TIP REPORT FOR UAE MARCH 2008

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 ABU DHABI 000379

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP AND G/TIP/GAYATRI PATEL
ALSO FOR G, INL, DRL, PRM, L/DL, AND NEA/RA


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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF KCRM KWMN ASEC ELAB SMIG AE
SUBJECT: TIP REPORT FOR UAE MARCH 2008


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domestic workers 200,000 (according to various source
country embassies),the actual number of trafficking
victims among them is unknown. Construction workers,
particularly from India and Pakistan, often arrive in a
state of debt bondage having voluntarily paid as much as
USD 2,700 (10,000 dirham) to an agent in the source country
to arrange an employment contract. These workers might
receive a salary of between USD 135 to USD 200 (500 to 750
dirham) per month, while interest continues to accrue on
their debt. Trapped in these conditions for 2 to 3 years
(on average),bonded labor victims could easily number in
the tens of thousands according to a prominent U.S. NGO.
Like construction labor, domestic workers generally came to
the UAE voluntarily, but often had their passports withheld
upon entry, or came with the understanding that they would
work in a more-skilled profession instead of the one
available to them upon arrival. There were reports that
women -- primarily from Sri Lanka and the Philippines --
were lured to the UAE to work as domestic workers but were
later sent to work in other countries, including Oman.
Women trafficked to work in the commercial sex industry
came from a myriad of countries spanning from Eastern
Europe to Africa to East Asia. There is no reliable data
on the number of women involved in the sex industry; rough
estimates go as high as 10,000. Similarly, there is no
reliable information as to how many of those involved were
trafficking victims.

-- 27B. The UAEG has made qualitative strides in its
anti-TIP efforts in 2007, expanding awareness of the
problem and working actively to combat it. Nonetheless,
the complex phenomenon persists in an international
environment in which economic incentive continues to draw
vulnerable workers into opportunities abroad.

The UAE economy is heavily dependent on foreign labor.
Over 80 percent of the total UAE population, and roughly 98
percent of the private sector workforce, is expatriate.
The majority of unskilled workers are from poor source
countries and came to the UAE for economic opportunity.
Some became trafficking victims after their arrival in the
UAE. Female victims, for example, from South and Southeast
Asia (particularly India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia,
and the Philippines),may have been brought as domestic
laborers and later trafficked into other work; men from
India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan who came to the UAE to work
as laborers, primarily in the construction sector (but also
in agriculture),may face similar challenges. Labor
conditions in the UAE can be harsh for unskilled workers in
any circumstance, but more particularly when enduring
excessive work hours, nonpayment of wages, verbal, mental,
physical, or sexual abuse, or restriction of movement. One
cannot know how many incidents of such treatment occur,
although all are reported anecdotally from time to time.
Trafficking victims most often arrive in the country
voluntarily, having entered into employment contracts in
their home country with an agent who is usually of the same
nationality as the victim. (Regarding freedom of movement,
many employers hold the passports of their workers, in
spite of the practice having been outlawed in 2003. The
UAEG organized public relations campaigns to inform both
workers and employers that the practice is illegal. There
were numerous instances, widely reported by the media, in
which UAE courts and embassies or consulates successfully
intervened to compel an employer to return a passport to an
employee. Nonetheless, the practice remains widespread.)

Transient workers are also susceptible to contract
switching. Domestic workers were sometimes made employment
offers to work as a secretary or in another office job and

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travel to the UAE on a visit visa with the promise that the
contract would be signed in the UAE, but upon arrival the
worker was informed that he/she would be working as a
domestic worker or in the hotel or restaurant sector.
There were further reports from source country embassies
that some domestic workers who ran away from abusive
employers and sought assistance from the recruitment
agencies that brought them to the UAE were coerced into
transferring their contracts and were sent to work in other
countries (e.g. Oman).

Employees who sought assistance from their respective
diplomatic missions were reportedly almost always able to
resolve their complaints to the employees' satisfaction.
Source country labor attaches report good relations with
Ministry of Interior (MoI) and immigration officials, and
state that although domestic workers are not covered under
the labor law, MoI officials routinely offer similar
dispute resolution processes and protections as the labor
law provides, but on an informal basis. In March 2007, the
UAEG announced a standardized work contract for all
domestic workers that took effect on April 1, 2007. The
new standard contract stipulates benefits but not wages,
and formalizes a dispute resolution process through each
emirate's Naturalization and Residency Department. It is
unclear whether the UAEG has enough labor inspectors to
sufficiently monitor compliance, although the Ministries of
Interior and Labor have expended considerable effort to
prevent and resolve these problems. MoI took action
against hundreds of employers who abused or failed to pay
their domestic employees. According to current
regulations, MoI officials can ban an employer from further
sponsorship of domestic employees after receiving four
reports of abuse.

