
Registration Program to gain refugee status, and on providing 
humanitarian assistance in USG-supported programs in which there 
exist the potential of unintended diversion of assistance to 
benefit terrorist/ criminal groups.  While the steps planned by 
Post and RefCoord are aimed to address specific instances of 
possible diversion of humanitarian assistance and to strengthen 
processes to prevent such actions, Post recognizes there may exist 
continuing and systemic risk of such diversion and would like the 
Department's guidance on whether the overall benefit of providing 
USG support to these humanitarian assistance programs outweighs the 
risk of inadvertently providing benefit to terrorists or their 
supporters.  In addition, Post and RefCoord request that Washington 
provide releasable information based on Refs A and B (and any 
sources, if appropriate) that we can share with the GOE and UNHCR. 
 
 
 
Background on Enhanced Registration Program 
 
------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) The MFA Directorate General for Refugees and UNHCR 
launched the ERP in March 2009 to provide a more efficient refugee 
registration process for the estimated 135,000 Colombians in need 
of international protection in Ecuador.  As of August, some 13,000 
Colombians have received refugee status under the program.  The 
RefCoord and PRM Program Officer raised the possibility of the FARC 
 
manipulating the ERP to gain refugee status in May and August with 
the MFA and UNHCR.  In both instances, the MFA and UNHCR responded 
that the Enhanced Registration and regular asylum processes include 
an exclusion clause for members of illegal armed groups and that 
the interviewers and the GOE Eligibility Commission scrupulously 
implement the standard operating procedure manual. 
 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) According to UNHCR statistics, 17,607 new asylum seekers 
applied in 2008, of which 85 percent were Colombian.  Refugee 
status was provided for 4,331 Colombians, was rejected for 3,824, 
and otherwise closed for 220.  From March 23 to October 3, 2009, 
under the Enhanced Registration Program, the GOE recognized 16,320 
Colombian refugees and referred 377 cases to the regular asylum 
process for further analysis.  Nearly 90 percent of the recognized 
refugees were women and minors below the age of 18.  UNHCR Deputy 
Representative Varese told RefCoord that the majority of the cases 
referred to Quito were due to suspected links to an illegal armed 
group.  These cases were still pending and may take months to 
resolve.  Since 2004, approximately 470 cases have been excluded 
for links to illegal armed groups out of some 55,000 asylum claims. 
 
 
 
¶12. (U) Under the ERP, an asylum seeker suspected of having links 
to any illegal armed group is referred to the regular asylum 
process in Quito, where a Refugee Officer in the MFA investigates 
and passes the case to the GOE Eligibility Committee.  The GOE 
Eligibility Committee is made up of two representatives from the 
MFA with one vote each, one representative from the Ministry of 
Government and Police with one vote, one representative from UNHCR 
with a voice but no vote, and other observers from civil society 
without voice or vote.  If the GOE Eligibility Committee determines 
the asylum seeker does not qualify for refugee status under the 
exclusion clause, the asylum seeker has 30 days to appeal the 
decision directly to the MFA.  If the appeal is not successful, the 
asylum seeker will be given 60 days to regularize his/her status 
under the immigration law or to leave the country voluntarily.  Any 
rejected asylum seeker found in the country with an irregular 
migration status may be detained and referred to deportation 
proceedings conducted by Provincial Police and Migration Police. 
 
 
 
¶13. (U) Refugee status is valid for a renewable one-year period. 
(A proposed new draft of the presidential refugee decree recommends 
increasing the validity to three years.)  A refugee must petition 
for renewal in person at an MFA office before the status expires. 
At the time of renewal, the MFA Directorate General for Refugees 
(DGR) updates the refugee's bio-data and issues a new card.  If a 
refugee does not renew the status before the expiration date, DGR 
will consider the cause of delay.  Refugees cannot leave the 
country without DGR's authorization, which migration officials 
verify upon exit and re-entry whether overland or by air.  To 
obtain authorization, refugees must present requests justifying 
their reasons for travel and the time they will spend outside the 
country.  If DGR approves, the MFA's Travel Documents Directorate 
issues international travel documents valid for one year. 
 
 
 
¶14. (U) This cable was drafted in collaboration with RefCoord and 
cleared by Embassy Bogota. 
HODGES 

=======================CABLE ENDS============================