Gulf | Oman
Oman protests US move to blacklist Sultanate
Oman has reacted angrily to last week's decision by the US State Department to keep the Sultanate, as well as fellow GCC states, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, on a blacklist of countries that engage in human trafficking.
- Staff Report
- Published: 15:48 June 11, 2008
Muscat: Oman has reacted angrily to last week's decision by the US State Department to keep the Sultanate, as well as fellow GCC states, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, on a blacklist of countries that engage in human trafficking.
On Monday, the Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry, Sayyid Badr Bin Hamad Al Busaidy, met with US Ambassador Gary Grappo to voice his government's displeasure over the matter. He also handed over an official protest, articulating Oman's "rejection of the incorrect, misleading information and allegations contrary to reality", Oman News Agency (ONA) reported on Wednesday.
Oman has long chafed at the ignominy of being placed, for a second successive year, on the US State Department's Tier 3 category of countries purported to be doing little to combat human trafficking.
Speaking to local journalists on Tuesday, Sayyid Badr described the US State Department report as "flawed" and fraught with "contradictions" that are insulting to the Sultanate. "It reflects the other party's short-sightedness, while at the same time, ignores the real situation lived by Omani citizens and expatriates in the Sultanate," ONA quoted him as saying.
The Sultanate, he argued, is a strong defender of international treaties and conventions on crime and human rights. "Everyone knows that the Sultanate is renowned for its serious cooperation in combating crime and that the authorities concerned are very serious in cracking down on all crimes, not just human trafficking."
The incidence of crime in the Sultanate, Sayyid Badr maintained, is far lower than the international norm, which is a reflection of the legal environment in place in Oman that frowns upon criminal activity of any kind. Victims of crime are cared for by relevant state institutions while the perpetrators are held to account.
Earlier, GCC Foreign Ministers meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday, strongly deplored the US State Department report, and called on Washington to review its "unfriendly" policies toward the Gulf states.
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