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PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHPOD
DE RUEHDO #0172/01 0591317
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281317Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7646
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0172
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0649
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0324
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0771
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RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 1250
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0123
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 0032
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1137
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0084
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0188
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0027
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0187
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 0048
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 DOHA 000172 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, DRL/ILCSR, PRM, IWI, NEA/ARP, 
NEA/RA, USAID 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PREF KCRM KWMN SMIG KFRD ELAB QA
SUBJECT: QATAR: INPUT FOR THE EIGHTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN 
PERSONS (TIP) REPORT - PART II OF II 
 
REF: STATE 2731 
 
¶1. (SBU) Paragraph 29.  PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS: 
 
¶A. (SBU) Does the government assist foreign trafficking 
victims, for example, by providing temporary to permanent 
residency status, or other relief from deportation? If so, 
please explain. 
 
- In 2005, the government opened a shelter for trafficking 
victims to serve the needs of abused domestic workers, other 
laborers and children.  The shelter is in a small housing 
compound and is comprised of fully furnished three-bedroom 
villas, with two villas each for men, women and children. 
Each villa can accommodate up to seven people.  The shelter 
is under the management of the National TIP Coordinator.  As 
of November 2007, 14 victims (nine women, four men, and one 
child) have been housed in the shelter.  The shelter is 
underutilized because of a lack of awareness of its existence 
and also because it is primarily seen as a shelter for women 
and children.  Potential victims in the labor sector have not 
had wide-spread access to the shelter.  The government has 
stated that it hopes to construct a larger shelter to 
accommodate potential labor victims. 
 
¶B. (SBU) Does the country have victim care facilities which 
are accessible to trafficking victims? 
 
- The administrative building of the TIP shelter houses a 
health clinic with a medical doctor working on site.  Mental 
health services are available to the victims. 
 
Do foreign victims have the same access to care as domestic 
trafficking victims? 
 
- There are no known cases of domestic trafficking. 
 
Does the country have specialized facilities dedicated to 
helping victims of trafficking? 
 
- The TIP shelter provides assistance to workers who have 
suffered from abuse in the form of payment of back wages and 
repatriation, and it will facilitate change of employer 
rather than deportation in cases where abuse has been proven. 
 The shelter has provided financial support to some of the 
victims.  The shelter also pays for the lodgers' calls to 
their families back home and provides them with personal 
necessities.  TIP victims lodged in the shelter are not 
repatriated unless they wish.  Legal assistance is also 
available to the victims while in the shelter.  The 
government has widely publicized the existence of the shelter 
and the hotlines in local newspapers, on TV (local and 
regional), and via brochures, posters, and leaflets. 
 
If so, can post provide the number of victims placed in these 
care facilities during the reporting period? 
 
- Unknown; statistics not provided.  A newspaper interview by 
the National Coordinator for TIP from November 12, 2007 noted 
that the shelter has provided services for 14 TIP victims 
(nine women, four men, and one child), some of which were 
determined to be "quasi-trafficking" cases.  Besides the 14, 
the shelter has provided services for 86 "humanitarian" cases. 
 
What is the funding source of these facilities? 
 
- The facility is government-funded. 
 
Please estimate the amount the government spent (in U.S. 
 
DOHA 00000172  002 OF 008 
 
 
dollar equivalent) on these specialized facilities dedicated 
to helping trafficking victims during the reporting period. 
 
- Unknown; statistics not provided. 
 
Does the government provide trafficking victims with access 
to legal, medical and psychological services? 
 
- Legal, medical and psychological services are available at 
the shelter. 
 
If so, please specify the kind of assistance provided, and 
the number of victims assisted, if available. 
 
- Unknown; statistics not provided. 
 
¶C. (SBU) Does the government provide funding or other forms 
of support to foreign or domestic NGOs and/or international 
organizations for services to trafficking victims? 
 
- The government is not known to provide funding or other 
forms of support to foreign or domestic NGOs for services to 
victims.  According to the NHRC, the government provides 
unlimited financial support for the NHRC and the TIP Office 
to provide services for TIP victims. 
 
