LABOR MINISTER DISCUSSES TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000531

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2016
TAGS: KCRM PHUM SMIG ELAB ECON PGOV SA
SUBJECT: LABOR MINISTER DISCUSSES TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS,
SAUDI WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE

Classified By: Ambassador James C. Oberwetter for reasons 1.4(b) and (d
).


1. (C) Summary: On August 7, Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi
al-Qusaibi described the SAG's efforts against Trafficking in
Persons (TIP) to the Ambassador. Minister al-Qusaibi agreed
that this was a serious issue for the SAG, and he outlined
the steps that it is taking, adding that Saudi Arabia must
move "its own way at its own pace." He stressed the
importance of increasing the number of Saudi citizens
employed in the Kingdom, and he also raised his concerns with
the number of people who overstay their pilgrimage visas to
Saudi Arabia. The Minister outlined the following legal
steps underway:
a) new regulations for sponsoring work visas;
b) shorter work-days for household employees;
c) registering grievances and abuse cases with the Ministry
of Interior;
d) creating a standardized system to hire foreign workers;
e) creating a Department of Expatriate Labor;
f) promoting the employment of Saudi women in the workforce;
g) developing public information campaigns; and
h) challenging the religious authorities.

On Saudization, he stressed the policy priority of increasing
the number of Saudis in the workforce. End Summary.


2. (C) During their August 7 meeting, Minister al-Qusaibi
said he was surprised that Saudi Arabia was listed as a Tier
3 country in this year's TIP Report. In his meeting with Amb
Miller in January, Minister al-Qusaibi said that Miller had
expressed his satisfaction with the SAG.

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PUBLICIZING TIP CASES
--------------


3. (C) Ambassador Oberwetter reminded Minister al-Qusaibi
that during their last meeting the Minister had agreed to
publish more information on TIP cases. The Minister
responded that the SAG "has nothing to hide" and that the
Labor Ministry publishes monthly figures on the number of TIP
cases. The Minister agreed that publishing and translating
detailed TIP-related information on a monthly basis would
help inform the international community on the facts of this
important issue. He added that the media often demands
information to be released, but he has found that once such
information is publicly available, people are less interested
in it.

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LEGAL MECHANISMS
--------------


4. (C) Minister al-Qusaibi said that legal mechanisms are in
place to enable workers to raise allegations of mistreatment
with the Ministry. He said that one-third of all cases are
settled out of court, and that most cases are not complicated
to resolve. Al-Qusaibi opined that the U.S., as a litigious
society, places more emphasis on sending cases to trial,
whereas in Saudi Arabia the system encourages victims to
settle out of court. He added that many victims and
defendants insist that their cases be heard at higher levels,
including Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court, which is unfeasible.
The Minister said that each month between 100 and 150 million
riyals (27-40 million USD) are paid to settle out of court in
cases involving citizens from 40-50 countries.

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NEW REGULATIONS ON HIRING HOUSEHOLD HELP
--------------


5. (C) Ambassador Oberwetter explained to Minister al-Qusaibi
that TIP is taken very seriously in the U.S., especially when
Americans believe that the victims--not the perpetrators--are
being punished. Minister al-Qusaibi responded that the
treatment of maids and other household employees is often a
problem in Saudi Arabia, as a number of Saudi citizens "lack
the human decency, intelligence, and education" to treat
their workers with dignity. He described the problem as
"like a plague" and said that some Saudis "assume that
someone coming from East Asia can work for 24 hours
straight."


6. (C) Minister al-Qusaibi outlined the following new Labor

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Ministry regulations for allowing Saudi citizens to sponsor
visas for household employees:

-Single men are not authorized to sponsor visas for any
household workers.
-Married women are allowed to have one driver. (Comment: The
Minister did not specify if married women are eligible to
sponsor the visas, but currently only Saudi men are allowed
to do so. End Comment.)
-The minimum monthly income for sponsoring the visa for one
household employee is 5,000 riyals (1,333 USD).
-To sponsor two employees the minimum monthly income is 8,000
riyals (2,133 USD).
-To sponsor three employees the minimum monthly income is
10,000 riyals (2,666 USD).
-To sponsor four or more employees the minimum monthly income
is 15,000 riyals (4,000 USD).


7. (C) The Minister admitted that several groups of workers
have been excluded from the SAG's labor laws, including
domestic employees, shepherds, and people that work on boats.
He explained that in the case of domestic workers, the
religious establishment believed that the Ministry would
"invade private homes" to enforce the workers' rights. He
said that such a view is "nonsense" and he said that he is
working with the Majlis al-Shoura (Consultative Council) to
help protect all workers.


