UAE: 2008 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 15 ABU DHABI 000202

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, G/TIP, DRL, PRM, INL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG AE
SUBJECT: UAE: 2008 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT

REF: STATE 132759


1. (U) The following is Post's submission of the annual Trafficking
in Persons Report.


2. (SBU) The Embassy's point of contact for the Trafficking in
Persons Report is:
Kundai Mashingaidze
Tel: +971 2-414-2621
Fax: +971 2-414-2639
Email: mashingaidzek@state.gov
Number of hours spent on the preparation of the report: Embassy
Officer: 40 hours; Dubai Consulate Officer: 25 hours; FSN: 15
hours.


3. (SBU) Responses below are keyed to reftel paragraphs 23 through

30.

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REPORTING QUESTIONS
--------------


23. (SBU) THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION:

-- A. What is (are) the source(s) of available information on
trafficking in persons? What plans are in place (if any) to
undertake further documentation of human trafficking? How reliable
are these sources?

The limited information that is available is provided by the
National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, Ministry of Labor
(MoL),Ministry of Interior (MoI),media reports, immigration
records, and law enforcement records.

Given the magnitude of the foreign labor workforce (more than 80% of
the UAE's population is foreign born),the UAE Government (UAEG) is
unable to catalogue all potential trafficking cases or produce
specific estimates of the problem, although the UAEG continues to
actively pursue improvements both in the areas of data collection
and the focusing of resources in immigration, law enforcement, and
the judicial system to better identify potential trafficking
victims.

-- B. Is the country a country of origin, transit, and/or
destination for internationally trafficked men, women, or children?
Does trafficking occur within the country's borders? If so, does
internal trafficking occur in territory outside of the government's
control (e.g. in a civil war situation)? To where are people
trafficked? For what purposes are they trafficked? Provide, where
possible, numbers or estimates for each group of trafficking
victims. Have there been any changes in the TIP situation since the
last TIP Report (e.g. changes in destinations)?

The United Arab Emirates was a country of destination for a large
work force, including both men and women, particularly from South
and Southeast Asia. There is no evidence that the UAE is a source
country for trafficking victims, although victims likely transit the
UAE. Victims are trafficked primarily for labor and a smaller
percentage for commercial sex purposes. Precise numbers of
trafficked men and women are impossible to ascertain, yet the
magnitude of the transient labor force suggests widespread potential
for exploitation and abuse.

In 2008, the UAEG made qualitative strides in its anti-TIP efforts.
It expanded on 2007 campaigns to spread awareness and understanding
of TIP and actively worked to combat the phenomenon. The first
official shelter dedicated solely to victims of TIP was established
in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint
Mubarak, wife of the late President, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin
Sultan al Nahyan, with the official opening to occur in 2009.
Nevertheless, the complex situation persists in an international
environment in which economic incentive continues to draw vulnerable
workers to job opportunities in the UAE.

While the government signaled greater attention to the issue, the
TIP situation has not changed significantly during the reporting
period; however, the conditions of those in debt bondage situations
likely deteriorated towards the end of the reporting period as the
country faced an economic decline that saw many laborers repatriated
to their home countries where they still owed debts. Construction
workers, primarily from India and Pakistan, numbering in the
hundreds of thousands, continue to make up the bulk of the male
labor force and domestic workers from the Philippines, Sri Lanka,
and Ethiopia continue to make up the bulk of the female labor force.
The actual number of trafficking victims among them is unknown;
what is known is that many of them arrive in a state of debt bondage
after voluntarily paying as much as USD 2,700 (10,000 dirham) to an
agent in their own country plus an additional amount upon arrival to
an agent in the UAE to arrange an employment contract. These
workers might receive a salary of between USD 135 and USD 200 (500

ABU DHABI 00000202 002 OF 015


to 750 dirham) per month, while interest continues to accrue on
their debt.

-- C. What kind of conditions are the victims trafficked into?

The UAE economy is heavily dependent on foreign labor. Over 80
percent of the total UAE population, and over 90 percent of the
private sector workforce, is expatriate. Labor conditions in the
UAE can be harsh for unskilled workers and domestic workers in any
circumstance, but more particularly if enduring excessive work
hours, nonpayment of wages, verbal, mental, physical, or sexual
abuse, or restriction of movement. Although there are anecdotal
reports, in the absence of solid data, it is difficult to ascertain
how frequently incidents of such treatment occur.

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. Unpaid construction workers
in the UAE often continue working without pay, fearing that protests
may destroy any chance of recovering 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.

Domestic workers made up the majority of unskilled female workers in
the UAE. The conditions under which they worked ranged from
comfortable, well-appointed homes to anecdotal reports of excessive
work hours, physical and sexual abuse, and unpaid wages. Unpaid
domestic servants often continue working without pay fearing that
protests may result in eviction with no chance of recovering their
wages. If evicted, female domestic workers become increasingly
vulnerable to traffickers for commercial sex work particularly if
their employers report them to the authorities as runaways. Many
employers continue the illegal and mobility limiting practice of
withholding their domestic workers' passports. Under such
conditions, being accused of absconding can lead to a higher
incidence of imprisonment, deportation, and lifetime bans from the
UAE, often with no resolution of the original problem or payment of
unpaid wages. Unlike other legal workers who were governed by
clearly defined labor laws under the Ministry of Labor, domestic
workers fell under the Ministry of Interior making it difficult to
identify definitive conflict resolution procedures.

-- D. Vulnerability to TIP: Are certain groups of persons more at
risk of being trafficked (e.g. women and children, boys versus
girls, certain ethnic groups, refugees, IDPs, etc.)?

