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PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMS #0219/01 0650809
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060809Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MUSCAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7893
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0139

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 MUSCAT 000219 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, NEA/RA, NEA/ARP 
DEPARTMENT PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREF KCRM KWMN KFRD SMIG ASEC ELAB MU
SUBJECT: SEVENTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT: OMAN 
 
REF: A. 06 MUSCAT 1635 
 
     ¶B. 06 MUSCAT 1004 
     ¶C. MUSCAT 206 
     ¶D. 06 MUSCAT 1575 
     ¶E. 06 MUSCAT 1711 
     ¶F. MUSCAT 193 
     ¶G. 06 MUSCAT 1565 
     ¶H. 06 MUSCAT 1573 
     ¶I. 06 MUSCAT 1599 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Oman is beginning to display the political 
will to recognize and prevent trafficking in persons (TIP). 
There is no available data to accurately assess the size of 
the problem in Oman, but there are a number of populations in 
Oman at risk of being victims of trafficking.  Since last 
year's TIP report, Oman endorsed the Gulf Cooperation 
Council's (GCC) model unified TIP law, and is in the process 
of drafting its own national anti-trafficking legislation. 
Oman has identified the ratification of domestic anti-TIP 
legislation as an important step in developing a plan to 
prevent trafficking, prosecute traffickers and protect 
victims.  The government continues to be interested in USG 
assistance to build its capacity to support trafficking 
victims.  End summary. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Overview of the Trafficking Situation 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
Parts A & B: 
 
¶2. (SBU) The government of Oman does not maintain or report 
statistics on trafficking cases or convictions.  Embassies of 
labor-exporting countries, predominantly the Philippines, Sri 
Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, provide most of the 
available information on potential trafficking cases.  This 
information, by and large, is based on first-hand experiences 
of housemaids and other low-skilled workers who have sought 
shelter in embassy-sponsored safe houses, or other embassy 
services, including assistance with resolving contract 
disputes or immigration status.  Due to the lack of reliable 
quantitative data, it is difficult to ascertain the size of 
the potential trafficking problem in Oman.  However, there 
are a number of at-risk groups, including low-skilled 
workers, among them more than 60,000 housemaids, illegal 
immigrants, and prostitutes, whose members may be victims of 
trafficking. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Oman is a destination and transit country for 
migrant workers.  According to recent statistics from source 
country embassies and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), there 
are approximately 660,000 third-country nationals working in 
Oman, almost three times the size of the Omani public and 
private sector workforce.  Many are employed as low-skilled 
laborers in Oman's construction, agricultural, and service 
sectors, and live in compounds locally known as "labor 
camps," where conditions can be overcrowded and unsanitary. 
Low-skilled laborers generally work long hours for low pay, 
sometimes as little as 30 OR (USD 78) per month in base 
salary.  Some arrive in country with debt to recruitment 
agencies in their home countries that often exceeds 400 OR 
(USD 1040) at 20-25% interest (ref A). Some laborers complain 
of abuse, specifically accusing their employers of altering 
their contracts, and deducting or withholding part of their 
pay.  Employers often retain workers' passports as a matter 
of standard practice, though the Ministry of Manpower 
recently passed a legally-enforceable administrative circular 
to prohibit it. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Contacts suggest that the actual number of 
low-skilled and domestic workers in Oman may be much higher 
due to illegal immigration.  According to local and regional 
press, Oman may have deported as many as 10,000 illegal 
immigrants in 2006, most of whom entered Oman by boat from 
Pakistan via Iran, and from Yemen both by sea and land (ref 
B).  Most illegal immigrants intend to transit Oman for work 
in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  Many of those deported in 
2006 also included workers who had overstayed their visas, 
lacked proper documentation including a valid labor card, or 
were no longer working for their approved sponsor. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Some illegal immigrants and those who were deported 
may have been victims of trafficking.  Contacts among source 
 
