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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3795
INFO RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0306
RUEHDJ/AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI 0608
RUEHMS/AMEMBASSY MUSCAT 0038
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 1746
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 13 SANAA 000295 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL, DRL, PRM, G/TIP LPENA AND SAHLUWALIA, NEA/ARP 
AMACDONALD AND LFREEMAN, NEA/RA MADLER 
USAID FOR CKISCO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG
KMCA, YM 
SUBJECT: YEMEN: TENTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) 
REPORT 
 
REF: A. STATE 2094 
     ¶B. 09 SANAA 1936 
     ¶C. 09 SANAA 1998 
     ¶D. 09 SANAA 2219 
 
The entire text of this report is Sensitive But Unclassified 
(SBU). 
 
Embassy Sana'a TIP POC: 
Faith Meyers, Acting Political Chief 
967-1-755-2398 
 
Embassy Sana'a TIP POC (Alternate): 
Walker Murray, Cultural Affairs Officer 
967-1-744-2476 
 
TIP Reporting Hours: 
Faith Meyers, FS-5: 20 hours 
Walker Murray, FS-5: 20 hours 
AK Muhsen, FSN-11: 20 hours 
 
¶25.  (SBU) THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION 
 
¶A.  What is (are) the source(s) of available information on 
human trafficking?  What plans are in place (if any) to 
undertake further documentation of human trafficking?  How 
reliable are these sources? 
 
There is a serious deficit in reliable statistical data on 
trafficking, but the government plans to undertake further 
documentation in 2010.  The Ministry of Social Affairs has 
contracted Ushari Khalil, a scholar with past experience 
working on trafficking issues with the UN in southern Sudan, 
to complete a national situation report and evaluation of 
current government interventions.  The government-affiliated 
Saleh Foundation maintains a registry for tracking children 
returning from Saudi Arabia, although this only captures a 
small fraction of total trafficking victims in the country. 
 
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL) said that 
fewer children were trafficked to Saudi Arabia in 2009 (602) 
compared to 2008 (900), but these figures are inaccurate and 
represent only the small number of trafficking victims that 
found their way to one of two children's rehabilitation 
centers in Yemen.  According to a joint UNICEF-MOSAL study, 
security officials have prevented 1500 children from being 
trafficked from 2004-2009 (no further breakdown available). 
 
Local NGO Seyaj said a study from 2007 suggested there were 
700,000 children in forced-labor conditions in Yemen and they 
estimate that the number is now double that figure. 
According to Seyaj, the magnitude of human trafficking in 
Yemen is directly related to the economic and security 
conditions in the country, both of which have deteriorated in 
recent years, increasing the vulnerability of Yemenis to 
trafficking. 
 
¶B.  Is the country a country of origin, transit, and/or 
destination for men, women, or children subjected to 
conditions of commercial sexual exploitation, forced or 
bonded labor, or other slave-like conditions?  Are citizens 
or residents of the country subjected to such trafficking 
conditions within the country?  If so, does this internal 
trafficking occur in territory outside of the government's 
control (e.g., in a civil war situation)?  From where are 
people recruited or from where do they migrate prior to being 
subjected to these exploitative conditions?  To what other 
countries are people trafficked and for what purposes? 
Provide, where possible, numbers or estimates for each group 
of trafficking victims.  Have there been any changes in the 
TIP situation since the last TIP Report (e.g., changes in 
destinations)? 
 
Yemen is a point of origin (Yemenis trafficked mainly to the 
Gulf and Horn of Africa nationals trafficked upon arrival in 
Yemen), transit (Horn of Africa nationals trafficked to the 
Gulf), and destination (Horn of Africa nationals trafficked 
 
SANAA 00000295  002 OF 013 
 
 
to Yemen). 
 
According to IOM, children (mostly boys) are smuggled to 
Saudi Arabia for forced begging, unskilled labor and 
street-vending.  Children are recruited from the governorates 
of Dhamar, Hajja, Rayma, Taiz, Hudeidah, Mahweet, Ibb, Lahj, 
Dhale' and Sa'ada.  Although Saudi Arabia is the primary 
destination for children trafficked from Yemen, a small 
number are trafficked to Oman.  Trafficking to Saudi Arabia 
is especially high during the season of Umra and the Hajj 
(pilgrimage to Mecca). 
 
Internal trafficking occurs, both in areas under and somewhat 
outside of the government's control (e.g. Sa'ada).  Children 
are recruited from their families, and the parents reach an 
agreement with an agent to receive a certain monthly share of 
their child's earnings.  Many victims are young girls from a 
variety of rural governorates sent to hotels in Aden, Sana'a, 
Taiz, Hudeidah and other cities for sexual exploitation. 
 