Those most at risk of being trafficked were unskilled workers from
poor source countries who sought economic opportunity but had little
recourse when an employer or person of authority withheld their
wages, pressed them into excessive working hours or unhygienic
living conditions, or exerted other coercive influences. Some
became trafficking victims after their arrival in the UAE while
others were trafficked before they entered the UAE (either from
their home countries or from other countries, including countries in
the Gulf region). Trafficking victims often traveled to the country
voluntarily seeking to escape poverty and hardship and to improve
the lives of their families. They entered into employment contracts
in their home countries often with an agent of their own nationality
and later discovered that they had been deceived by their agents,
recruiters, or intermediaries and that they were in fact debt-bonded
or even trafficked. The victims found it difficult to extricate
themselves from these situations, ignorance about available services
and fear of deportation or imprisonment often prevented them from
seeking assistance from authorities.

Female victims, for example, particularly from India, Sri Lanka,
Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines, may have been
brought as domestic workers and later trafficked into other work;
men from India Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who came to work
as laborers, primarily in the construction sector (and also in
agriculture),potentially faced similar challenges.

-- E. Traffickers and Their Methods: Who are the
traffickers/exploiters? Are they independent business people?
Small or family-based crime groups? Large international organized
crime syndicates? What methods are used to approach victims? For
example, are they offered lucrative jobs, sold by their families, or
approached by friends of friends? What methods are used to move the
victims (e.g., are false documents being used?). Are employment,
travel, and tourism agencies or marriage brokers involved with or
fronting for traffickers or crime groups to traffic individuals?

Some employment agents lured foreign workers into the country for
domestic and agricultural jobs but then subjected them to

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involuntary servitude; there were reports of worker suicides when
they realized that the burden of debt and the confiscation of their
passports by their employers prevented them from returning home. A
number of domestic workers in abusive employment situations were
forced into prostitution when they ran away because by withholding
their identification papers and/or refusing to release them from
their contracts, their employers prevented them from seeking
alternative employment. Withholding workers' passports severely
limits workers' freedom of movement. Yet, despite the outlawing of
the practice in the UAE in 2003, employers continued routinely
withholding their employees' passports because there was little
enforcement of the

An increasingly common method to lure victims was for legitimate
businesses (e.g. cafes, flower shops, hotels) to use their
legitimate commercial licenses to recruit people into separate,
illegal, off-book recruitment businesses that deceived unskilled,
migrant workers, ignorant of the law by selling them "free" or
"open" visas at exorbitant prices. The visa provided the worker
with the name of a legitimate sponsor in the event that authorities
demanded residency papers and was "free" or "open" because the
worker could work for any employer as long as the debt to the
sponsor was paid. In practical terms however, the workers were
indentured to the recruiter ("free sponsor") who routinely took
possession of their passports and demanded a percentage of the
workers' wages until the sponsorship debt and interest was settled.
Workers potentially found themselves in a vicious cycle with "free
sponsors" refusing to release them when they found legitimate
sponsorship, even if their debts were paid. The "free sponsors"
routinely filed criminal charges against workers seeking releases
from their contracts leading to life bans that permanently prevented
the worker from returning to the UAE. Another common ruse by the
"free sponsor" was to renew workers visas without the workers
knowledge and force them into debt once again in order to pay the
renewal fees. Often the "free sponsors" colluded with unscrupulous
recruiters in the workers' home countries, leaving the workers
debt-bonded both at home and abroad.

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24. (U) SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS:
--------------
-- A. Does the government acknowledge that trafficking is a problem
in the country? If not, why not?

Yes.

-- B. Which government agencies are involved in anti-trafficking
efforts and which agency, if any, has the lead?

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 continued to
work closely with the media to increase public awareness.

The 2006 anti-trafficking legislation created an anti-trafficking
committee, led by the Minister of State for Federal National Council
Affairs. The 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.

-- C. What are the limitations on the government's ability to
address this problem in practice? For example, is funding for
police or other institutions inadequate? Is overall corruption a
problem? Does the government lack the resources to aid victims?

There are both structural and cultural impediments to combating
trafficking, but corruption does not seem to be a significant
contributory 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

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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.

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.

-- D. To what extent does the government systematically monitor its
anti-trafficking efforts (on all fronts -- prosecution, victim
protection, and prevention) and periodically make available,
publicly or privately and directly or through regional/international
organizations, its assessments of these anti-trafficking efforts?

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 prepares brochures in English and Arabic to
highlight UAEG's efforts to address the TIP situation. 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 January
2009 involved a U.K. anti-trafficking expert who shared his
expertise with an audience of judges, prosecutors, police, and
officials from the Ministries of Justice and Interior. Another
program in February 2008 involved three U.S. experts (from the
Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (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 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.

Senior leaders voiced their strong political will to combat
trafficking in persons, notably in February 2009, the UN Office on
Drugs and Crime released The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons
that was funded through a private US$ 15 million donation from
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The UAEG's
TIP committee actively coordinated multi-agency efforts.

--------------

25. (U) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS:
--------------
For questions A-D, posts should highlight in particular whether or
not the country has enacted any new legislation since the last TIP
report.

-- A. Existing Laws against TIP: Does the country have a law or laws
specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons -- both for sexual
exploitation and labor? If so, please specifically cite the name of
the law(s) and its date of enactment and provide the exact language
[actual copies preferable] of the TIP provisions. Please provide a
full inventory of trafficking laws, including non-criminal statutes
that allow for civil penalties against alleged trafficking crimes

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(e.g., civil forfeiture laws and laws against illegal debt). Does
the law(s) cover both internal and transnational forms of
trafficking? If not, under what other laws can traffickers be
prosecuted? For example, are there laws against slavery or the
exploitation of prostitution by means of force, fraud, or coercion?
Are these other laws being used in trafficking cases?