MUSCAT 00000219  002 OF 007 
 
 
country embassies state that workers from as far away as 
Bangladesh entered Oman via Pakistan or Iran, paying people 
along the way to facilitate border crossings and to transit 
the Gulf of Oman.  Contacts claim that some of these workers 
may have been promised employment in Oman or the UAE, or told 
that Oman was actually the UAE, before being left along 
Oman's Batinah coast without documentation or local contacts. 
 While some workers who were deported for overstaying their 
visas and other immigration violations may have broken the 
law willingly in order to earn additional money, those 
deported included workers and housemaids who had run away 
from abusive sponsors, as well as those whose sponsors hired 
them out against their will to multiple households in a 
practice locally known as the "free visa" system. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Housemaids are a particularly vulnerable group due 
to the fact that they work in private homes with little to no 
oversight from the government or other bodies.  Labor 
attaches at the Philippine Embassy in Muscat (protect) report 
that they house an average of 30 runaways per month in their 
embassy-sponsored safe house.  The Sri Lankan Embassy reports 
a similar monthly volume.  Housemaids run away from their 
sponsors for a variety of reasons, including allegations of 
non-payment of salary, long hours without food or rest, as 
well as verbal, physical or sexual abuse.  Many of these 
housemaids arrive at their respective embassies' safe houses 
without their passports or labor cards, which they claim 
their sponsors withheld (ref C). 
 
¶7. (SBU) Women working as prostitutes also constitute an 
at-risk group of potential trafficking victims.  Contacts 
report an increase over the past year in the number of 
prostitutes, particularly from China, working discretely in 
and around Muscat-area hotels and bars; however, at present, 
the total number remains small.  Contacts also report an 
increase in the past year in the number of massage parlors in 
the Muscat area, which can act as fronts for brothels. 
Although most interlocutors refuse to talk about prostitution 
openly, embassy contacts state that women from Eastern 
Europe, Central and Southern Asia as well as Northern Africa 
often enter Oman legally on a tourist or work visa, often by 
way of the UAE, but end up in the sex trade (ref D). 
 
¶8. (SBU) Post has no reliable information suggesting a 
domestic trafficking problem per se.  While there have been 
past allegations of children involuntarily participating in 
camel races, Post has no evidence to support these or other 
allegations of trafficking in camel-jockeys.  Despite recent 
government regulations setting the minimum age for racing at 
14, which is set to rise gradually to 18 by 2009 (ref E), 
children reportedly as young as seven continue to ride in 
competitive camel races, a popular Omani tradition. 
Available information suggests, however, that these children 
are Omani citizens and race voluntarily as members of tribes 
or extended families in government-approved races. 
 
Parts C & D: 
 
¶9. (SBU) The government of Oman has begun to take a proactive 
stance toward combating trafficking, and is indicating the 
political will to pass anti-trafficking legislation.  As part 
of its anti-trafficking efforts, government officials claim 
that Oman has established an interagency technical committee, 
involving primarily the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), 
Royal Oman Police (ROP), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and 
the Ministries of Justice and Legal Affairs, to review 
domestic legislation and identify TIP vulnerabilities. 
Government corruption does not limit the government,s 
ability to address trafficking in practice.  At present, the 
biggest limitation on government action is the lack of 
technical expertise and staffing in the MOM and ROP necessary 
to screen and identify trafficking victims from among the 
thousands of worker complaints and illegal immigrants that 
each agency processes annually.  The government has not 
shared with Post any evidence that it keeps track of 
trafficking statistics, or systematically monitors its 
anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
- - - - - - 
Prevention 
- - - - - - 
 
Parts A, B & C 
 
MUSCAT 00000219  003 OF 007 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) The government of Oman now acknowledges that 
trafficking may be occurring, and is taking steps to address 
it.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is the lead agency 
in responding to international inquiries about trafficking, 
and appears to be the Ministry responsible for guiding Oman's 
anti-trafficking efforts.  Other ministries and departments 
may prevent trafficking and protect victims as part of their 
normal portfolios and responsibilities, although these 
actions are not yet identified as anti-trafficking efforts. 
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM), specifically the Ministry's 
Directorate of Labor Care, is responsible for workplace 
inspections, investigating worker complaints received through 
its worker complaint hotline, and resolving disputes between 
workers and sponsors.  The MOM also is responsible for 
overseeing implementation of prohibitions on child and forced 
labor. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Royal Oman Police (ROP) is responsible for 
immigration and border control, and is the lead agency in 
processing and deporting immigrants who have been detained 
without visas or labor cards.  The Ministry of Social 
Development oversees most of the government's programs 
devoted to the welfare of women and children.  Officials at 
the MFA stated that each of these ministries and departments 
will play a significant role in Oman's future 
anti-trafficking efforts.  The MFA also stated that the 
Ministries of Legal Affairs and Justice have the lead in 
crafting Oman's anti-trafficking legislation. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Post has no information that Oman has conducted 
anti-trafficking awareness or educational campaigns aimed at 
either the victims or beneficiaries of trafficking. 
Officials at the MFA assert that the MOM has begun a project 
with the Indian Embassy in Muscat to develop a pamphlet in 
multiple languages, which will inform newly arrived workers 
of their rights and the services available to them (ref F). 
Officials say that immigration officials intend to give the 
pamphlet, once completed, to Indian workers at ports of 
entry, and that the Indian Embassy in Muscat may decide to 
attach it to each worker's contract.  Discussions reportedly 
are underway between the Indian and Omani governments to set 
out proper contract criteria for Indians working in Oman, 
including conditions of work and even minimum wage levels. 
(Note: Indians form the largest expatriate group in the 
Sultanate, estimated to number 380,000 in 2006.  End note.) 
 
