VZCZCXRO2606
PP RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR
DE RUEHKU #0761/01 2141100
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021100Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3755
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000761 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KWMN SMIG ELAB KCRM KU
SUBJECT: GOK ON TIP ACTION PLAN:  ANTI-TIP LAW LIKELY TO 
PASS IN FALL, 700-BED SHELTER UNLIKELY BEFORE 2011 
 
REF: A. STATE 71814 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 608 
 
¶1. (SBU) Key points: 
 
-- The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) expressed confidence that an 
anti-TIP draft law will be approved by the National Assembly 
in the Fall. 
 
-- The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL) now 
expects lengthy delays before construction can begin on a 
700-bed shelter for domestic worker TIP victims. 
 
-- The Ministry of Interior (MOI) continues to investigate 
whether women apprehended for prostitution are 
sex-trafficking victims, but still does not have formal 
anti-TIP training for its investigators. 
 
-- The MOI's Immigration Investigations Department 
volunteered to continue providing post with TIP-related 
statistics and offered to provide EmbOff a tour of the 
illegal immigrant detention center. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Responding to Ref A tasker, EmbOff, in a series of 
action-level meetings with GOK officials, discussed 
achievements and deficiencies in implementing the TIP Action 
Plan.  (Note:  Most senior-level officials are not available 
as they are out of the country for the hot summer months; 
post will follow-up with them as they return.  End Note.) 
Regarding the Action Plan's prescription for the GOK to, 
"Enact already drafted anti-trafficking legislation that 
prohibits severe forms of trafficking," MOJ Assistant 
Undersecretary Abdulaziz Al-Majid said that he is confident 
that the anti-TIP bill will be approved by the National 
Assembly because it was easily passed by the Legislative 
Committee.  Al-Majid expects the bill to appear on the 
National Assembly's agenda soon after it reconvenes in 
October. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Regarding the Action Plan's prescription to, 
"Establish a permanent shelter for trafficking victims," 
MOSAL Assistant Undersecretary Jamal Al-Dosari said it is 
unlikely the 700-bed shelter will be completed before 2011 
due to the dilapidated condition of the old school grounds 
selected as the shelter's site.  EmbOff urged Al-Dosari to 
begin construction as soon as possible as a tangible sign of 
TIP good faith.  However, construction cannot begin until the 
Council of Ministers clears the paperwork which cedes the 
school grounds from the Ministry of Education to MOSAL. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Regarding the Action Plan's prescription to, 
"Develop and implement a formal procedure to identify 
trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, such as illegal 
immigrants and women arrested for prostitution," Brigadier 
General Dlaihi Al-Hajeri (Police Director for Kuwait's 
Farwaniya district, MOI) explained the GOK process for 
identifying sex-trafficking victims during brothel busts: 
 
-- The GOK assesses that one out of every thirty women 
arrested for prostitution is a victim of sex-trafficking. 
 
-- Before Kuwaiti police break up a brothel, they surveil the 
premise for evidence of captivity, such as bars on the 
windows and barricades against the doors. 
 
-- After apprehending the suspects, the police turn them over 
to the Ministry of Interior's General Investigations 
Department, which, based on their investigation, determines 
whether any of the women are sex-trafficking victims. 
 
-- Non-nationals convicted of prostitution are not sent to 
jail, but are instead immediately deported, regardless of 
whether they were found to have been coerced (Note: The GOK 
provides little legal assistance to sex-trafficking victims 
seeking to prosecute their pimps and most of these victims 
opt for leaving Kuwait immediately rather than wait on the 
GOK's lengthy and complicated legal procedures. End note.) 
 
-- Kuwaiti courts typically sentence convicted pimps to three 
to five years in prison (followed by immediate deportation if 
he/she is not Kuwaiti), regardless of whether or not the 
individual was found to be a sex-trafficker. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Regarding the Action Plan's prescription to, "Make 
available statistics on trafficking prosecutions, 
convictions, and sentences," Brigadier General Abdullah 
Al-Rashed (Director of the Immigration Investigations 
Department at the MOI) said he would be happy to continue 
providing post with TIP-related statistics and offered to 
 
KUWAIT 00000761  002 OF 002 
 
 
give EmbOff a tour of the temporary detention center where 
apprehended illegal immigrants are held prior to deportation. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment:  It is encouraging that GOK officials 
predict that anti-TIP legislation will pass in the Fall -- 
the earliest opportunity given that the National Assembly is 
currently out of session until October.  Another positive 
sign is continued public criticism from senior Kuwaitis such 
as MOSAL Minister Dr. Mohammad Al-Ifasi, who in the local 
press August 2 again threatened to abolish Kuwait's flawed 
labor sponsorship system as a means to address abuses (see 
also ref B).  Impediments to moving forward more quickly on 
the establishment of a shelter are disappointing; post will 
continue to urge the GOK to accelerate its efforts in this 
regard. End Comment. 
 
********************************************* ********* 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: 
 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it 
********************************************* ********* 
WILLIAMS