C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001013
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR INL ANDREW BUHLER AND EUR/ACE DEAN FISCHER
ASTANA FOR ALMATY USAID
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AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
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AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/06/18
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB KTIP EAID UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: NEW IOM REGIONAL HEAD OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FORMAL
REGISTRATION
REF: TASHKENT 343
CLASSIFIED BY: Timothy P. Buckley, Second Secretary, Department of
State, Political and Economic Section; REASON: 1.4(B), (D)
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On June 16, poloffs met with regional officials
from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and a
prominent Uzbek anti-trafficking NGO to discuss the organization's
status. A new IOM regional coordinator will cover all of Central
Asia for IOM, and he is confident that mistakes made by the
previous country representative can be resolved and that Uzbekistan
will soon register IOM. End summary.
¶2. (SBU) Poloffs met on June 16 with Zlatko Zigic, the new
Astana-based IOM Regional Coordinator for Central Asia. Zigic is
familiar with Central Asia from previous tours in Ashgabat and
Bishkek, and he explained that IOM wanted to shift its structure to
create a regional hub focused just on the five former Soviet
Central Asian republics rather than cover this region from its
Islamabad office. He is confident this will result in better
project management as well as more regional projects on TIP and
labor migration.
¶3. (C) IOM is still not registered in Uzbekistan, although Zigic is
optimistic that this will happen soon. He candidly noted (please
protect) that the former Almaty-based IOM Director for Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan, Mahmoud Naderi, was relieved of his duties for
"wrongdoings and mismanagement." (Note: Zigic said that,
although Naderi was responsible for oversight of USG-funded
activities in Uzbekistan, that the programs here were not
impacted.) Unfortunately, the previously reported effort (reftel)
to seek registration in Uzbekistan was adversely impacted by
Naderi's mishandling of the appropriate paperwork. Thus, the
awkward long-term absence of IOM in Uzbekistan is not all the fault
of the government.
¶4. (SBU) In addition to cleaning up the mess from the erstwhile
Uzbekistan director, Zigic also must contend with the ghosts of
Andijon, as he mentioned that the Government of Uzbekistan has not
forgotten that it was IOM which played a central role in
transporting Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan to Romania in the
aftermath of the incidents in 2005. Nonetheless, Zigic said
government officials had indicated that they could accomplish the
registration formalities very quickly and a meeting is scheduled
for June 17 with the MFA's UN and International Organizations
Department. Zigic pointed to the rapid issuance of his
multiple-entry, one-year Uzbek visa as a sign the government is
ready to back up its encouraging talk with swift action on a fresh
registration package. "No one at IOM has ever gotten a visa this
quickly," he added. Zigic also stated that he does not expect the
Uzbeks to insist on a reduced mandate to prevent another situation
in which IOM transports Uzbek citizens.
¶5. (C) Should IOM receive accreditation, Zigic expects to have
chief of mission status and open up a new mission in Tashkent that
he would regularly visit. He assured poloffs that IOM would
continue to rely on the impressive network of NGOs that already
operate in the country, chiefly former TIP Report Hero Nodira
Karimova's "Istiqbolli Avlod" (Future Generation), which is
presently the project implementer for USG-funded anti-TIP projects.
"This restructuring will help us draw a new road map," Zigic
commented, "and registration would mean we no longer would have to
bring money to the NGO in a suitcase" due to the operating
restrictions.
¶6. (SBU) IOM regional officials have been very impressed by how
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well linked Istiqbolli Avlod and its local partner NGOs around the
country are with law enforcement agencies. This work has continued
in the framework of the no-cost extension as part of the INL
project, and IOM was pleased by a recent study tour for officers
and NGO officials to Poland. In July, there is also a planned trip
to Ankara, Turkey, to increase contacts between Uzbek and Turkish
law enforcement agencies since it is a common trafficking
destination with visa-free travel for Uzbek nationals. IOM is also
planning to work with the World Bank on a joint regional project to
address HIV and migration, and Zigic hopes Uzbekistan recognizes
projects like this will be in its best interest.
Comment:
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¶7. (SBU) We strongly support IOM's efforts to obtain registration
in Uzbekistan, which would add one more international organization
to the mix in efforts to build bridges with the international
community as a whole. It is also frequently difficult to explain
why IOM is not present in the country, so registration would help
to normalize the operating environment. It would also be
significant if the Uzbeks let bygones be bygones and paved the way
for a former Andijon-related antagonist to resume operations.
NORLAND