US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT2618

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002618 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, KCRM, KWMN, PGOV, PREL, ELAB, SMIG, KU, Labor 
SUBJECT: KUWAIT: TIP ACTION PLAN REVIEWED WITH THREE SENIOR 
OFFICIALS; U/S DOBRIANSKY OP-ED CARRIED IN TWO DAILIES 
 
REF: A. STATE 108156 
     B. KUWAIT 2551 
     C. STATE 102469 
     D. KUWAIT 2375 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b and d) 
 
1. (C) Summary: Post has delivered TIP action plan to three 
senior Kuwaiti officials, including a Senior Advisor to the 
Prime Minister and the President of the National Security 
Bureau, who both stressed that the GOK views trafficking and 
other human rights as serious issues.  In addition, two 
Kuwaiti dailies carried U/S Dobriansky's op-ed on the TIP 
report, and Kuwaiti editorialists continue to focus on human 
rights isses.  Post is seeking a meeting to review the plan 
with Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Faisal Al-Hajji, 
who is currently traveling.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) The Ambassador delivered ref. A TIP action plan to 
Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister Mohammed Abulhasan 
during their June 11 meeting.  Stressing that action needed 
to be taken quickly, the Ambassador noted that the U.S. would 
be looking for the completion of specific achievements, not 
just for the formation of committees.  He said that the 
current situation in which domestic laborers such as maids 
are not covered under Kuwaiti labor law is unacceptable, and 
extending better protections to domestic employees would be 
an important step in righting Kuwait's poor record in 
protecting expatriate labor.  He added that establishing 
provisions for how to react if a laborer is abused and 
developing a system to safeguard and repatriate underage 
camel jockeys would also be critical.  (Ambassador gave 
Abulhassen a copy of the TIP suggestions, as well as the 
recent report and the definitions of the tiers.) 
 
3. (C) Agreeing that poor treatment of laborers was against 
both religious and secular law, Abulhasan said that the GOK 
Council of Ministers had taken up the matter.  He said the 
cabinet had called for greater action by the Social Affairs 
and Labor Ministry, in coordination with the Ministry of 
Interior, which is responsible for workers currently not 
protected by Kuwaiti labor law.  He said the International 
Labor Organization (ILO) had also raised similar concerns 
with Al-Hajji, who had already moved to protect camel jockeys 
by issuing a letter threatening to revoke licenses for race 
operators who permitted the use of minor camel jockeys. 
Abulhasan promised to raise the plan with appropriate 
authorities. 
 
4.  (C)  The Ambassador also discussed TIP issues and the 
need for a coordinated national plan for combating human 
trafficking during a June 12 meeting with Shaykh Sabah 
Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, President of the National Security 
Bureau.  Noting that he had raised the issue as a "security" 
issue in a recent speech to the Kuwaiti Armed Forces Staff 
College, (http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/may 25 2005.html), 
Ambassador stressed the importance of achieving tangible 
results and again identified as an area for immediate action, 
 measures to give legal protection to Kuwait's many domestic 
workers.  Shaykh Sabah Al-Khaled said the GOK was "keen to 
tackle" the trafficking issue and reiterated that the 
Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor had begun working with 
the Interior and Foreign Ministries on TIP matters.  He added 
that Kuwait, as a society, was paying more attention to human 
rights issues and the GOK hoped NGOs would play a more active 
role in combating TIP.  He further commented that although 
domestic workers were not covered under existing labor law, 
the Kuwaiti constitution, other laws, and Islam offered 
protection that the GOK would provide.  He asserted Kuwait's 
commitment to combating TIP, but intimated that GOK efforts 
were often hampered by the embassies of the sending countries 
which did not encourage unhappy or unemployed workers to 
return home. 
 
5. (U) DCM delivered the action plan to MFA Director for 
Western Hemisphere Affairs Khalid Babtain on June 12. 
Babtain said the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor had 
been assigned cabinet responsibility for trafficking issues. 
 
6. (U) Two Kuwait papers published Arabic language versions 
of U/S Dobriansky's op-ed on trafficking.  On June 9, Arabic 
daily Al-Qabas (circulation 65,000), Kuwait's paper of record 
for intellectuals and academics featured the Undersecretary's 
remarks, and on June 12, Al-Seyasseh (circulation 45,000), a 
respected paper with a focus on pan-Arab and regional issues, 
followed suit.  Trafficking issues are still frequent topics 
among Kuwait's leading editorial writers.  Newly appointed 
Minister of Planning, Dr. Massouma Al-Mubarak, published an 
op-ed in Arabic daily Al-Anba on June 12 in which she noted 
the U.S. has made human rights a central focus of its foreign 
policy. 
 
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LEBARON