8. (C) Minister al-Qusaibi said that he has submitted a new
set of legally binding guidelines to the Council of Ministers
for approval. The new regulations would grant household
employees one day of rest per week and a maximum 12-hour
workday, down from the current maximum of 16 hours. He
admitted, however, that Cabinet approval of the new
regulations--which are unpopular with employers--will be
difficult as "many wives and mothers are praying against me."
He added that he is not concerned "what the public or what
Congress thinks about all of this--I am doing it because it
is right. It is the honest and decent thing to do."


9. (C) Minister al-Qusaibi discussed the prevalence of a
"ring" that illegally hires maids by the hour in violation of
their official work contracts. He said that maids are given
the phone numbers of ring members, who convince the maids to
abandon their original employers for the prospect of making
more money working by the hour. The Minister said that the
market for hiring maids by the hour and without sponsoring
their visa "is very big." He said that the Labor Ministry is
often blamed for not granting enough work visas, even though
it issues 250,000 per year.


10. (C) The Minister said that 380 different agencies exist
in the Kingdom to help Saudis hire foreign workers--a
situation he described as "chaotic." He said that the
Council of Ministers has decided to create three large
companies to standardize the vetting, hiring, and wages of
household employees.

--------------
NEW DEPARTMENT OF EXPATRIATE LABOR
--------------


11. (C) Minister al-Qusaibi told the Ambassador that he is
creating a new Department of Expatriate Labor, which should
be fully functioning by this October. He said that the
Department will be housed in one building with a 24-hour
telephone hotline for foreign workers to register their
grievances. He said that as Health Minister he had
implemented a similar hotline, which was very successful.


12. (C) The Labor Ministry also has an arrangement with the
Interior Ministry to register and computerize all TIP-related
grievances. Minister al-Qusaibi said that working with the
Interior Ministry helps solve tens of cases daily. He said
that the system registers both individuals and companies who
mistreat employees. He said that in cases of physical abuse,
individuals are banned from sponsoring work visas for at
least five years.

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WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE
--------------


13. (C) Minister al-Qusaibi said that the Ministry's "next
big labor battle" is to increase the number of jobs for Saudi

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women. He said that the religious establishment is very
opposed to such efforts, and that the Labor Ministry must
take small steps. He said that the two Saudi human rights
groups are supportive of his efforts, particularly in helping
to challenge the Committee for the Prohibition of Vice and
Promotion of Virtue ("mutawaa") for recently ordering the
firing of 40 women who had been working in cosmetics shops.
He described as "very positive" the ability of writers to now
directly challenge religious authorities in an open debate.
While progress is being made, he cautioned "it's a battle
that Saudi Arabia needs to do its own way at its own pace.
If we do it your way, it won't work."


14. (C) Turning to the Ministry's highly publicized efforts
to employ only Saudi women in lingerie shops, Minister
al-Qusaibi admitted that he made a mistake in setting a
one-year deadline for compliance, "as that triggered an
alliance between businessmen and the mutawaa." He said that
he was originally shocked that the religious establishment
would oppose the Ministry's efforts to only employ women in
shops that primarily serve women. He explained that the real
opposition was driven by businessmen, as the labor costs of
Saudi women selling lingerie would be up to four times as
high as employing foreign workers. Part of the higher costs
includes allowances for the women's drivers, he said.
Consequently, store owners used the religious rationale to
mobilize the mutawaa to oppose the plan. Minister al-Qusaibi
said that King Abdullah supports his efforts, and agreed that
the plan should proceed incrementally with no deadline. He
said that the plan is going smoothly and three or four
lingerie shops now employ women only.

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PUBLIC AWARENESS EFFORTS
--------------


15. (C) Minister al-Qusaibi said that the Labor Ministry has
developed public awareness campaigns focused on:
1) increasing the level of employment of Saudi citizens
(Saudization);
2) the rights of expatriate employees, including promoting
the new regulations proposed to the Council of Ministers; and
3) cracking down on the illegal employment of maids and other
household workers.

The Minister emphasized that "the real solution" is to
increase the number of Saudi citizens employed in the
Kingdom. The level of expatriate workers "is not
sustainable," he said. "We can't expect Saudis to work when
foreign labor is so cheap," he concluded.

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OVERSTAYERS
--------------


16. (C) A final problem that Minister al-Qusaibi said he
confronts is the number of Muslim visitors who overstay their
pilgrimage visas, and then find jobs in the informal economy
without sponsorship. He said that approximately 1,000
overstayers are returned each day to Yemen alone, emphasizing
that he has no idea how many others are not being caught for
overstaying their visas. Noting the SAG's development
projects in Yemen, he said that the best solution is to give
a reason for Yemenis to want to return home after their
pilgrimage. "We cannot turn Mecca and Medina into a military
camp. The situation is like a ticking bomb," he concluded.
Gfoeller