Police officials, particularly in Dubai, assisted
trafficking victims once they identified themselves as
such. However, victims were often reluctant to approach
police due to their illegal status and the risk of losing
their jobs and being arrested and deported. Source country
officials have stated that the Ministries of Labor and
Interior, and the Immigration Departments of both Abu Dhabi
and Dubai, significantly increased their efforts at
addressing the labor complaints of domestic workers.
Additionally, the numbers of UAE officials trained to
recognize signs of coercion and potential trafficking
increased.

Construction workers, the largest single work force in the
UAE, often worked under the harshest conditions. The media
regularly reported on strikes by construction workers
protesting adverse working conditions and unpaid salaries.
There were several strikes involving more than 1,000
workers; the striking workers claimed they had not been
paid for periods up to six months. (Unpaid construction
workers in the UAE often continue working without pay,
fearing that if they protest they may have no chance to
recover wages owed to them. With their room and board
provided by their employer, the amount of time that they
are willing/able to keep working without pay is much longer
than would be the case in a typical work situation, where
the salary would be needed to cover the expenses of daily
life.) The Ministry of Labor resolved these disputes
quickly when they became known. Legally employed
construction workers are covered by the existing UAE labor
law, with a clear mediation procedure. The UAEG also
offered an extensive amnesty program in 2007 for those in
irregular status to legalize their visas or return to their
home countries. A reported 341,958 persons took advantage
of the amnesty program.

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-- 27C. Both federal ministries and local emirate
departments are involved in anti-trafficking efforts. On
the federal level, the Ministries of Interior, Foreign
Affairs, Justice, Health, and Labor are involved actively.
On the local level, police and immigration departments,
public prosecutors, and social services departments are
also involved. Police and other government officials have
worked more closely with members of the media to increase
public awareness.

The 2006 anti-trafficking legislation created a new
anti-trafficking committee, led by then Minister of State
for Federal National Council Affairs (who was recently made
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs but presumably
retains the TIP portfolio). That committee has been active
since its April 2007 formation in drawing together involved
agencies to coordinate UAEG efforts. Article 12 of Federal
Law #51 stipulates participation on the committee by the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Justice, Labor,
Social Affairs, and Health, along with State Security and
the UAE Red Crescent Society. Other participants can be
added by Cabinet decision.

-- 27D. The UAE has both structural and cultural
impediments to combating trafficking, but corruption does
not seem to be a significant contributing problem. Complex
issues such as TIP tax the human resources of the UAEG,
which lacks institutional depth due to the country's young
age and small national population. Training at all levels
of the law enforcement community, for example, is time
consuming when nuanced and complex offences like TIP are
involved. Additionally, a loose federal structure and
requirement for consensus often prevent quick action on
matters with any level of controversy, such as TIP. For
example, the federal Ministry of Interior oversees the
Police General Directorates in each of the seven emirates;
however, each emirate maintains its own police force and
supervises the police stations in that emirate. While all
emirate police forces theoretically are branches of the
MoI, in practice they operate with considerable autonomy,
particularly in Dubai. Civil courts are generally part of
the federal system and accountable to the Federal Supreme
Court, with the notable exceptions of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and
Ras Al Khaimah emirates, which have independent
judiciaries. Reaching all government entities uniformly
with cohesive and comprehensive training programs is
challenging for the UAEG.

Some cultural characteristics also hamper the Government's
ability to address TIP. For example, as a conservative
Muslim country, public discussion of sex is culturally
taboo, which makes it difficult to address sex
trafficking. Similarly, due to a cultural emphasis on
privacy regarding matters of the home, people rarely
discuss abuse of trafficked domestic servants publicly.
Financial resources and technology are not generally
limiting factors, although human resource constraints are
apparent. UAE immigration officials routinely track
foreigners who try to enter the country illegally, for
example, using iris recognition biometric technology (the
database contains approximately four million iris scan
results).

By its nature, trafficking in persons involves persons and
activities outside (as well as inside) the UAE and aspects
of the phenomenon are not under UAE control. The UAEG
therefore frequently stresses the need to enhance
international cooperation.


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-- 27E. The National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking
and its constituent government agencies systematically and
regularly address UAEG anti-TIP efforts, coordinating
government responses and training to enhance UAEG capacity
and improve data collection. Committee meetings get
prominent local press coverage (in Arabic and English
dailies). The Committee actively pursues international
cooperation and has prepared brochures in English to
highlight UAEG efforts to address the TIP phenomenon. The
Committee has stated its desire to assemble reliable data
on the extent of the problem, yet has to date not issued
such quantitative data.