On November 9, 2006, the UAEG enacted Federal Law #51 on Combating
Human Trafficking Crimes, a comprehensive anti-trafficking law
intended to cover the entire range of trafficking issues. Federal
Law #51 defines Human Trafficking as "recruiting, transporting
transferring, harboring, or 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.

In January 2009, police in the emirate of Sharjah arrested an Iraqi
woman for breaking the anti-trafficking law when it was determined
that she had forced her two minor daughters into prostitution.
Prior to Federal Law 51, Justice Ministry officials advised that
traffickers be prosecuted under specific penal laws such as
kidnapping, rape, sexual abuse, and sexual exploitation.

In April 2008, police in the emirate of Ras al Khaimah arrested a
gang that preyed on maids for the purposes of forcing them into
prostitution. A similar gang was arrested in Dubai in July 2008.
In December 2008, police in Dubai arrested four Bangladeshi members
of a human-trafficking ring who preyed on women, brought them to
Dubai and forced them into prostitution or sold them into slavery.

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.

To complement the 2006 Federal Law 51 and the 2007 Indian law that
restricts travel to the UAE for work by Indian women under age 30
who have not graduated high school, in 2008, India and the UAE
introduced joint measures to combat the trafficking of Indian women.
A police officer dedicated solely to TIP issues, appointed by the
Indian government, and based in Kerala currently works in
coordination with police in the UAE, through the Indian Consulate
General in Dubai, to check human trafficking and illegal migration.
This system could potentially assist the UAE police in breaking up
human trafficking and illegal migration rackets. External Affairs
Ministry representatives based in Hyderabad and Chennai work in
coordination with the officer in Kerala.
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 of the UN
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
especially women and children. The ratification is likely to occur
before the end of the next reporting period.

-- B. Punishment of Sex Trafficking Offenses: What are the
prescribed and imposed penalties for trafficking people for sexual
exploitation?

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.

-- C. Punishment of Labor Trafficking Offenses: What are the
prescribed and imposed penalties for trafficking for labor
exploitation, such as forced or bonded labor? If your country is a
source country for labor migrants, do the government's laws provide
for criminal punishment -- i.e. jail time -- for labor recruiters
who engage in recruitment of workers using knowingly fraudulent or
deceptive offers with the purpose of subjecting workers to
trafficking in the destination country? If your country is a

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destination for labor migrants, are there laws punishing employers
or labor agents who confiscate workers' passports or travel
documents for the purpose of trafficking, switch contracts without
the worker's consent as a means to keep the worker in a state of
service, or withhold payment of salaries as means of keeping the
worker in a state of service?

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 25B above). Persons aware of TIP
crimes who fail to report them are penalized for "not less than one
and not 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,
although improving, is 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.

-- D. What are the prescribed penalties for rape or forcible sexual
assault? (NOTE: This is necessary to evaluate a foreign
government's compliance with TVPA Minimum Standard 2, which reads:
"For the knowing commission of any act of sex trafficking . . . the
government of the country should prescribe punishment commensurate
with that for grave crimes, such as forcible sexual assault (rape)."
END NOTE)

Rape sentencing ranges from two years to capital punishment, with
lashing as another possible penalty. However, in practice, the
crime is often not recognized due to the high burden of proof
required by Shari'a courts. 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.

-- E. Law Enforcement Statistics: Did the government prosecute any
cases against human trafficking offenders during the reporting
period? If so, provide numbers of investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences imposed, including details on plea
bargains and fines, if relevant and available. Please note the
number of convicted traffickers who received suspended sentences and
the number who received only a fine as punishment. Please indicate
which laws were used to investigate, prosecute, convict, and
sentence traffickers. Also, if possible, please disaggregate
numbers of cases by type of TIP (labor vs. commercial sexual
exploitation) and victims (children under 18 years of age vs.
adults). If in a labor source country, did the government
criminally prosecute labor recruiters who recruit workers using
knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers or by imposing fees or
commissions for the purpose of subjecting the worker to debt
bondage? Did the government in a labor destination country
criminally prosecute employers or labor agents who confiscate
workers' passports/travel documents for the purpose of trafficking,
switch contracts or terms of employment without the worker's consent
to keep workers in a state of service, use physical or sexual abuse
or the threat of such abuse to keep workers in a state of service,
or withhold payment of salaries as a means to keep workers in a
state of service? What were the actual punishments imposed on
persons convicted of these offenses? Are the traffickers serving
the time sentenced? If not, why not?

During the reporting period, police registered 16 trafficking
related cases: ten in Dubai, one in Ras al Khaimah, two in Abu
Dhabi, one in Ajman, and two in Sharjah. At least three individuals
were convicted of trafficking in 2008. More cases have been
prosecuted since the 2008 data, as noted below.

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

On April 16, 2008, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance
sentenced a Bangladeshi man to three years in Prison for human

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trafficking, sexually exploiting a 17-year-old Bangladeshi girl, and
forcing her into prostitution. He will be deported after serving
his sentence.

On May 1, 2008, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced
two Bangladeshi men to five years each in jail for sexually
exploiting a woman, who had escaped from the hands of a pimp, and
trying to sell her back into the sex industry for AED 10,000 (USD
2,700).

On May 12, 2008, Dubai Police's CID arrested an Asian man for human
trafficking and forcing a woman into prostitution. The victim was
referred to the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children.

On May 27, 2008, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance charged
two Bangladeshi men with human trafficking, unlawful detention of a
Filipina housemaid for four months and forcing her into
prostitution.

On June 19, 2008, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance charged
three Indian men with human trafficking for buying a housemaid for
50,000 Indian Rupees (USD 1,200) in India and sexually exploiting
her.