Please explain and provide any funding amounts in U.S. 
dollar equivalent. 
 
- Unknown. 
 
If assistance provided is in-kind, please specify exact 
assistance. 
 
- Unknown. 
 
Please explain if funding for assistance comes from a federal 
budget or from regional or local governments. 
 
- N/A. 
 
¶D. (SBU) Do the government's law enforcement, immigration, 
and social services personnel have a formal system of 
proactively identifying victims of trafficking among high- 
risk persons with whom they come in contact (e.g., foreign 
persons arrested for prostitution or immigration violations)? 
 
 
- Health care facilities have instituted a system to refer 
suspected abuse cases to the TIP shelter for investigation. 
No other system has been noted. 
 
What is the number of victims identified during the reporting 
period? 
 
- Unknown; statistics not provided. 
 
Has the government developed and implemented a referral 
process to transfer victims detained, arrested or placed in 
protective custody by law enforcement authorities to 
institutions that provide short- or long-term care? 
 
- No.  Potential victims of trafficking are generally 
deported.  They are placed in the Deportation Detention 
Center pending resolution of their cases. 
 
How many victims were referred for assistance by law 
enforcement authorities during the reporting period? 
 
 
DOHA 00000172  003 OF 008 
 
 
- Unknown; statistics not provided. 
 
¶E. (SBU) For countries with legalized prostitution:  does the 
government have a mechanism for screening for trafficking 
victims among persons involved in the legal/regulated 
commercial sex trade? 
 
- N/A. 
 
¶F. (SBU) Are the rights of victims respected? 
 
- The rights of laborers and domestic workers are generally 
not respected. 
 
Are trafficking victims detained or jailed? 
 
- They are often treated as criminals.  Laborers are often 
kept in the Deportation Detention Center until their civil 
cases with their sponsors are resolved.  Domestic workers are 
also detained and placed in the Deportation Detention Center. 
 After their cases have been resolved, they are deported, but 
sometimes only after long administrative delays. 
 
If detained or jailed, for how long? 
 
- The length of detainment varies greatly.  A visit to the 
Deportation Detention Center by embassy officials found 1400 
workers detained and awaiting deportation.  Some had been 
detained for more than a year. 
 
Are victims fined? 
 
- Some victims are also fined if they are found to be in 
violation of immigration or other laws. 
 
Are victims prosecuted for violations of other laws, such as 
those governing immigration or prostitution? 
 
- Many victims are subjected to immigration violations, even 
if the violations are the fault of their sponsors. 
 
¶G. (SBU) Does the government encourage victims to assist in 
the investigation and prosecution of trafficking? 
 
- The government encourages some victims to assist in their 
own cases of abuse or withholding of pay. 
 
How many victims assisted in the investigation and 
prosecution of traffickers during the reporting period? 
 
- Unknown; statistics not provided. 
 
May victims file civil suits or seek legal action against 
traffickers? 
 
- Laborers may file civil suits within the purview of the 
labor law against their employers.  Domestic workers are not 
covered under the labor law. 
 
Does anyone impede victim access to such legal redress? 
 
- Some sponsors and employers have been known to threaten 
victims in an attempt to keep them from seeking legal redress. 
 
If a victim is a material witness in a court case against a 
former employer, is the victim permitted to obtain other 
employment or to leave the country pending trial proceedings? 
 
 
 
DOHA 00000172  004 OF 008 
 
N 
DOHA 00000172  005 OF 008 
 
 
 
- Unknown; statistics not provided. 
 
¶I. (SBU) Does the government provide any specialized training 
for government officials in identifying trafficking victims 
and in the provision of assistance to trafficked victims, 
including the special needs of trafficked children? 
 
- Yes.  The National Office for Combating TIP and the Human 
Rights Office of the Ministry of Interior conducted a 
workshops on the legal, social and security dimensions of 
TIP.  Participants have included a selection of police 
officers, Internal Security Force staff and other personnel 
related to this subject.  The purpose of the workshop was to 
"deepen the awareness of the notions related to the combating 
of TIP and the activation of the role of organizations and 
security bodies for active participation and confrontation of 
this crime and its combat and protection of its victims who 
are mostly children, women and housemaids." TIP training has 
been incorporated into basic and continuing training at the 
police academy. 
 
