UNICEF MOBILIZING TO HELP UNDERAGE CAMEL JOCKEYS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 001873 SIPDIS STATE FOR G, G/TIP, INL, DRL, PRM, NEA/RA, AND NEA/ARPI STATE ALSO PASS TO USTR E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2010 TAGS: PHUM ETRD ELAB TC SUBJECT: UNICEF MOBILIZING TO HELP UNDERAGE CAMEL JOCKEYS REF: ABU DHABI 1740 Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) UNICEF is firmly committed to helping the UAE Government develop a master plan for registering and safely repatriating underage camel jockeys. In a telephone conversation from her office in Muscat, UNICEF Gulf Area Office acting representative, June Kunugi, told Pol Chief April 26 that her organization has submitted a draft plan to the UAEG, and is waiting for a conference of all interested parties in Abu Dhabi in the May 7-9 timeframe to give everyone an opportunity to agree on how best to coordinate this effort. UNICEF hopes to sign a formal agreement with the UAEG outlining UNICEF's role in the protection of underage camel jockeys. UNICEF is awaiting UAEG feedback to its draft proposal. ¶2. (C) The Ministry of Interior has not issued formal invitations yet, but Kunugi said that UAE Interior Ministry officials made clear to her that the conference should include participation from representatives from UNICEF offices in the various source countries, source country NGOs selected by the UNICEF representatives, source country government officials, and source country embassies. UNICEF has also been in contact with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) regional office in Kuwait. Kunugi said she estimates that 80 percent of the children concerned are from Pakistan and Bangladesh, but other source countries would be invited as well. UNICEF has identified appropriate NGOs in Pakistan's Punjab and Baluchistan provinces, two major sources of trafficked children to the UAE, to attend the conference. ¶3. (C) UNICEF's draft plan of action contains measures for identifying the children, ensuring that their physical and psychological needs are met, and arranging for their safe return to their families. UNICEF would offer UAE law enforcement assistance with compassionate interviewing techniques to make it easier to obtain information from the children about their age, nationality, and employment conditions. UNICEF would work with the children in the Interior Ministry's Social Support Centers now open in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi, and opening later in all the emirates. For those who cannot be reunited with their biological families, UNICEF has included a plan of alternative care, Kunugi said. "It's not just rescuing children and repatriating them. It's about what happens to the children afterwards," she said, underscoring the importance of compassionate repatriation. UNICEF is concerned that if children are simply repatriated without the appropriate social support network, they could easily find themselves back in the hands of traffickers. Rescue and Repatriation Activity -------------- ¶4. (C) The number of rescues and repatriations of young camel jockeys from Pakistan and Bangladesh increased only slightly over the figures reported reftel last week, although reports of Sudanese children being repatriated to Sudan increased significantly. The embassies of the two countries commonly believed to have the most underage camel jockeys in the UAE ) Pakistan and Bangladesh ) reported 10 and zero cases, respectively. "The numbers are not what they should be," a Pakistani Embassy source told Pol Chief on April 27. The Pakistani Embassy, which had expected at least 1,000 camel jockeys of Pakistani origin, has processed travel documents for about 50 children, and about half of those children have been repatriated to Pakistan. Of the latest batch, three or four were over 17 years of age but were trafficked to the UAE when they were minors. Bangladeshi Ambassador Mirza Shamsuzzaman told Pol Chief that neither his Embassy nor his Consulate in Dubai has received a single new case within the past week. However, the Sudanese Consulate in Dubai has reported a significant increase in Sudanese children being repatriated to Sudan. From an average of 10 children a day before the new law banning child camel jockeys went into effect March 31, the average number visiting the Consulate since March 31 has increased to 26 boys per day, 70 percent of whom are actually returning home (see ConGen Dubai septel). SISON