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### Viewing cable 04QUITO3303, REFUGEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS NEW TRENDS

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
04QUITO3303 | 2004-12-28 19:07 | 2011-05-02 00:12 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Quito

`

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

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 QUITO 003303

    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: PREF EC
    SUBJECT: REFUGEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS NEW TRENDS

    ¶1.  Summary:  A recent study by a Quito human rights
    organization, the Center for Documentation of Human Rights
    Segundo Montes Mozo (CSMM), highlights strengths and
    deficiencies in the GoE's and civil society responses to the
    issue of Colombian refugees.  The study says that while
    Ecuador has good legislation on refugees, there is an over
    emphasis on Colombians as threats to national security.
    Current refugee efforts focus on the border regions while
    refugees are increasingly found in Quito, Guayaquil, and
    Cuenca.  The CSMM report recommends a more coordinated
    national policy on refugees and awareness campaigns on the
    magnitude of the refugee situation.  It comes at the same
    time as media and NGOs are alleging the restart of coca
    fumigations in Colombian border province, Putumayo.  End
    Summary.

    ----------------------------
    GoE Strengths and Weaknesses
    ----------------------------

    ¶2.  While the GoE has passed legislation meeting
    international standards on refugee issues, including Decree
    3301 (1992) incorporating the wider definition of "refugee"
    (still not adopted by other neighboring countries), there are
    several current trends that may limit the human rights of
    refugees, according to CSMM's report.  CSMM found a growing
    invisibility of the human rights concerns of legitimate
    Colombian refugees.  At the same time, CSMM noted an
    increasing emphasis on national security issues at the
    border.  GoE attention is focused on migratory control as
    well as the militarization of borders.  The study recommends
    that the GoE find a balance between keeping dangerous
    elements from crossing its borders, while making sure
    legitimate refugees receive the asylum they are guaranteed
    under international agreements.

    ¶3.  CSMM recommends that the GoE work on a coordinated
    national refugee policy that respects Ecuador's commitments
    under international agreements.  CSMM also found a general
    perception among Ecuadorians of the Colombian refugees as a
    homogenous group, which they do not believe to be true.  They
    called on the GoE to gather more data on the age, gender,
    occupation, etc. of the refugees in order to respond more
    appropriately to their needs.  The report also commented that
    the new requirement of a police record check for Colombians
    crossing into Ecuador, intended to keep out irregulars and
    criminals, is increasing the number of refugees who are not
    registered and have irregular status.

    --------------------------------------
    Stigmatization of Colombian Population
    --------------------------------------

    ¶4.  The study found a growing stigmatization of the Colombian
    population as criminals, reinforced by some public statements
    by high government officials.  In March 2003, the newspaper
    El Comercio published a Letter to the Public stating that
    Ecuador should initiate a "Plan Ecuador" and claiming all of
    the violence in Ecuador was due to Plan Colombia and
    Colombians.  However, from January to December 2003,
    Colombians represented less than two percent of those
    arrested for illegal activities, according to statistics
    provided to the UNHCR by the National Police.  This
    stigmatization leads to discrimination in hiring, schooling,
    and health.  The human rights group recommends the government
    launch an awareness campaign to help the public recognize the
    magnitude of the legitimate refugee situation.

    ---------------------------
    Civil Society Participation
    ---------------------------

    ¶5.  CSMM asserts that Ecuadorian civil society has actively
    participated in analysis and research on the topic of
    Colombian refugees, as well as legal reform proposals and the
    promotion of peace negotiations in Colombia.  However, the
    study found that there needs to be more cooperation between
    Ecuadorian and Colombian civil society.  Ecuadorian civil
    society also needs to help promote a government policy on
    refugees, the report suggests.

    ------------------------------------
    Refugees Arriving in Interior Cities
    ------------------------------------

    ¶6.  CSMM found that, increasingly, Colombian refugees are
    settling not along the border region, but in interior cities
    such as Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca, where there are greater
    economic opportunities.  Refugees may also feel more secure
    the farther they are from the Colombian border.  Cuenca, for
    example, received 826 applications between January and
    September this year compared with 532 last year.  This year's
    applications in Cuenca are of note as they represent 12.8% of
    all applications nationwide.  Quito received the highest
    percentage of applications with 45.9%.  The report suggests
    more research and data is needed on these refugees, as most
    of the current information focuses only on the border region.