Does the government provide training on protections and 
assistance to its embassies and consulates in foreign 
countries that are destination or transit countries? 
 
- Unknown. 
 
Does it urge those embassies and consulates to develop 
ongoing relationships with NGOs and IOs that serve trafficked 
victims? 
 
- Unknown. 
 
What is the number of trafficking victims assisted by the 
host country's embassies or consulates abroad during the 
reporting period? 
 
- No known cases. 
 
Please explain the level of assistance.  For example, did the 
host government provide travel documents for the victim to 
repatriate, did the host government contact NGOs in either 
the source or destination countries to ensure the victim 
received adequate assistance, did the host government pay for 
the transportation home for a victim's repatriation, etc. 
 
- No known cases. 
 
¶J. (SBU) Does the government provide assistance, such as 
medical aid, shelter, or financial help, to its nationals who 
are repatriated as victims of trafficking? 
 
- No known cases. 
 
¶K. (SBU) Which international organizations or NGOs, if any, 
work with trafficking victims? 
 
- The Solidarity Center is working with expatriate community 
support groups to help assist trafficking victims. 
 
What type of services do they provide? 
 
- Networking and consultation. 
 
What sort of cooperation do they receive from local 
authorities? 
 
- Thus far, non-interference. 
 
DOHA 00000172  006 OF 008 
 
 
 
How much funding (in U.S. Dollar Equivalent) did NGOs and 
international organizations receive from the host government 
for victim assistance during the reporting period? Please 
disaggregate funding for prevention and public awareness 
efforts from victim assistance funding. 
 
- The government is not known to provide funding or other 
forms of support to foreign or domestic NGOs for services to 
victims. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Paragraph 30.  PREVENTION: 
 
¶A. (SBU) Does the government acknowledge that trafficking is 
a problem in the country?  If not, why not? 
 
- The government has an uneven record in acknowledging TIP. 
Most stakeholders admit that child labor, some trafficking of 
female domestic workers, and limited trafficking for sexual 
exploitation occurs, but few acknowledge the problems 
experienced by laborers as potential trafficking issues. 
Officials often characterize situations of exploitation or 
coerced labor as labor disputes falling under the purview of 
the labor law. 
 
¶B. (SBU) Are there, or have there been, government-run anti- 
trafficking information or education campaigns conducted 
during the reporting period? 
 
- Yes. 
 
If so, briefly describe the campaign(s), including their 
objectives and effectiveness. 
 
- The National Office for Combating TIP continued to carry 
out its media action plan.  Activities have included the 
publication and distribution of informational brochures in 
several targeted languages, distribution of posters in 
different languages, radio and TV interviews in local and 
regional media outlets, TV and radio commercials, and a media 
campaign entitled "No to Trafficking." While the focus has 
been primarily on women and children, the plight of abused 
and forced labor was also addressed.  The Office has directed 
educational institutes and training centers in Qatar to 
include the concept of TIP, its reasons and its negative 
effects on society in their curriculum.  The TIP National 
Coordinator developed a curriculum on TIP in cooperation with 
the legal expert at the Human Rights Office of the Ministry 
of the Interior to be taught at the Supreme Judicial Council 
and Ministry of Interior.  The TIP Office increased 
government awareness of TIP to include migrant laborers who 
fall victim to delusion and fraud and who are forced to work 
in illegal jobs, whether with pay or without payment.  To 
combat this, a circular was distributed to all concerned 
departments in the Ministry of Interior and other concerned 
ministries to abide by this definition and to apply it when 
identifying TIP crimes or investigating TIP victims. 
 
Please provide the number of people reached by such awareness 
efforts if available. 
 
- Unknown. 
 
Do these campaigns target potential trafficking victims 
and/or the demand for trafficking (e.g., "clients" of 
prostitutes or beneficiaries of forced labor)? 
 