According to Seyaj, local media reports and the Egyptian 
government, at least 10 Yemeni children were trafficked to 
Egypt for organ harvesting in 2009.  The children were 
repatriated to Yemen after Egyptian authorities discovered 
the trafficking ring. 
 
There were many reports during the year that Somali refugee 
women were trafficked to Aden for prostitution and forced to 
live in squalid conditions. 
 
Since the last TIP report, the war in northern Yemen 
intensified and spread, although a ceasefire was declared on 
February 12.  Local NGO Shawthab Foundation reports that 
although the Saudi entrance into the conflict has reduced the 
ability of traffickers to penetrate the Yemeni-Saudi border, 
people inside the conflict zone are extremely vulnerable to 
trafficking because their livelihoods have been destroyed. 
Shawthab says that it interviewed child trafficking victims 
who were recruited from official IDP camps.  Seyaj reports 
that there are approximately 150,000 children in Sa'ada 
governorate, which has almost no functioning schools and a 
legal system even more dysfunctional than in the rest of the 
country.  Of the estimated 250,000 IDPs from the conflict, 70 
to 80 percent live outside of official camps. 
 
¶C.  To what kind of conditions are the trafficking victims 
subjected? 
 
Children are deprived of all rights; they do not attend 
school and they cannot get access to medical care when 
necessary, although they are at high risk for STDs, skin 
diseases and other ailments.  They often experience 
slavery-like conditions, including domestic abuse, and may be 
remunerated only with room and board.  Children trafficked 
for purposes other than sexual exploitation often experience 
sexual exploitation at the hands of traffickers, border 
patrols, other security officials, and their employers. 
Their status in Saudi Arabia is illegal, and they cannot 
report abuses and crimes to the authorities.  When crossing 
the Saudi border back into Yemen to visit their families, 
they are subjected to robbery and extortion by border guards. 
 
Many of the border crossings used by traffickers are in 
dangerous desert areas where trafficking victims are 
subjected to the risks of dehydration, starvation, and 
exposure.  Trafficked children told Shawthab that Saudi 
border guards have hung children's severed heads from trees 
near the border as a warning to other children thinking about 
crossing the border illegally. 
 
In the conflict zone in northern Yemen, NGOs have collected 
evidence that children are forced to fight both with the 
government forces and with the Houthis (see 33 for more 
details on child soldiers in Sa'ada). 
 
Street children in the major cities work in arduous, 
dangerous jobs unsuitable for their age and physical 
 
SANAA 00000295  003 OF 013 
 
 
capabilities.  They are subject to exploitation by 
individuals and gangs involved in the sex trade.  They face 
verbal and physical abuse and are subject to kidnapping, 
trafficking and sexual harassment. 
 
¶D.  Vulnerability to TIP:  Are certain groups of persons more 
at risk of human trafficking (e.g., women and children, boys 
versus girls, certain ethnic groups, refugees, IDPs, etc.)? 
If so, please specify the type of exploitation for which 
these groups are most at risk. 
 
Young women and boys are more at risk for sexual exploitation 
and domestic servitude; disabled children are more at risk 
for forced begging.  Children are also used to smuggle drugs 
across the border into Saudi Arabia. 
 
Refugees and economic migrants from the Horn of Africa are 
also vulnerable to trafficking.  Many choose to travel to 
Yemen with hopes of working in other Gulf countries, but once 
they reach Yemen are trafficked into prostitution and 
domestic servitude.  Others are trafficked to Yemen with 
false promises of comfortable work as domestic servants, but 
upon arrival are forced into prostitution or domestic 
servitude. 
 
¶E.  Traffickers and Their Methods:  Who are the 
traffickers/exploiters?  Are they independent business 
people?  Small or family-based crime groups?  Large 
international organized crime syndicates?  What methods are 
used to gain direct access to victims?  For example, are the 
traffickers recruiting victims through lucrative job offers? 
Are victims sold by their families, or approached by friends 
of friends?  Are victims "self-presenting" (approaching the 
exploiter without the involvement of a recruiter or 
transporter)?  If recruitment or transportation is involved, 
what methods are used to recruit or transport victims (e.g., 
are false documents being used)?  Are employment, travel, and 
tourism agencies or marriage brokers involved with or 
fronting for traffickers or crime groups to traffic 
individuals? 
 
The traffickers are both individuals and, less frequently, 
organized gangs.  Seyaj claims that most of the gangs are run 
by Saudis.  Their agents know local communities and seek out 
children with lucrative potential.  For sex trafficking they 
recruit children based on their "degree of beauty."  They 
also recruit children with disabilities because they earn 
more as street beggars. 
 
Local NGO Democracy School reports that many of the 
traffickers are former trafficked children.  They become 
experts at crossing the border and develop contacts in Saudi 
who will pay for trafficked labor. 
 
