Cablegate: Czechs Stretched by Afghanistan and Unlikely to Do

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R 081316Z APR 08
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF IZ EZ EUN
SUBJECT: CZECHS STRETCHED BY AFGHANISTAN AND UNLIKELY TO DO
MORE ON IRAQ REFUGEES

REF: STATE 30028

(SBU) Czech MFA desk officer for Iraq, Sylva Sulaimanova,
noted that the Czechs provided over two million crowns
(roughly 200,000 USD) to the UN High Commission for Refugees
last year. Unfortunately, she indicated that it would be
quite difficult for the Czechs to provide the same level of
support this year, given their limited resources and their
substantial additional commitments in Afghanistan (Note: In
March 2008, the Czechs established a PRT in Lowgar province
in Afghanistan. The GOCR has substantially increased its
funding for infrastructure development in Afghanistan and
more than doubled its troops on the ground. End Note.)
While the Czechs share our concerns about the growing number
of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria as well as internally
displaced persons, Sulaimanova noted that the Czechs have a
small number (in the low hundreds) of refugees settled here
in the Czech Republic and that any GOCR funds would be used
to address the needs of these refugees first.
Graber

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