On June 27, 2008, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance charged
four Bangladeshi nationals, three men and a woman, with forcing a
woman to work as a prostitute for seven months, beating her, and
keeping her prisoner.

On July 10, 2008, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance charged
an Indian man with buying an Indonesian woman for AED 2,000 (USD
544) and forcing her into prostitution. The Police arrested the man
with two other Pakistani men who were customers at a brothel.

On July 17, 2008, the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance charged
four men with human trafficking, attempting to sell a woman for AED
10,000 (USD 2,700),and forcing her into prostitution.

On July 20, 2008, Dubai Police arrested two men: an Arab, an Asian,
and an Asian woman on charges of human trafficking. The Asian woman
lured workers to abscond and forced them into prostitution. Police
referred the three suspects to the Public Prosecution for further
investigation.

On November 12, 2008, Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) arrested two Asian men trying to sell a girl to a
prostitution ring. Police also arrested the girl along with another
girl who was also to be similarly exploited, and referred all the
detained people to the Public Prosecution for further
investigation.

On December 15, 2008, Dubai Police arrested four Bangladeshi men
forming a human trafficking ring who lured women from their home
countries or women who had absconded from their sponsors and forced
them into prostitution or sold them to the highest bidders.

On January 11, 2009, Sharjah Police arrested a woman who forced her
two daughters aged 17 and 12 into prostitution.

On January 11, 2009, Sharjah Police arrested a man and his first
wife for trying to force his second wife into prostitution.

-- F. Does the government provide any specialized training for
government officials in how to recognize, investigate, and prosecute
instances of trafficking? Specify whether NGOs, international
organizations, and/or the USG provide specialized training for host
government officials.

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

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trafficking cases.

On January 8, 2009, Dubai Department of Naturalization and Residence
organized a 3-day training session for its employees about combating
Trafficking in Persons crimes and providing support to its victims.


--G. Does the government cooperate with other governments in the
investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases? If possible,
provide the number of cooperative international investigations on
trafficking during the reporting period.

UAEG officials stated, and several source country embassies and
consulates confirmed, that they cooperate with other governments on
investigations, provide care for and repatriate victims, and
together seek to prevent future incidents. Law enforcement
officials reported that they cooperate with NGOs on trafficking
issues. (NGO coordination is addressed later in this report.)
Ministry of Interior officials indicated a desire for increased
cooperation with source country governments in the area of
information exchange on organized crime and trafficking. Statistics
on international investigations were not yet available.

In 2006, the UAE issued law #39 pertaining to international
cooperation in judicial matters, which complements anti-TIP efforts
by facilitating extradition and mutual legal assistance. The UAEG
has mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs) with a number of
countries (not including the U.S.). In some cases, mutual legal
assistance was exchanged with countries with which the UAEG did not
have an MLAT.

-- H. Does the government extradite persons who are charged with
trafficking in other countries? If so, please provide the number of
traffickers extradited during the reporting period, and the number
of trafficking extraditions pending. In particular, please report on
any pending or concluded extraditions of trafficking offenders to
the United States.

The UAEG has extradition treaties with India, Sri Lanka, Armenia,
Canada (for drugs and money laundering charges),Saudi Arabia,
Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, Somalia, Jordan, Sudan, and Egypt.
A number of other treaties are in the negotiation or approval
processes. The UAE has at times agreed to extradite individuals to
and from countries with which the UAEG does not have extradition
treaties but has not always ultimately completed the extradition.
UAEG extradition of a UAE citizen to another country is contrary to
UAE law.

A March 2008 report by the National Committee to Combat Human
Trafficking states that the UAE issued four international circulars
naming TIP criminals and extradited three convicted persons during

2007.

-- I. Is there evidence of government involvement in or tolerance of
trafficking, on a local or institutional level? If so, please
explain in detail.

Although there were no verified reports that government officials
were involved in trafficking, UAE officials may have at times turned
a blind-eye to the problem. Police act against prostitution when
incontrovertible evidence exists and yet often take no action if a
sexual encounter could be other than commercial in nature.

NGO officials and human rights observers sometimes questioned the
sincerity of the UAEG's political will to combat trafficking, citing
(among other reasons) the economic importance of foreign labor.

-- J. If government officials are involved in trafficking, what
steps has the government taken to end such participation? Please
indicate the number of government officials investigated and
prosecuted for involvement in trafficking or trafficking-related
corruption during the reporting period. Have any been convicted?
What sentence(s) was imposed? Please specify if officials received
suspended sentences, or were given a fine, fired, or reassigned to
another position within the government as punishment. Please
indicate the number of convicted officials that received suspended
sentences or received only a fine as punishment.

No credible or verifiable cases of government involvement in
trafficking have been reported. Based on prior criminal
prosecutions of government officials, the UAEG would likely
prosecute officials suspected of trafficking.

-- K. Is prostitution legalized or decriminalized? Specifically, are
the activities of the prostitute criminalized? Are the activities
of the brothel owner/operator, clients, pimps, and enforcers
criminalized? Are these laws enforced? If prostitution is legal
and regulated, what is the legal minimum age for this activity?
Note that in countries with federalist systems, prostitution laws
may be under state or local jurisdiction and may differ among

ABU DHABI 00000202 009 OF 015


jurisdictions.

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. Business licenses have been permanently cancelled in
some cases.

-- L. For countries that contribute troops to international
peacekeeping efforts, please indicate whether the government
vigorously investigated, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced
nationals of the country deployed abroad as part of a peacekeeping
or other similar mission who engaged in or facilitated severe forms
of trafficking or who exploited victims of such trafficking.

N/A.