Both Shawthab and Seyaj report that the victims are often 
sold by their families, in exchange for a promised monthly 
remittance.  Many of the trafficking victims are girls who 
enter into "temporary marriages" with Saudi tourists. 
Sometimes the traffickers promise the family that a rich 
sheikh from the Gulf will sponsor their disabled child for 
special education or physical rehabilitation. 
 
Other victims are "self-presenting," young people who seek 
work opportunities outside of their villages and are then 
subjected to forced-labor conditions.  It is common for 
impoverished families to send an older child to work in Saudi 
Arabia in what they believe will be a decent job opportunity 
to help the family financially.  Some children already 
working in the streets as beggars or vendors hear about 
better opportunities in Saudi Arabia that sound tempting. 
 
Somali pirates capitalize on the instability in the Horn of 
Africa to traffic people across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. 
Piracy, human trafficking and illegal smuggling are 
intertwined and many of the same criminals engage in all 
three practices. 
 
 
SANAA 00000295  004 OF 013 
 
 
¶26.  (SBU) SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP 
EFFORTS 
 
¶A. Does the government acknowledge that human trafficking is 
a problem in the country?  If not, why not? 
 
According to Higher Council for Motherhood and Childhood 
(HCMC) General Secretary Dr. Nafisa H. al-Jaifi, the 
government acknowledges that human trafficking is a problem 
in the country.  Prime Minister Ali al-Mujawwar convened a 
meeting of the entire cabinet to develop a national strategy 
for addressing trafficking in persons, which was ratified by 
the Council of Ministers on March 31, 2009. 
 
¶B.  Which government agencies are involved in efforts to 
combat sex and labor trafficking ) including forced labor ) 
and, which agency, if any, has the lead in these efforts? 
 
The HCMC is the lead organization in efforts to combat child 
trafficking.  It works with a Technical Committee comprised 
of representatives from NGOs, concerned Ministries, and UN 
agencies.  The national action plan identifies the following 
agencies as having a support role in combating child 
trafficking:  Ministry of Human Rights (MOHR), MOSAL, 
Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Ministry of Legal Affairs, 
Parliament and the Social Fund for Development. 
 
¶C.  What are the limitations on the government's ability to 
address these problems in practice?  For example, is funding 
for police or other institutions inadequate?  Is overall 
corruption a problem?  Does the government lack the resources 
to aid victims? 
 
With the exception of the military, nearly all government 
agencies saw their funding cut dramatically in 2008 and 2009, 
severely hindering their ability to combat TIP.  Officials 
reported an inability to travel to governorates where 
trafficking was a problem due to lack of funds. 
 
Corruption is an acute problem in Yemen, which was ranked 154 
out of 180 countries on Transparency International's 2009 
Corruption Perceptions index. 
 
It is difficult to prosecute sexual exploiters, since 
shari'ah law stipulates that there must be four witnesses to 
prove a sexual offense. 
 
¶D.  To what extent does the government systematically monitor 
its anti-trafficking efforts (on all fronts ) prosecution, 
victim protection, and prevention) and periodically make 
available, publicly or privately and directly or through 
regional/international organizations, its assessments of 
these anti-trafficking efforts? 
 
Please see 25A for details. 
 
¶E.  What measures has the government taken to establish the 
identity of local populations, including birth registration, 
citizenship, and nationality? 
 
Children born to at least one citizen parent are eligible for 
citizenship.  Children born in the country who do not have at 
least one citizen parent are eligible to file for 
citizenship, although frequently it is not granted.  There 
was no universal birth registration, and many children, 
especially in rural areas, were never registered or 
registered after several years.  Hospitals maintain official 
birth registries, but not all hospitals insist on 
registration, and most children are not born in hospitals. 
Theoretically, children must have birth certificates to 
register for school, but this requirement was not universally 
enforced. 
 
¶F.  To what extent is the government capable of gathering the 
data required for an in-depth assessment of law enforcement 
efforts?  Where are the gaps?  Are there any ways to work 
around these gaps? 
 
SANAA 00000295  005 OF 013 
 
 
 
There is a serious deficit in reliable statistical data on 
trafficking, including law enforcement efforts.  Relevant 
government ministries complain that traffickers are often 
prosecuted for non-trafficking offenses, including kidnapping 
and the illegal ways that they use trafficking victims, 
including theft, drug smuggling, prostitution and 
homosexuality.  Differences in terminology make it difficult 
to collect information on prosecutions and convictions of 
traffickers.  The government is hopeful that its recently 
hired consultant will suggest ways to address these gaps. 
 
