USTR VISIT REINFORCES TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000353 SIPDIS STATE FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA AND NEA/ARPI STATE PASS USTR E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2015 TAGS: ELAB ETRD PHUM PREL TC SUBJECT: USTR VISIT REINFORCES TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS MESSAGE REF: A) 04 ABU DHABI 3955 B) ABU DHABI 296 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Assistant United States Trade Representative for Labor William Clatanoff met with representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Labor, and Foreign Affairs on January 17-19 to discuss a number of labor issues related to upcoming free trade negotiations. One subject Clatanoff raised repeatedly was the problem of young foreign children working as camel jockeys. He explained that this practice violates three of the five core precepts of the U.S. Trade Promotion Authority (TPA),namely, child labor, forced/bonded labor, and hazardous working conditions. He reminded UAE officials that inaction on this issue would have a negative impact on our ability to conclude a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Clatanoff concluded his visit by touring a new camel jockey shelter and rehabilitation center. End summary. -------------- MINISTERIAL MEETINGS -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Clatanoff discussed the problem of employing child camel jockeys in the UAE in the context of the labor portfolio of the FTA at the Ministries of Interior, Labor, and Foreign Affairs. He noted that the use of trafficked children as camel jockeys violates three of the five core precepts of the TPA: child labor, forced/bonded labor, and work conditions. He strongly urged the UAE to work not only on the sources of supply of children, but also to enforce existing regulations to control local demand. ¶3. (SBU) Officials noted that they expect the existing child camel jockey ban to become law in April 2005, which will assist law enforcement efforts to stop the practice. Col. Nasser Al Nuaimi, General Director of the Office of the Minister of Interior, described some of the steps MOI is taking to address the problem, explaining that, since camel owners have grown accustomed to using the children over the past several decades, it would take time to fully end the practice on every farm throughout the country. He told Clatanoff that, despite political sensitivities, camel owners who knowingly allow children to work as jockeys on their farms have been and will continue to be arrested. However, he said that if the owner took all the necessary precautions yet it is later discovered that one of the jockeys on his farm is underage, the owner would not be prosecuted. Clatanoff stressed to all of his interlocutors that a lack of action would have a negative impact on our ability to conclude an FTA, and that not enforcing existing laws was as bad as not having laws. -------------- TOUR OF THE CAMEL JOCKEY SHELTER -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Clatanoff visited the child camel jockey shelter and rehabilitation center, which opened in December on the Zayed Military City army compound outside Abu Dhabi. He met thirty children, aged approximately three to eleven, who were living at the center. Shelter administrators and Ansar Burney, the Pakistani human rights activist who operates the shelter in cooperation with the Ministries of Defense and Interior, showed Clatanoff the living spaces, cafeteria, classroom, and clinic on the shelter,s grounds. ¶5. (SBU) Clatanoff told Burney and the officials that, while he was impressed with the center, the thirty boys at the shelter were the &tip of the iceberg,8 and much more needed to be done to assist the remaining thousands of boys still working as camel jockeys in the UAE. Burney adamantly agreed, stating that opening the center was a starting point, and although it was very positive that 16 former jockeys had been humanely repatriated since December, the problem was far from solved. Burney said he was convinced that the UAEG was committed to putting an end to the practice, although it may take a couple of years before the situation was fully resolved. He said he looked forward to seeing the new law implemented in the spring, and hoped the UAEG would continue to put pressure on source countries to stop the flow of boys coming to the UAE to work as camel jockeys. Burney also told Clatanoff that he regularly travels to other Gulf countries that also use foreign children as camel jockeys, and in his opinion the UAE is a &model country,8 and is doing more to try to stop the practice than any other country in the region. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) Clatanoff,s visit helped tie the problem of child camel jockeys to the FTA and reinforced the message post has been delivering to the UAEG. Post will continue to press on this issue. SISON