SEVENTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: OMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 MUSCAT 000219 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, NEA/RA, NEA/ARP DEPARTMENT PASS USAID E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREF KCRM KWMN KFRD SMIG ASEC ELAB MU SUBJECT: SEVENTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: OMAN REF: A. 06 MUSCAT 1635 ¶B. 06 MUSCAT 1004 ¶C. MUSCAT 206 ¶D. 06 MUSCAT 1575 ¶E. 06 MUSCAT 1711 ¶F. MUSCAT 193 ¶G. 06 MUSCAT 1565 ¶H. 06 MUSCAT 1573 ¶I. 06 MUSCAT 1599 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Oman is beginning to display the political will to recognize and prevent trafficking in persons (TIP). There is no available data to accurately assess the size of the problem in Oman, but there are a number of populations in Oman at risk of being victims of trafficking. Since last year's TIP report, Oman endorsed the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) model unified TIP law, and is in the process of drafting its own national anti-trafficking legislation. Oman has identified the ratification of domestic anti-TIP legislation as an important step in developing a plan to prevent trafficking, prosecute traffickers and protect victims. The government continues to be interested in USG assistance to build its capacity to support trafficking victims. End summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Overview of the Trafficking Situation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Parts A & B: ¶2. (SBU) The government of Oman does not maintain or report statistics on trafficking cases or convictions. Embassies of labor-exporting countries, predominantly the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, provide most of the available information on potential trafficking cases. This information, by and large, is based on first-hand experiences of housemaids and other low-skilled workers who have sought shelter in embassy-sponsored safe houses, or other embassy services, including assistance with resolving contract disputes or immigration status. Due to the lack of reliable quantitative data, it is difficult to ascertain the size of the potential trafficking problem in Oman. However, there are a number of at-risk groups, including low-skilled workers, among them more than 60,000 housemaids, illegal immigrants, and prostitutes, whose members may be victims of trafficking. ¶3. (SBU) Oman is a destination and transit country for migrant workers. According to recent statistics from source country embassies and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM),there are approximately 660,000 third-country nationals working in Oman, almost three times the size of the Omani public and private sector workforce. Many are employed as low-skilled laborers in Oman's construction, agricultural, and service sectors, and live in compounds locally known as "labor camps," where conditions can be overcrowded and unsanitary. Low-skilled laborers generally work long hours for low pay, sometimes as little as 30 OR (USD 78) per month in base salary. Some arrive in country with debt to recruitment agencies in their home countries that often exceeds 400 OR (USD 1040) at 20-25% interest (ref A). Some laborers complain of abuse, specifically accusing their employers of altering their contracts, and deducting or withholding part of their pay. Employers often retain workers' passports as a matter of standard practice, though the Ministry of Manpower recently passed a legally-enforceable administrative circular to prohibit it. ¶4. (SBU) Contacts suggest that the actual number of low-skilled and domestic workers in Oman may be much higher due to illegal immigration. According to local and regional press, Oman may have deported as many as 10,000 illegal immigrants in 2006, most of whom entered Oman by boat from Pakistan via Iran, and from Yemen both by sea and land (ref B). Most illegal immigrants intend to transit Oman for work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Many of those deported in 2006 also included workers who had overstayed their visas, lacked proper documentation including a valid labor card, or were no longer working for their approved sponsor. ¶5. (SBU) Some illegal immigrants and those who were deported may have been victims of trafficking. Contacts among source MUSCAT 00000219 002 OF 007 country embassies state that workers from as far away as Bangladesh entered Oman via Pakistan or Iran, paying people along the way to facilitate border crossings and to transit the Gulf of Oman. Contacts claim that some of these workers may have been promised employment in Oman or the UAE, or told that Oman was actually the UAE, before being left along Oman's Batinah coast without documentation or local contacts. While some workers who were deported for overstaying their visas and other immigration violations may have broken the law willingly in order to earn additional money, those deported included workers and housemaids who had run away from abusive sponsors, as well as those whose sponsors hired them out against their will to multiple households in a practice locally known as the "free visa" system. ¶6. (SBU) Housemaids are a particularly vulnerable group due to the fact that they work in private homes with little to no oversight from the government or other bodies. Labor attaches at the Philippine Embassy in Muscat (protect) report that they house an average of 30 runaways per month in their embassy-sponsored safe house. The Sri Lankan Embassy reports a similar monthly volume. Housemaids run away from their sponsors for a variety of reasons, including allegations of non-payment of salary, long hours without food or rest, as well as verbal, physical or sexual abuse. Many of these housemaids arrive at their respective embassies' safe houses without their passports or labor cards, which they claim their sponsors withheld (ref C). ¶7. (SBU) Women working as prostitutes also constitute an at-risk group of potential trafficking victims. Contacts report an increase over the past year in the number of prostitutes, particularly from China, working discretely in and around Muscat-area hotels and