Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DAMASCUS471
2009-07-07 11:16:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

WOMEN STRUGGLE FOR REFUGE IN DAMASCUS

Tags:  PHUM PBTS PREL PGOV SCUL SOCI SMIG KWMN KTIP 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0014
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0471/01 1881116
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 071116Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6572
INFO RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 0069
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 7644
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 1112
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 5187
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 3934
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY 0037
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0623
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 0100
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0590
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0695
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 0043
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0663
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000471 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR PRM, NEA/ELA, DRL FOR BARGHOUT, G/TIP FOR
CHATTERJI
LONDON FOR TSOU
PARIS FOR MILLER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2019
TAGS: PHUM PBTS PREL PGOV SCUL SOCI SMIG KWMN KTIP
IZ, SY
SUBJECT: WOMEN STRUGGLE FOR REFUGE IN DAMASCUS

REF: A. DAMASCUS 00062

B. DAMASCUS 00434

Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000471

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR PRM, NEA/ELA, DRL FOR BARGHOUT, G/TIP FOR
CHATTERJI
LONDON FOR TSOU
PARIS FOR MILLER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2019
TAGS: PHUM PBTS PREL PGOV SCUL SOCI SMIG KWMN KTIP
IZ, SY
SUBJECT: WOMEN STRUGGLE FOR REFUGE IN DAMASCUS

REF: A. DAMASCUS 00062

B. DAMASCUS 00434

Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Emboffs joined lawyer and civil society
activist Daad Mousa (strictly protect) in a visit to the
Oasis Trust women's shelter on June 25 to discuss trafficking
and abuse of women in Syria. Administered by the Sisters of
the Good Shepherd (SGS),the shelter is a refuge for female
victims of domestic abuse, forced prostitution, trafficking,
and other socially repressive situations. SGS also operates a
24-hour women's help hotline and works in a local women's
prison. The SARG has afforded SGS certain privileges to work
with women. End Summary.

--------------
Oasis Trust Shelter
--------------


2. (C) The Oasis Trust shelter has a maximum capacity of 25
women, plus their children. Women at the shelter, 60 percent
of whom are Iraqi, seek refuge from trafficking, potential
"honor killings," according to Sister Hussein of SGS. Between
40 and 50 women who stayed at the shelter so far this year
were trafficked from places such as the Philippines, Iraq,
Somalia, Palestine, Jordan, and Eastern Europe, reported
Mousa. Emboffs met one 12-year-old girl at the shelter,
Shahid, who had been trafficked out of Iraq. She was picked
up by Syrian authorities two months ago for begging on the
street and put in a juvenile detention center. UNHCR
officials found the girl and reported her presence to SGS.


3. (C) One important role SGS has played in the past was in
assisting refugees from the camp in Al-Tanf who come to
Damascus to deliver babies (ref B). Palestinian and Iraqi
women in the Al-Tanf refugee camp may only stay in the nearby
hospital for one day to give birth, and since 2006, 36 have
come to the shelter for up to a week for post-natal care. But

Sister Hussein told us that policy recently changed, and
refugee women would be required to return to Al-Tanf the day
after giving birth.

--------------
SGS Work in the Prisons
--------------


4. (SBU) Sister Hussein reported SGS worked with women in
Duma prison outside of Damascus. Some of the women were in
prison for their own protection with nowhere else to go,
while others were arrested for soliciting prostitution. Many
mothers have been detained with their children, she reported,
and because the prison supplies only water and food, the
Sisters provide milk, toiletries, underwear, and child-care
items. The Sisters also founded and run a kindergarten in the
prison for the children living there.


5. (SBU) According to Sister Hussein and Mousa, the SGS had a
written, annual agreement with the SARG since 1999 allowing
the Sisters to enter the Duma prison. Mousa said the SARG had
released women from prison and into the custody of the SGS
after permission was granted by the woman herself, the
criminal court, and the prison director.


6. (C) Sister Theresa from Oasis Hope said there were 375
women in Duma prison, 200 of whom were trafficked from a
range of countries, including Peru, Colombia, Ethiopia, Iraq,
Sudan, Lebanon, Ukraine, and Russia. One was as young as 11,
and seven were pregnant.

--------------
Women's Resource Center
--------------


7. (C) Since October 2007, SGS has supported a 24-hour
hotline, emergency shelter, and women's resource center near
Oasis Trust. The hotline has received calls dealing with
problems childraising, spousal abuse, and trafficking, among
others, according to Mousa. A phone operator can then refer
the caller to a psychiatrist, social worker, or lawyer. The
hotline has received about 40 calls a month, over half from
Iraqi refugees. This year, the center provided courses on
social work and women's rights to 24 staff members.

--------------
Funding and Operations
--------------


8. (SBU) The local SGS Order has received regular donations
from Caritas America, Caritas Austria, UNHCR, the Greek
Catholic Church, the international SGS organization, several
embassies, and private donors. Caritas America has funded
training sessions for staff at the women's resource center,
but a dispute between Caritas America and Caritas Syria has
put those resources on hold. According to Mousa and the SGS,
Syria's operation lacked the appropriate financial
transparency, causing Caritas America to suspend fund
transfers. (Note: The Embassy has nominated eight SGS staff
for an International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) for
training in women's support services. End Note.)


9. (C) Although First Lady Asma Al-Asad verbally endorsed the
women's resource center, the center is not a
government-recognized NGO. Mousa said the SARG was
inconsistent in its cooperation with SGS. The SARG referenced
the center in a report about gender violence in Syria, but
the Ministry of Information blocked the center from
advertising its hotline number on Syrian television. She said
the SARG uses Oasis Trust and the resource center to bolster
their public image but provides little tangible support.


10. (C) The Association for Women's Rural Development (AWRD)
operates another shelter above a police station in the Old
City. AWRD calls their shelter Oasis of Hope, a name which
Mousa claimed AWRD lifted from Oasis Trust, attempting to
capitalize on its reputation. She said a group of
"high-society women" run Oasis of Hope, and she is skeptical
that it is being run well (ref A). (Note: Recently, Conoffs
coordinated with the AWRD shelter and secured the placement
of a mother with five children, the first referral of an
American dual citizen to Oasis of Hope. End Note.)


11. (C) Comment: SGS services are essential to the well-being
of hundreds of women. Moreover, the Sisters provide important
insight into cases of abuse and the status of women's rights
in Syria. The SGS perception that the AWRD shelter may be an
ineffective hobby of elite women may reflect a broader
disagreement over referral systems. Post takes SGS concerns
seriously since AWRD works with the International Office of
Migration (IOM) in administering the new shelter for victims
of trafficking, a project indirectly supported with USG
funding (ref A).
CONNELLY