AMABASSADOR LAGON'S VISIT TO UAE KEEPS SHARP FOCUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ABU DHABI 001687 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, L/DL, NEA/RA, AND NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM KCRM ELAB UN AE SUBJECT: AMABASSADOR LAGON'S VISIT TO UAE KEEPS SHARP FOCUS ON TIP EFFORTS Classified by Ambassador Michele Sison, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). REFS: A) DUBAI 570 (PHILIPPINE CONSULATE) B) ABU DHABI 1568 (UNICEF) C) ABU DHABI 1542 (ACTION PLAN WITH MFA) D) ABU DHABI 1539 (ACTIVIST VOICES) E) ABU DHABI 1511 (MOL VIEWS) F) DUBAI 411 (NATIONAL TIP COMMITTEE) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) During a September 24 through 25 visit to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Ambassador Mark Lagon, Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP),addressed USG concerns regarding UAEG's progress in combating trafficking in persons (TIP) with both Federal and Emirate level officials. Minster of State Anwar Gargash explained that the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (which he chairs) had been formed to act as a catalyst for ensuring implementation of the 2006 TIP law. Through the Committee, the UAEG is seeking to better document the scope of the trafficking problem and implement training programs (for officials of the Ministries of Justice and Interior, as well as Police and Immigration). He pointed out tangible steps recently taken by the Emirates: ongoing training, closing of clubs facilitating prostitution, opening the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children shelter, and two recent criminal prosecutions of trafficking cases. He acknowledged that the UAE faces much work ahead in the anti-TIP arena, but stressed that the UAEG has both the resolve and intention to continue with practical steps to combat the problem. ¶2. (C) Demonstrating UAEG awareness of issues arising from its large migrant workforce, Minister of Labor Ali al-Kaabi informed Lagon that the UAEG will be hosting a ministerial-level conference of labor sending and receiving nations in cooperation with the International Labor Organization in January 2008. Al-Kaabi also detailed new laws and regulations that, when implemented, would further strengthen worker rights. ¶3. (C) Acknowledging that trafficking is not always easy to identify and that prosecution levels would remain low until overall awareness is increased, Minister of Justice Mohammed Nakhira al-Dhaheri requested additional training from the USG to help further develop the UAEG's judicial infrastructure (particularly judges and prosecutors) in addressing TIP related cases. Noting that police play a key role in TIP victim identification, both Col Nasser al-Minhali (head of Immigration with the Abu Dhabi police) and Lt Col Dr. Mohammed Abdulla al Mur (Director of Dubai Police Department of Human Rights) stressed the need for training police and immigration officials to recognize victims who are often reluctant to self-identify their plight to authorities. ¶4. (C) Board members of the newly-founded Dubai Foundation for Women and Children provided a presentation on a new shelter facility that can eventually house up to 260 trafficking and other victims. After Lagon's departure, the shelter officially admitted its first group of victims. End summary. Chairman of National TIP Committee Anwar Gargash -------------- --- ¶5. (C) Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and Chairman of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking Anwar Gargash received Ambassador Lagon, Ambassador Sison, Consul General Sutphin, NEA/ARP Director Steinfeld, G/TIP Reports Officer Patel and note-takers in his Dubai offices September 25. Gargash cited the importance of TIP for the UAE while also noting its global nature, concluding the UAE should feel no stigma in being affected by a worldwide phenomenon. The UAE has an attractive economy and therefore faces a TIP problem, he suggested; its approach is therefore not defensive but proactive. ¶6. (C) Gargash said his committee had met four times, following a rule of thumb to hold meetings on a monthly basis. The committee itself was formed as part of the implementation of the 2006 TIP law and was designed to be a "catalyst" to ensure further implementation of the law. He wanted to help police "go deeper" to uncover TIP in the background of criminal investigations, raise awareness of the magnitude of the problem, and go "beyond awareness" to create momentum in tackling TIP. He sought better documentation of ABU DHABI 00001687 002 OF 004 the scope of the problem, with solid data (which "compares apples with apples") instead of disparate statistics from various ministries and emirates. ¶7. (C) Gargash planned more training workshops with the Ministries of Interior and Justice, Dubai Police, and the Committee itself. He commended Dubai's efforts at opening a shelter and looked forward to connecting the various stove-piped efforts that fall under the anti-TIP umbrella. He anticipated the opening of more shelters (which "go beyond TIP" in terms of who they care for). He suggested distancing the government somewhat from the shelters, allowing independent organizations to work