JORDAN: TIP DEMARCHE DELIVERED

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 004574 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2015 TAGS: PREL PHUM OPRC KCRM KWMN SMIG JO SUBJECT: JORDAN: TIP DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: A. A) STATE 98926 ¶B. B) STATE 100432 Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered the trafficking in persons (TIP) demarche to Foreign Ministry Legal Advisor Bishar Khassawneh on June 7 (refs A and B) and a suggested work plan for improving Jordan's performance on TIP issues. Khassawneh engaged poloff in a candid discussion about the challenges the GOJ will need to overcome in order to carry out several of the suggested improvements. Khassawneh commented that the first two suggestions of the work plan -- to ratify the UN protocol on trafficking in persons, and to pass anti-trafficking legislation -- are closely linked. If Jordan were a signatory to the protocol, ratifying it should be rather routine, according to Khassawneh. Under Jordanian law, once ratification is completed, a domestic law mirroring Jordan's commitment to the international convention would be drafted and presented to parliament for approval. However, he warned that given the parliament's slow pace on such matters, and considering the potential domestic sensitivity to this issue, it will be difficult, in the near term, to obtain anti-trafficking legislation. (NOTE: Khassawneh believes that Jordan has, in the last three weeks, become a signatory to the TIP protocol. According to the UN website, Jordan is a signatory to the UN convention against Transnational Organized Crime (TOC),but has not ratified it. The TIP protocol is a supplement to the TOC convention; according to the UN website, Jordan is not a signatory of the protocol. END NOTE.) ¶2. (C) Commenting on the third suggestion, that Jordan provide shelter for abused workers, Khassawneh said it is very difficult to appropriate government funds for any additional projects due to the GOJ's "dire financial situation". All ministries have been told to cut 20% from their currently allocated budgets. Next year the situation will worsen, he said, with Jordan having to start paying back USD 973 million in debt. Financing for any major projects related to possible trafficking in Jordan, therefore would have to come from external sources. Khassawneh was skeptical that the NGO community would be able to secure the funding necessary for building projects. ¶3. (C) Poloff engaged Khassawneh in a discussion about the less expensive measures of the work plan, such as waiving overstay fines for foreign domestic workers (FDWs) trying to escape allegedly abusive employers and return to their home countries. This prompted Khassawneh to question the U.S. definition of "trafficked persons". Khassawneh was very hesitant to include all foreign worker problems under the umbrella of TIP; he noted that there could be as many FDWs that are actually in abusive situations as there are FDWs that have stolen from their employers and are trying to leave Jordan under the guise of having been abused. ¶4. (C) Khassawneh encouraged poloff to meet with Ministry of Labor (MOL) contacts, specifically Minister Salem, to further determine the areas for real improvement, given a tight fiscal belt and a parliament that struggles legislation. Poloff has scheduled meetings with MOL officials in the coming week to discuss the TIP report and Jordan's work plan. HALE