-- M. If the country has an identified problem of child sex tourists
coming to the country, what are the countries of origin for sex
tourists? How many foreign pedophiles did the government prosecute
or deport/extradite to their country of origin? If your host
country's nationals are perpetrators of child sex tourism, do the
country's child sexual abuse laws have extraterritorial coverage
(similar to the U.S. PROTECT Act) to allow the prosecution of
suspected sex tourists for crimes committed abroad? If so, how many
of the country's nationals were prosecuted and/or convicted during
the reporting period under the extraterritorial provision(s) for
traveling to other countries to engage in child sex tourism?

Although some teenage girls are reported to have been trafficked for
prostitution (likely because their true ages were concealed in visa
documents),there are no reliable reports that the UAE is a child
sex tourism destination or source. There are no reports of foreign
pedophiles being arrested, prosecuted, convicted, sentenced,
deported, or extradited. Child sexual abuse has extraterritorial
coverage only if the victim or perpetrator is a UAE citizen. If so,
a perpetrator could be prosecuted upon return to the UAE.

--------------

26. (U) PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS:
--------------

-- A. What kind of protection is the government able under existing
law to provide for victims and witnesses? Does it provide these
protections in practice?

The UAEG provides assistance and protection to trafficking victims,
including repatriation assistance. Public hospitals provide
counseling. Nonetheless, the UAE used deportation as a solution in
some cases of labor disputes; there is no evidence that these
disputes involved a TIP dimension, although that is possible.

In 2005, the UAE government banned the employment of children as
camel jockeys and established a Social Support Center near Abu
Dhabi for child camel jockeys awaiting repatriation, coordinating
with UNICEF to care for and reintegrate them in their home
countries.
This UAE - UNICEF partnership, initially funded with USD 9 million
and expected to provide assistance through May 2009, has seen the
UAE take the lead in successfully carrying out 26 humanitarian
social and economic projects for rehabilitation of child camel
jockeys into their home countries of Mauritania, Sudan, Pakistan,
and Bangladesh.

-- B. Does the country have victim care facilities (shelters or
drop-in centers) which are accessible to trafficking victims? Do
foreign victims have the same access to care as domestic trafficking
victims? Where are child victims placed (e.g., in shelters, foster
care, or juvenile justice detention centers)? Does the country have
specialized care for adults in addition to children? Does the
country have specialized care for male victims as well as female?
Does the country have specialized facilities dedicated to helping
victims of trafficking? Are these facilities operated by the
government or by NGOs? What is the funding source of these
facilities? Please estimate the amount the government spent (in U.S.
dollar equivalent) on these specialized facilities dedicated to
helping trafficking victims during the reporting period.

Shelter options for victims of trafficking are limited. In Dubai,
there is only one officially recognized facility, the Dubai
Foundation for Women and Children (DFWC),which caters to victims of
trafficking and/or domestic violence. In addition to the official
shelters for victims of trafficking and domestic violence, there are
smaller shelters run by the governments of India, Philippines, Sri
Lanka, and Indonesia at their embassies and consulates to cater to
their own nationals. Currently, only the DFWC is equipped and does
cater to child victims of trafficking. Although the need for

ABU DHABI 00000202 010 OF 015


services for women and children are widely recognized, there is
little awareness of the need for services that cater to male victims
of trafficking and/or domestic violence. The UAEG encourages
victims to come forward in order to receive assistance. On December
4, 2007, the Dubai Police Chief publicly advised any woman who had
been duped into prostitution or anyone with information on
traffickers to contact the police. He stressed that callers would
be protected.

On February 26, 2008, UAE Deputy Prime Minister/Chairman of UAE Red
Crescent Authority, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, issued a decision to
establish shelters across the UAE for female and child trafficking
victims. The shelters will be managed by a corporate body with
financial and administrative independence, operating under the
auspices of the Red Crescent Authority.

On March 25, 2008, the DFWC announced that the shelter received 60
cases of trafficking or abuse victims, of which six were repatriated
(2 Uzbeks, 2 Bangladeshis, and 2 Ugandans). As of December 17,
2008, the DFWC had repatriated more victims with the number
remaining in the shelter falling to 45 people, including 19
children. Many of those at the shelter, particularly the limited
cohort of girls aged 15 to 18, arrived after escaping
human-trafficking attempts. They come from 40 countries, including
those in the former Soviet Union, Africa, the Middle East,
Bangladesh, and the Philippines. On January 5, 2009, the Dubai
Foundation for Women and Children announced that since its opening
in September 2007 (16 months),it had assisted in 152 trafficking in
persons cases in Dubai.

On January 13, 2008, the Red Crescent Authority, in collaboration
with the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, announced
the future opening of an Abu Dhabi shelter. On April 24, 2008, the
Abu Dhabi government announced an AED 8 million (USD 2,180,000)
contribution to set up the center for trafficking victims, while
Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the widow of the late Sheikh Zayed,
donated the land to build the shelter. On December 1, 2008, Sheikha
Fatima Bint Mubarak pledged to fund the new shelter in Abu Dhabi
that would be dedicated solely to victims of trafficking and which,
although already accepting a small number of victims of TIP during
the reporting period, is due to open officially in 2009.

-- C. Does the government provide trafficking victims with access
to legal, medical, and psychological services? If so, please specify
the kind of assistance provided. Does the government provide funding
or other forms of support to foreign or domestic NGOs and/or
international organizations for providing these services to
trafficking victims? Please explain and provide any funding amounts
in U.S. dollar equivalent. If assistance provided was in-kind,
please specify exact assistance. Please specify if funding for
assistance comes from a federal budget or from regional or local
governments.

The Government provides funding for most local social service
organizations (which tend to be loosely government-affiliated and
are not in the strict sense NGOs) and works with foreign NGOs to
assist trafficking victims. Authorities regularly work with source
country NGOs to assist with repatriation efforts.