with victims without the officious imprint of the state. The federal government would remain supportive and offer funding grants, he said. ¶8. (C) It will take time to show statistical measures of progress in combating TIP (such as number of investigations and cases before the courts) although ongoing extensive training, the opening of the Dubai shelter, and the closing of clubs where prostitution was facilitated (as he cited the notorious Cyclone and Amnesia clubs in Dubai by name) are tangible steps. Lagon cited the importance of prosecutions to highlight the serious nature of the crimes and dissuade traffickers; Gargash welcomed the 15-year sentence handed down in a recent case and agreed that the UAE needed to overcome the current learning curve and more aggressively "dig" into the parameters of trafficking cases. ¶9. (C) The UAE's "demographic problem" could not be solved, said Gargash, but must be managed. The UAEG has grappled with labor issues intensely for the past two years in particular, he noted. ¶10. (C) Gargash views his committee as a "lobby" to enhance the UAE's focus on TIP. He looked forward to ongoing cooperation with the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, phase two of the camel jockey repatriation effort, more shelters, and a more concrete statistical picture of the TIP phenomenon. Asked how the USG might assist, Gargash cited training in the technical aspects of TIP identification and prosecution. The UAE could benefit from specialized training resources (raising the skills of prosecutors, judges, the media, and medical personnel),he emphasized. The general sentiment in the UAE (including judicial circles) is against TIP, he said, and training will deepen anti-TIP efforts. Gargash also welcomed the proposal of inviting the UAE permanent representative to the UN to participate in a trip to Los Angeles in early March to observe anti-TIP efforts. ¶11. (C) Acknowledging much work ahead in the anti-TIP arena, Gargash nonetheless stressed that the UAEG has both the resolve and intention to continue practical steps toward a more complete solution. However, he cautioned, the UAEG would be careful of "issues of sovereignty" if it felt undue pressure from abroad. The UAE's path from "A to B" might not always follow the linear trajectory assumed appropriate by others, Gargash concluded, asking for the benefit of the doubt in USG assessments of UAE progress. Minister of Labor -------------- ¶12. (C) On September 24, Minister of Labor Ali al-Kaabi called attention to ongoing UAEG anti-trafficking efforts. He cited the opening of a rehabilitation center (shelter) in Dubai, the closure of clubs known for facilitating prostitution, the camel jockey repatriation effort, and carefully-negotiated MoU's with labor source countries as evidence of an active UAEG response to trafficking. He also announced that Abu Dhabi will be hosting a ministerial-level conference of labor sending and receiving nations in cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO) in January. ¶13. (C) Al-Kaabi explained UAEG efforts to hold sponsors to their obligations and follow up on workers' complaints, citing payment disputes as a primary irritant. He said the UAEG tries to explain their rights to new arrivals, and UAEG inspectors are being recruited and trained (with the goal of 700 inspectors by the end of 2008) to ensure those rights. He said UAEG recruitment plans for inspectors were designed to uphold the "highest ILO standards" in terms of inspector-worker ratios. Lagon stressed that these inspectors should turn cases of forced labor over to criminal law enforcement authorities. Lagon also emphasized the need to equip labor inspectors with victim identification training ABU DHABI 00001687 003 OF 004 and a shelter with protection services for victims of forced labor. ¶14. (C) Al-Kaabi emphasized the standardization of worker accommodations to ensure safe and equitable living conditions, the availability of a hot-line for workers to lodge complaints, establishing of agencies to supply "temporary" workers (to avoid the perceived need for a floating labor pool attractive to illegal migrants),lectures to raise the awareness of companies and workers, and a mid-day break for workers during the hottest summer months. Though a 2005 regulation empowers the MOL to transfer workers alleging abuse at the hands of their original sponsors to new sponsors, Al-Kaabi did not note any long-term plans to amend or eliminate the sponsorship system. Lagon stressed the importance of enforcing laws protecting workers' rights and encouraged the Minister to ensure that conditions of forced labor are investigated and treated criminally. Minister of Justice -------------- ¶15. (C) During a September 24 meeting, Minister of Justice Mohammed Nakhira al-Dhaheri told Ambassador Lagon that the TIP law (Decree #51 of 2006) was being implemented, but courts and prosecutors required more sensitivity to the complicated issues associated with trafficking. He acknowledged that trafficking is not always easy to identify, yet training is necessary to sensitize detectives and prosecutors, court officials and the police. The Minister called for more training (which the UAEG previously requested) to help develop the