¶27.  (SBU) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
 
¶A.  Existing Laws against TIP:  Does the country have a law 
or laws specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons ) 
both sexual exploitation and labor?  If so, please 
specifically cite the name of the law(s) and its date of 
enactment and provide the exact language (actual copies 
preferable) of the TIP provisions.  Please provide a full 
inventory of trafficking laws, including non-criminal 
statutes that allow for civil penalties against alleged 
trafficking crimes (e.g., civil forfeiture laws, and laws 
against illegal debt).  Does the law(s) cover both internal 
and transnational forms of trafficking?  If not, under what 
other laws can traffickers be prosecuted?  For example, are 
there laws against slavery or the exploitation of 
prostitution by means of force, fraud, or coercion?  Are 
these other laws being used in trafficking cases? 
 
As it stands, anti-trafficking laws are piece-meal, 
inconsistent and not comprehensive.  Parliamentary elections 
scheduled for April 2009 were postponed for two years in 
February.  With a weak Parliament distracted by numerous 
other internal issues, there has been no progress on 
strengthening anti-trafficking legislation.  Efforts are 
still underway to amend the Child Rights Law to add 
punishments for trafficking offenses, and to define a minimum 
age for marriage.  The Technical Committee to combat child 
trafficking lobbied Parliament throughout the year for 
passage of comprehensive anti-trafficking laws.  It conducted 
special meetings with the Islamic Law, Regulations and Human 
Rights committees. 
 
In December 2009, the MOJ issued a decree to all judges to 
aggressively pursue human trafficking prosecutions and finish 
pending cases as soon as possible.  The MOJ and Ministry of 
Interior (MOI) issued a decree in October 2009 aimed at 
reducing early marriage and trafficking via "temporary 
marriage" arrangements (more info in 29E). 
 
According to the government, the penalty for transporting a 
child under the age of 18 to another country for the purpose 
of illegal exploitation is imprisonment of not more than 5 
years.  The penalty increases to 7 years if the criminal uses 
force and deception.  The penalty increases to not less than 
3 and not exceeding 10 years if the transport action is 
combined with sexual acts or bodily harm. 
 
¶B.  Punishment of Sex Trafficking Offenses:  What are the 
prescribed and imposed penalties for the trafficking of 
persons for commercial sexual exploitation, including for the 
forced prostitution of adults and the prostitution of 
children? 
 
No change from last year. 
 
¶C.  Punishment of Labor Trafficking Offenses:  What are the 
prescribed and imposed penalties for labor trafficking 
offenses, including all forms of forced labor?  Do the 
government's laws provide for criminal punishment*e.g., 
jailtime*for labor recruiters who engage in recruitment of 
workers using knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers with 
the purpose of subjecting workers to compelled service in the 
destination country?  Are there laws punishing employers or 
labor agents who confiscate workers' passports or travel 
documents for the purpose of labor trafficking, switch 
 
SANAA 00000295  006 OF 013 
 
 
contracts without the worker's consent as a means to keep the 
worker in a state of compelled service, or withhold payment 
of salaries as means of keeping the worker in a state of 
compelled service? 
 
No change from last year. 
 
¶D.  What are the prescribed penalties for rape or forcible 
sexual assault?  (NOTE:  This is necessary to evaluate a 
foreign government's compliance with TVPA Minimum Standard 2, 
which reads: "For the knowing commission of any act of sex 
trafficking ) the government of the country should prescribe 
punishment commensurate with that for grave crimes, such as 
forcible sexual assault (rape)."  END NOTE) 
 
No change from last year. 
 
¶E. Law Enforcement Statistics:  Did the government take legal 
action against human trafficking offenders during the 
reporting period?  If so, provide numbers of investigations, 
prosecutions, convictions, and sentences imposed, including 
details on plea bargains and fines, if relevant and 
available.  Please note the number of convicted trafficking 
offenders who received suspended sentences and the number who 
received only a fine as punishment.  Please indicate which 
laws were used to investigate, prosecute, convict, and 
sentence traffickers.  Also, if possible, please disaggregate 
numbers of cases by type of TIP (labor vs commercial sexual 
exploitation) and victims (children under 18 years of age vs. 
adults).  What were the actual punishments imposed on 
convicted trafficking offenders?  Are they serving the time 
sentenced?  If not, why not? 
 
Data on arrests and prosecutions for human traffickers were 
incomplete and varied widely depending on the source: 
 
Government-affiliated Asrar press reported that in the first 
six months of 2009, security forces in Hajja governorate 
captured 26 child traffickers attempting to traffic 180 
children to Saudi Arabia.  The traffickers were referred to 
Hajja prosecutor's office to stand trial and the children 
were sent to the Haradh Child Protection Center.  (No further 
information was available on the outcome of the case as of 
the writing of this report.) 
 
Head of local NGO National Organization for Combating People 
Smuggling Ali al-Jelai said that police had thwarted attempts 
to traffic 70 children to Saudi Arabia during 2009 and that 
20 smugglers had been arrested. 
 