In February of 2008, the UAE delegation to the Vienna Forum on Human
Trafficking conducted discussions with senior government and UN
officials, NGOs, and international experts on human trafficking.
While there, the delegation initiated partnerships for exchanges and
capacity building.

In the Abu Dhabi Emirate, social support centers provide physical
and mental health services to trafficking victims. In the Sharjah
Emirate, the Higher Family Council provides similar health
services.
In Dubai, the Dubai Police Human Rights Care Department, Victim
Assistance Unit, provides counseling, medical care, financial aid,
and travel assistance. Each Dubai police station is staffed with a
human rights care officer and a social worker/counselor from the
Dubai Police Human Rights Care Department. Post does not have
statistics indicating how many victims used any of the above
services over the reporting year.

The DFWC provides victims under its care with accommodation, food,
clothing, health care, financial support, psychological care, and
recreational therapy. On July 24, 2008, the DFWC announced its plan
to cooperate with the British Council to teach its residents
(trafficking or abuse victims) English language skills.

-- D. Does the government assist foreign trafficking victims, for
example, by providing temporary to permanent residency status, or
other relief from deportation? If so, please explain.

The UAEG provides assistance and protection to trafficking victims,
including repatriation assistance. Public hospitals provide
counseling. Nonetheless, the UAE used deportation as a solution in

ABU DHABI 00000202 011 OF 015


some cases of labor disputes; there is no evidence that these
disputes involved a TIP dimension, although that is possible.

The DFWC works with the Dubai police to have charges dropped against
victims in their care who may have had criminal charged filed
against them. The DFWC also works with consulates and the IMO to
repatriate victims and find them gainful employment in their home
countries.

-- E. Does the government provide longer-term shelter or housing
benefits to victims or other resources to aid the victims in
rebuilding their lives?

The government protects individuals identified as trafficking
victims and witnesses. The quality of shelter facilities is not
uniform (and too few currently exist to accommodate the full
demand).

UAE Code of Criminal Procedures Articles 14 and 22 provide for legal
assistance for victims. Authorities have worked with international
NGOs and source countries' embassies and consulates to provide
shelter for trafficking victims. Over the reporting year, hundreds
of victims have been assisted by each of the shelters run by the
embassies and consulates of the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, and
Indonesia. Police departments claim to shelter victims in hotels
and non-prison facilities. The UAEG does not operate a safe house
system. Post does not have data on costs incurred by the UAEG to
shelter victims.

-- F. Does the government have a referral process to transfer
victims detained, arrested, or placed in protective custody by law
enforcement authorities to institutions that provide short- or
long-term care (either government or NGO-run)?

Dubai police report that they screen for victims. DFWC reports that
it received many of its residents through police referrals after
police interviews revealed the women or children to be victims of
trafficking. Women who claim they are sex trafficking victims and
are willing to cooperate with police are housed in hotels at police
expense or at the DFWC until the completion of the trial(s) of the
trafficker(s). These victims are under police protection while in
Dubai. During the reporting period, the UAEG continued to train
immigration and law enforcement personnel to enhance capacity for
screening victims.

-- G. What is the total number of trafficking victims identified
during the reporting period? Of these, how many victims were
referred to care facilities for assistance by law enforcement
authorities during the reporting period? By social services
officials? What is the number of victims assisted by
government-funded assistance programs and those not funded by the
government during the reporting period?

The complex nature and nuances of trafficking compounded with the
difficulty in collecting data mean it is not possible to identify
the total number of trafficking victims. The data available is too
poorly documented for an accurate estimate to be made. The UAE
police registered 16 trafficking cases during the reporting period
whereas the DFWC housed 60 trafficking victims.

-- H. Do the government's law enforcement, immigration, and social
services personnel have a formal system of proactively identifying
victims of trafficking among high-risk persons with whom they come
in contact (e.g., foreign persons arrested for prostitution or
immigration violations)? For countries with legalized prostitution,
does the government have a mechanism for screening for trafficking
victims among persons involved in the legal/regulated commercial sex
trade?

Immigration authorities claim to employ methodical screening
criteria to identify victims, primarily sex workers, prior to entry
into the UAE. Questions about how one obtained a UAE entry visa and
what relationship one has with his/her visa sponsor form part of
this screening effort, which looks for inconsistencies in
information.
Questionable cases are forwarded to officers specialized in
screening for TIP crimes. Immigration authorities also screen for
valid family relationships regarding women and children. Usually,
children are required to be accompanied by parents or immediate
family members.
Single women under 25 years old are often expected to be
accompanied
by an adult male family member.

-- I. Are the rights of victims respected? Are trafficking victims
detained or jailed? If so, for how long? Are victims fined? Are
victims prosecuted for violations of other laws, such as those
governing immigration or prostitution?

Victims' rights are generally respected, once and if they are

ABU DHABI 00000202 012 OF 015


identified as victims. Victims who agree to testify against their
traffickers are afforded housing and sometimes even employment.
However, police reported that victims often choose immediate
repatriation rather than testifying against their traffickers.
Dubai police reported that prosecutions were common when victims
actually testified.

Police do not arbitrarily detain, imprison, or deport sexual abuse
victims. Working with foreign governments and NGOs when
appropriate, the UAEG repatriates victims at the UAEG's expense,
under the crime victim assistance program.

Dubai police do not necessarily waive prosecution for women who may
eventually become victims of trafficking after entering the UAE on
their own volition to engage in prostitution. If an individual
entered the UAE to engage in prostitution, in violation of UAE
immigration law, police may question whether prosecution should be
waived only because the individual was later victimized. Dubai
police officials have stated that women may claim to be trafficked
to avoid prosecution.

