JORDAN'S CABINET APPROVES ANTI-TIP LAW; NEXT STOP

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 003388 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ELA, G/TIP, AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/28/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KTIP JO SUBJECT: JORDAN'S CABINET APPROVES ANTI-TIP LAW; NEXT STOP IS PARLIAMENT REF: A. AMMAN 3171 ¶B. AMMAN 2822 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (C) Jordan's cabinet has just approved a draft anti-trafficking-in-persons law, which is expected to be submitted to Parliament the last week of December, according to Jordan's PM Nader Dahabi in a December 24 phone call with the Ambassador. The PM expressed his hope that the law will be passed this session, which is expected to end in late January or early February. ¶2. (C) The phone call followed a December 20 meeting between the Ambassador and the PM in which the Ambassador stressed the need for quick action on the draft law, which an inter-ministerial TIP and labor committee had been drafting for several months. (NOTE: Committee members have stated the United Arab Emirate's anti-trafficking law was used as a basis and that aspects of Bahrain's law was also used. END NOTE) Dahabi gave assurances that no meaningful opposition to the law was anticipated in the cabinet or parliament, but noted that other pressing priorities had led him to consider waiting for an extraordinary parliamentary session in March or April 2009 to introduce the law into parliament. ¶3. (C) Ambassador explained that Post would submit its final assessment of Jordan's anti-trafficking efforts in mid-February for the 2009 Trafficking-in-Persons Report and made clear the relevance and importance of the law to Jordan being removed from the Tier II watch list. Ambassador urged Dahabi to ensure that parliament approved the law before Post's final assessment was due to Washington. Dahabi expressed a clear desire for Jordan to be removed from the watch list and pledged to move the law as quickly as possible. ¶4. (C) Ambassador subsequently met with Chief of the Royal Court Nasser Lozi on December 21 and briefed him on the conversation with Dahabi. Lozi agreed to inform the King of the need to move the law quickly. ¶5. (C) Post will continue to press all relevant interlocutors for rapid adoption of the law and will continue to work with the Jordanians and other relevant partners in Jordan on additional anti-trafficking measures. Visit Amman's Classified Website at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman Beecroft