VZCZCXRO4007
OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMK #0548 1641341
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 131341Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6917
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT  PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 000548 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2017 
TAGS: KCRM KWMN ELAB PHUM PREL PGOV SMIG BA HUMRIT
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN:  2007 TIP REPORT AND TIER 3 ACTION PLAN 
DELIVERED 
 
REF: A. STATE 81216 
 
     ¶B. STATE 79564 
 
Classified By: DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Poloff delivered the 2007 Trafficking-in-Persons 
Report and the Tier 3 short-term action plan for Bahrain 
(reftels) June 12 to MFA Assistant Undersecretary for 
Coordination and Follow Up and head of the Anti-Trafficking 
Task Force Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, who 
expressed his disappointment at the news of Bahrain's 
placement in Tier 3.  He mentioned a speech he had delivered 
June 7 as guest of honor at an annual fund-raiser dinner for 
an NGO that assists migrant workers, in which he described 
action in several areas the GOB had taken over the last year 
to combat trafficking.  He said that he had been proud about 
how much the government had done and was honored to speak 
about its achievements.  Shaikh Abdul Aziz made clear that 
even though he is disappointed about the Tier 3 ranking, 
Bahrain is not making efforts to combat trafficking because 
of the annual TIP report or merely to avoid Tier 3.  He said 
that the government is taking steps against TIP because of 
the importance of the issue, commenting it is simply "the 
right thing to do" in light of international standards on 
human rights. 
 
¶2.  (C) Shaikh Abdul Aziz also called attention to a speech 
made by Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa at 
the 96th International Labor Organization Assembly in Geneva 
on June 11.  In his address, the CP had announced that a 
regional dialogue on workers' issues would be held in 
Bahrain, the first dialogue of its kind in the Gulf region. 
The CP had said that Bahrain was committed to protecting the 
rights of foreign workers under international law and 
principles of human rights and called on all concerned 
stakeholders in the issue of migrant workers from 
labor-sending and labor-receiving countries, including 
workers, employers, and government officials, to participate 
in the regional dialogue. 
 
¶3.  (C) Shaikh Abdul Aziz recognized that enactment of the 
anti-trafficking legislation had been delayed longer than 
hoped, but that it had now left the hands of the executive 
branch to be taken up by parliament.  He attributed the delay 
to the government trying to simultaneously focus on other 
equally important and related labor reform legislation.  He 
said that labor reform fits into the overall strategy for 
combating trafficking since new labor legislation will cover 
household workers for the first time and over time will 
abolish the sponsorship system.  He said that once both of 
these pieces of legislation are enacted and begin being 
enforced, Bahrain should have in place all the minimum 
standards to qualify for Tier 1.  Bahrain will do its part to 
be leaders in the region to defend the rights of expatriate 
workers, with or without U.S. recognition of Bahrain's 
accomplishments related to trafficking. 
 
¶4.  (C) Regarding the action plan, Shaikh Abdul Aziz said 
that he would convene a core group of the Anti-Trafficking 
Task Force, including representatives from the Ministry of 
Labor, Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs, the Public 
Prosecution, and immigration officials from the Ministry of 
Interior, on June 21 or 22 to discuss targeted efforts to 
show progress on items in the action plan in the next 60 
days.  He pledged to send a copy of the 2007 TIP report to 
concerned ministries right away so they could begin to 
generate discussion points in the lead up to next week's 
meeting.  In terms of areas in which there could reasonably 
be progress in the limited time frame, he mentioned focusing 
on information about recent prosecutions and reviewing arrest 
and deportation policies.  He reminded Poloff that on May 29 
the Ministry of Social Development had hosted a symposium, 
highlighted on local television and in the press, on efforts 
in Bahrain to combat trafficking as part of the GOB's public 
awareness campaign.  (Note:  DCM and Poloff attended this 
one-day event, which was more widely attended than any 
previous event on TIP, with 70-80 representatives from civil 
society, foreign embassies, government, the legal profession, 
and business in attendance.) 
 
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Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ 
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MONROE