-- J. Does the government encourage victims to assist in the
investigation and prosecution of trafficking? How many victims
assisted in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers during
the reporting period?
May victims file civil suits or seek legal action against
traffickers? Does anyone impede victim access to such legal
redress? If a victim is a material witness in a court case against
a former employer, is the victim permitted to obtain other
employment or to leave the country pending trial proceedings? Are
there means by which a victim may obtain restitution?

Police report that they advise sexual abuse and trafficking victims
of their rights and encourage witness testimony. Victims may also
file civil suits for damages. Foreign diplomats indicate that
victims have been permitted to give sworn testimony and to leave the
country before judgment was rendered. The Dubai Police, in
coordination with CID, attempt to persuade women who they believe
are victims of trafficking to assist in investigations and
prosecutions.
As stated earlier, in Dubai, victims are housed in hotels, not
prosecuted, and returned home at government expense if they
participate in the prosecution of the traffickers.

Victims of labor trafficking are referred to the Ministry of Labor
to file a complaint through formal labor resolution channels; this
does not apply to domestic workers who are not covered under the
labor law. Domestic workers may file criminal complaints for abuse,
or may seek Ministry of Interior assistance in changing sponsors.
Source country labor attaches reported that domestic workers seldom
filed civil cases against abusers, and were content to simply change
sponsors or return home. There were no reports of victims having
their access to the courts blocked or discouraged by government
officials.

The UAEG reported that it advised victims of their lawful rights,
put offenders on trial to protect the victims, forwarded all TIP
cases to judicial authorities to seek justice, created social
support centers in police stations to assist victims in liaising
with relevant entities, offered tailored training courses for staff
dealing with TIP victims, sought to learn different languages used
by TIP victims, and analyzed the environments in which TIP victims
are exploited.

-- K. Does the government provide any specialized training for
government officials in identifying trafficking victims and in the
provision of assistance to trafficked victims, including the special
needs of trafficked children? Does the government provide training
on protections and assistance to its embassies and consulates in
foreign countries that are destination or transit countries? What
is the number of trafficking victims assisted by the host country's
embassies or consulates abroad during the reporting period? Please
explain the type of assistance provided (travel documents, referrals
to assistance, payment for transportation home).

The UAEG has implemented programs to sensitize law enforcement and
immigration officials on the subject of trafficking in persons, as
well as practical training techniques 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. According to the UAEG, UAE
embassies abroad collaborate with international organizations to
combat TIP.

In September 2008, after signing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs)
with Belarus and Armenia, the UAEG's National Committee to Combat
Human Trafficking announced that it would send security personnel
from the UAE to Belarus to a special training center in Minsk so
that they could improve their efforts to combat trafficking.


ABU DHABI 00000202 013 OF 015


-- L. Does the government provide assistance, such as medical aid,
shelter, or financial help, to its nationals who are repatriated as
victims of trafficking?

There were no reports of UAE nationals being trafficked outside of,
or within the UAE. The UAEG has a proven record of numerous
services provided to citizens at little to no cost, therefore it is
expected that the UAEG would provide generous assistance to
repatriated UAE nationals who were victims of trafficking, if such a
situation were to occur.

-- M. Which international organizations or NGOs, if any, work with
trafficking victims? What type of services do they provide? What
sort of cooperation do they receive from local authorities?

The Government cooperates and coordinates with NGOs and
international organizations in providing assistance to trafficking
victims, as cases come to its attention. It also proactively
encourages international cooperation on the official and NGO levels.


In January 2008, the UAE Ministry of Labor specifically asked the
USG to help facilitate creation of an international NGO that could
help address the complex issues associated with transient labor; the
UAEG clearly recognized the need for and sought cooperation with
capable international organizations, whether NGO or government
affiliated.

Another strong example of UAEG encouragement and facilitation of
broader international cooperation against TIP was the February 2008
UN.GIFT conference in Vienna funded by a donation of $15 million
from the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince. The UAE delegation leader, who is
also head of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking
cited the centrality of international partnerships to the UAE's
anti-TIP action plan (one of the plan's four pillars) and emphasized
that "no country or region acting alone can put a stop" to TIP; he
encouraged agreements between the UAE and NGOs in source countries.

Other examples of UAEG support include assistance to UNICEF, the
Pakistan-based Ansar Burney International Welfare Trust, the
Bangladesh National Women's Lawyers Association, the IOM, The
Protection Project, and others (including small source country
NGOs).

Some of these linkages were utilized to great affect in the camel
jockey repatriation effort, which the UAEG described as "joint
efforts with national institutions and NGOs to better provide these
victims with medical care, social counseling and education."
Cooperation is also ongoing with a Moldovan NGO to seek ways to
combat TIP.

On February 2, 2009, the UAE and Mauritania closed 560 dossiers of
Mauritanian children who once worked as camel jockeys in the UAE.
The Chairman of the UAE Special Committee for Rehabilitation of
Camel Jockeys visited Mauritania to oversee the implementation of a
UAE-backed UNICEF program for ensuring the speedy rehabilitation of
former Mauritanian camel jockeys.

--------------

27. (U) PREVENTION:
--------------

-- A. Did the government conduct anti-trafficking information or
education campaigns during the reporting period? If so, briefly
describe the campaign(s),including their objectives and
effectiveness. Please provide the number of people reached by such
awareness efforts, if available. Do these campaigns target
potential trafficking victims and/or the demand for trafficking
(e.g. "clients" of prostitutes or beneficiaries of forced labor)?
(Note: This can be an especially noteworthy effort where
prostitution is legal.End Note.)

