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Cablegate: U.S.-Funded Trafficking in Persons Workshop In

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001748

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; INL/AAE; G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KWMN PINS CH VM CVR TIP
SUBJECT: U.S.-FUNDED TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS WORKSHOP IN
QUANG NINH

1. (U) Summary: Between May 25 - 27, The Asia Foundation,
using Department of State grant money, held an anti-
trafficking in persons workshop in Quang Ninh, a
Northeastern province of Vietnam. The workshop, which
received USD 243,915 in funding from the Department,
attracted a diverse set of participants from central and
local levels in China and Vietnam. The workshop, which
participants and organizers characterized as a success,
resulted in a range of recommendations for
coordination/cooperation activities by Vietnam and China in
the near future. End Summary.

2. (U) The GVN sees trafficking in persons as an evolving
and emerging crime in Vietnam. With the 2004 - 2010 anti-
trafficking plan of action, the GVN has set a target to
"solve most" of the problem by 2010. On March 23, Ho Chi
Minh City Police Department for Order and Social Crimes
Investigation held a conference to discuss the
implementation of the plan of action. Major General Pham
Xuan Quac, Director General, Department for Order and Social
Crimes Investigation, Ministry of Public Security (MPS)
identified the China and Cambodia border areas as
particularly "thorny" centers of TIP activity.

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---------------------
Quang Ninh, a Hotspot
---------------------

3. (U) In addition to Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lang Son, An Giang
and Can Tho Provinces, Quang Ninh is a TIP hotspot. Quang
Ninh, with a 132.8 kilometer border with China and a busy
international border crossing, is located in the northeast
of Vietnam. According to the Quang Ninh provincial police,
in 2004, provincial authorities investigated 13 TIP cases
and arrested 17 suspects. The same year, Chinese
authorities returned 236 "illegal immigrants" to Quang Ninh,
including 196 women and children. Out of the 196, 106 had
earlier been trafficked, according to The Asia Foundation
(TAF).

------------------
Project Background
------------------

4. (U) The TAF Vietnam project is part of a larger three-
year collaborative program called "East Asia-Pacific (EAP)
Women's Initiatives on Trafficking and Violence Against
Women" funded by the U.S Department of State. This regional
program is currently being implemented in nine countries in
the East Asia-Pacific Region, including Vietnam. Under the
Vietnam project, Vietnam Women's Union (VNWU), Center for
Education Promotion and Empowerment of Women (CEPEW) and TAF
entered into an MOU in November 2002 for the purpose of
reducing trafficking in persons and violence against women
in Vietnam. The project activities focus primarily on
prevention: education, community monitoring, economic
empowerment programs for vulnerable women and their
families, strengthening the capacity of women and local
institutions involved in anti-trafficking and facilitating
bilateral and regional coordination.

5. (U) The USD 243,915 Department-funded project, which
started in January 2003 and is expected to run through June
2006, focuses on "victimization prevention" as one of the
regional project's three strategic objectives. Under the
victimization prevention goal, the Vietnam project
activities are realized through community based studies,
development and publication of training materials,
prevention education and community monitoring support,
strategic planning with VNWU, performance presentations for
anti-trafficking stakeholders, economic empowerment
programs, travel support for regional workshops and working
groups and support for cross border workshops in An Giang
and Quang Ninh Provinces.

-----------------------
The Workshop: A Success
-----------------------

6. (U) In addition to a November 2004 workshop in An Giang
as a component of the Vietnam project, TAF and VNWU held
another one in Quang Ninh Province May 25 - 27, 2005. The
workshop, viewed as a success by TAF, the project's
coordinating agency, was well attended by central and local
officials from both Vietnam and China. According to TAF,
the workshop achieved its expected outputs, including:
providing a clear picture of cross-border trafficking
between Vietnam and China and a better understanding of the
current legal frameworks and instruments to prevent and
combat trafficking in both countries; assembling a list of
recommendations for amending and developing specific laws
and regulations related to trafficking in persons in both
countries; developing a plan of action to establish
mechanisms in each country to strengthen legal enforcement;
and, developing joint activities to combat cross-border
trafficking.

7. (U) Over three days, the workshop participants shared
data and information on the overall situation of trafficking
where Vietnam and China are concerned; existing legal
frameworks and instruments in each country to combat
trafficking; the role of legal aid services for the victims;
and, collaborative strategies employed by communities and
governments to prevent trafficking and protect and
reintegrate victims. On the final day, participants visited
a community support group established by the Quang Ninh
provincial Women's Union (with support from TAF) and
attended an education campaign organized by the community
support group.

