EASING OF VISA RESTRICTIONS LEADS TO INCREASE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000587 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2016 TAGS: KCRM KWMN PHUM SMIG PREL PGOV BA HUMRIT SUBJECT: EASING OF VISA RESTRICTIONS LEADS TO INCREASE IN THAI PROSTITUTES IN BAHRAIN MANAMA 00000587 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In a discussion about Embassy Bangkok TIP reporting on Thai women repatriated from Bahrain, Ambassador Widhya Bhoolsuwan told the Ambassador that the majority of cases in which the Embassy becomes involved began with voluntary travel to Bahrain to provide sexual services. Due to a bilateral visa agreement, Thai citizens are able to travel to Bahrain without visas and are given two-week stays upon arrival. The Thai Embassy has seen a pattern of women who are not able to keep up on their hotel room payment and seek Embassy assistance. These women then become included in the statistics reported to the Thai MFA as victims of sexual exploitation. End summary. ¶2. (C) Ambassador Monroe met with Thai Ambassador Bhoolsuwan April 4 to discuss information reported by Embassy Bangkok as input for the 2006 TIP report, including Thai MFA information about women who had been repatriated to Thailand from Bahrain. The information stated that in 2005, 154 of these repatriated Thai women came from Bahrain. Ambassador Bhoolsuwan could not recall the exact number of women repatriated, but he concurred that the number who sought help from the Embassy in 2005 was in the range of between 150 and ¶200. He explained that at the same time that Thailand opened an Embassy in Manama, the two countries signed a bilateral agreement allowing citizens of each country to get visas on arrival at the airport when visiting the other country. Bahrain is now the only country in the GCC to allow essentially unrestricted access for Thai citizens. This agreement was aimed at boosting trade and tourism between the two countries but has exacerbated the problem of sex workers traveling to Bahrain, and explains why the large number of repatriated Thai women are coming from Bahrain and not other GCC countries. He said he has discussed the issue with the Prime Minister and the Labor Minister, but both Thailand and Bahrain are reluctant to restrict the bilateral visa agreement at this time. ¶3. (C) Ambassador Bhoolsuwan described the following pattern that the Thai Embassy has come to recognize from women seeking embassy assistance. Women voluntarily travel to Bahrain to provide sexual services. He estimated that there may be between 400 and 500 Thai women in Bahrain at any given time for this purpose. Upon arrival they are given permission by immigration for a two-week stay in Bahrain. They take a room at a local hotel and begin their work. At the end of the two-week period they travel to Doha or another nearby Gulf city to renew their two-week visa to stay, often returning the same day. He believes that many of the women continue this way for months, although some return to Thailand after shorter stays. Some of the women encounter difficulty when they get behind on their hotel bill and seek the Thai Embassy's help. This is the majority of cases seen by the Embassy. In some cases the hotel has taken possession of the woman's passport and/or return air ticket, though it is unclear how much of a pattern this is. According to Ambassador Bhoolsuwan, Embassy representatives have not experienced any resistance when they request the return of these documents from hotel staff. ¶4. (C) Ambassador Bhoolsuwan surmised that there may be local assistance initially to Thai women arriving to work in the sex trade but did not have any knowledge about the existence of a network of traffickers. Similarly there is no evidence that there is a network in Thailand funneling women to Bahrain. He suspects that in most cases women have heard from colleagues that there is a potential to make money in Bahrain due to the presence of wealthy businessmen and Saudi tourists. When asked about the prevalence of Thai women traveling on false documents, he said that the Embassy had only seen one case of a Thai national using a false document and it was a fake British passport for intended travel to the U.K. ¶5. (C) Ambassador Bhoolsuwan described two additional prostitution-related problems seen by the Embassy. At one time there were up to 50 Thai women in prison for prostitution. Most of these women have been released and deported so there are currently only two or three in prison. Second, occasionally a woman approaches the Embassy claiming that she had been held against her will and she was able to escape. Ambassador Bhoolsuwan said that Embassy staff look carefully at these cases due to their sensitivity, but some lack credibility. He suspects that in some of these cases the true motivation may be a hope for a free ticket back to Thailand. (Note: All of the above cases become part of the official record as the Embassy reports them to the Thai MFA, MANAMA 00000587 002.2 OF 002 but it is still unclear how many can be classified as trafficking victims or even victims of exploitation. End note.) MONROE