RECENT POLICE ROUND-UPS HEIGHTEN ANXIETY AMONG

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000328

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP;
DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/IRF; PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2016
TAGS: ELAB KCRM PHUM SA SOCI
SUBJECT: RECENT POLICE ROUND-UPS HEIGHTEN ANXIETY AMONG
JEDDAH'S FILIPINOS

REF: A. JEDDAH 308


B. RIYADH 2272

C. RIYADH 2737

D. RIYADH 3145

Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller for reasons
1.4(b) and (d)


1. (U) SUMMARY. Anxiety is growing in Jeddah's large
Filipino population following the round-up, arrest, and
interrogation this month of hundreds of Filipinos in Jeddah
in connection with a serious of high-profile crimes,
including the discovery of human remains in a dumpster in
Jeddah and the theft of 1.8 tons of gold from a mine outside
Medina. Meanwhile, the recent arrests of six Filipino
Christians in Jeddah and Riyadh, together with the persistent
abuse of Filipino workers at the hands of their Saudi
employers, have heightened concerns among Jeddah's Filipinos.
END SUMMARY.

HUNDREDS OF FILIPINOS ROUNDED UP IN JEDDAH POLICE RAIDS


2. (U) On April 4, a foreign worker apparently discovered
body parts in a dumpster in al-Ghulail, a poor, industrial
district in south Jeddah, and Saudi authorities, after
conducting an investigation, determined that the parts
comprised the mutilated and decomposing bodies of three
Filipinos. The Jeddah police rounded up, arrested, and
interrogated at least 52 Filipinos, and subsequently charged
seven of them with murder. According to reports in the local
media, Saudi authorities say that the accused murderers are
members of an international gang involved in gambling and
money laundering, and that their victims were, respectively,
the head a rival gang engaged in similar activities, his
assistant, and his driver. Reports in the Philippine media
have asserted, however, that the Saudis are exaggerating the
circumstances surrounding the slayings.


3. (U) Earlier this month, more than 100 Filipinos were
reportedly rounded up in Jeddah for questioning in connection
with an alleged gambling operation involving cockfights held
on a farm outside the city. In addition, a reported 19 to 22
Filipino employees of the Saudi Arabian Mining Company were
arrested this month for allegedly stealing 1.8 tons of gold
from a mine near Medina. According to initial reports, the
workers were sentenced to three years in prison, an extremely
lenient sentence by Saudi standards. Subsequent reports have
stated that they are still under investigation and have not
yet been sentenced. The workers' contracts have been
annulled, however, and they have been replaced with Saudis.

FILIPINOS ROUTINELY BLAMED FOR CRIMES, SOMETIMES AS PRETEXT
FOR RELIGIOUS HARASSMENT


4. (U) Saudi authorities routinely blame criminal
activity on foreign workers in the Kingdom. Filipinos in
Jeddah have been accused of involvement in such crimes such
as gambling, smuggling, theft, prostitution, and murder.
Media reports have stated that Saudi law-enforcement agencies
conduct at least five raids a month targeting Jeddah's
Filipino population, involving 1,200 officers from various
agencies, including the police, the Jawazat (the passport
authority),and the mutawwa (the religious police). Thus far
in April alone, 30 Filipinos, including the seven accused of
murdering their compatriots, have been charged with various
crimes and will be tried by Saudi courts in accordance with
shari'a law.


5. (C) Post previously reported on the March 20 arrest of
a Filipino Christian in Jeddah on trumped-up drug charges and
his subsequent two-week detention (reftel A). Embassy Riyadh
has also reported on the March 31 and April 4 arrests of five
Filipino Christians in Riyadh (reftels B and C). Three of the
five have since been released, but two, a minister and a
runaway maid, remain in detention (reftel D).


6. (C) One Consulate contact in Jeddah's Filipino
community, a prominent Christian preacher, said Filipinos are
"quite uncomfortable as the authorities are just picking up
Filipinos without arrest warrants in the middle of the
night." He said, further, that people are warning one another
to "avoid gatherings as they are monitoring all of our
movements."

FILIPINO WORKERS KNOWINGLY SUBJECT THEMSELVES TO ABUSE IN

JEDDAH 00000328 002 OF 002


ORDER TO SEND MONEY TO FAMILIES BACK HOME


7. (C) The Filipino Christian preacher discussed the
treatment of Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia during an April
18 meeting with CG and Conoff. As a leader in Jeddah's
Filipino community, the preacher said he knows many Filipino
workers who are not paid regularly or in accordance with
their contracts, and who are not afforded an annual trip back
to the Philippines as required by Saudi law. He stressed,
moreover, that it is common for Filipinos working as domestic
employees to be physically or sexually abused by their
employers.


8. (C) The preacher's ministry has worked to help
Filipina maids escape difficult or dangerous circumstances in
which they may find themselves. He recounted the story of one
young Filipina maid who was sexually abused by her employer
whenever his wife left the house. She is now living in a
"safe house" while the preacher and the Philippines Consulate
General in Jeddah work to get her an exit visa. When asked
whether Filipinos "back home" hear about the mistreatment of
their compatriots in Saudi Arabia, the preacher said, "Yes,
but they still want to come. They still make good money here
that they can send back to their families." He remarked that
he, too, had been warned not to come to the Kingdom, but did
so anyway. According to the preacher, the economic situation
in the Philippines is bad enough that people are willing to
assume the risks of working in Saudi Arabia in order to work
for a few years, make money, and then return home. Many
Filipino workers find, however, that they cannot return to
their families when they are ready to leave Saudi Arabia; at
times, their employment contracts are extended by their
employers without their consent.


9. (U) Approximately 900,000 to 1 million Filipinos work
in Saudi Arabia. Their remittances amounted to an estimated
$11 million in 2005. This figure does not include money
carried back to the Philippines by workers or transferred
there through unlicensed services.
Gfoeller