Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DOHA236
2009-04-02 14:04:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Doha
Cable title:  

QATAR CONDUCTS ANTI-TIP MEDIA AND OUTREACH

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KTIP ELAB QA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7733
PP RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDO #0236/01 0921404
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 021404Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8940
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0187
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000236 

SIPDIS

DHAKA FOR P/E

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KTIP ELAB QA
SUBJECT: QATAR CONDUCTS ANTI-TIP MEDIA AND OUTREACH
CAMPAIGN IN WAKE OF NEW SPONSORSHIP LAW

REF: DOHA 199

Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b and d).

----------------
(SBU) KEY POINTS
----------------

-- On March 2, at a press conference that received wide
coverage in the local Arabic-language media, Dr. Ali bin
Samaykh Al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights
Committee (NHRC) and Myriam Al Malki, Director of the
National Foundation for Combating Trafficking in Persons
(NFCTIP),announced the launch of a month-long campaign
designed to educate Qatari citizens about trafficking in
persons (TIP),its legal and moral consequences, and
expatriate worker rights.

-- The launch of the campaign came less than a week after a
new Sponsorship Law was enacted that criminalized certain
practices commonly used to victimize laborers and domestic
servants (reftel).

-- The campaign focused on heightening TIP awareness among
the citizen population as well as outreach to affected
communities and diplomatic representatives from labor-sending
countries.

-- The campaign included two critical components, never
before seen in similiar outreach efforts: engaging local
imams and warning Qataris that under the new Sponsorship Law
they face stiff fines and possible jail time for certain
practices commonly associated with TIP.

-------------------------
(C) COMMENTS AND ANALYSIS
-------------------------

-- By bringing imams into the fight against TIP, the GOQ
introduced a powerful new element: the authority of Islam
and its influence with the population. Thus, TIP is now cast
in moral terms in addition to its traditional economic and
security grounding. This could have a powerful effect, both
in sensitizing Qataris to the evils of TIP and encouraging
foreign workers, tens of thousands of whom pray next to
Qataris at Friday services, to claim their rights under the
new Sponsorship Law.

-- The centerpiece of the media campaign is the new
Sponsorship Law, which expands the rights of laborers
vis-a-vis their sponsors. The media campaign makes clear
that the GOQ expects its citizens to abide by the law, and
that its passage was not an empty measure. The new law and
the campaign surrounding it are encouraging signs that the
GOQ is taking action.

-- The opening of a more candid dialogue with the Embassies
of the labor-sending countries also represents a step
forward. In recent years, the GOQ has deepened its
cooperation with Embassies in resolving individual labor
disputes, but such cooperation has been at the lower levels
of the GOQ. There has remained the pervasive sense that
senior Qatari officials, even those tasked with fighting TIP,
did not grasp the full extent of the problem, either through
willful blindness or as a consequence of the social and
economic gulf that exists between them and the expatriate
workforce. Raising the profile of the issue within society
will lead to open discussions. If the representatives of the
labor-sending countries are candid, and press for more
engagement, there is an opportunity to educate not just
workers and ordinary Qataris, but the senior leadership
itself.

End Key Points and Comments.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000236

SIPDIS

DHAKA FOR P/E

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KTIP ELAB QA
SUBJECT: QATAR CONDUCTS ANTI-TIP MEDIA AND OUTREACH
CAMPAIGN IN WAKE OF NEW SPONSORSHIP LAW

REF: DOHA 199

Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b and d).

--------------
(SBU) KEY POINTS
--------------

-- On March 2, at a press conference that received wide
coverage in the local Arabic-language media, Dr. Ali bin
Samaykh Al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights
Committee (NHRC) and Myriam Al Malki, Director of the
National Foundation for Combating Trafficking in Persons
(NFCTIP),announced the launch of a month-long campaign
designed to educate Qatari citizens about trafficking in
persons (TIP),its legal and moral consequences, and
expatriate worker rights.

-- The launch of the campaign came less than a week after a
new Sponsorship Law was enacted that criminalized certain
practices commonly used to victimize laborers and domestic
servants (reftel).

-- The campaign focused on heightening TIP awareness among
the citizen population as well as outreach to affected
communities and diplomatic representatives from labor-sending
countries.

-- The campaign included two critical components, never
before seen in similiar outreach efforts: engaging local
imams and warning Qataris that under the new Sponsorship Law
they face stiff fines and possible jail time for certain
practices commonly associated with TIP.

