INFORMATION EXCHANGE: QATARI BORDER DATABASES AND

S E C R E T DOHA 000335 SIPDIS SIPDIS ABU DHABI FOR DHS/ICE (RAVILLA, RBURBANO) & FAA (RBARNETT), PARIS FOR DHS/TSA (NLARBI),FRANKFURT FOR DHS/TSA (CLYNES) E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/25/2017 TAGS: PGOV ASEC PTER KVPR CVIS PINR KHLS QA SUBJECT: INFORMATION EXCHANGE: QATARI BORDER DATABASES AND BIOMETRICS SYSTEMS REF: 06 STATE 190832 DERIVED FROM: DSCG 05-1, B,D. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. THIS CABLE PROVIDES DETAILS OF QATAR'S USE OF IMMIGRATION DATABASES AND BIOMETRICS SYSTEMS AT PORTS OF ENTRY. IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS AT QATAR'S INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SCREEN ARRIVING AND DEPARTING PASSENGERS FOR PREVIOUS PASSENGER RECORDS AND FRAUDULENT, LOST OR STOLEN TRAVEL DOCUMENTS USING A MINISTRY OF INTERIOR DATABASE. TRANSIT PASSENGERS ARE NOT SCREENED IN THIS MANNER. THE GOQ HAS BEGUN ISSUING A "SMART" NATIONAL ID CARD CONTAINING BIOMETRIC DATA FOR ITS CITIZENS; FINGERPRINTS OF FOREIGN RESIDENTS ARE COLLECTED AND STORED BY THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR. THE MOI IS ALSO DEVELOPING AN "E-GATE" SYSTEM AT THE AIRPORT; E-GATE USERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO ENROLL SEPARATELY THROUGH DOHA'S AIRPORT IMMIGRATION OFFICE. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) QATAR'S MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR (MOI) IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF TRAVEL DOCUMENTS AND RESIDENCE PERMITS AND ALL IMMIGRATION CONTROLS. THE MOI MAINTAINS A LARGE CENTRAL DATABASE, ACCESSED BY POLICE, IMMIGRATION OFFICERS, PUBLIC PROSECUTORS, AND OTHER GOVERNMENT OF QATAR (GOQ) AGENCIES. SEVERAL BIOMETRIC TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING FINGERPRINTS, IRIS SCANS, AND FACIAL RECOGNITION, HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED INTO AND ARE BEING DEVELOPED FOR TRAVEL DOCUMENTS, RESIDENCE PERMITS AND IMMIGRATION CONTROLS. -------------- IMMIGRATION DATABASES AND WATCHLISTING -------------- ¶3. (SBU) GOQ-OWNED QATAR AIRWAYS HAS A PASSENGER SCREENING SYSTEM IN PLACE AT DOHA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, QATAR'S ONLY CIVILIAN AIRPORT. CONOFF MET WITH QA OFFICIALS AND DETERMINED THAT THE SYSTEM IS WORKING WELL. HOWEVER, IT DOES NOT SCREEN FOR SECURITY INFORMATION; RATHER, IT SEARCHES ONLY FOR PREVIOUS PASSENGER RECORDS AND FRAUDULENT, LOST OR STOLEN TRAVEL DOCUMENTS. QA STAFF MANUALLY ENTER INFORMATION FROM INTERPOL, FRAUDULENT, LOST AND STOLEN DOCUMENTS, AND PASSENGER INFORMATION AS EACH IS RECEIVED. QA'S DATABASE DOES ALLOW FOR BULK ENTRY OF LOST AND STOLEN DOCUMENTS, SUCH AS VISAS AND PASSPORTS. ¶4. (S) THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR (MOI) AND GOQ AGENCIES DO NOT SHARE SECURITY-RELATED INFORMATION WITH QA. QA IS NOT AWARE OF ANY MOI PRE-SCREENING OF TRANSIT PASSENGERS. ONLY PASSENGERS ARRIVING TO AND