UAEG THOUGHTS ON NON-OFFICIAL TIP SHELTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000269

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, G/TIP, AND DRL

E.O. 12958: 03/18/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM KCRM ELAB IR AE
SUBJECT: UAEG THOUGHTS ON NON-OFFICIAL TIP SHELTERS

REFS: A) ABU DHABI 244, B) ABU DHABI 243, C) 08 DUBAI 213, D) 08 ABU
DHABI 377, E) 08 DUBAI 092

Classified by Ambassador Richard Olson, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador pressed MinState Gargash to support
the principle of unofficial TIP shelters in the UAE. Gargash noted
that such institutions could not be exempted from strict oversight
and would preferably not be associated with diplomatic missions. End
summary.


2. (C) In a 17 March meeting (other topics septel) the Ambassador
pressed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (and National anti-TIP
Committee Chair) Dr. Anwar Gargash for some assurance that a private
women's shelter like the City of Hope (CoH) can in principle function
in the UAE, noting the complexity of factors involved in a successful
anti-TIP effort. Gargash said that he had been asked about CoH the
night before in a TV interview (with al-Hurra, which he said also had
plans to interview CoH founder Sharla Musabih). Focusing his reply
to the Ambassador on accountability, Gargash said humanitarian work
did not exempt an organization from administrative and financial
scrutiny; one must accept the notion of being audited and run a
responsible operation.


3. (C) Citing criticism of UAE authorities from the CoH founder, who
he found "rather temperamental" to deal with, Gargash said some
"flack" is to be expected. The UAE nonetheless has a duty to review
procedures for dealing with sensitive humanitarian cases, as it was
thoughtfully doing as it set up shelters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi --
with the goal of opening more shelters around the UAE.


4. (C) Expanding on NGO activity, Gargash said the UAE's policy is
to allow social organizations (by implication, including shelters),
but does not want these attached to official diplomatic missions. He
used the example of an "Iranian school" as perfectly permissible if
not officially connected to the Iranian Embassy; "that's our general
policy (he did acknowledge as an exception the US Embassy's
association with the American Community School of Abu Dhabi)." The
UAE hosts many expatriate communities and welcomes social groups as
long as embassies don't organize shelters or clubs, he said (citing
the Philippines as an example without acknowledging its over-crowded
shelters [ref A] that function without apparent interest shown by the
UAE's two "official" shelters [ref B]). Comment: His broad point
seemed to be that the UAE was chary of allowing quasi-official
institutions to develop under the auspices of diplomatic
institutions, and clearly Iran's aggressive support of such
institutions is one of the issues in play here. End comment.


5. (C) Reiterating the expectation of some "flack" from CoH, Gargash
said again that "doing good work" is no excuse for unscrutinized use
of publicly collected funds ("the public's funds"). That said, he
undertook to continue to look into the matter.


6. (C) Comment: The UAEG prefers not only visibility but some
measure of procedural oversight of civil society organizations,
something it clearly sees lacking in CoH. It is not clear, however,
that the UAE has an appropriate mechanism in place (federally or in
the individual emirates) to undertake such oversight. Gargash did
not specifically address any allegations of impropriety by CoH (refs
C, D, and E). He has also never responded to prior concerns that
persons associated with Dubai's official shelter essentially cut off
CoH fund raising prospects with a "poison letter" in the fall of 2007
that cautioned potential donors. The CoH's financial woes have been
dire since that time. End comment.
OLSON