The UAEG devoted significant energy, time and resources to
sensitizing law enforcement, immigration, and judicial
officials to the subject of trafficking in persons, as well
as pursuing practical training to protect victims and
prevent future trafficking incidents. Abu Dhabi and Dubai
police and the Ministries of Interior, Health, and Justice
have all held anti-TIP training courses throughout the
year. One such training program in February 2008 involved
three U.S. experts (from the Department of Justice, FBI,
and ICE) sharing case studies with UAE judges and
prosecutors. The program, Principles of Investigating and
Prosecuting Human Trafficking Crimes, successfully deepened
the TIP expertise of judicial participants.

The Dubai Naturalization and Residency Department regularly
offered training for arrival and departure inspectors in
identifying fraudulent documents, often used by trafficking
victims. The UAEG also supplied ports of entry and source
country embassies and consulates with brochures in an
attempt to warn off potential trafficking victims, as well
as to inform victims where to receive assistance. The UAEG
senior leadership continues to ask the USG for training
information and opportunities that would further their
efforts to combat trafficking in persons, and help law
enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges to better
identify, investigate and prosecute trafficking in persons
cases.

Over the reporting period, senior leaders voiced their
strong political will to combat trafficking in persons,
notably through a USD 15 million donation by the Crown
Prince of Abu Dhabi that enabled a UN.GIFT conference on
anti-TIP efforts in Vienna in February 2008. The UAEG's
TIP committee actively coordinated multi-agency efforts.
There was no evidence that corruption of public officials
was a systemic problem. There were no verifiable reports
of government officials being linked to TIP activity during
the reporting period.

Paragraph 28 -- Investigation and Prosecution
--------------

-- 28A. On November 9, 2006, the UAEG enacted a
comprehensive anti-trafficking law intended to cover the
entire range of trafficking issues. The first case to be
prosecuted under this law involved an Indian couple
transiting from India to Paris, via Dubai, accompanied by
two unrelated Indian boys who held forged passports. On
March 1, 2007, the Dubai Attorney General accepted the case
for prosecution. Prior to this law, Justice Ministry
officials advised that traffickers were prosecuted under
specific penal laws such as kidnapping, rape, sexual abuse
and sexual exploitation.

The 2006 law, Federal Law #51 on Combating Human
Trafficking Crimes, defines Human Trafficking as
"recruiting, transporting transferring, harboring, or

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receiving persons by means of threat or use of force, or
other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse
of power or of position, taking advantage of the
vulnerability of the person, or, the giving or receiving of
payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person
having control over another person for the purpose of
exploitation. Exploitation includes all forms of sexual
exploitation, engaging others in prostitution, servitude,
forced labor, enslavement, quasi-slavery practices, or
detachment of organs." The law penalizes transnational
crimes.

The UAE sees its anti-trafficking legislation as the first
of its kind in the Arab world, defining trafficking as an
element of organized crime and setting forth mechanisms to
combat explicit servitude, sexual exploitation, forced
labor and the involuntary trade in human organs.

Complementing the intent of the new UAE law, Indian
authorities began on September 1, 2007, to restrict Indian
women under 30 years old who have not graduated high school
from working in the UAE to protect them from exploitation.
Also, employment contracts were required to be concluded
directly between employer and employee, to the exclusion of
recruiting agents, to decrease chances for exploitation.
Contract review by labor attaches of the worker's embassy
or consulate also proved effective. Furthermore it was
announced that pre-paid mobile phone cards must be provided
to every female domestic worker to facilitate contact with
authorities if necessary. On January 24, 2008, the Dubai
Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director
stated that individuals who facilitate visas for women as
housemaids and then provide those women to traffickers
would be accused of accomplice to trafficking, regardless
of intent.

In May 2007, the UAEG ratified the United Nations
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, which
includes provisions for international cooperation in
anti-human trafficking efforts. On March 9, 2008, the UAE
Cabinet signaled UAE ratification (likely requiring Federal
Supreme Council approval) of the UN Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially
women and children.

-- 28B. Trafficking for prostitution carries a five-year
minimum sentence. A life sentence can be imposed if the
victim is a female, a child, mentally impaired, or if the
perpetrator is a spouse, parent, or guardian of the
victim. Life sentences can also be imposed if the
perpetrator is a public servant or member of an organized
criminal group; if the act was committed through the use or
threat of force, violence, death, or physical or
psychological torture; or if the crime was committed by an
armed person.