DEPARTING FROM DOHA UNDERGO IMMIGRATION AND WATCHLIST SCREENING THROUGH THE MOIS INTERNAL DATABASES. TRANSIT PASSENGERS RECEIVE PERSONAL SECURITY SCREENING. ¶5. (S) QATAR'S SECURITY SERVICES (QSS, THE DE FACTO INTELLIGENCE AGENCY) MAINTAINS ITS OWN WATCHLIST, WITH FOUR CATEGORIES: DO NOT ALLOW IN/OUT OF THE COUNTRY; DETAIN IF FOUND ENTERING/LEAVING THE COUNTRY; QUESTION IF FOUND ENTERING/LEAVING THE COUNTRY; OR SEND A SILENT ALERT IF FOUND ENTERING/LEAVING THE COUNTRY. IT IS NOT LIKELY THAT THE SECURITY SERVICE SHARES MUCH INFORMATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES. ¶6. (S) THE MOI DOES MAINTAIN A CENTRAL WATCHLISTING AND IMMIGRATION DATABASE. THIS DATABASE INCLUDES CRIMINAL AND SOME NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION. ALL UNITS OF THE MOI SHARE ACCESS TO MUCH OF THIS DATABASE, ALTHOUGH QSS DOES NOT USUALLY GRANT ACCESS TO OTHER GOQ OFFICIALS TO THE MOST SENSITIVE NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION. MOI AIRPORT IMMIGRATION OFFICERS SCREEN ARRIVING AND DEPARTING PASSENGERS AGAINST THIS DATABASE. ¶7. (S) THE MOI DATABASE CONTAINS LOCAL, REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION. FOR EXAMPLE, LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS ACCESS THE MOI DATABASE AND PLACE TRAVEL BANS ON INDIVIDUALS, QATARI OR FOREIGN NATIONAL, WHO ARE CURRENTLY PART OF ANY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OR MAJOR COMMERCIAL DISPUTE. AMERICAN CITIZENS HAVE BEEN DENIED EXIT FROM QATAR ON THE SAME DAY AS THE BAN WAS APPLIED AT A LOCAL POLICE STATION. IF A PERMANENT BAN FROM ENTRY TO QATAR IS DECREED IN A COURT DECISION, THE BAN IS IMMEDIATELY ENTERED INTO THE MOI DATABASE. ¶8. (S) GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (SAUDI ARABIA, KUWAIT, BAHRAIN, OMAN, THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AND QATAR) COUNTRIES SHARE CRIMINAL, NATIONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION. UNLIKE LOCAL POLICE ACCESS, THE REPLICATION OF DATA FROM OTHER GCC COUNTRIES TAKES SEVERAL DAYS TO WEEKS, DEPENDING ON HOW THE INFORMATION IS OBTAINED. THIS WAS FIRST INITIATED AS PART OF A GCC-WIDE EFFORT TO RESOLVE THE NATIONALITY OF VARIOUS TRIBESPEOPLE WHO OPENLY ROAMED AREAS NOW DIVIDED BY MODERN STATE BORDERS. THE MOI ALSO RECEIVES AND MANUALLY INPUTS INTERPOL LOOKOUTS. -------------- BIOMETRICS AND POES -------------- ¶9. (SBU) QATAR HAS SEVERAL BIOMETRIC PROJECTS UNDERWAY. THE MOI'S TRAVEL DOCUMENTS SECTION (TDS) IS AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANIZATION (ICAO) MEETINGS. IN 2004, THEY USED ICAO STANDARDS TO PRODUCE AN ICAO-COMPLIANT PASSPORT AND NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD. THIS PASSPORT AND NATIONAL ID CARD INCLUDES A DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPH, BIODATA, AND THE BEARER'S SIGNATURE. ¶10. (S) IN 2006, THE MOI BEGAN FINGERPRINTING AND CAPTURING IRIS SCANS FOR ALL QATARI CITIZENS APPLYING FOR NEW "SMART" NATIONAL ID CARDS. WHEN