VZCZCXRO1533
RR RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHPOD
DE RUEHDO #1053/01 3121351
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081351Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7226
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DOHA 001053 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, DRL/ILCSR, PRM, NEA/ARP 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ELAB KWMN SMIG QA
SUBJECT: QATAR'S DEPORTATION DETENTION CENTER - NO APPARENT 
CHANGE 
 
REF: A. DOHA 151 
     ¶B. DOHA 76 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  A visit to the Qatar Deportation Detention 
Center (DDC) 30 October revealed little to no improvement 
over the previous year.  What appear to be obvious 
trafficking-in-persons (TIP) victims continue to be 
administratively apprehended, detained and deported.  End 
Summary. 
 
---------------------- 
Delays, Delays, Delays 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) P/E Chief, Poloff, and Pol Specialist and Assistant 
paid a follow-up visit to the Qatar DDC October 30.  Emboffs 
last visited the DDC November 19, 2006 (see reftels).  The 
Embassy's request via diplomatic note to revisit the DDC and 
the Central Police Detention Center (CPDC) had been pending 
by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since March 2007.  Access 
to the CPDC has not yet been approved and an additional 
request to visit the Central Prison has been pending since 
July 2006. 
 
--------------------------- 
A Meeting but No Site Visit 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The DDC is headed by LtCol Sheikh Mohamed Jassim 
Al-Thani, Director of the Search and Follow-up Department, a 
section of the Ministry of Interior's (MOI's) General 
Directorate of Borders, Passports and Expatriate Affairs. 
Also at the meeting was LtCol Abdulla Saqer Al-Mohannadi, 
Director of the Human Rights Office at the MOI.  The specific 
reason for visiting the DDC was to conduct a site visit of 
the detention facilities in order to talk to some of the 
inmates and observe living conditions.  The visit started 
with an office call and when Emboffs asked whether it was 
time to begin the site visit, both officials balked and LtCol 
Al-Thani said, "For security reasons, you need specific 
permission for that."  We were not allowed to visit the 
detention facilities during this trip. 
 
-------------------------------- 
No Apparent Change in Operations 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Very little has changed in the rhetoric from nearly 
a year ago, even though officials as high as the Heir 
Apparent had called for substantial reform.  Instead, the 
number of detainees has risen from 1,200 to 1,600 in already 
overcrowded facilities.  LtCol Al-Thani noted that most of 
the detainees had run away from their sponsors.  Although 
LtCol Al-Thani several times explained that the DDC was not a 
shelter, he noted that Embassies of labor-supplying countries 
regularly bring laborers and domestic workers to the DDC 
because they have no where else to stay.  He proudly 
exclaimed, "Most people want to come here."  He also said 
that the DDC will only accept individuals that have a current 
immigration charge against them.  (Comment:  It is regular 
practice for sponsors to submit their workers' passports to 
the Criminal Investigation Division when their workers run 
away, or when they want to absolve responsibility for the 
worker, which result in immigration charges.) 
 
---------------------------------------- 
It's Trafficking, but It's "Their" Fault 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) LtCol Al-Thani described conditions that many of the 
inmates had endured prior to their arrival at the DDC.  He 
noted that a large percentage of them had acquired 
substantial debts in their home countries obtaining work 
visas for Qatar.  He added that many of them did not receive 
salary or benefits on time, if at all.  He also described 
visa selling, whereby an agent in the sending country would 
obtain multiple work visas for a non-existent company in 
Qatar and would sell them to aspiring workers.  When the 
worker arrived, the sponsor would sell his/her services to 
another employer.  LtCol Al-Thani observed that many of the 
foreign workers receive exaggerated promises in their home 
countries regarding wages and benefits, but find different 
contract terms upon arrival.  He said all contracts are 
signed in Qatar and placed all blame for these practices on 
the labor-sending countries. 
 
 
DOHA 00001053  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Poloff told LtCol Al-Thani that according to 
international norms, the practices described could be 
considered forms of forced labor and TIP.  Surely there must 
be complicit parties in Qatar.  While LtCol Al-Thani appeared 
to agree, he avoided answering when directly asked whether 
the Department coordinates such cases with the Qatar National 
TIP Coordinator and the TIP shelter.  He made a point of 
noting that he could do nothing about practices that occur 
overseas. 
 
------------------- 
Prostitution Cases? 
------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Poloff asked whether there has been an increase in 
the deportation of women and men suspected of prostitution 
and soliciting prostitution.  LtCol Al-Thani noted that 
prostitution-related cases are not handled by his department; 
the Preventive Security Department handles such cases.  He 
provided no additional information. (Comment:  Those 
suspected of prostitution-related activities are often 
apprehended and summarily deported by the Preventive Security 
Department of the MOI, apparently in separate channels from 
the cases at the DDC.)  The Preventive Security Department 
also handles cases of abuse and criminal charges apart from 
the Search and Follow-up Department. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Detained for Our and Their Protection 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Asked about the number of stateless "bidoon" that 
were being housed in the center, LtCol Al-Thani replied that 
there was currently only one, Jaber Sattem Salim Al-Marri 
(see reftel B for details).  Jaber had been stripped of his 
Qatari citizenship in 1997 along with the rest of his family. 
 He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1999 for 
possession of drugs and was released in October 2006 during a 
Ramadan amnesty granted by the Amir. Although his other 
family members had already regained their Qatari citizenship, 
he received an immediate deportation order and was brought to 
the DDC, where he has remained for more than a year.  When 
asked under what charges he was being held, LtCol Al-Thani 
replied, "Well, you wouldn't want a convicted drug offender 
on the street, would you?  We detain people so they won't go 
out and commit crimes." 
 
¶9. (SBU) Pol Assistant asked about cases of domestic maids 
being held without charges in the center.  LtCol Al-Thani 
responded, "We can't let those women loose on the street; 
something could happen to them."  In other words, they were 
holding them in detention for their own safety and protection. 
 
----------------------------- 
Immigration Court in Session? 
----------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) LtCol Al-Thani noted that an immigration court, a 
court of first instance, convenes three times per week at the 
DDC to handle cases within 48 hours of detention.  He said 
that the court handles 100 cases within the two-hour sitting 
and that every detainee is held under a court order. 
(Comment: During our previous visit, even though the court 
was operating, many detainees we talked to said they had 
never seen a judge since their arrival.)  The court only 
deals with immigration law; labor or criminal violations must 
be refered to the labor and criminal courts.  LtCol Al-Thani 
noted that his department helps to expedite outside court 
cases.  Rather than waiting between three months and four 
years for a court decision, the time is supposedly reduced to 
as short as one month through the department. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Very little has changed in the Department's 
attitude toward arbitrary and indefinite detention of 
expatriate laborers and domestic workers.  The GOQ continues 
to fine, detain, and deport TIP victims for acts committed as 
a direct result of being trafficked, such as running away 
from their sponsors or immigration violations, without 
offering adequate protection for the victims or prosecution 
of the purpetrators.  Both officials appeared shocked when we 
"unexpectedly" asked for our tour of the facilities but 
quickly responded that we needed special permission.  They 
 
DOHA 00001053  003 OF 003 
 
 
obviously did not want us to see behind the tall, 
barbed-wired walls of the DDC without the time to prepare for 
such a visit. 
RATNEY