Democracy School reports that there were approximately 50 
cases against traffickers in local courts in Hajja 
governorate.  Some of those prosecuted received sentences up 
to 10 years. 
 
¶F.  Does the government provide any specialized training for 
law enforcement and immigration officials on identifying and 
treating victims of trafficking?  Or training on 
investigating and prosecuting human trafficking crimes? 
Specify whether NGOs, international organizations, and/or the 
USG provide specialized training for host government 
officials. 
 
The government conducted training courses for an unknown 
number of policemen at border crossings on how to deal with 
trafficked children. 
 
¶G.  Does the government cooperate with other governments in 
the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases?  If 
possible, provide the number of cooperative international 
investigations on trafficking during the reporting period. 
 
Efforts to develop a Yemeni-Saudi partnership against human 
trafficking, to include investigations and prosecutions of 
cross-border trafficking offenders, have fizzled, a situation 
that the Yemeni government and civil society attribute to the 
Saudi government's lack of seriousness about the problem. 
 
SANAA 00000295  007 OF 013 
 
 
 
¶H.  Does the government extradite persons who are charged 
with trafficking in other countries?  If so, please provide 
the number of traffickers extradited during the reporting 
period, and the number of trafficking extraditions pending. 
In particular, please report on any pending or concluded 
extraditions of trafficking offenders to the United States. 
 
No reported extraditions during the reporting period. 
 
¶I.  Is there evidence of government involvement in or 
tolerance of trafficking, on a local or institutional level? 
If so, please explain in detail. 
 
Although there is little evidence of explicit government 
involvement in trafficking, corruption in law enforcement and 
border security officials ensures that traffickers are able 
to operate with impunity.  Seyaj reports that traffickers 
sometimes supply a child to border guards for sexual 
exploitation in exchange for those border guards "looking the 
other way" as the traffickers smuggle goods and people across 
the border.  There is anecdotal evidence that sheikhs and 
other tribal leaders who may also occupy seats on local 
councils are involved in trafficking rings. 
 
Traffickers and the parents of trafficked children sometimes 
spell out the payments that the parents will receive in a 
contract, and Democracy School reports that police officers 
in Hajja sometimes serve as the witnesses for these contracts. 
 
¶J.  If government officials are involved in human 
trafficking, what steps has the government taken to end such 
complicity?  Please indicate the number of government 
officials investigated and prosecuted for involvement in 
trafficking or trafficking-related criminal activities during 
the reporting period.  Have any been convicted?  What 
sentence(s) was imposed?  Please specify if officials 
received suspended sentences, or were given a fine, fired, or 
reassigned to another position within the government as 
punishment.  Please indicate the number of convicted 
officials that received suspended sentences or received only 
a fine as punishment. 
 
There was no evidence of prosecutions of government officials 
for complicity in trafficking during the reporting period. 
Anti-corruption authorities did little to address the endemic 
corruption that permits government officials to "look the 
other way" on human trafficking. 
 
¶K.  For countries that contribute troops to international 
peacekeeping efforts, please indicate whether the government 
vigorously investigated, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced 
nationals of the country deployed abroad as part of a 
peacekeeping or other similar mission who engaged in or 
facilitated severe forms of trafficking or who exploited 
victims of such trafficking. 
 
There were no reports of Yemeni troops involved in 
international peacekeeping efforts engaging in trafficking or 
exploiting victims of trafficking. 
 
¶L.  If the country has an identified problem of child sex 
tourists coming to the country, what are the countries of 
origin for sex tourists?  How many foreign pedophiles did the 
government prosecute or deport/extradite to their country of 
origin?  If your host country's nationals are perpetrators of 
child sex tourism, do the country's child sexual abuse laws 
have extraterritorial coverage (similar to the U.S. PROTECT 
Act) to allow the prosecution of suspected sex tourists for 
crimes committed abroad?  If so, how many of the country's 
nationals were prosecuted and/or convicted during the 
reporting period under the extraterritorial provision(s) for 
traveling to other countries to engage in child sex tourism? 
 
Yemen has an identified problem of child sex tourists coming 
to the country.  The main country of origin is Saudi Arabia, 
but NGOs suggested that tourists from other Gulf countries 
 
SANAA 00000295  008 OF 013 
 
 
visit hotels in Aden and Sana'a, where trafficking victims 
are sexually exploited.  There were no reported prosecutions, 
deportations or extraditions of child sex tourists during the 
reporting period.  There were no reports that Yemeni 
nationals engaged in child sex tourism during the reporting 
period. 
 
¶28.  (SBU) PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
 
¶A.  What kind of protection is the government able under 
existing law to provide for victims and witnesses?  Does it 
provide these protections in practice? 
 
No change from last year. 
 
