UAE: ABU DHABI POLICE COLLEGE HOSTS ANTI-TIP

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001832

SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA, AND NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL TC
SUBJECT: UAE: ABU DHABI POLICE COLLEGE HOSTS ANTI-TIP
POLICE TRAINING SYMPOSIUM

REF: A) ABU DHABI 814 B) ABU DHABI 684


1. SUMMARY. The Abu Dhabi Police Officers' Training
Institute, in coordination with the Police Research Center
and the Office of the U/S of the Ministry of Interior
(MOI),held a training symposium entitled "Combating Human
Trafficking" May 24-25. Thirteen law enforcement
specialists from several branches of MOI, Interpol, the UN,
public prosecution, universities, and the French
Government, spoke to approximately 80 UAE law enforcement
officers, jurists, ministry officials, and others who
follow the issue. The speakers defined the crime in legal
and humanitarian terms, discussed the global magnitude of
the problem, explained how trafficking surfaces in the UAE,
and recommended steps to eliminate trafficking on UAE soil.
Poloff attended the entire program. END SUMMARY.


2. In two days, the symposium covered practically every
aspect of human trafficking, including forms that are not
known to be problematic in the UAE, including trafficking
for the purposes of illegal human organ collection.
However, the key topics discussed by all presenters were
trafficking of young boys to work as camel jockeys and
trafficking of women and children for the purposes of
sexual exploitation. While a handful of the speakers
downplayed the extent of the trafficking problem in the
UAE, all admitted that it does exist here and must be
confronted, and offered suggestions to prevent further
trafficking, prosecute traffickers and others who benefit
from trafficking, and protect trafficking victims.


3. Septels will discuss different recommended approaches
to the trafficking problem as well as recommended "next
steps." The main objectives of the symposium included:

-- Finding workable definitions of the many forms of human
trafficking crimes, shared by all branches of government as
they coordinate efforts to better combat trafficking;

-- Identifying the main causes of trafficking, the
different forms of trafficking, the negative effects of the
crime on society at large, and the best practices to take
to assist victims and prevent future incidents of
trafficking;

-- Publicly disseminating information about the "ugly
faces" of trafficking, creating awareness among the public,
the various security and law enforcement organizations, and
maintaining the appropriate mechanisms to deal with the
gravity of the phenomenon;

-- Finding better methods to pre-empt, prevent, and protect
victims, and prosecute the perpetrators through local,
regional and international cooperation.


4. Police College administrators emphasized that this
symposium was part of an ongoing plan to provide anti-
trafficking in persons training to all officers enrolled in
the four-year police program. Due to the transnational
character of the crime, speakers and administrators
stressed the importance of working with counterparts in
source countries, source country embassies in the UAE, and
UAE embassies in source countries. They also highlighted
the need to work closely with key international
governmental and non-governmental organizations to prevent
trafficking at its source, before people at risk of
trafficking become victims.

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COMMENT
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5. The best indicator of the success of this program was
the number of people who attended. As is true in many
places, conference attendees in the UAE commonly attend the
introductory speeches, perhaps the first few presentations,
and as time passes, the number of empty seats grows.
During this symposium, finding an empty seat during the
last session was almost as challenging as finding one for
the first. The attendees asked the speakers difficult
questions and engaged in lively and substantive sideline
conversations. While there were many opinions of how
prevalent the problem is in the UAE and how to best
approach the crime, there was universal acceptance that
trafficking is un-Islamic and threatens the dignity and
honor of all human beings.

WAHBA