(C) TIP: DISCUSSION WITH NUNCIO

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001258 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, G/TIP, DRL/PHD, DRL/CRA, NEA/REA ROME PASS EMBASSY VATICAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2014 TAGS: PHUM KWMN PGOV KCRM SMIG KU SUBJECT: (C) TIP: DISCUSSION WITH NUNCIO REF: A. STATE 59844 (NOTAL) ¶B. KUWAIT 784 (NOTAL) Classified By: CDA FRANK URBANCIC; REASON 1.4 (D). ¶1. (U) A/DCM met April 13 with Archbishop Giuseppe De Andrea, Apostolic Nuncio to Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, and Qatar and Apostolic Delegate for the Arabian Peninsula, who is resident in Kuwait and has served here over four years. ¶2. (C) The purpose of the meeting was to brief the Nuncio on the Embassy's efforts to combat Trafficking In Persons (TIP), as per ref A instructions. Archbishop De Andrea agreed with the Embassy's assessment that the major TIP issue in Kuwait is the exploitation of domestic servants, especially females. He noted that many thousands of these are Catholics, mainly from the Philippines and India. He appreciated the Embassy's efforts to bring source-country labor attaches together to trade notes on protecting their nationals who suffer abuse, and to convey solidarity (ref B). ¶3. (C) While affirming the need to combat the problem, the Nuncio was short on specific ideas. He said that while there is some inter-faith dialogue among Christian denominations in Kuwait, there is none with the Islamic establishment here. Bahrain and Qatar are both more open: there have been two inter-faith dialogues in the past few years, and another is planned for Doha May 26-29, co-sponsored by the Holy See and the Qatari Ambassador in Paris, who is also accredited to the Vatican. ¶4. (SBU) De Andrea noted that his previous position was as Undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Refugees, in Rome. He presumed the USG was already in contact with this Council, which he thought could be a worthwhile interlocutor, as could the International Catholic Migration Commission in Geneva. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: We will extend this outreach to other Christian denominations, and continue to raise TIP concerns in the course of our continual dialogue with different segments of Kuwaiti society. URBANCIC