VZCZCXRO4311
RR RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDO #0812/01 3240435
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 190435Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8438
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000812 
 
SIPDIS, SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB KTIP QA
SUBJECT:  QATARIS DEBATE FOREIGN LABOR ON BBC 
 
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KEY POINTS 
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--  Two former Qatari cabinet ministers debated the treatment of 
foreign laborers at the "Doha Debates," a Qatar Foundation program 
broadcast on BBC World.  At question was the motion, "This house 
believes that Gulf Arabs value profits over people." 
 
--  Several Gulf Arab audience participants wondered why the 
debaters and questioners were focused on foreign laborers, when Gulf 
citizens are well looked after by the state, and governments are 
making serious efforts to improve conditions for laborers. 
 
--  Others argued that Gulf development had come at the laborers' 
expense; at one point, the moderator quoted the annual Trafficking 
In Persons report to provoke a response from one of the Qatari 
debaters. 
 
--  According to the Doha Debates organizers, this was the first 
time in its four-year history that Qataris faced off in a debate on 
the program.  It will be aired on BBC World on 11/22 and 11/23. 
 
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COMMENTS 
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--  (SBU) Judging from audience members' reactions, this was easily 
the most emotionally charged "Doha Debate" in at least a year.  For 
example, as the moderator tried to steer questions away from foreign 
labor and "back to the issue at hand," one western audience member 
shouted, "but foreign labor exploitation IS the issue!" 
 
--  (SBU) Young Qatari men and women that PAO spoke with after the 
debate expressed disappointment with some of their Gulf Arab 
colleagues in the audience, noting "they just don't see foreign 
laborers as people, that's the whole problem." 
 
--  (SBU) The motion, voted on by the audience, was approved by 75 
to 25 percent.  The Qatari on the losing side told the DCM later 
that night, "when they brought up foreign labor, and with an 
audience of many foreigners and few Qataris, our side was doomed." 
 
 
----------------------- 
An Unprecedented Debate 
----------------------- 
 
¶1. (U) In what its organizers said was a major milestone, two former 
Qatari cabinet ministers squared off during a November 17 session of 
the "Doha Debates," a joint project of the BBC and Qatar Foundation, 
which is filmed nine times a year in Doha and aired on BBC World. 
Former Justice Minister Dr. Najib Al Nuaimi and former Economy 
Minister Sheikh Mohamed Ahmed Al Thani, joined respectively by the 
Chief Editor of Bahrain's "Al Wasat" newspaper, Dr. Mansoor Al 
Jamri, and the Dean of the Dubai School of Government, Dr. Tarik 
Youssef, debated the motion, "This house believes that Gulf Arabs 
value profits over people." 
 
¶2. (U) Arguing in favor of the motion, Dr. Nuaimi observed that, 
despite the region's spectacular economic growth in recent years, 
there was still poverty in the Gulf.  He cited a case he knew of 
three Qatari families living in one house; he also mentioned the 
case of an elderly man living on a pension, trying to support his 
divorced daughter on a monthly income of QR 2900 (USD 800).  "After 
he pays the driver, he has only half his pension to live on," he 
said. 
 
¶3. (U) Sheikh Mohammed, arguing against the motion, noted that Gulf 
governments had spent more than 350 billion on education and health 
care over the past several years; life expectancy for citizens had 
risen measurably; and Education City -- where the debate was taking 
place -- was a perfect example of the Qatari Government's commitment 
to providing its citizens with world-class opportunities. 
 
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Foreign Labor 
------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Moderator Tim Sebastian, quoting the State Department's 
annual Trafficking in Persons report, said treatment of migrant 
workers in Gulf states was an "international scandal," to which 
Sheikh Mohammed replied by saying that he had never seen the report. 
 There were a few ""isolated cases" of abuse, he said, but the 
Government was serious about cracking down on companies abusing 
their workers. 
 
¶5. (U) Sheikh Mohammed informed the audience that concerned 
embassies approved the terms of each contract for foreign workers, 
and that the Ministry of Labor and National Human Rights Committee 
monitored and reported on abuses.  He also said that workers were 
sometimes taken advantage of by unscrupulous agents in their home 
countries. 
 
DOHA 00000812  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (U) Three young men and one woman in the audience from Qatar, 
Kuwait and Yemen said that they thought Gulf governments were taking 
good care of their citizens by providing excellent education, health 
care and other social services.  One Qatari man said, "Why are you 
bringing up foreign labor?  Why are you seeing the glass as half 
empty; Qataris are well taken care of, and this is what should be 
focused on." 
¶7. (U) Other audience members argued that Gulf economic development 
had come at the expense of foreign workers.  Asked one Egyptian 
student, "Have you seen the conditions these people live in?"  A 
Qatari woman asked why the Government did not help take care of 
foreign laborers and instead expected the private sector to house, 
feed and provide health care for their workers. 
¶8. (U) An audience member from Lebanon asked why the Qatari 
Government did not allow workers easily to change their sponsorship 
from one company to another.  Sheikh Mohammed responded by saying 
that Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani had promised to "ease 
that problem" soon. 
LEBARON