Viewing cable 05GENEVA2489, UNHCR EXCOM #6: BILATERALS COVER RESETTLEMENT AND

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GENEVA 002489 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO DHS CUDDIHY AND USAID GARVELINK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL SMIG RO AS CA SW UNHCR
SUBJECT: UNHCR EXCOM #6: BILATERALS COVER RESETTLEMENT AND 
RELATED ISSUES 
 
REF: A. GENEVA 2483 
 
 ¶B. GENEVA 2465 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: In bilateral meetings with delegations from 
Romania, Canada, Sweden and Australia on the margins of the 
October 3-7 meeting of the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the US 
Delegation discussed modalities for increasing capacity of 
UNHCR's resettlement office and the number of cases it 
refers. They also explored perspectives on the developing 
"cluster approach" to Internally Displaced Person (IDP) 
populations. Head of Delegation (HOD) Rich Greene, Acting 
Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, 
Refugees and Migration, also took the opportunity to 
personally press his counterparts for support on the Red 
Cross Emblem and other sensitive issues, including 
resettlement of Uighurs and development of a Comprehensive 
Plan of Action (CPA) for Bhutanese refugees. Interlocutors 
showed ample common ground on most issues. End summary. 
 
- - - - 
Romania 
- - - - 
 
¶2. (U) Head of Delegation Florin Sandu, Secretary of State 
for the Ministry of Interior, thanked the U.S. for 
supporting Romania's efforts to combat organized crime and 
human trafficking. A/AS Greene said that the USG also wished 
to express thanks to Romania for its humanitarian response in 
providing an evacuation point for some 450 Uzbek refugees who 
had been evacuated from Kyrgyzstan in July. Greene 
emphasized the U.S. commitment to process the cases under the 
U.S. refugee resettlement program as soon as they were 
referred to us by UNHCR. He noted that current projections 
by UNHCR suggest that about half the total caseload will be 
referred to the U.S., and that departures for the U.S. could 
begin by late November. He added that other resettlement 
states, such as Canada and Australia, were also committed to 
resettling the Uzbeks. Sandu noted that Romania had 
endeavored to establish security and services which created 
the "necessary conditions" for resettlement processing. A/AS 
Greene reiterated the U.S. Administration's appreciation for 
all that Romania had done thus far. 
 
- - - - 
Canada 
- - - - 
 
¶3. (U) Malcolm Brown, Assistant Deputy Minister for 
Strategic Policy, Citizenship and Immigration, led a Canadian 
Delegation which included representatives of Canada's Global 
Affairs and development agencies. Brown reiterated his 
Government's support for UNHCR restructuring its senior 
management to include an Assistant High Commissioner for 
Protection, and for raising the stature of the resettlement 
office as well. However, he expressed concern that there 
remained some very real organizational and management issues 
on which he did not/not detect "great energy in UNHCR" to 
address. He noted that the Intergovernmental Consultations 
on Asylum, Refugee and Migration (IGC) offered the best forum 
for discussion of traditional migration issues as well as new 
developments and global trends, and added that by contrast, 
he had found the report of the Global Commission on 
International Migration (GCIM) "underwhelming." He also 
suggested that Canada and the USG look at economies which 
might come from harmonizing some resettlement activities, 
such as screening referrals. 
 
¶4. (U) A/AS Greene noted that the evolving concept of 
"clusters" to act on IDP issues left many funding issues 
unanswered and seemed to be moving too quickly. Brown 
replied that Canada has serious reservations about the 
proposed Central Emergency Revolving Fund (CERF). Greene 
then reviewed the U.S. assessment of preliminary steps which 
could lead to a comprehensive plan of action for Bhutanese 
refugees (Ref A) and asked for Canada's support of the 
initiative. Greene also asked Canada to help move the Red 
Cross emblem issue forward, noting that the parties need to 
understand that "there is no alternative to going forward." 
Canada was supportive on both positions. 
 
 - - - 
Sweden 
 - - - 
 
¶5. (U) The Swedish Delegation, led by Secretary for 
Migration Charlotte Svensson, said that the CERF and IDP 
cluster lead were very different issues which appeared to be 
confused in the minds of some delegations. A/AS Greene 
agreed, noting that agencies such as UNHCR needed to be 
mindful that accepting IDP responsibility would not 
automatically bring with it additional resources. Svensson 
said that Sweden had pledged USD 40 million to the CERF for 
CY 2006; however, she questioned the rapidity with which the 
cluster lead concept is being put together, saying Sweden 
would prefer to "do it right rather than do it fast." A/AS 
Greene contrasted this with the UK's "start tomorrow" 
approach and said that the U.S., though supportive of the 
cluster approach, would prefer a more deliberate pace in 
rolling it out. 
 
¶6. (U) Turning to northern Uganda, Svensson said that Sweden 
is developing an approach which would "separate the political 
from the humanitarian" issues and permit increased attention 
to the needs of refugees and IDPs. Svensson offered Swedish 
support in response to Greene's discussion of developments 
which could lead to a CPA for Bhutanese refugees, and 
acknowledged the importance of the Red Cross Emblem issue. 
However, she could not offer any prospect for Swedish 
assistance in resettling Uighurs. 
 
- - - - - 
Australia 
- - - - - 
 
¶7. (U) Peter Hughes, First Assistant Secretary of the 
Refugee, Humanitarian and International Division of the 
Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous 
Affairs led the Australian Delegation. Hughes anticipates a 
shift in Australia's resettlement program to focus on Asia, 
particularly Burmese and Bhutanese refugees. He expressed 
interest in the USG's developing program for resettling 
Tibetans, noting that Australia had been accepting small 
numbers in a very low-keyed manner for several years. Greene 
summarized his talks with UNHCR and several governments on 
the possibility of a solution evolving for Bhutanese refugees 
in Nepal. Hughes said that Australia also sees a window of 
opportunity for resolving the long-standing impasse. 
 
¶8. (U) On UNHCR management, Hughes noted that UNHCR lacks 
organizational discipline in staffing hardship posts and 
needs to adapt more flexible Human Resource rules, including 
provisions to hire contract staff when needed. He said that 
Australia believed UNHCR needed to raise the profile of the 
resettlement program as it still cannot process enough cases 
to fill all available slots. Greene noted that resettlement 
states are increasingly pressed to provide direct funding to 
UNHCR in order to develop referrals of a specific population 
in need. Australian and U.S. NGO representatives offered 
their potential to reinforce UNHCR in preparing cases for 
referral to resettlement states. 
 
¶9. (U) Turning to IDPs, Greene said that resources are at 
the heart of the issue and that UNHCR would not be able to 
respond to a lead role in any cluster with its current 
staffing and funding. A member of the Australian delegation 
noted that two-three years back, the subject of IDPs had not 
been raised, but that it currently was at the heart of 
discussions. He seconded concerns that responsibilities were 
being parceled out before funding issues were addressed. 
Cassel