MAINLAND SE ASIA AND CHINA PLEDGE TIP COOPERATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001422

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL, INL, G/TIP, STATE PASS LABOR FOR
ILAB, COMMERCE FOR ITA JEAN KELLY, TREASURY FOR OASIA,
USPACOM FOR FPA, BANGKOK FOR USAID/RDM ASIA (FRIEDMAN)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2014
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PGOV EAID BM
SUBJECT: MAINLAND SE ASIA AND CHINA PLEDGE TIP COOPERATION

REF: A. RANGOON 1370

B. RANGOON 1357

Classified By: COM CARMEN MARTINEZ for Reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial
Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) moved forward in
Rangoon, October 27-29. All of the participating governments
seemed to find a comfortable confluence of political,
strategic, and operational elements in the MOU they signed
and the supporting action plan they endorsed. In the
process, the Burmese junta got the international endorsement
it seeks, and the reshuffled SPDC leadership accordingly
joined the activities with seeming enthusiasm. There appears
to be genuine political momentum behind this regional effort
which, whether it morphs into operational effectiveness
against trafficking in persons or not, is a reality that will
have to be considered in planning anti-trafficking assistance
programs in this region. End Summary.


2. (U) Cabinet-level and other officials from the six
governments that form the COMMIT met in Rangoon on October
27-29 (ref b) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
pledging mutual cooperation against trafficking in persons
(TIPs). They also developed and approved--subject to review
in capitals--a related action plan to support the precepts
outlined in the MOU and to further previously approved
bilateral agreements. The operational plan, which will
require foreign assistance to implement, will be up for
approval at the COMMIT's next Senior Officers Meeting,
tentatively scheduled for late March 2005 in Hanoi.


3. (U) Cambodia, Laos, and Burma sent Cabinet-level
officials to sign the MOU (Minister of Social Affairs,
Minister of Labor, and Minister of Home Affairs,
respectively); Vietnam was represented by its Vice-Minister
of Public Security; the Chinese Vice Chairman of the State
Council's National Working Committee for Children and Women
signed on behalf of the PRC; and the Permanent Secretary in
Thailand's Ministry of Social Development and Human Security
initialed the document on behalf of the RTG (note: Thai
Minister Sora-at Klinpratoom was a last minute no-show
because of "urgent duties" in Bangkok).


4. (SBU) Several Rangoon and Bangkok-based United Nations
officials also attended, as did representatives from the
Australian and UK (DFID) aid programs; and INGOs (World
Vision and Save the Children). PolEconoffs attended as
observers. Bangkok-based staff in the United Nations
Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater
Mekong Sub-Region (UNIAP) served as the conference
secretariat and also played an active supporting role in

SIPDIS
preparing substantive documents, guiding the process, and
holding it together through the after-shocks from the recent
political shuffle in Rangoon (ref a).

New Burmese Prime Minister Opens Ministerial Conference


5. (SBU) Giving his first public speech following his
promotion on October 20, Prime Minister Lt. General Soe
Win--resplendent in a crisply pressed army uniform--opened
the ministerial portion of the conference on October 29 by
advocating for regional cooperation. He took a subtle swipe
at Thailand ("encouraging to see that ownership of the
problem and responsibility are recognized as issues that need
to be recognized by countries of destination"),but he also
commended the RTG for its efforts to register illegal migrant
workers. The Thai Permanent Secretary said in his statement
prior to the MOU signing and later in a post-session press
conference that the RTG had registered 1.2 million migrants
in Bangkok--80 percent of whom were Burmese--during a 2003
campaign to formalize the presence of such workers.

Comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)


6. (SBU) As approved on October 29, the MOU lays out
methods and areas of cooperation to combat all aspects of
human trafficking. The approved document addresses
trafficking from a comprehensive perspective, including areas
of policy and cooperation at the national and international
levels; legal frameworks, law enforcement and criminal
justice; protection, recovery and reintegration of victims;
as well as preventive measures. Embassy sent full texts of
the MOU and the Plan of Action to EAP/BCLTV and G/TIP on
October 29 for further circulation as desired.

Action Plan Linked to MOU


7. (SBU) Meeting October 27-28 following an opening speech
by the Burmese Minister of Home Affairs, some 30 senior
officials from the participating governments divided the
supporting activities into five general areas: policy and
cooperation (e.g., mechanisms and systems for exchanging
information, assessments of training needs); legal
frameworks, law enforcement and justice (e.g., cooperation
and investigation, as well as prosecution, of traffickers,
including joint training and cross-border networking);
protection, recovery, and reintegration (e.g., regional
workshop on procedures for repatriation of victims, including
development of common guidelines); preventive measures (e.g.,
collection and sharing of information on job, marriage and
adoption brokers and agencies); and mechanisms for monitoring
and evaluating implementation of the MOU (e.g., maintain
existing COMMIT task forces in each country and work with
UNIAP to develop a schedule for implementation of the Plan of
Action).

Atmospherics: Chinese and Thai are Most Important Players


8. (C) In a private conversation with poloff after the
meeting, UNIAP's program director, Phil Robertson (Amcit),
said the Thai and Chinese have taken pivotal roles in
bringing regional cooperation on TIPs to this point. Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin, he said, aims to show that his
government has not lost control of its borders and related
social problems. The Chinese, on the other hand, want to be
part of a recognized international forum dealing with the
international aspects of their southern and western flanks.
Robertson also credited Dr. Saisaree Chutikul, a Thai social
activist involved with the Commission for the Rights of the
Child, for playing an important role in bringing the October
27-29 conference to fruition and keeping related developments
on track.

Comment: And the Burmese Government Also Benefits


9. (C) Prime Minister Soe Win stated in his October 29
address to the conference that regional cooperation on TIPs
in this area is a "win-win" situation for all directly
concerned (Note: most especially for the Burmese, since the
COMMIT was launched in Rangoon. End note). The new GOB
leaders got a hearty international endorsement without
exposing themselves to embarrassing questions, pressure about
their human rights policies, or their own record on TIPs.


10. (C) More importantly, however, there appears to be
genuine momentum behind this regional effort. The logical
end to the exercise that took place in Rangoon last week
could put recipient countries in the driver's seat with
foreign assistance programs on TIPs. If the process now set
in motion plays out as the planners aim to have it develop,
this could be beneficial, over the longer term, for both
recipient and donor governments. However, further evolution
of intra-regional cooperation on TIPs with Burmese
participation--with the generals continuing their abhorrent
policies on human rights--could be a significant obstacle to
USG assistance and engagement on a region-wide basis on TIPs'
issues. End comment.
Martinez