¶B.  Does the country have victim care facilities (shelters or 
drop-in centers) which are accessible to trafficking victims? 
 Do foreign victims have the same access to care as domestic 
trafficking victims?  Where are child victims placed (e.g., 
in shelters, foster care, of juvenile justice detention 
centers)?  Does the country have specialized care for adults 
in addition to children?  Does the country have specialized 
facilities dedicated to helping victims of trafficking?  Are 
these facilities operated by the government or by NGOs?  What 
is the funding source of these facilities?  Please estimate 
the amount the government spent (in U.S. dollar equivalent) 
on these specialized facilities dedicated to helping 
trafficking victims during the reporting period. 
 
The only victim care facilities in the country are two 
centers for trafficked children in Haradh (Hajja) and Sana'a, 
operated jointly by the government and NGOs.  These centers 
provide the children with social protection, psychological 
and medical care and reunite them with their families, if 
possible.  Children without families are enrolled in 
orphanages.  There was no information available on how much 
the government spent on these facilities. 
 
¶C.  Does the government provide trafficking victims with 
access to legal, medical and psychological services?  If so, 
please specify the kind of assistance provided.  Does the 
government provide funding or other forms of support to 
foreign or domestic NGOs and/or international organizations 
for providing these services to trafficking victims?  Please 
explain and provide any funding amounts in U.S. dollar 
equivalent.  If assistance provided was in-kind, please 
specify exact assistance.  Please specify if funding for 
assistance comes from a federal budget or from regional or 
local governments. 
 
The Saleh Foundation, a federal government-affiliated NGO, 
operates the center in Haradh, a major nexus of human 
trafficking on the Saudi-Yemeni border.  Shawthab operates 
the center in Sana'a, where there are on average 16-20 
children at a time.  According to Shawthab, the center in 
Sana'a provides the children with food, clothes, healthcare, 
psychological counseling, schooling, and 
sports/extracurricular activities.  Shawthab receives 
donations for the center, both financial and in-kind, from 
local businessmen and restaurants and has an agreement with 
Sana'a's government-run al-Thawra Hospital for the children 
to receive free treatment there.  There was no information 
available on how much the government spent on these 
facilities. 
 
¶D.  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. 
 
A January 2010 law requiring all refugees in Yemen to 
register or face deportation to their home countries could 
impact victims of trafficking if they do not register with 
the government.  The government provides prima facie status 
to all Somali refugees in Yemen, which allows them to remain 
in country and receive UNHCR services.  However, there was no 
formal program to assist foreign trafficking victims. 
 
SANAA 00000295  009 OF 013 
 
 
 
¶E.  Does the government provide longer-term shelter or 
housing benefits to victims or other resources to aid the 
victims in rebuilding their lives? 
 
No. 
 
¶F.  Does the government have 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 (either government or NGO-run)? 
 
No. 
 
¶G.  What is the total number of trafficking victims 
identified during the reporting period?  (If available, 
please specify the type of exploitation of these victims- 
e.g., "The government identified X number of trafficking 
victims during the reporting period, Y or which were victims 
of trafficking for sexual exploitation and Z of which were 
victims of nonconsensual labor exploitation.)  Of these, how 
many victims were referred to care facilities for assistance 
by law enforcement authorities during the reporting period? 
By social services officials?  What is the number of victims 
assisted by government-funded assistance programs and those 
not funded by the government during the reporting period? 
 
According to MOSAL, 602 children were trafficked to Saudi 
Arabia in 2009.  There was no further breakdown available and 
no information available on how many of these children 
received victim care services.  This number is undoubtedly 
very low in terms of the total number of trafficking victims 
in Yemen. 
 
¶H.  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)? 
 
There is currently no such formal mechanism. 
 
¶I.  Are the rights of victims respected?  Are trafficking 
victims detained or jailed?  If so, for how long?  Are 
victims fined?  Are victims prosecuted for violations of 
other laws, such as those governing immigration or 
prostitution? 
 
NGOs were not aware of instances of trafficking victims 
facing legal prosecution inside Yemen.  They did cite many 
examples of trafficking victims being arrested and deported 
from Saudi Arabia. 
 
¶J.  Does the government encourage victims to assist in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking?  How many 
victims assisted in the investigation and prosecution of 
traffickers during the reporting period?  May victims file 
civil suits or seek legal action against traffickers?  Does 
anyone impede victim access to such 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?  Are there 
means by which a victim may obtain restitution? 
 
No change from last year. 
 
¶K.  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?  Does the 
government provide training on protections and assistance to 
its embassies and consulates in foreign countries that are 
destination or transit countries?  What is the number of 
trafficking victims assisted by the host country's embassies 
or consulates abroad during the reporting period?  Please 
explain the type of assistance provided (travel documents, 
referrals to assistance, payment for transportation home). 
 