--------------
(C) COMMENTS AND ANALYSIS
--------------

-- By bringing imams into the fight against TIP, the GOQ
introduced a powerful new element: the authority of Islam
and its influence with the population. Thus, TIP is now cast
in moral terms in addition to its traditional economic and
security grounding. This could have a powerful effect, both
in sensitizing Qataris to the evils of TIP and encouraging
foreign workers, tens of thousands of whom pray next to
Qataris at Friday services, to claim their rights under the
new Sponsorship Law.

-- The centerpiece of the media campaign is the new
Sponsorship Law, which expands the rights of laborers
vis-a-vis their sponsors. The media campaign makes clear
that the GOQ expects its citizens to abide by the law, and

that its passage was not an empty measure. The new law and
the campaign surrounding it are encouraging signs that the
GOQ is taking action.

-- The opening of a more candid dialogue with the Embassies
of the labor-sending countries also represents a step
forward. In recent years, the GOQ has deepened its
cooperation with Embassies in resolving individual labor
disputes, but such cooperation has been at the lower levels
of the GOQ. There has remained the pervasive sense that
senior Qatari officials, even those tasked with fighting TIP,
did not grasp the full extent of the problem, either through
willful blindness or as a consequence of the social and
economic gulf that exists between them and the expatriate
workforce. Raising the profile of the issue within society
will lead to open discussions. If the representatives of the
labor-sending countries are candid, and press for more
engagement, there is an opportunity to educate not just
workers and ordinary Qataris, but the senior leadership
itself.

End Key Points and Comments.


1. (SBU) On March 2, at a press conference that was widely
covered by Arabic-language print and broadcast media, Dr. Ali
bin Samaykh Al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights
Committee (NHRC) and Myriam Al Malki, Director of the
National Foundation for Combating Trafficking in Persons
(NFCTIP),announced the launch of a month-long media and
outreach campaign against TIP. The campaign was designed to
engage local imams and other Islamic leaders in the fight
against TIP, to educate workers about their legal rights, to
deepen engagement with the Embassies of labor-sending
countries to fight TIP, and to sensitize Qataris about the
evils of TIP.


2. (SBU) As part of the campaign's goal of engaging local

DOHA 00000236 002 OF 002


imams and other Islamic leaders in the anti-TIP fight, a
training course was held for them on March 22 in Doha.
Besides imams, the 22 participants included officials from
the Ministry for Islamic Affairs, and representatives of the
Eid Charity and the Qatar Foundation for Charitable
Activities. The training focused on Qatar's international
obligations to fight TIP and promote human rights, and
included an appeal that imams speak out against TIP and other
human rights abuses in their Friday sermons.


3. (SBU) The campaign was launched only a few days after the
enactment of a new Sponsorship Law which gave workers certain
additional legal rights and criminalized practices commonly
used to victimize workers. A central aspect of the campaign
was to educate workers about their rights under the new law.
Anti-TIP forces planned to distribute brochures containing
information about the new law in Arabic, English, Urdu, and
Filipino directly to workers in the industrial area of Doha
and at local shopping venues, as well as through labor agents
and local expatriate groups. In addition to legal
information, the brochures will contain information on how
trafficked workers can get help. Also to this end, the
National Center for Combating Trafficking in Persons launched
a new website on March 22.


4. (SBU) The campaign included several programs designed to
educate the citizen population about the evils of TIP and to
sensitize them about their responsibilities under the new
Sponsorship Law. On March 4, Qatar Television aired a
special broadcast spotlighting TIP issues and featuring
interviews with Dr. Al Marri and Ms. Al Malki. Twenty-five
officals, including judges and representatives of the MOI,
State Security Service, and Public Prosecutor, attended an
anti-TIP training session offered by an NHRC legal advisor.
School children received instruction in human rights, and
radio and television ads talked about the new Sponsorship Law
during the entire month of March.


5. (SBU) Anti-TIP forces also laid the groundwork for a
better relationship with embassies of the labor-sending
countries. On March 16, a meeting between National Anti-TIP
Coordinator Al Malki and 20 labor attaches and consular
officers from labor-sending countries took place at a local
hotel. Ms. Al Malki pledged closer cooperation and gave the
representatives her contact information and insights on how
to improve their relationships with the Ministry of Labor in
dealing with specific TIP cases.
LeBaron