Viewing cable 07REYKJAVIK117, ICELAND'S REFUGEE POLICY UNDER SCRUTINY, GOVT MAKES NEW

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DE RUEHRK #0117 1081715
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181715Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3261
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS REYKJAVIK 000117 
 
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SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR PRM, NEA/I, EUR/NB 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM PREL UNHCR IZ IC
SUBJECT: ICELAND'S REFUGEE POLICY UNDER SCRUTINY, GOVT MAKES NEW 
PLEDGE FOR IRAQI REFUGEE AID 
 
Ref: Reykjavik 102 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: A series of newspaper articles about Iraqi 
refugees, written by a well-known Icelandic journalist, in Iceland's 
newspaper-of-record, has seized public attention and ignited new 
discussion on Iceland's conservative refugee admissions policy. 
Iceland has not admitted any Iraqi refugees since the beginning of 
the Iraq war. The generally pro-government newspaper followed the 
articles with an editorial strongly criticizing the GOI and 
encouraging it to shoulder responsibility for supporting the war and 
accept Iraqi refugees to Iceland. The GOI has announced a $100,000 
pledge to UNHCR for Iraqi refugee aid, though the MFA was careful to 
point out to Post that the pledge was in the works well before 
Morgunbladid's articles came out. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Iceland's newspaper-of-record, Morgunbladid, highlighted the 
Iraqi refugee problem and Iceland's contributions to reconstruction 
efforts in Iraq in articles written by award-winning journalist 
David Logi Sigurdsson from April 15-17. Sigurdsson, a good contact 
of Embassy Reykjavik and an alumnus of the Dept's International 
Visitor Leadership Program, traveled to Amman, Jordan and 
interviewed Iraqi refugees, both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, most of 
whom live there illegally and under dire conditions. The first 
article was an introduction to the situation, and offered personal 
stories of the refugees and the conditions in which they live. The 
article included a table listing Iceland's contributions to the 
reconstruction efforts in Iraq (a total contribution of roughly $5.6 
million from 2003-2006). The most provocative item was Sigurdsson's 
reporting that Iceland has turned down 10 Iraqi asylum seekers in 
the past four years. In contrast, he recounted that Sweden had 
welcomed several thousand Iraqi refugees in 2006, while the U.S. 
accepted 202 individuals. Sigurdsson went on to report the USG's 
pledge to accept 7,000 Iraqis this year. The articles caught the 
attention of Morgunbladid readers, and on April 17 Morgunbladid 
included an interview with an Icelandic woman who wanted to invite 
an Iraqi refugee to come live with her and her family in Iceland. 
 
¶3. (U) By Sigurdsson's account, the Refugee Council of Iceland has 
debated the possibility of offering asylum to a group of Iraqis, but 
UNHCR suggested that the next group of refugees admitted to Iceland 
be Colombians because there are several Colombians in Iceland 
already and this will facilitate the integration of the refugees. 
When asked in a follow-up article, Foreign Minister Valgerdur 
Sverrisdottir said that Iceland has usually followed the UNHCR's 
advice and that the UNHCR was happy with how Icelanders have handled 
these matters. 
 
¶4. (SBU) On April 16, Sigurdsson discussed the UNHCR conference on 
Iraqi refugees, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland on April 17 and 
18, and reported that the GOI would pledge $100,000 toward UNHCR 
operations for Iraqi refugees. This news was confirmed in a press 
release from the MFA on April 17. An MFA official whose purview 
includes refugee affairs reported to PolOff that the ministry was 
"not happy" with the way it was portrayed by Morgunbladid, and 
sought to clarify that the most recent pledge was in the works well 
before the articles were published. She also noted that decisions 
on individual asylum seekers are the responsibility of the 
Directorate of Immigration, while UNHCR-referred refugees are the 
concern of the Refugee Council of Iceland (which includes the MFA 
and the Ministry of Social Affairs as well as the Icelandic Red 
Cross), and was not pleased that the articles blurred this division 
of labor. 
 
¶5. (U) In an editorial on April 17, Morgunbladid criticized the USG 
for not having accepted more Iraqi refugees. However, 
notwithstanding the paper's generally pro-government line, it 
reserved harsher criticism for the GOI for not receiving any Iraqi 
refugees, and thus not having shouldered the responsibility for 
supporting the invasion of Iraq. The editorial urged other 
countries in the Coalition of the Willing to accept refugees from 
Iraq, especially the lead nations. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: As reported reftel, the Government of Iceland's 
refugee admissions policy can be described as conservative at best 
-- over the last decade, Iceland has admitted roughly 25 refugees 
every other year, primarily from Colombia and the Balkans, while 
only one individual has received political asylum here since 1984. 
While concerns about integration into Iceland's small, unique 
society deserve appropriate attention, a reexamination of the fact 
that Iceland's doors are largely closed to refugees and asylum 
seekers is overdue. Post will seek to use this newfound attention 
to refugee affairs to gently press the issue with our GOI 
interlocutors. End Comment. 
 
CAMPBELL