Part D 
 
¶13. (SBU) Throughout 2006, Oman continued supporting social 
policies that prevent children from entering the workforce. 
All Omani children and those of expatriates employed by the 
government are entitled to free primary and secondary 
education.  Males and females attended primary school in 
equal numbers according to the latest statistics from 2005. 
In late 2006, the Ministry of Education announced a 
partnership with UNICEF to develop a syllabus on human and 
child rights, and to study how to incorporate it into the 
standard curriculum of primary and secondary schools.  The 
government actively promotes women's participation in the 
economy, and provided women with equal opportunity for higher 
education.  Half of all first degree university students were 
women, and women comprised 35% of all post-graduate students 
at Sultan Qaboos University, the country's only post-graduate 
institution. 
 
Part E 
 
¶14. (SBU) There are no non-governmental or civil society 
organizations that focus on trafficking or related issues in 
Oman.  The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) does have 
a local office, which is partnering with the government to 
promote children's health, as well as primary and secondary 
school enrollment.  In November 2006, the UN Special 
Rapporteur for Trafficking in Persons, Ambassador Sigma Huda, 
visited Oman on a government-supported fact-finding mission. 
Ambassador Huda gave a press conference, covered by 
government and private media, at the end of her five-day 
mission in which she highlighted at-risk populations and 
recommendations for government action to prevent trafficking. 
 
Part F 
 
 
MUSCAT 00000219  004 OF 007 
 
 
¶15. (SBU) The government has not provided Post with data to 
suggest that officials are monitoring immigration and 
emigration patterns specifically for evidence of trafficking. 
 The ROP runs two deportation centers for illegal immigrants, 
one in the northwestern city of Sohar and the other in the 
southern city of Salalah.  Officers at the deportation 
centers said that they interview each detainee to collect 
only basic, personal data, such as name, age and country of 
origin, in order to verify identity and then process and 
arrange for deportation.  The ROP's Criminal Investigation 
Department (CID) also interviews detainees, but the data it 
collects is not shared publicly.  Officers at the Salalah 
center, which mostly handles immigrants from Somalia, Yemen, 
Ethiopia and Eritrea entering across Oman's land and sea 
borders via Yemen, said that they do not have a mechanism to 
screen potential trafficking victims from economic migrants. 
However, they claimed that there was no evidence to suggest 
that detainees paid agents in Oman or Yemen to facilitate 
their border crossing or that the detainees are victims of an 
organized trafficking ring. 
 
Parts G & H 
 
¶16. (SBU) The MFA has indicated that it is in the process of 
developing an inter-agency trafficking task force, but none 
exists at present.  Oman has not developed a national plan of 
action to combat trafficking in persons. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Investigation and Prosecution 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
Parts A, B, C, D & E 
 
¶17. (SBU) Oman is taking steps toward developing laws that 
specifically prohibit trafficking, but no such laws have yet 
been drafted or adopted.  Oman endorsed the Gulf Cooperation 
Council's (GCC) model unified Trafficking in Persons Law, 
which the GCC Supreme Council accepted during its December 10 
meeting in Riyadh.  A Royal Decree is required to ratify the 
law domestically.  In addition, officials at the MFA stated 
in late-February 2007 that the Ministries of Legal Affairs 
and Justice are in the process of drafting national 
anti-trafficking legislation (ref F). 
 
