PROTECTING WOMEN: SARG COOPERATING WITH LOCAL AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 000062 SIPDIS PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF KTIP KWMN SOCI SY SUBJECT: PROTECTING WOMEN: SARG COOPERATING WITH LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL NGOS REF: A. 07 DAMASCUS 00107 ¶B. 08 DAMASCUS 00848 DAMASCUS 00000062 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: For the past two years, the Association for Women's Role Development (AWRD),a local NGO, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have collaborated with the Ministry of Social Affairs (MSA) to promote protective services for women who are victims of trafficking (VOT) and domestic violence. In 2008, AWRD, with technical and financial guidance from IOM, and infrastructure support from the MSA, opened two women's shelters in Damascus. IOM also conducted a capacity building workshop with SARG parliamentarians on December 3 and 4 aimed at raising awareness about trafficking issues in Syria. Currently, anti-trafficking draft legislation is mired in an inter-ministerial revision and it will be months, if not longer, before it will be passed into law. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) At the invitation of Laila Tomeh (strictly protect), National Program Director for IOM, and Rania al-Jabiri (strictly protect),Chairwoman and founding member of AWRD, we visited two shelters in Syria specifically designated for women, one for VOT and a second for victims of domestic violence (called "Oasis of Hope") on January 14. These shelters are the first to be run by secular NGOs and to receive SARG sponsorship. Prior to the opening of Oasis of Hope, only the Sisters of the Good Shepherd Convent in Damascus offered shelter to women (Christian and Muslim). Each of the new shelters occupies an upper floor in a building the SARG donated to AWRD for providing protective services to women. AWRD, the implementing organization for both shelters, also provides administrative assistance to the government-run juvenile detention center occupying the ground floor of the building. The shelter for victims of domestic violence has only been in operation since 2008 and was originally conceived to address primarily the needs of Syrian women. By contrast, the VOT shelter gained ground with the SARG because it aimed to break the growing cycle of Iraqi refugee women who were arrested for prostitution, deported to Iraq, and then trafficked back into the country by Iraqi criminal elements operating in Syria, often with the assistance of the victims' family. Over the course of several meetings, however, representatives from IOM and AWRD assured us that any woman identified as a VOT (whether for reasons of prostitution or labor) or a victim of domestic violence could turn to the shelters for assistance without fear of deportation. -------------- CONFRONTING LOGISTICS AND CULTURAL TABOO -------------- ¶3. (C) According to conversations with IOM and AWRD contacts, legal and cultural norms in Syria have stymied the two shelters' endeavors to reach women in need. Regarding domestic violence, the main difficulty lies in the belief that the family is sacrosanct, beyond reproach, and appropriately veiled from society's gaze. That anyone could interfere in a family is, according to al-Jabiri, "a new concept," and for this reason there was initially resistance in the community to AWRD's message and offer of aid. This, she explained, accounted for the low resident population at the shelter. On the day we visited, only one woman was in residence, but the shelter expected seven more women to arrive soon. At a logistical level, AWRD has enjoyed SARG approval, possibly because the organization has "moral support" from First Lady Asma Asad, al-Jabiri said, who advocates for women's issues (ref A). Al-Jabiri, who once met the First Lady as part of a larger group of women activists, argued that while Asad's sympathy with AWRD's work had not led to direct governmental financing, her favor had induced SARG ministries to respond quickly to AWRD requests for assistance. ¶4. (C) The shelter for VOT, which received some PRM funding under a regional "Multi Action Program for Emergency Assistance to Iraqi VOT," officially opened on December 31 and has yet to admit anyone. According to Tomeh and IOM Director Maria Rumman (strictly protect),the MSA is quietly coordinating with local law enforcement, UNHCR, Sisters of the Good Shepherd Covenant, and IOM to develop an "informal DAMASCUS 00000062 002.2 OF 003 referral system" for identifying potential trafficking victims and, with the help of UNHCR and IOM officers, extricate these women from detention centers and enter them into the shelter. At present, according to Tomeh and al-Jabiri, the shelter for VOT was expecting five Iraqi women whose situations were brought to light by the Good Shepherd Sisters. Rumman told us the SARG allows the Sisters special access to women's prisons. When the Sisters discover women who appear to have been trafficked, they contact IOM or UNHCR, who in turn petition the MSA to release them into their custody. In this manner, UNHCR has successfully intervened on the behalf a number of Iraqi women and girls who were either trafficked or vulnerable to being trafficked for prostitution. -------------- STATUTORY HURDLES -------------- ¶5. (C) The current obstacles facing the VOT shelter stem from the lack of any statutory language that defines trafficking in persons as a crime and sets forth legal provisions for protecting victims and prosecuting perpetrators, according to Rumman. Without such a legal framework in place, Rumman