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Cablegate: Unhcr: Excom Cable #1: Overview

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 002465

SIPDIS

STATE PLEASE PASS USAID FOR GARVELINK AND DHS FOR CUDDIHY.
USEU FOR MEZNAR, USUN FOR MALY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF UNHCR
SUBJECT: UNHCR: EXCOM CABLE #1: OVERVIEW

REF: STATE 178435

1. (U) Summary: The Executive Committee of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees met October 3-7 in
Geneva. As per ref a, USDEL was led by PRM acting Assistant
Secretary Rich Greene and included representatives of USAID

SIPDIS
and DHS, as well as two NGOs. This cable summarizes USDEL's
activities during the week and previews reporting cables
being drafted on bilateral meetings and Executive Committee
(ExCom) discussion. ExCom-related documents -- including
speeches of High Commissioner Guterres and UN
Secretary-General Annan -- can be found on US Mission

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Geneva's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/io/geneva/.
The official 28-page report of the 56th session, including
the conclusions and decisions adopted by the Committee, has
been released by the UN as document A/AC/96/1021. It can be
pulled by document number on the UN document site:
documents.un.org and will be posted to Mission's website
soon. End Summary.

2. (U) LIST OF BILATERAL MEETINGS
---------------------------------

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- Nepalese HOD Ambassador Gyan Chandra Acharya

- United Kingdom HOD Nick Baird, Senior Director, Immigration
and Naturalization

- Romania HOD Florin Sandu, Secretary of State, Ministry of
the Interior

- Swedish HOD Charlotte Svensson, Secretary for Migration

- Indian HOD Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri

- Chadian HOD Abdallah Nassour Mahamat Ali, Minister of
Territorial Administration

- Afghanistan HOD Mohammad Azam Dadfar, Minister of Refugees
and Repatriation

- Chinese Mission Counselor La Yifan -- who was the only
Chinese representative in the ExCom Sessions

- Turkish HOD Ambassador Turkekul Kurttekin

- Pakistani HOD Sajid Hussain Chattha, Ministry of States and
Frontier Regions

- Japanese HOD Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki (incoming EXCOM
Chair)

- Bhutanese HOD Ambassador Sonam Rabgye

- Morocco HOD Omar Hilale, Secretary General, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, with Mr. Chabar, Coordinator, UN Mission for
the Referendum in Western Sahara

- Australian representative Peter Hughes, First Assistant
Secretary, Refugee, Humanitarian and International Division,

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Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous
Affairs (DIMA)

- Canada HOD Malcolm Brown, Assistant Deputy Minister,
Strategic Policy, Citizenship and Immigration, accompanied
by: Michael Small, Director General, Global Affairs Bureau,
Foreign Affairs; Catherine Bragg, Director General,
Humanitarian Affairs, Peace and Security, CIDA; and Micheline
Aucoin, Director General, Refugee Affairs, CIC

- Trilat on resettlement from Nepal with Denmark's Kim
Lunding and Norway's Deputy Secretary Thor Arne Aass, Chair
of the Working Group on Resettlement

Other Events
---- ---------

3. (U) Greene and USAID's Bill Garvelink attended a
Swedish-hosted dinner along with the Heads of Delegation from
Uganda, the Netherlands, South Africa, Canada, Kenya,
Switzerland, Pakistan, Colombia, and Hungary.

USDEL hosted a well-attended reception at the Mission for all
ExCom heads of delegation as well as key UNHCR staff, an OCHA
Donor Support Group (ODSG) breakfast, and a breakfast with
American NGOs.

Greene stressed U.S. priorities in a pre-ExCom meeting with
HC Guterres, and then in separate meetings with DHC Wendy
Chamberlin; UNHCR Asia Director Janet Lim and her staff;
UNHCR Sudan Director Jean Marie Fakhouri and his staff; and
UNHCR Americas Director Philippe Lavanchy and his staff.
Greene attended the DHC's lunch with the USDEL, a lunch
hosted by UNHCR's Acting Assistant High Commissioner with
African delegations, as well as a UNHCR Reception following
the SYG's speech.

Notable ExCom sessions were: (1) a panel discussion on
Internally Displaced Persons, with HC Guterres, Emergency
Relief Coordinator Egeland and DRC Minister of Interior,
Decentralization, and Security, Mbemba Fundu, and (2)
Secretary General Kofi Annan's October 6 address.

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Outside of UNHCR, Greene also met with ICRC President
Kellenberger and, for follow up, with Beatrice
Megevand-Roggo, ICRC Delegate General for Europe and the
Americas. He met separately with IFRC Secretary General
Niskala

At the end of ExCom, Greene attended a special Afghan
Conference jointly hosted by the U.S. and UNHCR (reported
septel.)
Moley

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