¶18. (SBU) During the second half of 2006, Oman passed a 
number of labor reforms in conjunction with the U.S.-Oman 
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that protect workers and cover 
aspects of trafficking crimes, particularly labor trafficking 
offenses.  On July 8, 2006 the Sultan issued Royal Decree 
74/2006, amending the 2003 Labor Law to prohibit forced labor 
and set penalties not to exceed one month in prison and/or 
500 OR (USD 1300).  The Royal Decree of July 8 also increased 
the penalties against employers who hire child labor or abuse 
women in the workplace, amending Article 118 of the 2003 
Labor Law to raise the fines from 100 OR (USD 260) per 
violation to 500 OR (USD 1300).  The Decree also increases 
possible prison terms for repeat offenders from one week to 
one month (ref H).  The Ministry of Manpower issued a 
legally-enforceable administrative circular that prohibits 
employers from withholding workers' passports.  The circular 
affirms existing Omani legal practice in which courts have 
ruled in favor of workers who lodged a complaint against 
their employers to retrieve their passports (ref G).  The 
circular does not assign penalties to employers who violate 
the prohibition, but officials in both the Ministries of 
Manpower and Commerce and Industry claim that the government 
will impose penalties if, after a year of evaluation, they 
appear necessary to force compliance. 
 
¶19. (SBU) The Omani Penal Code assigns penalties to 
individuals guilty of enslaving workers or trafficking in 
slaves.  Article 260 subjects "anyone who enslaves a person 
or puts him in a quasi-slavery status" to five to fifteen 
years in prison.  Article 261 targets the trafficker, 
prescribing a sentence of three to five years for "anyone who 
brings into or out of the Omani territory a human being in a 
state of slavery, disposes of him, by any means whatsoever, 
receives him, purchases him or keeps him in a state of 
slavery." 
 
¶20. (SBU) There is no specific mention in the Penal Code of 
the crime of trafficking people for sexual exploitation. 
 
MUSCAT 00000219  005 OF 007 
 
 
However, Article 218 does criminalize rape or forcible sexual 
assault, with a mandatory prison sentence of five to fifteen 
years.  The Penal Code also criminalizes most aspects of 
prostitution.  Article 220 criminalizes the actions of pimps, 
enforcers, and customers of sex acts, specifically "anyone 
who incites, by coercion or menace, a person to commit 
debauchery or prostitution," and assigns a penalty of three 
to five years for those guilty of such violations.  The 
penalty is not less than five years if the victim is under 
the age of 18.  Article 221 further criminalizes the actions 
of pimps, and assigns a punishment of three months to three 
years in prison and a fine of 20 to 100 OR (USD 52-260) for 
"anyone whose living is based, in whole or in part, on a 
third party's earnings from debauchery or prostitution, 
either under his protection or influence."  Article 222 
assigns the same penalty to the owner or managers of a 
brothel.  Finally, Article 222 criminalizes the actions of 
the prostitute, and prescribes a penalty of three months to 
two years for the offense. 
 
Part F 
 
¶21. (SBU) Oman has not provided Post with statistics on 
investigations or prosecutions of trafficking crimes.  The 
Ministry of Manpower's Department of Labor Care did supply 
Post with mid-year statistics on labor complaints, showing 
that between January and July 2006 the Department received 
2,907 calls to its complaint hotline.  The Department of 
Labor Care resolved 938 through direct negotiations between 
the sponsor and employee, and referred 470 complaints to the 
courts for settlement.  The statistics do not, however, 
specify the nature of the complaints, how many may have 
involved trafficking offenses, or resulting court decisions 
(ref I).  Contacts report that most complaints lodged with 
the MOM by laborers or domestic workers, including those who 
may be victims of trafficking, are settled out of court, 
primarily because court cases can be lengthy and workers who 
have left their sponsors are considered illegal immigrants 
and subject to deportation if detained by the ROP. 
 
Part G 
 
¶22. (SBU) Post has no information of linkages between 
trafficking in persons and organized crime.  Post also has no 
information to suggest that government officials are involved 
in trafficking, or that government or other entities are 
using the proceeds from trafficking to fund illicit 
activities. 
 
Parts H & I 
 
¶23. (SBU) Post has no information on government 
investigations into trafficking crimes, or the ROP's 
investigative techniques.  The Penal Code does not prohibit 
police from engaging in covert operations to aid in 
investigations.  Post is not aware of any special training 
that the government provides to its officials in how to 
recognize, investigate and prosecute instances of trafficking. 
 