pointed out, police have no standard upon which to identify potential victims and little incentive to investigate any organized criminal activity is this area. The SARG has, however, acknowledged the need for both a trafficking law and specialized training for government and law enforcement officers to combat the crime; with guidance from IOM, the SARG is actively pursuing both (ref B). ¶6. (C) At present, anti-trafficking draft legislation is caught up in the revision process between the Cabinet and Parliament. The legislation is currently under review with the Cabinet. Once the review process plays out, the draft will return to parliament for further revision at the committee level. Upon revision, the committee will present the legislation to the entire parliament for a vote, after which President Asad may sign it into law. ¶7. (C) Both Rumman and Tomeh appeared confident the law would eventually pass, but were uncertain how soon the process would yield tangible results. Rumman reported that she had been approached by a Deputy Minister of Justice (during a December 3-4 IOM-sponsored two-day consciousness-raising workshop on trafficking) who had assured her of the law's eventual passage. She also noted how in May 2007, the SARG directly referenced its draft legislation (and IOM's assistance) when it agreed to the additional provisions of the U.N. Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Finally, Rumman and Tomeh offered the SARG's continued participation in IOM-sponsored capacity building workshops as further evidence of the government's intention to push forward on this front. The most recent of these was the December 3-4 workshop, which was reportedly attended by 27 parliamentarians. -------------- SARG COOPERATION -------------- ¶8. (C) According to Rumman and Tomeh, in recent months the police and the MOI claimed to have increased their prosecutorial efforts against crimes associated with the illegal recruitment of domestic labor, a Syrian cottage industry that sometimes strays into trafficking. Anecdotal evidence suggested that a number of arrests had been made recently; but Rumman felt the cases were weak and, even if successfully prosecuted, would have little impact on trafficking per se in the absence of an anti-trafficking law. Rumman did note, however, that in 2007 the SARG dismissed 12 civil servants implicated for corrupt behavior connected with facilitating the operation of unlicensed domestic labor recruitment agencies. Tomeh reported to us that once the anti-trafficking legislation passed, the MOI planned to open a new bureau devoted to anti-trafficking interdiction. ¶9. (C) Tomeh also reported that she will travel to Aleppo next week to assess the potential site of a new shelter for VOTs. This newest shelter is to be opened with some support from the E.U.; again, the MSA donated the building. Tomeh noted, however, that the E.U. funding would not be enough to DAMASCUS 00000062 003.2 OF 003 permit the degree of renovation IOM and AWRD had achieved at the Damascus location. She hoped the building would at least meet minimum IOM standards and could be quickly prepared to receive residents. ¶10. (C) The importance of controlling undocumented migrant labor in Syria has clearly made an impression on the SARG's leadership. Earlier this month, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Otri met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta earlier to discuss a range of issues, including illegal Indonesian migrant workers in Syria. According to sources quoted in The Jakarta Poston January 12, Yudhoyono proposed a "special joint commission to solve problems related to its citizens working as undocumented migrants in Syria." In the same article, Otri reportedly claimed that the two countries had "drafted an agreement on manpower and will sign it during a meeting between representatives from Indonesia and Syria." -------------- QUALIFIED ENTHUSIASM -------------- ¶11. (C) Diplomatic contacts who follow trafficking issues have expressed guarded optimism on the new shelters. All agree the shelters represent progress and IOM's role has been crucial in keeping the issue in front of the SARG. There has, however, been concern over AWRD's effectiveness. Rene Spitz (strictly protect),First Secretary at the Dutch Embassy, told us he had put the question of AWRD's abilities to one of the Good Shepherd sisters. Spitz described the nun's response as mildly skeptical. The nun, according to Spitz, noted most of the women involved in AWRD were "upper class," seemingly implying a degree of dilettantism on their parts. Spitz also told us Oasis had, in the past, problems employing women willing to work the night shift at the shelter and believed that in some cases the night shift had been unfilled while women were in the shelter. ¶12. (C) COMMENT: IOM's work on helping develop the anti-trafficking legislation, its coordination with the MSA and the Parliament, and its ongoing administrative and financial assistance to AWRD has clearly moved the SARG toward taking a strong anti-trafficking position. The SARG's donation of a public building for the two shelters signals a willingness to move beyond rhetoric and play an active role in protective services for women. We are less optimistic that Syria will enact an anti-trafficking law any time soon, in part because of the glacial pace of Syria's legislative process. Because the Fist Lady is a strong, public, and popular advocate on women's issues, however, her "moral support" of the cause will offer NGOs and shelters some of the necessary political space to work and possibly expand. END COMMENT. CONNELLY