SARG DRAFT LEGISLATION ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000848 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PASS TO BIJAL SHAH E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/26/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM SY SUBJECT: SARG DRAFT LEGISLATION ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS STILL IN REWRITE PHASE Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A G/TiP funded grant to the International Office for Migration (IOM) for training Syrian police in trafficking in persons issues remains unspent. The proposed program depended upon the SARG first passing legislation on human trafficking. The draft legislation is currently under review with the MFA and there is no clear date on when it will be passed into law. An IOM program officer encouraged Post to meet directly with SARG on the subject of human trafficking during a recent meeting about the G/TiP grant. END SUMMARY. ¶1. (C) IOM National Program Officer Laila Tomeh met with us on November 24 to discuss a G/TiP funded grant designed to provide capacity building training for Syrian police on identifying and assessing human trafficking, as well as developing operating procedures for protecting and assisting victims of trafficking in Syria. The project, which was to begin on August 11 and last one year, is on hold until the SARG approves legislation on trafficking in persons. Until there is a legal framework in place to guide police, it is impossible for IOM to create a training program, according to Tomeh. ¶2. (C) Tomeh reported that when IOM submitted its grant proposal to G/TiP, it thought the Syrian Cabinet was close to approving the draft legislation. The legislation had been drafted by committee at the MFA level, with some IOM guidance, and sent to the Cabinet for endorsement. The Cabinet, in turn, sent the draft to MOJ for review. The MOJ had reservations on the draft language and returned it with its amendments to the Cabinet, who in turn sent it back to the MFA, where it remains today. ¶3. (C) G/TiP awarded IOM $250,000 in grant money. IOM has not charged anything against the grant. Tomeh could not offer any insight as to when the MFA would push the legislation back to the Cabinet. She did say, however, that she hoped that once the SARG had passed the trafficking law the grant funds would still be available. At present, IOM is preparing to participate in a December 3-4 workshop with Parliament on raising awareness about trafficking issues in Syria. Tomeh said IOM would use the workshop as an opportunity to sensitize Parliament to key elements of the legislation. ¶4. (C) Regarding Syria's tier three status in the Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TiP), Tomeh noted that the U.S. ranks the SARG low, but never visits with the relevant SARG offices to discuss trafficking issues and learn details about the government's efforts and their general perspective. As part of Post's International Visitor Program, Tomeh traveled to the U.S. in June 9-27 on a trafficking in persons program for people from NEA and SCA. During her outbrief with a State Department officer, Tomeh explained to us, that she asked why Embassy Damascus officers had not in the past (to her knowledge) directly engaged SARG on trafficking issues, and whether they would in the future. IOM, Tomeh intimated, might play a role in facilitating such an engagement if we were willing. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: SARG's sloth-like movement of the trafficking legislation is likely to be a product bureacratic inefficiencies. Our contacts at UNHCR and IOM state that the SARG has been generally cooperative when UNHCR case officers have sought the release of female Iraqi refugees who were arrested for prostitution and slated for deportation. Despite the current SARG freeze on official contacts with Embassy Damascus, post may attempt to present low-level SARG counterparts with the criteria for the TiP ranking system and with recommendations on how better to deter human trafficking. END COMMENT CONNELLY