US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI2437

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002437 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G, G/TIP, INL, DRL, NEA/RA, AND NEA/ARPI 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2010 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, KCRM, ELAB, KWMN, TC, Camel Jockeys 
SUBJECT: REACTION TO TIP REPORT: UAEG EXPECTED TIER 3 
 
REF: A. STATE 100432 
 
     B. STATE 99883 
     C. STATE 98157 
     D. ABU DHABI 2365 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 1. (C) Summary: Ambassador met with MFA Under Secretary 
Abdullah Rashid Al Noaimi June 1 to deliver the 2005 
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, ranking the UAE at Tier 
3, and the companion mini-action plan.  Ambassador also 
discussed the TIP report and action plan with director for 
international affairs at Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh 
Mohammed bin Zayed's Court, Yousef Al Otaiba.  Both Al Noaimi 
and Al Otaiba were expecting the Tier 3 rating.  Al Noaimi 
said he was optimistic that the steps suggested in the 60-day 
action plan were "doable."  He said he welcomed USG pressure 
because it would give the federal government greater leverage 
with Dubai Deputy Ruler Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, who has 
been resistant to changing the practice of using underage 
camel jockeys in races in Dubai.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) On June 1, Ambassador called on MFA Under Secretary 
Abdullah Rashid Al Noaimi to deliver the 2005 TIP report on 
the UAE and the mini-action plan.  She explained that the 
report would be embargoed until the June 3 Washington 
release, noting that the Embassy nonetheless wished to relay 
the Tier ranking information before the start of the 
Thursday-Friday weekend.  Ambassador emphasized that the UAEG 
could be reassessed as having made "significant efforts" to 
bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards if/if 
it showed by July 30, 2005, that it has taken immediate steps 
against trafficking.  Al Noaimi noted that the Tier 3 ranking 
was, in some ways, welcome pressure, and the federal 
government could use it as leverage to persuade Dubai Ruler 
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, who has resisted changes in the way 
camel races are conducted in Dubai. 
 
Action Plan Appears "Doable" 
---------------------------- 
 
3. (C) While Al Noaimi was disappointed, he agreed that the 
six proposed steps in the 60-day action plan were "doable," 
even within the plan's limited timeframe.  Abu Dhabi Crown 
Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed's advisor, Yousef Al Otaiba, 
also welcomed the action plan suggestions as "doable." 
 
-- Appoint a national coordinator:  Neither Al Noaimi nor Al 
Otaiba envisioned any problems with this point.  Deputy Prime 
Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sheikh 
Hamdan bin Zayed, is the current chairman of the Camel Racing 
Federation, and the Ministry of Interior already has a 
Special Committee on Camel Races that is overseeing 
implementation of the new measures regulating camel racing. 
 
 
-- Identify and provide protection, within the UAE, for at 
least 700 foreign child camel jockeys, and begin providing 
them with rehabilitation, repatriation and reintegration 
services:  Al Noaimi said it should be possible to achieve 
this objective given that actions are already under way to 
rescue, rehabilitate, and repatriate children.  (Note: 
UNICEF's action plan should be complete by mid-June and work 
will then begin on mapping children across the country to 
identify their countries of origin, family relations, and 
employment history.  Already more than 200 children are in 
various stages of the repatriation process, and Ministry of 
Interior and UNICEF officials expect that number to surge now 
that the 60-day grace period for camel farm owners to 
register their camel jockeys expired May 31.) 
 
-- Investigate and begin prosecuting cases of trafficking: Al 
Noaimi said he had pushed personally for more action on 
prosecutions for quite some time and was pleased to see it in 
our action plan.  Ambassador replied that UAE law enforcement 
agencies know who is responsible for trafficking persons to 
the UAE, and already conduct investigations; therefore, 
prosecutions should not be problematic. 
 
-- Develop and implement a formal mechanism for the 
systematic and identification and protection of trafficking 
victims; expand availability of hotlines:  Al Noaimi agreed 
that this step was important, but he questioned why the 
action plan cited trafficking of domestic workers and 
laborers as a problem.  Ambassador explained that instances 
of foreign domestic workers and laborers being trafficked to 
the UAE had been reported. 
 
-- Establish shelters for trafficking victims: Ambassador 
noted that the shelters for camel jockeys set a good 
precedent, so shelters for other types of trafficking victims 
should certainly be feasible.  Al Noaimi and Al Otaiba agreed. 
 
-- Public awareness campaigns: Ambassador noted that the UAE 
was already providing coverage of the trafficking in persons 
problem in the UAE, and the UAEG had already made a number of 
public announcements in the press about its new regulations 
related to underage camel jockeys.  Expanding the public 
awareness campaign is doable, she said.  Al Noaimi and Al 
Otaiba concurred. 
 
4. (C) Ambassador underscored the importance of making 
progress in each of the six areas within the next 60 days. 
Al Noaimi said his only regret was that the UAEG's 
accomplishments on the underage camel jockey issue occurred 
after the March 31, 2005 annual reporting deadline, and that 
the TIP report did not appear to recognize the positive 
already taken.  Ambassador highlighted for Al Noaimi several 
UAEG positive actions in the report, including opening a 
shelter for the camel jockeys, collaborating with UNICEF and 
source-country governments to develop a plan for documenting 
and safely repatriating all underage camel jockeys, and a 
variety of new procedures to prevent new underage foreign 
camel jockeys from entering the country. 
 
Visit to UAE of UN Special Rapporteur on TIP 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) In a TIP-related development, Sigma Houda, a UN 
Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, met with MFA 
Under Secretary for Political Affairs Tariq Al Haidan May 25. 
 Houda visited the new shelter near Abu Dhabi that the 
Ministry of Interior opened a week ago specifically for the 
young boys who have been rescued from camel farms and who are 
being cared for by Abu Dhabi Police Social Support Center 
social workers while they await repatriation to their home 
countries.  (Note: The new shelter replaces a shelter the 
UAEG had opened last December on the Zayed Military City army 
base that had accommodated about 70 under age camel jockeys 
at any one time.)  Houda was "very satisfied" with what she 
saw in the new facility and with the steps the UAEG has been 
taking to address their psychological, physical, and 
educational needs, Al Haidan told Pol Chief May 31.  Houda 
also met with Ministry of Interior media adviser Issam 
Azouri, who told Pol Chief that Houda was encouraged that the 
UAE's rulers were showing the political will to put an end to 
the camel jockey issue.  Houda was in the UAE as part of 
ongoing UNICEF consultative meetings with the Ministry of 
Interior.  UNICEF and the Ministry of Interior signed a 
project agreement May 8 for the care and repatriation of an 
estimated 3,000 boys.  UNICEF is finalizing an action plan 
that includes details of how UNICEF plans to "map" the 
thousands of boys who have been working on camel farms across 
the country so that UNICEF can then plan for their 
identification and protection within the UAE, as well as 
their eventual rehabilitation, repatriation, and 
reintegration into the boys' countries of origin. 
 
Comment: 
------- 
 
6. (C) Both Al Noaimi and Yousef Al Otaiba said the 
government "expected" the UAE would be given a Tier 3 ranking 
in the 2005 TIP report.  Their initial reactions to the 
action plan indicate that they consider the six goals to be 
both realistic and attainable.  Al Noaimi and Al Otaiba will 
be briefing the TIP ranking to MinState for Foreign Affairs 
Sheikh Hamdan and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed over 
the weekend (both are involved June 1-2 in the wedding of 
Sheikh Hamdan's eldest son and were unavailable for the TIP 
report demarche).  Interior Minister Sheikh Saif is out of 
the country; we will be briefing his staff June 2. 
SISON