RESPONSE: EFFECTIVENESS OF UN EFFORTS TO COMBAT SEXUAL

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000819 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM KPRO PGOV MO SUBJECT: RESPONSE: EFFECTIVENESS OF UN EFFORTS TO COMBAT SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE IN UN PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS REF: STATE 112531 ¶1. (U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶2. (U) This cable is a response to a request for information on MINURSO's efforts to combat trafficking in persons (TIP) and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) involving UN peacekeeping mission personnel in the Western Sahara. ¶3. (SBU) According to the government of Morocco, TIP and SEA are not a problem with the MINURSO mission in the Western Sahara. In discussions with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),poloff was informed that MINURSO personnel have cooperated fully with the GOM in efforts to deal with trafficked persons found in the Western Sahara. GOM has no complains about the MINURSO peacekeepers being involved in TIP or SAE. Representatives from both the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Morocco and the Moroccan NGO Friends and Family of the Victims of Illegal Migration concur with GOM's position. We are unable to locate any reports in the media regarding sexual exploitation or abuse involving MINURSO personnel. We believe that the general public perceives no problem of this nature with MINURSO. ¶4. (SBU) During talks with MINURSO Force Commander Maj. General Kurt Mosgaard, Civil Affairs Officer, Clair Bamber, and former Head of Operations for Confidence Building Measures, Laith Khalaf, poloff was impressed with the level of commitment to fighting TIP and SEA problems. The leadership is not only concerned with prevention of abuses within the organization it is going out of its way to assist victims it finds in the desert who have been trafficked or abused by others. GREENE