- None known this reporting period.  The TIP Office held the 
first of what was to be a series of forums with labor 
 
DOHA 00000172  007 OF 008 
 
 
recruitment agencies in September of last year.  It was 
attended by representatives of 42 labor agencies in presence 
of representatives from the Labor Department and the Research 
and Follow-up Department of the Ministry of the Interior.  It 
focused on delivering TIP awareness to the labor agencies and 
making recommendations to authorities concerned with 
anti-trafficking. 
 
¶C. (SBU) What is the relationship between government 
officials, NGOs, other relevant organizations and other 
elements of civil society on the trafficking issue? 
 
- The government is cooperating with quasi-independent 
organizations such as the National Human Rights Committee and 
the Qatar Foundation for Women and Children Protection on 
anti-trafficking efforts.  There are no independent civil 
society or non- governmental organizations (national or 
international) active in anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
¶D. (SBU) Does the government monitor immigration and 
emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking? 
 
- It monitors immigration and emigration patterns for 
evidence of trafficking.  It previously strengthened visa 
regulations as a result of shifts in immigration patterns 
showing evidence of probable prostitution-related activities. 
 
Do law enforcement agencies screen for potential trafficking 
victims along borders? 
 
- The government monitors its land border but is not able 
comprehensively to monitor its extensive shoreline.  There 
were no reported arrests or incidents. 
 
¶E. (SBU) Is there a mechanism for coordination and 
communication between various agencies, internal, 
international, and multilateral on trafficking-related 
matters, such as a multi-agency working group or a task 
force? 
 
- Human rights offices have been established at the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior to address 
TIP issues.  The Supreme Council for Family Affairs is 
currently the lead organization for coordination and 
communication between various internal agencies. 
 
Does the government have a trafficking in persons working 
group or single point of contact? 
 
- The government has a National TIP Coordinator under the 
Supreme Council for Family Affairs. 
 
Does the government have a public corruption task force? 
 
- Yes.  Update. 
 
¶F. (SBU) Does the government have a national plan of action 
to address trafficking in persons? 
 
- The government has a national plan of action to address 
trafficking in persons.  The plan specifies victims of TIP 
among: child camel jockeys; women exposed to sexual 
exploitation; and incoming workers. 
 
If so, which agencies were involved in developing it? 
 
- Representatives from the Supreme Council for Family 
Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Supreme Judicial 
Council, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Civil Service and 
 
DOHA 00000172  008 OF 008 
 
 
Housing (Labor Department), General Prosecutor, General 
Health Authority, and the Qatar Foundation for Women and 
Children Protection were involved in developing the plan of 
action. 
 
Were NGOs consulted in the process? 
 
- Representatives from the National Human Rights Committee, a 
quasi-independent human rights organization, were involved in 
this process as well.  No independent NGOs are known to have 
participated. 
 
What steps has the government taken to disseminate the action 
plan? 
 
- The government has not publicly disseminated the action 
plan. 
 
¶G. (SBU) For all posts:  As part of the new criteria added to 
the TVPA's minimum standards by the 2005 TVPRA, what measures 
has the government taken during the reporting period to 
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts?   (see ref B, 
para.  9(3) for examples) 
 
- Unknown. 
 
¶H. (SBU) Required of Posts in EU countries and posts in 
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Singapore, 
South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong:  As part of the new 
criteria added to the TVPA's minimum standards by the 2005 
TVPRA, what measures has the government taken during the 
reporting period to reduce the participation in international 
child sex tourism by nationals of the country? 
 
- N/A. 
 
¶I. (SBU) Required of posts in countries that have contributed 
over 100 troops to international peacekeeping efforts: What 
measures has the government adopted to ensure that its 
nationals who are deployed abroad as part of a peacekeeping 
or other similar mission do not engage in or facilitate 
severe forms of trafficking or exploit victims of such 
trafficking? 
 
- Unknown, no information provided. 
 
¶3. (U) Embassy Point of Contact is Political Officer, Timothy 
¶J. Fingarson; Tel. 974 496-6753;  Fax 974 487-3317.  One 
FS-04 officer spent 45 hours in the preparation of this 
report cable. 
RATNEY