VZCZCXRO4989
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHAD #4321/01 3251153
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211153Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7717
INFO RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 6642

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004321 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR G/TIP, DRL, NEA/RA AND NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB KCRM KWMN SMIG AE
SUBJECT:  TIP: INTERIM ASSESSMENT FOR NEA SPECIAL WATCHLIST-UAE 
 
REF: (A) STATE 175900 
 
(B) ABU DHABI 4286 
(C) ABU DHABI 4261 
(D) ABU DHABI 3689 
(E) ABU DHABI 3616 
(F) ABU DHABI 2809 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Since the release of the June 2006 TIP Report, the 
UAEG has made steady progress in addressing the problem of 
trafficking in the UAE, especially with regard to women in the sex 
trade and laborers working in servitude.  The answers in paragraphs 
2-7 below are keyed to the six questions specifically posed in ref A. 
 End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Q: What progress has UAEG made in increasing criminal 
investigations and prosecutions of trafficking crimes and punishment 
of these crimes with adequate jail sentences? 
 
A: No statistics have been provided since May 2006 regarding 
investigations and prosecutions of trafficking crimes.  Prior to 
November 2006, there was no law specifically against "trafficking," 
and most trafficking crimes were prosecuted under different parts of 
the penal code including those against slavery, kidnapping, and 
various statutes related to sex-crimes.  In September 2006,  Ministry 
of Justice officials explained that the ministry is willing to 
provide any and all trafficking related statistics which it has to 
the USG, but claimed that any failure to do so is only because they 
do not have complete records that correlate to USG reporting 
requirements. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Q: What progress has the UAEG made in instituting formal 
procedures for the identification of trafficking victims among 
at-risk populations, particularly foreign women arrested for 
prostitution or immigration law violations? 
 
A: The Ministry of Interior reports that Abu Dhabi and Dubai 
Immigration officials have instituted a two-prong approach to prevent 
women being trafficked for prostitution from entering the UAE.  The 
first prong seeks to limit the number of potential victims through 
known vectors (i.e., travel and tourism companies from source 
countries that have been used to traffic women previously) by either 
subjecting those companies' passengers to secondary screening, or 
canceling those companies' future visa transactions altogether.   The 
second prong uses victim profiling at ports of entry to identify 
at-risk groups (i.e., women under the age of 25, traveling alone, and 
from a known source country, may not only subject to additional 
scrutiny, but have reportedly been denied entry en masse.)  This 
second prong of profiling often feeds the first prong by identifying 
suspicious travel companies. 
 
In 2005, Dubai Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) 
established a Human Trafficking section that cooperates closely with 
the Human Rights Care Department (HRCD).  According to police 
officials, whenever CID has a possible trafficking case, the case is 
referred to HRCD, which interviews the detainees, specifically 
screening for trafficking victims.  HRCD then returns cases that 
indicate human trafficking to CID for further investigation and 
prosecution of identified traffickers. 
 
In July 2006, Minister of Labor Dr. Ali bin Abdullah Al-Kaabi told 
the press that the Ministry of Labor is developing a program to 
oversee all labor recruitment.  Describing labor recruiting agencies 
as "corrupt and mafia-like organizations," Al-Kaabi stated that plans 
were under way to shut down the manpower agencies that recruit 
construction laborers for the UAE.  He also announced that he would 
travel to Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Philippines to 
pursue labor exchange agreements that would eliminate the middlemen 
from construction-labor recruitment, thereby eliminating the 
excessive fees in obtaining work visas. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Q: What progress has the UAEG made in providing protection 
for identified victims, separate from detention facilities? 
 
A: Abu Dhabi Immigration officials stated in November 2006 that the 
Ministry of Interior is providing shelter assistance for trafficking 
victims, and that a hotline has been set up to facilitate victim 
access to government assistance.  The officials explained that 
instead of creating a new shelter as was recommended in the TIP 
action plan, the UAEG had broadened access to existing social support 
programs to include trafficking victims (ref C). 
 
¶5. (SBU) Q: What progress has UAEG made in drafting comprehensive 
anti-trafficking legislation that criminalizes labor forms of 
trafficking and guarantees protection for victims of trafficking? 
 
A: On November 10, UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan issued a 
federal law to combat human trafficking in the UAE.  The law defines 
trafficking in generally the same manner as the U.N. Protocol to 
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, upon which the 
UAE legislation is reportedly based (ref B).  This law significantly 
clarifies the UAE's criminalization of human trafficking, and appears 
 
ABU DHABI 00004321  002 OF 002 
 
 
to address all forms of human trafficking, with emphasis on sex and 
labor trafficking.  Although the law does not specifically refer to 
"debt bondage," the law's definitions appear to be significantly 
broad to include this form of labor trafficking. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Q: What progress has UAEG made in ratifying the 2000 U.N. 
Protocol to Punish, Prevent and Suppress Trafficking in Persons, 
Especially Women and Children? 
 
A: In past discussions with UAEG officials, ratification of the U.N. 
protocol and the passing of anti-TIP legislation have often been 
spoken of in tandem.  With the enactment of an anti-TIP law in 
November that closely follows U.N. protocol definitions, Post expects 
the protocol to be ratified in the near future, and officials 
involved have stated as much. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Q: What progress has UAEG made in formulating regulations to 
ensure that victims of trafficking are not fined or otherwise 
punished even if they entered the UAE illegally? 
 
A: There is no evidence that new written regulations have been 
specifically created to protect trafficking victims from fines or 
punishment.  However, officials in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai point to 
the relatively new practices of sheltering victims in non-detention 
facilities, providing them with medical and social services, and 
assisting them in returning to their home countries, as illustrations 
of treatment that victims could expect even without formal 
regulations. 
 
SISON