bars; however, at present, the total number remains small. Contacts also report an increase in the past year in the number of massage parlors in the Muscat area, which can act as fronts for brothels. Although most interlocutors refuse to talk about prostitution openly, embassy contacts state that women from Eastern Europe, Central and Southern Asia as well as Northern Africa often enter Oman legally on a tourist or work visa, often by way of the UAE, but end up in the sex trade (ref D). ¶8. (SBU) Post has no reliable information suggesting a domestic trafficking problem per se. While there have been past allegations of children involuntarily participating in camel races, Post has no evidence to support these or other allegations of trafficking in camel-jockeys. Despite recent government regulations setting the minimum age for racing at 14, which is set to rise gradually to 18 by 2009 (ref E), children reportedly as young as seven continue to ride in competitive camel races, a popular Omani tradition. Available information suggests, however, that these children are Omani citizens and race voluntarily as members of tribes or extended families in government-approved races. Parts C & D: ¶9. (SBU) The government of Oman has begun to take a proactive stance toward combating trafficking, and is indicating the political will to pass anti-trafficking legislation. As part of its anti-trafficking efforts, government officials claim that Oman has established an interagency technical committee, involving primarily the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Royal Oman Police (ROP),the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Ministries of Justice and Legal Affairs, to review domestic legislation and identify TIP vulnerabilities. Government corruption does not limit the government,s ability to address trafficking in practice. At present, the biggest limitation on government action is the lack of technical expertise and staffing in the MOM and ROP necessary to screen and identify trafficking victims from among the thousands of worker complaints and illegal immigrants that each agency processes annually. The government has not shared with Post any evidence that it keeps track of trafficking statistics, or systematically monitors its anti-trafficking efforts. - - - - - - Prevention - - - - - - Parts A, B & C MUSCAT 00000219 003 OF 007 ¶10. (SBU) The government of Oman now acknowledges that trafficking may be occurring, and is taking steps to address it. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is the lead agency in responding to international inquiries about trafficking, and appears to be the Ministry responsible for guiding Oman's anti-trafficking efforts. Other ministries and departments may prevent trafficking and protect victims as part of their normal portfolios and responsibilities, although these actions are not yet identified as anti-trafficking efforts. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM),specifically the Ministry's Directorate of Labor Care, is responsible for workplace inspections, investigating worker complaints received through its worker complaint hotline, and resolving disputes between workers and sponsors. The MOM also is responsible for overseeing implementation of prohibitions on child and forced labor. ¶11. (SBU) The Royal Oman Police (ROP) is responsible for immigration and border control, and is the lead agency in processing and deporting immigrants who have been detained without visas or labor cards. The Ministry of Social Development oversees most of the government's programs devoted to the welfare of women and children. Officials at the MFA stated that each of these ministries and departments will play a significant role in Oman's future anti-trafficking efforts. The MFA also stated that the Ministries of Legal Affairs and Justice have the lead in crafting Oman's anti-trafficking legislation. ¶12. (SBU) Post has no information that Oman has conducted anti-trafficking awareness or educational campaigns aimed at either the victims or beneficiaries of trafficking. Officials at the MFA assert that the MOM has begun a project with the Indian Embassy in Muscat to develop a pamphlet in multiple languages, which will inform newly arrived workers of their rights and the services available to them (ref F). Officials say that immigration officials intend to give the pamphlet, once completed, to Indian workers at ports of entry, and that the Indian Embassy in Muscat may decide to attach it to each worker's contract. Discussions reportedly are underway between the Indian and Omani governments to set out proper contract criteria for Indians working in Oman, including conditions of work and even minimum wage levels. (Note: Indians form the largest expatriate group in the Sultanate, estimated to number 380,000 in 2006. End note.) Part D ¶13. (SBU) Throughout 2006, Oman continued supporting social policies that prevent children from entering the workforce. All Omani children and those of expatriates employed by the government are entitled to free primary and secondary education. Males and females attended primary school in equal numbers according to the latest statistics from 2005. In late 2006, the Ministry of Education announced a partnership with UNICEF to develop a syllabus on human and child rights, and to study how to incorporate it into the standard curriculum of primary and secondary schools. The government actively promotes women's participation in the economy, and provided women with equal opportunity for higher education. Half of all first degree university students were women, and women comprised 35% of all post-graduate students at Sultan Qaboos University, the country's only post-graduate institution. Part E ¶14. (SBU) There are no non-governmental or civil society organizations that focus on trafficking or related issues in Oman. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) does have a local office, which is partnering with the government to promote children's health, as well as primary and secondary school enrollment. In November 2006, the UN Special Rapporteur for Trafficking in Persons, Ambassador Sigma Huda, visited Oman on a government-supported fact-finding mission. Ambassador Huda gave a press conference, covered by government and private media, at the end of her five-day mission in which she highlighted at-risk populations and recommendations for government action to prevent trafficking. Part F MUSCAT 00000219 004 OF 007 ¶15. (SBU) The government has not provided Post with data to suggest that officials are monitoring immigration and emigration patterns specifically for evidence of trafficking. The ROP runs two deportation centers for illegal immigrants, one in the northwestern city of Sohar and the other in the southern city of Salalah. Officers at the deportation centers said that they interview each detainee to collect only basic, personal data, such as name, age and country of origin, in order to verify identity and then process and arrange for deportation. The ROP's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) also interviews detainees, but the data it collects is not shared publicly. Officers at the Salalah center, which mostly handles immigrants from Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia and Eritrea entering across Oman's land and sea borders via Yemen, said that they do not have a mechanism to screen potential trafficking victims from economic migrants. However, they claimed that there was no evidence to suggest that detainees paid agents in Oman or Yemen to facilitate their border crossing or that the detainees are victims of an organized trafficking ring. Parts G & H ¶16. (SBU) The MFA has indicated that it is in the process of developing an inter-agency trafficking task force, but none exists at present. Oman has not developed a national plan of action to combat trafficking in persons. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Investigation and Prosecution - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Parts A, B, C, D & E ¶17. (SBU) Oman is taking steps toward developing laws that specifically prohibit trafficking, but no such laws have yet been drafted or adopted. Oman endorsed the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) model unified Trafficking in Persons Law, which the GCC Supreme Council accepted during its December 10 meeting in Riyadh. A Royal Decree is required to ratify the law domestically. In addition, officials at the MFA stated in late-February 2007 that the Ministries of Legal Affairs and Justice are in the process of drafting national anti-trafficking legislation (ref F). ¶18. (SBU) During the second half of 2006, Oman passed a number of labor reforms in conjunction with the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that protect workers and cover aspects of trafficking crimes, particularly labor trafficking offenses. On July 8, 2006 the Sultan issued Royal Decree 74/2006, amending the 2003 Labor Law to prohibit forced labor and set penalties not to exceed one month in prison and/or 500 OR (USD 1300). The Royal Decree of July 8 also increased the penalties against employers who hire child labor or abuse women in the workplace, amending Article 118 of the 2003 Labor Law to raise the fines from 100 OR (USD 260) per violation to 500 OR (USD 1300). The Decree also increases possible prison terms for repeat offenders from one week to one month (ref H). The Ministry of Manpower issued a legally-enforceable administrative circular that prohibits employers from withholding workers' passports. The circular affirms existing Omani legal practice in which courts have ruled in favor of workers who lodged a complaint against their employers to retrieve their passports (ref G). The circular does not assign penalties to employers who violate the prohibition, but officials in both the Ministries of Manpower and Commerce and Industry claim that the government will impose penalties if, after a year of evaluation, they appear necessary to force compliance. ¶19. (SBU) The Omani Penal Code assigns penalties to individuals guilty of enslaving workers or trafficking in slaves. Article 260 subjects "anyone who enslaves a person or puts him in a quasi-slavery status" to five to fifteen years in prison. Article 261 targets the trafficker, prescribing a sentence of three to five years for "anyone who brings into or out of the Omani territory a human being in a state of slavery, disposes of him, by any means whatsoever, receives him, purchases him or keeps him in a state of slavery." ¶20. (SBU) There is no specific mention in the Penal Code of the crime of trafficking people for sexual exploitation. MUSCAT 00000219 005 OF 007 However, Article 218 does criminalize rape or forcible sexual assault, with a mandatory prison sentence of five to fifteen years. The Penal Code also criminalizes most aspects of prostitution. Article 220 criminalizes the actions of pimps, enforcers, and customers of sex acts, specifically "anyone who incites, by coercion or menace, a person to commit debauchery or prostitution," and assigns a penalty of three to five years for those guilty of such violations. The penalty is not less than five years if the victim is under the age of 18. Article 221 further criminalizes the actions of pimps, and assigns a punishment of three months to three years in prison and a fine of 20 to 100 OR (USD 52-260) for "anyone whose living is based, in whole or in part, on a third party's earnings from debauchery or prostitution, either under his protection or influence." Article 222 assigns the same penalty to the owner or managers of a brothel. Finally, Article 222 criminalizes the actions of the prostitute, and prescribes a penalty of three months to two years for the offense. Part F ¶21. (SBU) Oman has not provided Post with statistics on investigations or prosecutions of trafficking crimes. The Ministry of Manpower's Department of Labor Care did supply Post with mid-year statistics on labor complaints, showing that between January and July 2006 the Department received 2,907 calls to its complaint hotline. The Department of Labor Care resolved 938 through direct negotiations between the sponsor and employee, and referred 470 complaints to the courts for settlement. The statistics do not, however, specify the nature of the complaints, how many may have involved trafficking offenses, or