Public statements by senior UAE officials highlighting the
TIP phenomenon and condemning its perpetrators are frequently
featured in the English and Arabic UAE press. These government
efforts reach virtually the entire news-reading public. The
government actively encourages businesses to facilitate
informational sessions for new workers to ensure that they are aware
of their rights and know where complaints can be filed. The
anti-TIP committee has published and distributed pamphlets
addressing the phenomenon of TIP and highlighting UAEG laws and
actions taken to combat TIP.

The publicity value of the February 2008 "UN.GIFT" conference in
Vienna was also significant in increasing awareness of the TIP
problem in the UAE and the region. Additionally, the UAE hosted a
first-ever gathering of labor ministers from labor sending and
receiving nations in January 2008 to stimulate dialogue between
source countries and employers. Efforts to streamline the
contracting process, ensure timely payment of wages, and generally

ABU DHABI 00000202 014 OF 015


strike a favorable balance between supply and demand for labor in
the booming economies of the Gulf, were clear priorities of the UAEG
during the reporting period.

In 2005, a new Dubai labor committee announced the establishment of
a website and 24-hour labor complaint hotline within the Dubai
Police Department. Both the website and hotline allowed domestic
workers and laborers to lodge complaints which would then be
investigated expeditiously. In order to make these mechanisms known
to the labor community, the committee launched a $540,000 public
awareness campaign including television and print ads in addition to
pamphlets and brochures delivered to worksites and airports.

-- B. Does the government monitor immigration and
emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking?

The various departments of Immigration, Naturalization, and
Residency reportedly keep statistics on immigration and emigration,
and have identified patterns for evidence of trafficking. In
response to this information, the government does not permit single
women under 21 to enter the UAE without legitimate visas, and the
travel documents of women under 30 undergo particular scrutiny.
Children from identified source countries must have their own
passports, even though those countries may allow children to be
endorsed on a parent's passport. This measure ensures that each
child has a visa in individual travel documents.

Both federal and emirate-level immigration authorities are
responsible for controlling the influx of people at the country's
international airports. Immigration authorities regularly conducted
training to detect fraudulent documents, often used by trafficked
persons, for arrival and departure inspectors. The Armed Forces are
responsible for guarding and monitoring the UAE's coast and land
borders. Border guards have the legal authority to stop and inspect
individuals at the border or points of entry, especially if there is
suspicion of illegal activity. The UAE plans to erect a fence
barrier that will run for roughly 525 miles along its land borders
with Oman and Saudi Arabia, in an effort to curb land-based
smugglers and illegal immigration. In 2000, the MoI's Department of
Naturalization and Residency created a central operations room
including an integrated federal data center to track the arrival and
departure of individuals in the Federation's seven emirates. In
2003, the UAEG instituted the use of iris recognition scans to add
biometrics identification information to its databases, to better
monitor migration and combat document fraud by visitors and illegal
immigrants, some of whom are trafficking victims. Using this
technology, UAE immigration authorities have stopped thousands of
potential illegal immigrants, some of whom were likely trafficking
victims. The database contains approximately four million iris scan
results, including the results of hundreds of thousands of illegal
immigrants and convicts who have been deported.

-- C. Is there a mechanism for coordination and communication
between various agencies, internal, international, and multilateral
on trafficking-related matters, such as a multi-agency working group
or a task force?

The government coordinates its trafficking efforts through the
National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking which was set up
specifically to address the problem. The committee consists of
members from various ministries, and is headed by a national
coordinator who is currently Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
There is no anti-corruption task force, but several anti-corruption
units have been established within the Abu Dhabi and Dubai police
departments.

Meetings of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking take
place almost monthly, often at the Presidential Court in Abu Dhabi.
The Committee is authorized by Cabinet decree as the official UAEG
conduit for international requests, inquiries, and delegations on
issues related to TIP.

In a meeting in January 2009, the committee highlighted a media
campaign in all UAE airports aiming at raising awareness about human
trafficking. The committee also discussed execution steps for the
campaign and decided to implement them to create awareness about the
crime. The Chairman of the National Committee to Combat Human
Trafficking said that the campaign held strategic importance, as it
aimed to limit the number of human trafficking victims arriving
through the airports of the country, who may be trapped in different
kinds of frauds and fictional contracts. He hoped that the campaign
would further add to the nation's efforts in fighting human
trafficking.

-- D. Does the government have a national plan of action to address
trafficking in persons? If the plan was developed during the
reporting period, which agencies were involved in developing it?
Were NGOs consulted in the process? What steps has the government
taken to implement the action plan?


ABU DHABI 00000202 015 OF 015


The UAE addresses TIP through an action plan that rests on four
pillars:
1) Legislation --Federal Law 51 defines trafficking and calls for
strong punitive measures for all forms of human trafficking.
2) Enforcement --The UAEG has emphasized and focused on
awareness-raising campaigns for the enforcement of anti-TIP laws.
3) Victim Support --The plan includes initiatives that determine
how victims are treated by law enforcement officials as well as
expands the help and welfare programs available to victims.
4) Bilateral and International Cooperation --The UAE recognizes the
need to coordinate anti-TIP efforts with labor exporting countries
and international NGOs.

-- E: What measures has the government taken during the reporting
period to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts?

The police conduct raids in order to break up trafficking and
prostitution rings. They also monitor nightclubs and have shut down
a number of clubs and brothels in which prostitution is known to
occur.

Stiff penalties such as life imprisonment if the victim is under 18
years old or handicapped, deportation and permanent bans from
entering the UAE are also imposed on those who engage in commercial
sex acts.

-- F. Required of all Posts: What measures has the government taken
during the reporting period to reduce the participation in
international child sex tourism by nationals of the country?

There are no reliable reports that the UAE is a child sex tourism
destination or source.
OLSON