    -------------------------
    CSMM Call for U.S. Action
    -------------------------

    ¶7.  The Director of CSMM, Pablo de la Vega, said the MFA
    should seek greater international support for the refugee
    issue.  At the presentation of the study, De la Vega called
    for U.S. proposals to address the refugee problem as he
    considers the U.S. the main player in the regional crisis.
    De la Vega said $10 million a day is spent by the various
    groups on the conflict.  He suggested that because of the
    large amount of money invested in the conflict, many of the
    players, including the USG and the GoC, do not want the
    conflict to end.  De La Vega insisted there could be no
    military solution to the problem.

    -------------------------
    MFA Reaction to the Study
    -------------------------

    ¶8.  In public comments, Christian Espinoza of the Ministry of
    Foreign Affairs' (MFA) Refugee Office disagreed with some
    points of the report including the statement that half of the
    Colombian population in Ecuador are refugees.  The study also
    emphasized that the refugee population is not homologous,
    with many professionals settling in the cities of Ibarra and
    Quito.  Espinoza, however, said that the number of
    professionals is minimal and the vast majority of refugees
    are peasants, day laborers, and indigenous.  Espinoza
    believes that the refugee population continues to reside
    primarily in the border area.  Both the MFA and UNHCR
    concurred that the best durable solution to the Colombian
    refugee issue is local integration.  The two other durable
    solutions are voluntary repatriation and resettlement in a
    third country.  The MFA said they intend to keep the refugee
    issue permanently on their bilateral agenda with Colombia as
    Ecuador has to bear the burden of the problem.

    -----------------------
    Statistics from the MFA
    -----------------------

    ¶9.  Espinoza said there are three legal and 23 illegal border
    crossings between Ecuador and Colombia.  There have been
    29,331 refugee applications from 2000 to November 2004, 8357
    of which were approved.  Espinoza said the number of refugee
    applications in 2003 rose due to the UNHCR opening more
    offices in the country.  There has been a 6100% rise in
    refugee applications in the past four years.

    ------------------------
    MFA Visits Border Region
    ------------------------

    ¶10.  As a new round of coca fumigations allegedly began in
    Colombia, according to press reports and NGO statements, the
    MFA's Franklin Chavez, director general for Amazonian and
    Regional Affairs, as well as representatives from the MFA's
    Refugee Office, the military, the National Police, and the
    group Ecological Action, traveled to the border region in
    Sucumbios province on December 23 to study fumigation's
    effects on inhabitants of the region.  The group Federation
    of Peasant Organizations of the Ecuadorian Border Cordon of
    Sucumbios (FORCCOFES) claimed the fumigations put eight
    communities in San Miguel at risk.  FORCCOFES leaders say a
    shelter is needed for "internally displaced persons" because
    of spraying's effects and are planning to ask the Church as
    well as UNHCR to provide shelter to these Ecuadorians.
    However, UNHCR says it has a clear mandate in Ecuador which
    does not include sheltering Ecuadorian citizens within
    Ecuador (which is the responsibility of the GoE, with
    assistance from the Red Cross and the Church if needed).  On
    December 26, press reported an MFA statement announcing that
    the MFA had determined that fumigations had not restarted,
    after having conducted interviews with the local population
    and local authorities.  Samples of water and soil from the
    region were collected for analysis.  The MFA also concluded
    that no persons were internally displaced.

    -------
    Comment
    -------

    ¶11.  UNHCR representatives consider CSMM a moderate
    organization that uses statistical data to back up its
    claims.  However, a weakness of the study is that its authors
    did not interview the MFA nor UNHCR.  The report notes some
    trends, such as the movement of refugees to the interior of
    the country and the growing stigmatization of the Colombian
    population, that need to be addressed both by the GoE and
    civil society.  Overall, however, the GoE seems to be taking
    more positive steps to address the Colombian refugee
    situation than neighboring countries.
    KENNEY

`