-------------
Other Efforts
-------------

8. (U) According to TAF, the workshop is complementary to
efforts by other organizations seeking to improve
cooperation between Vietnam and China in combating
trafficking. In a separate effort, on June 3, 2004, VNWU
and its Chinese counterpart launched a UNICEF-funded
campaign against trafficking in women and children in Mong
Cai, a border town in Quang Ninh. The large-scale campaign
was the first of its kind organized by the two countries'
Women's Unions and delivered the message "stay united
against trafficking in women and children for a better
future." The campaign's goal is to reduce trafficking cases
and make sure the message gets to the people. Recently,
trafficking has developed most extensively at the Mong Cai
border gate, in Quang Ninh, the area these campaigns are
targeting. Women and children trafficked across the border
at Mong Cai end up being unhappy wives, slaves or
prostitutes, according to a recent VietnamNet article.

9. (U) In addition, joint efforts by UNICEF offices in
Vietnam and China since May 2001 resulted in established
collaboration between Vietnam and China. This collaboration
occurs now at the central and provincial levels, with a
focus on annual bilateral meetings for relevant counterparts
of Vietnam and China including (on the Vietnam side): MPS;
the Women's Union; Border Guard Command; Vietnam National
Committee for Population, Family and Children (CPFC);
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA); Ministry of Labor, War
Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA); and, Quang Ninh and
Lang Son provincial Women's Unions, Border Guard units and
Police. This has led to an agreement between Vietnam and
China's MPS Criminal Departments on joint investigations and
arrests of traffickers, UNICEF stated.

10. (U) Simultaneously, at the provincial level, quarterly
meetings between the two countries' police and border guard
officers were organized under the UNICEF project. The
meetings helped to strengthen collaboration and information-
sharing between concerned agencies. Bilateral meetings
between the Vietnamese Women's Union and Chinese Women's
Federation were also organized and, according the UNICEF,
led to the development of communication strategies, joint
development of information, education and communication
(IEC) materials and joint communication campaigns in border
provinces; and, a children's forum. Under the auspices of
UNICEF, various joint training workshops were organized for
key counterparts in Vietnam and China, including MPS, CPFC,
MOLISA, MFA, VNWU, Border Guard units and Quang Ninh and
Lang Son's relevant counterparts dealing with international
tools/laws related to trafficking issues and a child-
friendly repatriation approach.

------------------------
GVN Showed Determination
------------------------

11. (U) In the TAF project workshop's opening speech, Ms.
Truong Thi Khue, VNWU Vice President, stressed the goals of
the workshop as well as the need for effective information
sharing, close coordination and regional and international
cooperation in the fight against trafficking in persons.
Trafficking in women and children is a pressing social issue
with profound and serious consequences for the victims,
their families, community and society, and the development
of each nation, Khue said.

---------------
A Shopping List
---------------

12. (U) Towards the end of the workshop, participants
produced and agreed to a joint action plan that included
recommendations for the Chinese and Vietnamese governments
on how to better prevent and combat cross-border
trafficking. Items on the action plan include:

-- Improving the legal framework to combat trafficking in
persons;
-- Simplifying administrative procedures on civil
registration, residence permits, birth registration and
marriages for victims;
-- Providing land/housing for victims;
-- Establishing reception centers in both countries;
-- Issuing special policies or regulations to protect the
rights of women and children in the prosecution and trial
process of trafficking cases;
-- Quickly disseminating and implementing agreements by the
Ministry of Public Security of the two countries;
-- Strengthening cooperation in research on trafficking in
persons between the two countries;
-- Allocating a budget to provide training on legal issues
and legal assistance for counseling staff;
-- Inviting the participation of psychologists and lawyers
in anti-trafficking work;
-- Exchanging visits, sharing experience;
-- Mobilizing financial support from international
organizations.

13. Comment: In general, while the GVN strengthens its
effort against TIP, especially with the creation of the 2004
- 2010 anti-trafficking plan of action in 2004, it
appreciates every piece of international assistance in
reaching its anti-trafficking goals. Among other activities
of this project, this workshop helped initiate a possible
addition of a legal aid component to the existing MLAT
between Vietnam and China. Furthermore, through the
workshop, a network of researchers in the area of
anti-trafficking has been initiated and set up, which
hopefully will provide better information on trafficking for
practitioners as well as other organizations working on
trafficking. As a further result of the workshop, follow-up
work to implement the plan of action is being coordinated
via TAF offices in Hanoi and Beijing. These are positive
results that reflect well on the GVN's willingness and
ability to address trafficking, as well as TAF's competence
in carrying out important anti-trafficking projects.
BOARDMAN

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