SCANNED OR READ, THE SMART ID CARDS LINK TO THE BEARERS MOI DATABASE RECORD, WHICH INCLUDES FINGERSCANS, IRIS SCANS, BIODATA, DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPH, AND SIGNATURE. ACCORDING TO TDS STAFF, THE SMART ID CARD IS NOT YET FULLY OPERATIONAL. QATARI CITIZENS MUST POSSESS A VALID NATIONAL ID CARD IN ORDER TO APPLY FOR A PASSPORT. THE MOI PLANS TO PRODUCE AN E-PASSPORT SIMILAR TO THE SMART NATIONAL ID CARD BY THE END OF 2007. ¶11. (SBU) ALL ADULT FOREIGN RESIDENTS ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO PROVIDE FULL FINGERPRINTS TO RECEIVE A RESIDENCE PERMIT. ALL BIOMETRIC DATA COLLECTED FOR RESIDENTS IS STORED ON THE MOI'S CENTRAL DATABASE, ACCESSED WIDELY BY MOI PERSONNEL. ¶12. (SBU) THE MOI IS ALSO DEVELOPING AN "E-GATE" SYSTEM AT DOHA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THE SYSTEM WILL INCLUDE BIOMETRIC ENROLLMENT SIMILAR TO DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT'S E-CHECK-IN SYSTEM. E-GATE USERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO ENROLL SEPARATELY THROUGH DOHAS AIRPORT IMMIGRATION OFFICE AND OBTAIN A SEPARATE E-GATE CARD. IN THE FUTURE, THE SMART NATIONAL ID AND A SIMILAR RESIDENCE PERMIT WILL ENABLE USE OF THE E-GATE. AIRPORT IMMIGRATION STAFF NOTED THAT THE E-GATE SYSTEM WILL EVENTUALLY BE INTEGRATED WITH OTHER GCC COUNTRIES SO THAT GCC NATIONALS AND RESIDENTS CAN TRAVEL WITHIN THE GCC REGION MORE EASILY. QA'S SECURITY MANAGER TOLD US THAT THE "E-GATE" SYSTEM WILL NOT LIKELY BE OPERATIONAL UNTIL NEXT YEAR. ¶13. (S) THE E-GATE SYSTEM IS LINKED TO AND APPLICANTS ARE VETTED AGAINST THE MOI'S DATABASE. E-GATE ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE WILL BE STORED IN MOI'S DATABASE. E-GATE ENTRY KIOSKS CONSIST OF A ROW OF ELECTRONIC TURNSTILES. WHEN ARRIVING, INDIVIDUALS MUST SCAN THEIR E-GATE CARD AND PASSPORT AND PROVIDE INDEX FINGERSCANS. THE E-GATE SYSTEM THEN CHECKS MOI'S DATABASE. IF THE INDIVIDUAL IS CLEARED, A LARGE METAL ARM DROPS AND ALLOWS ENTRY. IF THE INDIVIDUAL IS NOT CLEARED, A MOI IMMIGRATION OFFICER POSTED AT THE TURNSTILES IS PROMPTED TO ESCORT THE INDIVIDUAL TO THE SECONDARY SCREENING AREA. -------------- FLIGHTS TO U.S. -------------- ¶14. (SBU) QATAR AIRWAYS HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THE INAUGURAL FLIGHT TO THE U.S. WILL BE ON JUNE 28 FROM DOHA (THROUGH GENEVA) TO JFK, AND THEN APPROXIMATELY ONE MONTH LATER QA PLANS TO FLY TO WASH DC DULLES. PRIVATE DISCUSSIONS HAVE REVEALED THAT QA PLANS TO COMMENCE FLIGHTS TO LOS ANGELES AND HOUSTON IN 2008. THE AIRLINE'S SECURITY MANAGER AND A SALES MANAGER HAVE NOTED THAT A CODE-SHARE IS NOT LIKELY IMMEDIATELY FOR THE U.S. FLIGHTS ALTHOUGH IT IS WORKING ON SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT. QA IS NOT A FULL STAR ALLIANCE PARTNER, BUT IT WILL HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH UNITED TO PROVIDE MECHANICAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER SERVICES AT DULLES. UNTERMEYER