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

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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.

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CONFRONTING LOGISTICS AND CULTURAL TABOO
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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

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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.

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STATUTORY HURDLES
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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.

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SARG COOPERATION
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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

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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."

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QUALIFIED ENTHUSIASM
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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