UNICEF SUSPENDS SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN TRAFFICKED BETWEEN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAHORE 000195 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI PK SUBJECT: UNICEF SUSPENDS SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN TRAFFICKED BETWEEN PUNJAB AND UAE REF: LAHORE 122 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. UNICEF temporarily suspended programs aimed at rehabilitating children trafficked to the United Arab Emirates as camel jockeys, pending the resolution of a partisan squabble that has essentially closed a district office of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau, UNICEF's governmental counterpart. UNICEF plans to reinstate the program with a bureau of the Social Welfare Department as soon as it can. End Summary. -------------- Background: Worthy Program for Very Vulnerable Children -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Since 2005, the governments of Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have cooperated with the United Nations Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) to support Pakistani children who have returned home after being trafficked as camel jockeys to the UAE, reftel. Children as young as three years old are trafficked to work, some returning to Pakistan only several years later. The program focuses on repatriation, reunification, rehabilitation through education and coordination with law enforcement officials to prevent future trafficking. The program provides for, among other things, a monthly stipend of 600 Pakistani Rupees (approximately USD 7.00) to families whose returned children attend school. -------------- Puzzling Suspension -------------- ¶3. On September 2 Muhammad Farhan Aamir, District Officer of the Child Protection & Welfare Bureau (CPWB) in Punjab Province's southernmost district, Rahim Yar Khan, told Poloff the provincial government had closed programs to rehabilitate camel jockeys. Shamshad Qureshi, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, confirmed UNICEF decided to temporarily stop the program because the CPWB could not effectively perform rehabilitation activities in the field and disperse funds to the children. Mujahid Zahoor, UNICEF Child Protection Officer, reiterated that UNICEF closely monitored the program and reluctantly decided to suspend it only after attempting to resolve the issues with the CPWB since January. UNICEF will select a new partner within the Social Welfare Department to continue the program. The only change would be the direct management of the program; the goals and implementation would remain intact. ¶4. (SBU) Qureshi said UNICEF's relationship with the CPWB had fallen victim to a political battle between Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). UNICEF realized in January that nobody at the CPWB was returning phone calls or otherwise engaging with UNICEF. On investigation, it discovered the Home Secretary, a PML-N member, had prohibited CPWB interaction with international organizations. It appeared that he did this because the CPWB was headed by PML member Dr. Faiza Ashgar, and preventing the bureau from functioning effectively would give the Home Secretary a pretext to replace her. -------------- Ducking Politics, Finding a Way Forward -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Qureshi predicted the CPWB would be relocated to the Social Welfare Department. If that happened, UNICEF would renew its relationship with the CPWB, which had the capacity and knowledge to oversee the program if freed from political constraints. Poloff had tried repeatedly since May to meet with Dr. Ashgar or CPWB Program Directors. The Home Secretary initially refused to make an exception to the "no internationals" rule for Post, but finally relented. Dr. Ashgar confirmed on October 7 that the distribution of monthly grants will continue under the Social Welfare Department. She foresees the Home Department will transfer the program by mid-October, and the Social Welfare Department will resume distributions by the end of October. She explained that, though the current PML-N government continues to provide a budget for the CPWB, she has been unable to expand her LAHORE 00000195 002 OF 002 programs or fill vacant positions. The current PML-N government used the excuse that the Home Department did not have proper documentation to support her role as Chairperson of the CPWB and was using this to stall CPWB's work. ¶6. (SBU) Comment. Post agrees with UNICEF officials' theory that the CPWB has fallen victim to a struggle for power between PML and PML-N. PML-N, the party of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, just initiated a party reorganization, and may indeed be attempting to put its own party members into positions with control over resources. As the rehabilitation program is funded by UAE and overseen by UNICEF, we do expect it to continue under a new provincial partner once the political dust settles. End Comment. CONROY