Parts J & K 
 
¶24. (SBU) Post is not aware of any instances during the year 
when Oman cooperated with other governments in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases.  There 
have been no reported cases of a third country requesting 
extradition of an Omani citizen for trafficking-related 
charges.  Article 36 of Oman's Basic Law stipulates that 
criminals, including Omani citizens, may be extradited 
subject to international laws and agreements, but only in 
cases in which Oman has signed a bilateral extradition treaty 
with the country in question. 
 
Parts L & M 
 
¶25. (SBU) There is no evidence of official government 
involvement in or tolerance of trafficking on any level.  No 
government officials have been prosecuted for involvement in 
trafficking or trafficking-related corruption. 
 
Part N 
 
¶26. (SBU) Post has no information to suggest that Oman is 
either a source or destination country for child sex tourism. 
 
MUSCAT 00000219  006 OF 007 
 
 
 
Part O 
 
¶27. (U) Oman ratified ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms 
of Child Labor in 2001; Convention 29 on Forced Labor in 
1998; Convention 105 on the Abolition of Forced Labor in 
2005; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights 
of the Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child 
Prostitution and Child Pornography in 2004; and the Protocol 
to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, 
Especially Children, supplementing the UN Convention Against 
Transnational Organized Crime, in 2005.  According to Article 
76 of Oman's Basic Law, all international treaties and 
agreements have the force of domestic law once they have been 
ratified. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Protection and Assistance to Victims 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
Parts A & B 
 
¶28. (SBU) The government does not maintain trafficking victim 
care or health facilities, provide potential victims of 
trafficking with legal services, or provide potential victims 
with relief from deportation.  Embassies of labor exporting 
countries provide services, through embassy-sponsored safe 
houses and the offices of their labor attaches, to workers 
and domestic employees who may be victims of trafficking. 
Private individuals and groups also provide support and safe 
houses.  While tolerated, however, these safe houses do not 
have government sanction, and officials in these embassies 
report that the MOM has requested that embassies immediately 
refer all cases to the MOM for investigation and resolution. 
Source country embassy officials state, however, that safe 
houses provide workers with their only option for secure 
lodging while they go through the dispute resolution process 
or wait to be repatriated.  There are no organized foreign or 
domestic NGOs in Oman that provide services for potential 
victims of trafficking. 
 
Parts C & D 
 
¶29. (SBU) The government maintains two detention and 
deportation centers for illegal immigrants, in Sohar and 
Salalah, and covers the costs of food, lodging, medical care 
and, in some cases, repatriation for detainees.  The 
government has no formal procedure in these facilities to 
identify victims of trafficking.  Detainees generally are not 
prosecuted for violating Omani immigration law, and are 
detained for an average of one month while the government, in 
cooperation with foreign embassies, confirms their identity 
and country of origin.  Detainees who have attempted to enter 
Oman illegally on multiple occasions may face a short prison 
term.  Foreign embassies are allowed to visit and interview 
their nationals in these facilities. 
 
Part E 
 
¶30. (SBU) The government encourages victims to assist in the 
investigation and prosecution of crimes against them.  Post 
has no information on whether this has occurred in 
trafficking cases. 
 
Part F 
 
¶31. (SBU) As mentioned in Part A, the government does not 
provide shelter or other services for potential victims of 
trafficking.  Post has no information on the protections that 
the government provides or is able to provide for victims or 
witnesses of trafficking crimes. 
 
Parts G & H 
 
¶32. (SBU) Post is not aware if the government provides its 
officials in domestic departments or foreign embassies with 
special training or instructions to identify, serve or 
protect potential trafficking victims.  There have been no 
reported cases of repatriated Omani nationals who were 
victims of trafficking. 
 
Part I 
 
 
MUSCAT 00000219  007 OF 007 
 
 
¶33. (SBU) There are no international organizations currently 
working with trafficking victims in Oman.  The government of 
Oman is beginning to take action and display the political 
will to deal with the prevention of trafficking, prosecution 
of traffickers, and protection of victims since the 
submission of last year,s report.  Officials at the MFA 
state that the anti-trafficking legislation that the 
Ministries of Legal Affairs and Justice currently are 
drafting is an important step toward developing a system to 
identify and protect victims.  The MFA has requested 
assistance from the USG to help build the capacity of 
relevant ministries to support victims.  The MFA continues to 
be interested in sending senior officers of the ROP to the 
United States to learn best practices in processing illegal 
migrants, including identifying and protecting potential 
trafficking victims. 
GRAPPO