SANAA 00000295  010 OF 013 
 
 
 
The government conducted training courses for an unknown 
number of policemen at border crossings on how to deal with 
trafficked children.  The Technical Committee also hosted a 
series of workshops for government officials in Sana'a and 
other governorates discussing TIP issues.  The government 
does not provide training on protection and assistance to its 
embassies and consulates in foreign countries that are 
destination or transit countries.  No information was 
available on the number of trafficking victims assisted by 
the host country's embassies or consulates abroad during the 
reporting period. 
 
¶L.  Does the government provide assistance, such as medical 
aid, shelter, or financial help, to its nationals who are 
repatriated as victims of trafficking? 
 
According to Shawthab, when victims are deported by the Saudi 
government, they often arrive at Sana'a International Airport 
with no possessions, wearing ragged clothes.  Some of these 
victims receive services from the Shawthab-operated center 
for trafficking victims in Sana'a, and stay there until their 
families can be located, but most do not receive any services. 
 
A group of 9 Yemeni children deported from Egypt in April 
2009 after being trafficked from Yemen for organ harvesting 
were received by the Yemeni government and reunited with 
their families, according to Seyaj and local media reports. 
 
¶M.  Which international organizations or NGOs, if any, work 
with trafficking victims?  What type of services do they 
provide?  What sort of cooperation do they receive from local 
authorities? 
 
UNICEF was heavily involved in creating the rehabilitation 
centers for victims of child trafficking and continues to 
work with children vulnerable to trafficking.  IOM is 
currently conducting a comprehensive program with the 
government to address migration and specifically trafficking 
issues.  Cooperation with local authorities is generally 
good, but varies according to governorate. 
 
¶29.  (SBU) PREVENTION 
 
¶A.  Did the government conduct anti-trafficking information 
or education campaigns during the reporting period?  If so, 
briefly describe the campaign(s), including their objectives 
and effectiveness.  Please provide the number of people 
reached by such awareness efforts, if available.  Do these 
campaigns target potential trafficking victims and/or the 
demand for trafficking (e.g., "Clients" of prostitutes or 
beneficiaries of forced labor)? 
 
The government conducted multiple information and education 
campaigns during the reporting period, some on its own and 
some in partnership with local and international 
organizations. 
 
One campaign, which told the stories of trafficked children 
in nationally aired Ramadan TV series and in TV and radio 
interviews, aimed to increase the level of social awareness 
about children's rights. 
 
The government developed a guide for mosque preachers on 
protecting the rights of children and began to develop a 
basic course on the rights of children to be included in the 
curriculum of the Supreme Institute for Preaching and 
Guidance. 
 
Another campaign trained 1500 people (mostly teachers and 
mosque preachers) in five governorates most at risk for 
trafficking.  This was a continuation of a previously 
successful campaign in the same governorates but in different 
districts. 
 
The government also trained 1160 bus drivers in rural areas, 
sensitizing them to the issue of child trafficking and 
 
SANAA 00000295  011 OF 013 
 
 
encouraging them not to transport children unless they are 
escorted by their parents.  It also distributed over 30,000 
brochures, leaflets and stickers to bus and taxi drivers and 
in taxi stations across the country. 
 
The government produced a new documentary film on TIP in 
2009, which is scheduled for wide release in 2010. 
 
¶B.  Does the government monitor immigration and emigration 
patterns for evidence of trafficking? 
 
At a regional conference in Riyadh in June 2009, the ROYG 
presented a working paper describing its view on issues in 
the Red Sea and Horn of Africa, including human trafficking. 
The ROYG also announced that it would establish three centers 
) in the cities of Aden, Mukullah and Hudeidah ) to monitor 
the international waters in the Gulf of Aden as part of 
efforts to fight human trafficking and piracy. 
 
The Yemeni and Saudi governments have also made an effort to 
tighten the Haradh border crossing in Hajja governorate, 
which has been notorious for enabling Yemenis to illegally 
cross into Saudi territory for the purposes of TIP, 
drug-smuggling and terrorist activities. 
 
¶C.  Is there a mechanism for coordination and communication 
between various agencies, internal, international, and 
multilateral on trafficking-related mattes, such as a 
multi-agency working group or a task force? 
 
Relevant agencies cooperate via a Technical Committee led by 
the HCMC.  The committee has carried out a number of 
activities, including field visits to border governorates and 
educational workshops on TIP in Sana'a and other 
governorates.  At the beginning of 2009, the committee 
developed a working mechanism for defining the tasks and 
roles of each member. 
 
¶D.  Does the government have a national plan of action to 
address trafficking in persons?  If the plan wad developed 
during the reporting period, which agencies were involved in 
developing it?  Were NGOs consulted in the process?  What 
steps has the government taken to implement the action plan? 
 
