VZCZCXRO1445
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0035/01 0071530
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071530Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1132
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000035 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB IZ PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: KBR SUBCONTRACTOR SUSPECTED OF TIP VIOLATIONS 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  During an early December inspection 
visit, Emboffs confirmed media reports of some 1,000 third 
country nationals (TCN) living in transit housing facilities, 
"man camps," near the Baghdad airport while waiting for 
employment with MNF-I contractors.  Many of the TCNs have 
been living for several months in overcrowded conditions with 
no pay. Outside one camp, about 30 Nepalis abandoned by the 
labor broker who brought them to Iraq live in hovels made of 
plastic sheeting and cardboard.  Najlaa Catering Company, a 
subcontractor of MNF-I contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root 
(KBR), procures such workers through independent labor 
brokers who operate in the workers' home countries.  KBR has 
inspected the camps and taken action to prevent Najlaa and 
other sub-contractors from using them. KBR has fully 
cooperated with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) 
and MNF-I Criminal Law Division to investigate possible 
trafficking in persons (TIP) and human rights violations, 
improve the men's living conditions, ensure they are 
financially compensated, and either employed or repatriated. 
Of the 1,000 TCNs stranded in the man camps 325 have been 
hired by KBR and approximately 500 were paid two months' 
salary and repatriated; the rest continue to seek employment. 
 The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is in the 
process of resettling most of the 30 Nepalis (several have 
decided to stay and continue to look for work).  Embassy is 
seeking ways to ensure USG contractor and subcontractor 
compliance with appropriate labor, health, and safety 
standards.  End summary. 
 
--------------------------- 
Investigating the Man Camps 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On December 10, RefCoord, Poloff, UNAMI Senior 
Human Rights Advisor, and IOM Baghdad representative toured 
three man camps near Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). 
The DCMA oversees some U.S. military contracts, including 
KBR's, to ensure that they comply with U.S. laws. It has led 
efforts to obtain financial compensation (back salary) for 
the stranded workers, improve their living conditions, 
initiate a criminal investigation into possible TIP 
violations, and facilitate repatriation for those who want 
it.  According to the DCMA, the USG does not have 
jurisdiction over these TCNs, as the men are not being held 
on USG property, nor do they have USG contracts.  They are, 
however, in U.S. battle space, which prompted MNF-I to ask 
DCMA to investigate the TIP (bondage and imposition of debt 
repayment) and human rights violations charges. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Given the USG zero-tolerance policy toward 
trafficking in persons, MNF-I and Embassy Legal are 
investigating any suspicions of trafficking and are taking 
corrective and preventive measures.  They are also exploring 
various avenues, including through contract clauses and 
land-use agreements, to ensure USG contractor and 
subcontractor compliance with appropriate labor, health, and 
safety standards.  With regard to legal action to remedy the 
situation, KBR has issued cease and desist orders to Najlaa 
and all of its subcontractors not to use the camps. KBR also 
met with Najlaa management on December 4 to discuss the 
issuance of a cure notice to remedy any contract breaches. 
 
¶4.  (U)  Prior to visiting the three man camps, the DCMA 
officer in charge briefed on the background, current status 
and plans to help the TCNs stranded at the BIAP man camps. 
Such TCN workers are recruited in their home countries by 
brokers, usually compatriots, who for a fee ranging from 
$2,500 to $5,000 agree to get them jobs with companies which 
Q$2,500 to $5,000 agree to get them jobs with companies which 
service the Coalition Forces.  The brokers then fly the job 
seekers to Iraq in order to have the manpower available when 
a contractor (in this case, KBR food service sub-contractor 
Najlaa) wins a contract.  UNAMI Senior Human Rights Officer 
noted that UNAMI would issue a press statement expressing its 
support for upholding international labor standards and 
holding those responsible for the situation accountable. 
(Note: UNAMI SRSG de Mistura issued a statement to that 
effect on December 11. De Mistura reiterated his concern for 
the TCNs at BIAP in a December 18 statement on the occasion 
of International Migrants Day.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (SBU)  The DCMA chief pointed out that the names of camps 
visited -- SATCO, Najlaa, and First Kuwaiti (a DoD and DoS 
contractor) -- are misleading, since the camps are actually 
run by Iraqi entrepreneurs who lease the land from the 
Ministry of Transportation.  This suggests there may be 
corrupt, but lucrative, relationships between labor brokers, 
subcontractors and GOI officials.  Furthermore, it is not 
clear whether TCN workers ever pass through immigration when 
they arrive at BIAP.  Those interviewed on December 10 told 
Emboffs that they were taken directly to the camps upon 
arrival and their passports taken from them afterwards, 
presumably for immigration processing.  While most of the 
 
BAGHDAD 00000035  002 OF 003 
 
 
workers had their passports returned, a few said they had 
never got them back. One Bangladeshi worker showed Emboffs 
his passport, from which the page with his Iraqi visa had 
been removed.  He said his "agent" Z.K. Sharma, also 
Bangladeshi, had removed it and left for Dubai. 
 