Less complex sexual exploitation cases are punishable by a
maximum of one year with a fine or a minimum of two years
if the victim is under the age of 18 or if the victim was
coerced into prostitution. If force, threat, or fraud was
used, or if the victim is a minor, the maximum sentence is
10 years. Convicted expatriates are frequently deported
once their sentence is complete.

-- 28C. Labor exploitation is a primary concern of the
2006 anti-TIP law, which stipulates "not less than five
years" penalty for human trafficking crimes (Article 2).
Life imprisonment is imposed in certain circumstances (as
noted in 28B above). Persons aware of TIP crimes who fail
to report them are penalized for "not less than one and not

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more than five years" and/or face a fine of "not less than
5,000 dirham and not more than 20,000 dirham" (Article 3).
Those prompting others to give false testimony face "not
less than five years" (Article 4). Corporate entities
violating the law are to be "punished by a fine of not less
than 100,000 dirham, and not more than one million dirham,"
in addition to a possible court order of "temporary
dissolution, or total closure" of the company or one of its
branches (Article 7).

There are no laws that explicitly criminalize labor
practices such as contract switching or seizing a laborer's
passport. However, anti-trafficking legislation is
sufficiently broad to cover labor recruiters in source and
destination countries. The UAE Labor Law criminalizes use
of fraudulent documents in labor recruitment. The maximum
penalty is six months and/or a maximum fine of USD 6,800
(25,000 dirham). In October 2007, the Ministry of Labor
announced that laborers' salaries should be paid through an
Electronic Wage Payment System; in an effort to eradicate
non-payment of salaries, cash payments were not permitted
after January 2008. The UAEG uses such mechanisms
(enabling them with regulation and technical support) to
lessen the opportunity for exploitation. Compliance is
improving but not uniform. The UAEG cracked down on
companies violating rest break rules (which mandate rests
for outside workers during the hottest parts of the day in
summer months),actively inspecting conditions and pursuing
violators.

-- 28D. Rape sentencing ranges from two years to capital
punishment, with possible lashing as another penalty.
Death is imposed for rape that leads to the victim's
death. Penalties for sex trafficking range from a minimum
of five years to life.

-- 28E. Prostitution is criminalized by law. The penalty
for prostitution is temporary imprisonment and deportation
if a foreign national. Brothel operators or owners are
imprisoned temporarily and face brothel closure. Pimps and
clients can be sentenced to a maximum of five years. The
law has been partially applied. Local police raided and
closed some parlors which were affiliated with
prostitution. For example, in December 2007, Dubai police
raided 22 villas and flats and arrested 247 suspects (170
sex workers, 12 pimps and 65 clients). Business licenses
have been permanently canceled in some cases.

-- 28F. Dubai Police registered 10 trafficking related
cases between January and August 2007. Five cases pertain
to instigating prostitution, two to threatening children's
lives, and three regard other trafficking issues. At least
five individuals were convicted of trafficking in 2007.
More cases have been prosecuted since the 2007 data, as
noted below.

While not comprehensive, the following are individual
reports of prosecutions pursued during the reporting
period.

In February and March 2007, two separate travel document
fraud rings were uncovered. The perpetrators were referred
to trial.

In July 2007, a Dubai court sentenced two individuals to 15
years for forcing a woman into prostitution. This was the
first implementation of Federal Law # 51 of 2006. Their
sentence was reduced to seven years in September 2007
following an appeal by the Public Prosecutor's Office for
leniency. Their driver was sentenced to three years for

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aiding and abetting. As is common in such cases, the three
will be deported following completion of their sentences.

On September 12, 2007, the Dubai Court of First Instance
sentenced two Indians to 15 years for sexually exploiting
an Indonesian woman by forcing her into prostitution and
selling her. On September 23, 2007, two Bangladeshis were
charged with attempted trafficking of two housemaids by
forcing them into prostitution. The perpetrators attempted
to sell the housemaids for USD 2,450 to a police informant
posing as a buyer. On October 17, 2007, the Dubai Court of
Appeals sentenced a male suspect to three years for forcing
a woman into prostitution and attempting to sell her for
USD 1,170.

On October 23, 2007, the Dubai Attorney General referred a
sex trafficking case to the Dubai Court of First Instance.
The Public Prosecution charged two suspects with
trafficking, illegal detention, operating a brothel, and
forcing two females into prostitution. The perpetrators
beat the victims and forced them to have sex with
customers, keeping the money for themselves. Finally, the
perpetrators attempted to sell the victims for USD 2,700
(10,000 dirham).

