Cablegate: Guangxi: Trafficking On the Vietnam Border

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DE RUEHGZ #0618 1500906
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300906Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6095
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
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RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000618

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USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PGOV ECON CH
SUBJECT: Guangxi: Trafficking on the Vietnam Border

REF: A) Guangzhou 208

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1. (U) SUMMARY and COMMENT: Trafficking of sex workers and spouses
from Vietnam continues but cooperation between the Vietnam diplomats
and Chinese authorities is good, according to Nanning-based Vietnam
Consulate General. A China-announced repatriation center for
Vietnamese trafficked victims, which had earlier been discussed in
PRC newspapers as a symbol of assistance to trafficked individuals,
apparently does not exist. END SUMMARY and COMMENT.

Trafficking between Vietnam and China
-------------------------------------

2. (U) In a late May meeting with the Consul General in Guangxi's
capital, Nanning, Vietnamese Consul General Tran Dui Hai commented
that trafficking is a complex problem found at any border. During
the meeting, a follow-up to a February meeting with the Vietnam
Consulate General in Guangzhou (reftel), Tran said that cooperation
between his office and Chinese authorities was excellent. Vietnam
does not view trafficked persons as criminals but assists victims,
once identified as Vietnamese citizens, in returning to their
families, according to Tran. Surprisingly, though the Chinese have
previously cited the 2005 creation of a Repatriation Center for
trafficked Vietnamese in Guangxi as an example of border
cooperation, Tran said no such center exists. (This likely explains
why an earlier request to visit the center was rejected by the
Guangxi Public Security Bureau (PSB).)

3. (U) Tran said that when the PSB contacts the Consulate regarding
a potential victim, the Consulate confirms the person is a
Vietnamese national. That process may take from one to several
months. Afterwards, the PSB will issue an exit permit (tong xing
zheng) to the person to depart China and the Nanning Consulate will
assist the person in returning to Vietnam by providing bus fare if
needed. The PSB will often provide support victims during the
waiting period until they are confirmed as Vietnamese nationals.
Tran noted that the Women's Federation of China was active on the
border and could help victims.

4. (U) Tran said that in 2006, the PSB brought 250 cases to his
attention by the PSB, of which 150 were repatriated to Vietnam. The
remainder, many of whom are Vietnamese, are still in prison in China
for unspecified criminal activities. Most trafficked victims are
brought to China for marriage or the sex trade, though this problem
was greater in Kunming, Yunnan, than in Nanning, according to Tran.
Most victims remain in border areas, though some have gone to
central and northern China.

5. (U) Tran commented that Chinese are trafficked or smuggled to
third countries via Vietnam, with traffickers using false U.S. and
Hong Kong passports. Many are children, aged three-to-five years
old; they tend to be sent to France based on a Hong Kong passport,
which had been used to obtain a French visa. Some Chinese women use
false U.S. passports to travel to the EU.

6. (U) Tran noted that Guangxi had 2,000 Vietnamese students,
mostly in Nanning (1400) and Guilin (600), and 150 long-term
Vietnamese residents. He was unable to cite statistics on numbers
of business person, farmers, or border traders coming to Guangxi.

GOLDBERG

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