UAE's judicial infrastructure to address TIP cases more effectively. He said the number of TIP cases would remain low until awareness was increased through training. ¶16. (C) Victims of trafficking do not tend to identify themselves, agreed Lagon. The Minister reiterated that the UAE is increasingly aware of TIP as a problem sometimes hidden behind other issues. He stressed again that the Ministry of Justice is in a training phase and would likely see a slow increase in prosecutions over time. Justice was working with the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, he noted, with the training of judges and prosecutors central to UAEG anti-TIP efforts. He added the Ministry was even considering formation of a special prosecution unit. He said the UAEG was prepared to receive training with GCC partners (presumably with the UAE in the lead) and that expense was not so much an issue as getting the right expertise to ensure quality training. Abu Dhabi Immigration -------------- ¶17. (C) The police play an important role in victim identification, said Col Nasser al-Minhali, Head of Immigration with the Abu Dhabi police. Without elaborating, he said specialists (immigration officials and police inspectors) are trained to distinguish between voluntary workers and victims of trafficking, but admitted that this conversation is often initiated by asking them what type of visa they have. (Comment: He grasped to some degree the concept of training personnel to identify victims, but did not explain procedures sufficient to convince his visitors that the effort was fully effective. End comment.) Al-Minhali welcomed future training opportunities in cooperation with the U.S. ¶18. (C) According to al-Minhali, standard contracts for domestic servants, in tandem with hotlines to the police, are designed to alleviate abuse of domestics. Copies of the contract are kept with immigration, the worker, and the sponsor. He said workers carry their labor card, yet acknowledged that the sponsor often holds the worker's passport -- noting that the law forbids the retaining of a passport by compulsory means. When asked about the number of cases in dispute, Al-Minhali deferred to the Ministry of Justice. Dubai Police Department of Human Rights -------------- ¶19. (C) On September 25, Dr. Mohammed Abdulla al-Mur, Lt. Colonel, Director of Dubai Police Department of Human Rights, concurred with Lagon that many victims of trafficking do not voluntarily identify themselves to the authorities and that historically victims have been detained in jails pending investigation into their individual cases. However, he also ABU DHABI 00001687 004 OF 004 emphasized that the soon-to-open Dubai Foundation for Women and Children shelter (DFWC) would replace local Dubai jails as holding facilities for some potential trafficking victims. Given that the DFWC is still in its infancy, al-Mur acknowledged there were many procedural (such as freedom of entry/exit from the facility) and promotional (such as publicizing the shelter among target populations) issues still to be resolved. ¶20. (C) Stressing increased awareness of trafficking throughout the police and UAEG, al-Mur said his department was founded in 1995 "not in response to other countries, but because we wanted to do it." He currently supervises 137 officers tasked with enforcing human rights, with corresponding human rights sections in all Dubai police precincts. Recognizing female victims' reluctance to speak with male investigators, al-Mur noted most of these sections are headed by female officers. (Comment: This human rights office is impressive and could usefully be replicated elsewhere in the UAE, as other Emirates do not have the police capacity or focus on TIP that this unit does. It could also be a model elsewhere in the Gulf. End comment.) Shelter taking shape in Dubai -------------- ¶21. (C) In a brief presentation led by Ahmed al-Mansouri (Chairman of the Board) and Afra Busiti (Executive Director) of the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, Ambassador Lagon saw photos of a new shelter (a large compound formerly used as a drug rehabilitation center) hopefully ready for occupancy within weeks. The shelter would accommodate 260 victims of abuse, including trafficking victims. Initial occupants would come from the City of Hope, run by AmCit Sharla Musabih (also a board member of the new Foundation) and expand as preparations were made to receive more cases. (Note: On September 30, after Ambassador Lagon's visit, all of the women housed at the City of Hope shelter who do not have children with them were moved into the new DFWC shelter. The remaining women with children will reportedly be moved into the new shelter as soon as a fence is constructed around an existing swimming pool. End note.) A hotline would facilitate referrals to the shelter, guided by the ongoing input of Ms. Musabih, said Busiti. ¶22. (C) Musabih said during the presentation that Dubai anti-TIP authorities were "getting it" in terms of approaching their work with a "good heart" towards victims. Asked what message she would like to relay to the UAEG, she said "put housemaids under the labor law and tighten visa standards." ¶23. (U) Ambassador Lagon approved this message. SISON