US embassy cable - 04ABUDHABI2034

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002034 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA AND NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2009 
TAGS: PHUM, KCRM, PREF, TC 
SUBJECT: UAE - REACTIONS TO TIP REPORT 
 
Ref: (A) State 123433, (B) Abu Dhabi 1832 
 
Classified by Richard A. Albright, Charge d'Affaires, 
a.i., reasons 1. 5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: UAE Government officials have 
responded relatively positively to the annual 
Trafficking in Persons report despite the fact that 
the UAE was dropped from Tier 1 to Tier 2.  The 
prevailing sentiment has been that the demotion - a 
year after the UAE's unprecedented jump from Tier 3 to 
Tier 1 - will encourage government authorities to 
tackle the trafficking problem more energetically and 
persuade international monitors, including the USG, to 
raise the UAE to Tier 1 again.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) Post delivered reftel country narrative and 
talking points, as well as the TIP report's 
"International Best Practices" chapter highlighting 
the UAE's model efforts to eliminate the problem of 
underage child camel jockeys, to senior UAEG contacts 
on June 13.    Recipients at the federal level 
included Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State 
for Foreign Affairs Shaykh Hamdan bin Zayed, 
Information and Culture Ministry Shaykh Abdullah bin 
Zayed, Interior Ministry Under Secretary Shaykh Saif 
bin Zayed, and Foreign Ministry Under Secretary 
Abdullah Rashid Al-Nuaimi.  In Dubai, the Consul 
General delivered the report to Dr. Khalifa Saeed, 
Chief of the Dubai Ruler's Court, and to Brig. General 
Dhahi Khalfan, Dubai Police Commander. 
 
3. (C) Shaykh Abdullah asked the Ambassador before her 
departure from post what she thought the UAE could do 
to earn Tier 1 status again.  The Ambassador said that 
it was important for the authorities to distinguish 
trafficking victims from people arrested for 
immigration violations or prostitution-related 
offenses, to establish safe houses for women, and 
provide the USG with more data on what it is doing to 
battle the trafficking problem.  The Ambassador also 
encouraged the UAEG to allow the IOM to open an office 
in the UAE.  Shaykh Abdullah noted that many deported 
prostitutes turn around and come back to the UAE.  He 
wanted to know if the U.S. would criticize the UAE for 
putting long-term bans on deported prostitutes.  The 
Ambassador said the U.S. would not criticize the UAE 
for deporting and barring the re-entry of persons who 
had violated UAE laws. 
 
4. (C) After some initial grumbling about 
"interference in our internal affairs," Brig. Gen. 
Dhahi Khalfan told the Consul General in Dubai that he 
agreed that it would be a good idea for his staff to 
study the report carefully and come up with a plan for 
addressing some of the problems raised.  "What we 
don't want is for you to tell us what we need to do. 
Let us come up with a plan," he suggested.  He said 
the police had recently begun working closely with the 
consulates (in Dubai) of countries that were major 
sources of trafficked persons.  He urged that the U.S. 
share any information it had regarding prostitutes who 
were being trafficked to Dubai against their will.  In 
his opinion, nearly all of the prostitutes working in 
Dubai had come voluntarily.  The Consul General 
explained that the U.S. definition of trafficking 
includes women who might have come to the UAE 
willingly but are now being coerced into staying, 
including by having their passports withheld.  Khalfan 
made it clear that he did agree with that broader 
definition of trafficking.  "They can go to their 
consulate and get a new passport any time they want," 
he said.  However, he did not push back when the 
Consul General noted that in many cases the women were 
too fearful and/or otherwise unable to go to their 
consulates. 
 
5. (U) Additionally, we shared the TIP reports with 
Issam Azouri, the Embassy's principal contact in the 
Shaykh Saif's office; Dr. Lt. Col. Abdullah bin Sahoo, 
director of the Abu Dhabi Police Officers' Training 
Institute; Dr. Lt. Col. Mohamed Al-Mur, director of 
the Dubai Police Human Rights Care Department; and 
Noura Al-Suweidi, executive director of the General 
Women's Union. 
 
6. (C) Issam Azouri of the Interior Ministry's Office 
of the Under Secretary, reacted favorably to the new 
report.  "This helps us," he told Polchief.  "We're 
taking this as an incentive."  Azouri also was pleased 
that the USG recognized the UAE's efforts to combat 
trafficking in child camel jockeys by highlighting the 
UAE in the "International Best Practices" chapter.  He 
said the Interior Ministry now has a special committee 
charged with reviewing anti-TIP laws, a member of 
which took part in an USG-sponsored anti-trafficking 
training program.  "We hope to have TIP legislation in 
place this year," Azouri said.  "Each year, we will 
hope to make some more progress."  The UAE is not 
interested in propaganda but in "having a benchmark to 
audit what we do," he said, referring to the TIP 
report.  Polchief said further publicity about the 
UAEG's anti-TIP efforts would help as well.  Azouri 
agreed and said he was aware that the local press was 
about to publish one or more articles on TIP soon. 
(Note: There has been no mention of the new TIP report 
in the UAE to date.  End note.) 
7. (C) Noura Al-Suweidi, the executive director of the 
General Women's Union, told Polchief on June 21 that 
she and her organization would be very interested in 
taking a more active role in addressing the 
trafficking in women problem in the UAE.  Al-Suweidi 
said she looked forward to reading and commenting on 
the TIP report that post provided her.  She said she 
was aware of the progress that her government had made 
on the camel jockeys issue, and showed intense 
interest and took extensive notes when Polchief 
described the problem of trafficked women. 
 
Comment: 
------- 
 
8. (C) The lack of any strongly negative reaction to 
this year's TIP report is encouraging, particularly 
when we hear senior UAEG interlocutors say that the 
drop from Tier 2 to Tier 1 only strengthens their 
resolve to continue battling against the trafficking 
problem.  The anti-TIP symposium the Abu Dhabi Police 
Officers Training Institute conducted for 80 officers 
May 24-25 (see ref B) is already one step in the right 
direction, and we understand from Lt. Col. Sahoo that 
the police officers training institute has begun 
planning for a November conference on human rights and 
TIP issues.  It is also encouraging to hear the 
General Women's Union take an interest in the issue of 
trafficking in women, as this is not an area that they 
had focused on before.  We will be working to engage 
them further. 
ALBRIGHT