On November 23, 2007, the Dubai Public Prosecutor accused a
Bangladeshi of bringing a 17-year-old girl to the UAE and
forcing her into prostitution. The girl testified that she
entered the UAE on a visit visa that the perpetrator, whom
she knew, sent to her. On December 1, 2007, a joint State
Security and CID operation uncovered a massive prostitution
ring involving 22 brothels in various residences. A total
of 247 individuals comprised of 170 South and East Asian
prostitutes, 12 pimps, and 65 customers were arrested. On
December 13, 2007, the Dubai Court of First Instance
sentenced an Indian woman to three years for forcing her
housemaid into prostitution, beating her for refusing, and
working as a prostitute herself.

On December 17, 2007, the Dubai Court of First Instance
sentenced an Indian man to five years for attempted
trafficking. The man attempted to sell a destitute
Indonesian housemaid to a police informant for USD 1,220
and to force her into prostitution. On January 14, 2008,
the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced two Indian men
to 10 years for attempting to force two women into
prostitution and sell them to a police informant for USD
2,450. The women were housemaids who had escaped from
their employers. The men assaulted the victims when they
refused to engage in prostitution. On January 17, 2008,
the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced a Bangladeshi
man to 10 years and a Bangladeshi woman to one year for
forcing an Indian woman into prostitution. As with other
similar cases, the foreign perpetrators will be deported
after serving their sentences.

On February 6, 2008, two Bangladeshi men were referred to
court by the Public Prosecutor for sexually exploiting an
Indonesian housemaid and attempting to sell her to an
undercover police agent for USD 2,700 (10,000 dirham).

On February 6, 2008, police arrested four Asian gang
members who attempted to sell a woman into prostitution for
USD 2,900. The four confessed to have trafficked the woman
into the UAE on a visit visa to sell her into prostitution
and to running brothels. They were referred to the Public
Prosecutor's Office on trafficking charges; one was charged
with aiding and abetting. On February 18, 2008, the Dubai
Court of First Instance sentenced an Indian driver to three
years and subsequent deportation for attempting to coerce a

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destitute housemaid into prostitution.

On February 26, 2008, the Dubai Court of First Instance
sentenced an Iranian businessman to two years for operating
a brothel. Seven Kazakh and Russian prostitutes were
sentenced to six months. The court also sentenced a Kazakh
woman to nine months for assisting the Iranian
businessman. The Iranian businessman trafficked the women
to Dubai on visit visas, promising them restaurant jobs but
then asking them to be prostitutes for three months to
cover the cost of visas and airfare.

On March 9, 2008, Dubai public prosecutors charged a
Ukranian woman with violating Federal Law #51 for trying to
sell a penniless Moldovan woman (who came to Dubai to help
treat her daughter's asthma) to a police informant for USD
7,600 (28,000 dirham).

-- 28G. The UAEG has worked to sensitize law enforcement
and immigration officials to trafficking and has provided
practical training to protect victims and prevent future
incidents. Abu Dhabi and Dubai police and the Ministries
of Interior, Health, and Justice have conducted anti-TIP
training. The Dubai Naturalization and Residency
Department trained immigration inspectors to identify
fraudulent documents used by traffickers and victims. The
UAEG supplied ports of entry and source country embassies
and consulates with brochures to warn potential victims
about the dangers of trafficking and to inform them about
obtaining assistance.

The Ministry of Justice Institute of Judicial Training and
Studies holds mandatory classes for prosecutors and judges
on proper victim assistance. The Institute also conducts
mandatory classes on the following: human rights; sexual
offenses; offenses against life; immigration offenses;
juvenile protection and delinquency; labor violations and
offenses.

Senior UAEG ministers have repeatedly requested USG
training, information, and opportunities that would enhance
their efforts to combat trafficking and help law
enforcement officials, prosecutors, and judges to better
identify, investigate, and prosecute trafficking cases.

On September 2 and 3, 2007, the Ministry of Interior and
National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking organized a
trafficking training seminar at the Abu Dhabi Police
Department of Criminal Evidence to raise trafficking
awareness and develop methods to eradicate it.
Participants included the Department of Naturalization and
Residency, CID, police officers, and public prosecutors.

On September 25, 2007, the UAE Police Academy held training
entitled "Islamic Sharia Position Towards Trafficking in
Persons." The Head of Sharia Studies at the Police Academy
spoke of the importance of women in Islam and encouraged
the audience to combat trafficking.

On December 10, 2007, the UAE National Committee to Combat
Human Trafficking co-hosted a workshop with the Johns
Hopkins University on GCC legislation on trafficking. The
workshop, held in Dubai, compared legislation in GCC

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