VZCZCXRO6316
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPG #0223 0991316
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081316Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0228
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0088
UNCLAS PRAGUE 000223
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
PRM/ANE FOR ADRIENNE NUTZMAN, EUR/NCE FOR ALEX TRATENSEK
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