Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08JEDDAH448
2008-10-26 13:59:00
SECRET
Consulate Jeddah
Cable title:  

TAIF CHRISTIANS DEPORTATIONS MAY BE IMMINENT

Tags:  ELAB KIRF KISL KTIP PHUM SA SMIG SOCI XF 
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VZCZCXRO5089
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHJI #0448/01 3001359
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 261359Z OCT 08
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0969
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE 0191
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH IMMEDIATE 8088
RUCNDTA/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0055
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000448 

SIPDIS

RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2018
TAGS: ELAB KIRF KISL KTIP PHUM SA SMIG SOCI XF
SUBJECT: TAIF CHRISTIANS DEPORTATIONS MAY BE IMMINENT

REF: A. JEDDAH 00186

B. RIYADH 01211

C. RIYADH 01218

D. NEW YORK 00966

Classified By: ACTING CONSUL GENERAL CB TONEY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D).

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000448

SIPDIS

RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2018
TAGS: ELAB KIRF KISL KTIP PHUM SA SMIG SOCI XF
SUBJECT: TAIF CHRISTIANS DEPORTATIONS MAY BE IMMINENT

REF: A. JEDDAH 00186

B. RIYADH 01211

C. RIYADH 01218

D. NEW YORK 00966

Classified By: ACTING CONSUL GENERAL CB TONEY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D).


1. (S) SUMMARY: An advocate for the Christian Indians
arrested in April for holding a prayer service in Taif
reveals to Poloff that deportation orders of these
individuals are imminent. This is despite the fact that
Assistant Minister of the Interior, Mohammed Bin Naif assured
that this issue had been resolved and that no deportations
will take place. END SUMMARY.


2. (S) DEPORTATION ORDER STILL ON: PolOff met with Abraham
on October 24 to discuss the potential deportations of
Christian pilgrims in the Taif area. Abraham is a
Jeddah-based Indian Christian who is helping the Taif
Christians on a voluntary basis. He has previously taken part
in the worship services in Taif that were the subject of the
raid by Saudi police in April. (REFTELS)


3. (S) 13 TAIF CHRISTIANS: The current group of potential
deportees includes 13 individuals. There were 15 potential
deportees according to Abraham's list of those threatened
with deportation after the April worship service. Two of the
original individuals, Majnu Iype and Ginsen Syriac have left
the country. According to Abraham, Syriac was actually
already deported on an order to his sponsoring company. This
took place before the deportation issue had been supposedly
resolved in August. All of the individuals live in Taif,
except for Chengamanadu Geevarghese who works in Riyadh and
travels to Taif occasionally; he was one of the original
individuals arrested in Taif.


4. (S) STILL SLATED FOR EXIT: Abraham believes that all of
the remaining 13 individuals are still likely to get
deportation orders through their companies in the immediate
future. Abraham claims that some of the sponsoring companies
may take the side of the employees and refuse to fulfill the
deportation. He mentioned a British company that is not

likely to cooperate with the government.


5. (S) The gatherings that took place in April have ceased
completely at the recommendation of Abraham. The place of
prayer, an apartment that had been occupied by two of the
individuals, Jose Varughese and Lizy B. David, has been
chained shut by local police. As a result the couple was
forced to move into a new home.


6. (S) ORDERS FROM GOVERNORATE: Abraham notes that all
deportation orders are being handed down directly from the
Mecca GovernateGovernorate to sponsoring companies, who are
then asked to hand over the passport with an exit visa. The
employee is not contacted directly by the
GovernateGovernorate.


7. (S) EXITS BLOCKED: In recent weeks, Abraham has received
word that the passport office will be blocking the
individuals in question from leaving the country. In response
to a question as to why there is an attempt to block people
from leaving the country who are already facing deportation,
Abraham replied that these individuals might still be
prosecuted and jailed for the original crime of holding the
prayer service. Abraham claimed that the entire group is
legitimately afraid not only of deportation, but also of
potential prosecution.


8. (S) NO HELP FROM INDIAN CONSULATE: Abraham did contact the
Indian Consulate in Jeddah at one point, but they were only
issued a letter saying that the case would be looked at.
Abraham does not see the Indian consulate as a potential
source of support in sensitive cases like this one. There is
no evidence that the Indian consulate or embassy has done
anything to help resolve this case.


9. (S) COMMUNICATION LINKS: The communication chain for
information on this case is as follows: Abraham has been the
main supplier of information on this case to Embassy Riyadh
and Consulate Jeddah. He is in regular contact with only one
of the thirteen individuals, Mr. Reji Johnson
Nayattu-Kalayil. Nayattu-Kalayil is directly in touch with
the other twelve. The information that the deportees are

JEDDAH 00000448 002 OF 002


receiving is from the person Abraham refers to as the
guarantor, usually a representative from the sponsoring
company. The guarantors receive their information from the
Mecca GovernateGovernorate. One person that Abraham cites as
being particularly important in gathering information is a
Saudi guarantor that bailed our Alexander Mathew,
Chengamanadu Geevarghese, and Tony Parampathor Thomas. The
guarantor is a Saudi, not related to any company the men are
working for, and posted bail out of generosity. He apparently
has excellent sources of information within the government.
This individual has in recent weeks been one of the main
individuals to note that the problem of deportation is
persisting.


10. (S) COMMENT. It is very hard to verify that the
information being received on this case is completely
accurate. The chain of communication does not allow for
corroboration since it is all filtered through a few
individuals. The connection between the guarantors -
particularly the unattached benevolent Saudi - and the
government is unclear and therefore makes it hard to verify
the information. It would be very useful to learn more about
Syriac, the individual that according to Abraham has already
been deported. This can be used as evidence - if confirmed -
that the deportations are a real possibility.


11. (S) While Mohammad Bin Naif has noted that only the
Ministry of the Interior can issue a deportation (Reftel),
the local GovernateGovernorate seems to not be getting this
message. An order in writing would be necessary to ensure
effective communication between the Ministry of Interior and
local government officials.


12. (S) The Saudis have invited the Indian Prime Minister to
the upcoming UNGA debate on King Abdullah's interfaith
dialogue initiative in New York. (REFTEL D) This could prompt
the SAG to solve the problem to avoid bad press that would
distract attention from the meeting. END COMMENT.
TONEY