03 June 2005

(Gulf states serve as trafficking destination for sex trade, camel jockeys)

By David Shelby
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington – Nearly all the Arab Gulf countries experienced a deterioration in efforts to combat human trafficking, according to the State Department’s 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report.  Four countries -- Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- fell to Tier 3 rankings, indicating that their governments are not making significant efforts to address the trafficking problem.

The report groups countries into three tiers according to their efforts to confront the problem of human trafficking.  Tier 1 countries are in compliance with the minimum standards outlined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.  Tier 2 countries are not in compliance with the minimum standards but are working to address the problem.  Tier 3 countries are not making significant efforts to combat trafficking.

The Gulf countries are destination countries for people trafficked from South and Southeast Asia and from East Africa.  Women are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and domestic servitude.  Men are trafficked to work in forced labor.  Children are trafficked to the Gulf to work as beggars and camel jockeys.

The report noted that the Kuwaiti government outlawed the use of children as camel jockeys and made public statements condemning human trafficking during 2004, but it said Kuwait made no apparent effort to prosecute traffickers.

The report said that Kuwait has made no effort to protect victims of trafficking.  Domestic servants are not protected under Kuwait’s labor law, and victims of trafficking are often detained, jailed and either deported for immigration violations or returned to abusive employers.

Qatar adopted a National Action Plan on human trafficking in 2003 calling for public awareness campaigns, establishment of a complaints hotline, an end to the use of child camel jockeys, and training for judges on trafficking issues, but, according to the report, most of the plan’s provisions remain unimplemented.

The report says that Saudi Arabia has not protected victims of trafficking or prosecuted those responsible for the human trade.

“Despite reports of trafficking and abuses of domestic and other unskilled workers and children, there is evidence of only one Saudi Government prosecution of a Saudi employer for a trafficking-related offense during the reporting period,” the report said.

The report says Saudi Arabia lacks laws criminalizing human trafficking and does not provide protection for domestic workers under its labor laws.  It also says that cases of abuse involving foreign workers are seldom subject to criminal prosecution.

The trafficking of young boys to serve as jockeys for camel races remains a widespread problem in the United Arab Emirates, with victims numbering in the thousands, the report said.  The Emirates is also a major destination for women trafficked into the sex trade.  The report says that the United Arab Emirates government has made no significant effort to confront the problem.  It says that decrees and laws regarding human trafficking have largely remained unenforced.

The report noted that the United Arab Emirates government has recently stated its intention to address the trafficking problem through new legislation on camel jockeys and closer monitoring of visas and passports of foreign nationals entering the country.

The report places Bahrain in the group of Tier 2 countries, saying that it is making efforts to confront its problems with human trafficking.  Nevertheless, it places Bahrain on a “watch list” on the grounds that it has failed to follow through on its national anti-trafficking action plan with concrete measures aimed at protecting victims and prosecuting traffickers.

The State Department issues its annual Trafficking in Persons Report pursuant to a congressional mandate.  Presenting the 2005 report on June 3, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “All states must work together to close down trafficking routes, prosecute and convict traffickers, and protect and reintegrate victims into society.”

“The responsibility does not rest only with developing countries, whose citizens are vulnerable to trafficking because of poverty or corruption or lack of education. Destination or demand countries, like the United States and other prosperous nations, whose citizens create the marketplace for trafficking, also bear a heavy responsibility,” she added.

The full text of the report is available on the State Department’s Web site.