The government created a three-year (2008-2010) National 
Action Plan to Combat Child Smuggling that was ratified by 
the Council of Ministers on March 31, 2009.  The government, 
led by the HCMC, has worked hard to implement the plan, but 
has run into multiple roadblocks, including difficulty in 
cooperating with Saudi officials and failure to pass 
comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation in Parliament. 
The involved agencies have also seen their operating budgets 
cut significantly, seriously hindering their ability to make 
progress in combating TIP. 
 
¶E.  What measures has the government taken during the 
reporting period to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts? 
 
In October 2009, MOJ and MOI issued a decree making it more 
difficult for men to marry underage girls (early marriage) or 
engage in "temporary marriages" that often result in 
trafficking.  The decree imposed new conditions on the 
approval of such marriages, including permission from the 
Yemeni MOI and, if the man is not a Yemeni national, 
permission from his country's MOI as well. 
 
¶F.  What measures has the government taken during the 
reporting period to reduce the participation in international 
child sex tourism by nationals of the country? 
 
Yemeni nationals have not been accused of participating in 
child sex tourism outside of the country in any significant 
number. 
 
¶G.  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 
 
SANAA 00000295  012 OF 013 
 
 
facilitate severe forms of trafficking or exploit victims of 
such trafficking? 
 
None. 
 
¶30.  (SBU) PARTNERSHIPS 
 
¶A.  Does the government engage with other governments, civil 
society, and/or multilateral organizations to focus attention 
and devote resources to addressing human trafficking?  If so, 
please provide details. 
 
IOM announced in January 2010 that it was launching a $2.7M 
program to help the government address the challenges of mass 
immigration to Yemen, including protecting the rights of all 
migrants, especially victims of trafficking.  IOM is training 
law enforcement officials to identify and assist victims of 
trafficking and assisting government agencies in supporting 
them.  IOM is also working with the Yemeni government to set 
up adequate administrative, legislative and technical 
procedures to administer its land and maritime borders. 
 
During 2009, UNICEF trained over 4,000 children, families, 
local council members, religious leaders and teachers from 
districts where children are particularly vulnerable to 
trafficking to educate them about the inherent dangers in the 
practice. 
 
The ROYG also partners with the U.S. Embassy in conducting 
awareness campaigns regarding child trafficking. 
 
¶B.   What sort of international assistance does the 
government provide to other countries to address TIP? 
 
The ROYG does not provide any assistance to other countries 
to address TIP. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CHILD SOLDIERS PREVENTION ACT 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶33.  Report if the following occurred:  conscription or 
forced recruitment of persons under the age of 18 into 
governmental armed forces; voluntary recruitment of any 
person under 15 years of age into governmental armed forces; 
the extent to which any person under the age of 18 took a 
direct part in hostilities as a member of governmental armed 
forces; recruitment (forced or voluntary) of persons under 
the age of 18 by armed groups distinct from those of the 
governmental armed forces, including paramilitary forces, 
illegal paramilitary groups, guerrillas, or other armed 
groups.  Describe trends toward improvement of the 
above-mentioned practices, including steps and programs the 
government undertook or the continued or increased tolerance 
of such practices, including the role of the government in 
engaging in or tolerating such practices.  Report abuse of 
children recruited by armed forces or the armed groups noted 
above (e.g., sexual abuse or use for forced labor).  Describe 
the manner and age of conscription.  In discussing activities 
of armed groups distinct from those of governmental armed 
forces, explain the position of the government towards the 
armed group (opposition, tolerance, support, etc,) in detail. 
 
For greater detail on child soldiers, please see reftels: 09 
SANAA 1936, 09 SANAA 1998 and 09 SANAA 2219. 
 
In the current round of conflict in Sa'ada that began in 
August 2009, there were numerous accounts of the conscription 
of child soldiers into official government forces and 
government-allied tribal militias.  According to local NGO 
Dar al-Salaam, 500 to 600 children are killed or injured 
through direct involvement in tribal hostilities every year. 
 
Local NGO Seyaj estimated that children under the age of 18 
may make up more than half the fighting force of tribes, both 
those fighting with the government and those allied with the 
Houthi rebels.  Democracy School reports that, although by 
 
SANAA 00000295  013 OF 013 
 
 
law everyone serving in the armed forces must be 18 years or 
older, the government makes no attempt to verify the age of 
conscripts.  One Democracy School employee said that her 
nephew, who has not yet turned 18, joined the army and was 
deployed to Haradh. 
 
The government responded that the 1991 Armed Forces Service 
Law number 67 stipulates that a recruit must be not less than 
18 years of age.  There is also a Military Penal Code which 
stipulates that anyone in violation of these laws should be 
punished (NFI).  The government said that the Yemeni Armed 
Forces are in compliance with these laws regarding a minimum 
age for military service. 
SECHE