----------------------- 
In Limbo in a BIAP Slum 
----------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Emboffs found a group of about 30 Nepalese men who 
had been abandoned by labor brokers who lured them to Iraq 
with the promise of jobs and were living in plastic sheeting 
and cardboard lean-tos outside of the BIAP Iraqi Airways 
building. Their hovels are directly adjacent to the SATCO 
(Saudi Arabian Trading Company) "hotel," a trailer compound 
which charges $100 a night and which now houses some Najlaa 
management personnel. An Australian national who manages the 
compound told Emboffs that many Najlaa workers had been 
living there, but housing the Najlaa TCN recruits at SATCO 
was stopped.  He added that an (apparent) Iraqi Police 
official recently came to SATCO with a list of names of the 
Nepalese workers.  Claiming to be acting on behalf of the 
U.S. military, he reportedly offered the workers free tickets 
back to Nepal, but without any compensation for the time 
spent in Iraq. The workers refused.  IOM has repatriated 
eight of the abandoned Nepalis and is making arrangements to 
repatriate another group shortly.  Two of the individuals 
have found employment; the rest have expressed a desire to 
remain in Iraq until they find employment.  Department is 
evaluating a funding proposal IOM submitted in late December 
that would target up to 500 vulnerable stranded workers with 
repatriation and reintegration assistance.  (Note: IOM 
reported on January 4, that 10 of this group of TCNs remain. 
IOM is making arrangements to repatriate one individual; the 
rest prefer to remain in the hope of finding jobs.  End note.) 
 
----------------------- 
Insisting on One's Due 
----------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U)  The next stop was a warehouse where Najlaa housed 
approximately 1,000 TCNs brought to Iraq to supply KBR with 
labor.  The warehouse is run by an Iraqi entrepreneur who 
charges $15 a night for each TCN.  Following a December 3 
Times of London article about the men (Sri Lankans, Indians, 
Nepalis, and Bangladeshis), whose length of stays at the 
place ranged from two to five months, KBR and Najlaa 
repatriated about 500.  The Iraqi camp manager told Emboffs 
the last group of 200 left on December 9.  He added they 
would be paid two months salary by Najlaa, which said it 
would also ensure that the men recover the fees they paid 
labor brokers in their home countries.  The DCMA officer 
noted that there was no way to confirm that the men actually 
receive the compensation. According to the camp manager, only 
490 men are left, which has greatly alleviated overcrowding 
in the facility. The camp manager said that GOI immigration 
officials came to check the men's passports for visas. 
According to the men interviewed, Najlaa has retained all of 
their passports, except for those of 14 Indians. 
 
¶8.  (U)  An elderly Sri Lankan, who spoke for the large 
gathering of TCNs, told Poloff that the men had signed 
contracts with Najlaa for jobs paying from $400 to $800 a 
month, but that Najlaa had kept the contracts without giving 
the men copies. Only one had managed to make a copy of his 
contract and showed it to Emboffs; he had signed the 
original, but the contract was not signed by a Najlaa 
representative.  The Sri Lankan emphasized that the men 
expected to be paid their salaries for each month they had 
spent in Iraq; they needed to support their families at home. 
Qspent in Iraq; they needed to support their families at home. 
 Some want to leave as soon as they receive their back 
salaries, while others want to wait, still hopeful jobs will 
materialize. 
 
¶9.  (U)  The third camp is run by the First Kuwaiti Company, 
which deals directly with the U.S. military.  The Pakistani 
camp manager told Emboffs it houses approximately 150 
Pakistanis, Indians, Nepalis, Bangladeshis, Iraqis, and 
Filipinos who work on the U.S. military base adjacent to 
BIAP.  He added that Najlaa had asked First Kuwaiti around 
mid-October 2008 if it could house 300-400 men there for a 
few weeks. The request was granted and the men stayed until 
the beginning of December, but now are all gone. The facility 
was ill-maintained and dirty when first visited by the DCMA, 
but, according to the DCMA chief, conditions have perceptibly 
improved over the course of several visits. 
 
¶10.  (U)  Comment:  Although there has been no legal 
determination that these TCNs have been trafficked, their 
situation is unacceptable.  DCMA and MNF-I took quick 
corrective action when they learned of conditions at the man 
 
BAGHDAD 00000035  003 OF 003 
 
 
camps.  Embassy and MNF-I are reviewing contract clauses and 
land-use agreements to ensure USG contractor and 
subcontractor compliance with all appropriate labor, health, 
and safety standards. 
 
CROCKER