resulting court decisions (ref I). Contacts report that most complaints lodged with the MOM by laborers or domestic workers, including those who may be victims of trafficking, are settled out of court, primarily because court cases can be lengthy and workers who have left their sponsors are considered illegal immigrants and subject to deportation if detained by the ROP. Part G ¶22. (SBU) Post has no information of linkages between trafficking in persons and organized crime. Post also has no information to suggest that government officials are involved in trafficking, or that government or other entities are using the proceeds from trafficking to fund illicit activities. Parts H & I ¶23. (SBU) Post has no information on government investigations into trafficking crimes, or the ROP's investigative techniques. The Penal Code does not prohibit police from engaging in covert operations to aid in investigations. Post is not aware of any special training that the government provides to its officials in how to recognize, investigate and prosecute instances of trafficking. Parts J & K ¶24. (SBU) Post is not aware of any instances during the year when Oman cooperated with other governments in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases. There have been no reported cases of a third country requesting extradition of an Omani citizen for trafficking-related charges. Article 36 of Oman's Basic Law stipulates that criminals, including Omani citizens, may be extradited subject to international laws and agreements, but only in cases in which Oman has signed a bilateral extradition treaty with the country in question. Parts L & M ¶25. (SBU) There is no evidence of official government involvement in or tolerance of trafficking on any level. No government officials have been prosecuted for involvement in trafficking or trafficking-related corruption. Part N ¶26. (SBU) Post has no information to suggest that Oman is either a source or destination country for child sex tourism. MUSCAT 00000219 006 OF 007 Part O ¶27. (U) Oman ratified ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor in 2001; Convention 29 on Forced Labor in 1998; Convention 105 on the Abolition of Forced Labor in 2005; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography in 2004; and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Children, supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, in 2005. According to Article 76 of Oman's Basic Law, all international treaties and agreements have the force of domestic law once they have been ratified. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Protection and Assistance to Victims - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Parts A & B ¶28. (SBU) The government does not maintain trafficking victim care or health facilities, provide potential victims of trafficking with legal services, or provide potential victims with relief from deportation. Embassies of labor exporting countries provide services, through embassy-sponsored safe houses and the offices of their labor attaches, to workers and domestic employees who may be victims of trafficking. Private individuals and groups also provide support and safe houses. While tolerated, however, these safe houses do not have government sanction, and officials in these embassies report that the MOM has requested that embassies immediately refer all cases to the MOM for investigation and resolution. Source country embassy officials state, however, that safe houses provide workers with their only option for secure lodging while they go through the dispute resolution process or wait to be repatriated. There are no organized foreign or domestic NGOs in Oman that provide services for potential victims of trafficking. Parts C & D ¶29. (SBU) The government maintains two detention and deportation centers for illegal immigrants, in Sohar and Salalah, and covers the costs of food, lodging, medical care and, in some cases, repatriation for detainees. The government has no formal procedure in these facilities to identify victims of trafficking. Detainees generally are not prosecuted for violating Omani immigration law, and are detained for an average of one month while the government, in cooperation with foreign embassies, confirms their identity and country of origin. Detainees who have attempted to enter Oman illegally on multiple occasions may face a short prison term. Foreign embassies are allowed to visit and interview their nationals in these facilities. Part E ¶30. (SBU) The government encourages victims to assist in the investigation and prosecution of crimes against them. Post has no information on whether this has occurred in trafficking cases. Part F ¶31. (SBU) As mentioned in Part A, the government does not provide shelter or other services for potential victims of trafficking. Post has no information on the protections that the government provides or is able to provide for victims or witnesses of trafficking crimes. Parts G & H ¶32. (SBU) Post is not aware if the government provides its officials in domestic departments or foreign embassies with special training or instructions to identify, serve or protect potential trafficking victims. There have been no reported cases of repatriated Omani nationals who were victims of trafficking. Part I MUSCAT 00000219 007 OF 007 ¶33. (SBU) There are no international organizations currently working with trafficking victims in Oman. The government of Oman is beginning to take action and display the political will to deal with the prevention of trafficking, prosecution of traffickers, and protection of victims since the submission of last year,s report. Officials at the MFA state that the anti-trafficking legislation that the Ministries of Legal Affairs and Justice currently are drafting is an important step toward developing a system to identify and protect victims. The MFA has requested assistance from the USG to help build the capacity of relevant ministries to support victims. The MFA continues to be interested in sending senior officers of the ROP to the United States to learn best practices in processing illegal migrants, including identifying and protecting potential trafficking victims. GRAPPO