VITAL VOICES CONFERENCE ON TRAFFICKING IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 BANGKOK 003955 SIPDIS STATE FOR G/TIP, EAP/MLS, DRL/IL, PRM/PRP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KWMN KCRM ELAB PREL SMIG PHUM KJUS EAID TH SUBJECT: VITAL VOICES CONFERENCE ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ¶1. Summary. The Vital Voices Conference, entitled Civil Society and Government Collaboration to Combat Trafficking in Persons in the Greater Mekong Sub- Region, was held in Bangkok from May 22-24. The conference promoted greater collaboration among NGOs and government agencies on anti-trafficking activities in the region, but also highlighted the need to coordinate funding and strategic planning with other actors - such as corporations and labor unions - that were making important strides against TIP independently. Representatives from the government and NGO sectors of each Mekong Basin country (excluding the Burmese government),as well as U.N. and Thai government co-hosts of the conference, praised the USG for providing a regional forum for NGOs to express their view directly with representatives of their own governments. In some cases, members of the two sectors were meeting in this capacity for the very first time. Following the conference, PAS Bangkok organized a speaking tour in northern Thailand for Melanne Verveer, Chair of Vital Voices, and her staff. Recently-named UNODC Goodwill Ambassador Julia Ormond also praised the conference's unique format for encouraging countries to share best practices on a problem that by nature transcends borders in a region subject to huge migrant flows. End Summary. ¶2. The Vital Voices anti-trafficking conference, held in Bangkok from May 22-24, brought together NGO and government leaders from around the world to focus on improving collaboration in the fight against trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Participants agreed that the conference succeeded in fostering dialogue between NGO and government representatives that has often been missing in international fora on trafficking-in-persons. Chinese and Vietnamese NGO delegates in particular praised the USG for proving a forum for NGO-government dialogue that was not often available in their own countries. The discussions generated by other conference invitees, however, also made clear that other players in the fight against TIP - such as the business community and labor unions - were playing important roles that needed encouragement through linkages with NGO and government efforts. ¶3. Among the important informal recommendations generated by the conference discussions: -- Reduce "capital city policymaking" that ignored realities on the ground in poorer, outlying provinces that supplied most TIP victims. -- Ensure that training initiatives assisting police and government officials at capital headquarters get extended to provincial officials who deal directly with TIP. -- Improve dialogue with labor unions, which can play an important role in organizing workers (especially in tourism, hotels) vulnerable to TIP. (Cambodian hotel unions were cited as a positive example.) -- Support G/TIP's enhanced focus on labor trafficking and debt bondage. -- Increase the role of the business community, following the lead of Microsoft and the Gates Foundation in addressing TIP and providing vocational training for alternative sources of income. -- Get law enforcement agencies and NGOs to "speak the same language" when addressing TIP; law enforcement needs to better respect victim privacy and security, while NGOs need to understand the need to secure testimony for successful prosecutions. -- Improve the "quality" of TIP prosecutions as well as the "quantity"; emphasize to governments that exorbitant sentences for "small fry" traffickers does not excuse lack of prosecution of corrupt officials or trafficking "kingpins". -- Ensure that competition for funds does not inhibit donor coordination; NGOs seeking funds from same sources tend to withhold information and keep projects "proprietary". ¶4. Co-sponsors were the RTG's Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, UNODC, USAID, and Embassy Bangkok. Ambassador Boyce delivered opening remarks, as did the RTG's Minister for Social Development and Human Security (SDHS),actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Julia Ormond, UN Resident Country Coordinator Joana Merlin-Scholtes, and Vital Voices Chair Melanne Verveer. ¶5. RTG Minister Watana Muangsook opened the conference by identifying poverty alleviation as a means to combat trafficking. He described the RTG's dual track economic development scheme, which focuses on both domestic projects (e.g. the 30 baht health care program and village funds) and regional cooperation (e.g. Economic Cooperation Strategy.) Ambassador Boyce encouraged greater government and NGO cooperation, and called for the Thai Parliament to pass a comprehensive anti-trafficking law this year. Julia Ormond relayed stories gathered from her meetings with trafficking victims around the world. ¶6. USAID's Regional Mission in Thailand designed break-out sessions throughout the conference to encourage government and NGO sectors to jointly identify priorities and implement activities. The Ministry of SDHS hosted a reception the first evening, followed the second evening by a reception at Ambassador's residence. Various delegates participated as panel speakers throughout the conference, and paragraph 6 summarizes these presentations. The powerpoint slides can be accessed at http://www.vitalvoices.org/desktopdefault.asp x?page_id=346. ¶7. As a follow-on to the conference, PAS Bangkok programmed Verveer and Wenchi Yu Perkins, also of Vital Voices, on a three-day target-of-opportunity speaking tour in northern Thailand. They met with provincial anti-trafficking teams, consisting of local government officials, police officers, public prosecutors, psychologists, NGO representatives, attorneys, and journalists in the provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phayao. The program ended with a visit to the Development and Education Program for Daughters and Community (DEPDC) in Mae Sai, located on the border with Burma. DEPDC, a community-based organization, is recognized internationally for its success in educating rural, impoverished children and adults, many of whom are from local hill tribes without Thai citizenship, who are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Ms. Verveer and Ms. Perkins used the opportunity to take lessons learned from regional partners working to combat trafficking and shared the knowledge and ext steps ith numerous Thai officials working in some of Thailand most notorious areas for trafficking activities. -------------- -------------- CROSS-BORDER COLLABORATION; CROSS-CULTURE LESSONS LEARNED -------------- -------------- ¶8. A member of the Royal Thai Police and a representative of the UN Inter-agency Project on Trafficking (UNIAP) described a trafficking case that successfully prosecuted the trafficker through effective international collaboration. In 2003, a trafficker known as Khun Thea smuggled 11 Cambodian women and girls through Thailand into Malaysia. The subsequent investigation by the Thai and Cambodian governments was aided by a Thai-Cambodian MOU against trafficking, as well as the efforts of a host of government offices, NGOs, and organizations from Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia. In March 2005, the trafficker was sentenced to 50 years in a Thai prison. ¶9. Thai-Burmese cooperation was illustrated by Save the Children representatives, who discussed their work in repatriating Burmese victims who were trafficked to Thailand. They raised the possibility of a Thai-Burma MOU to facilitate repatriation, and lauded the Thai government's commitment to protect all children within its territory, including trafficked Burmese. Save the Children has repatriated 158 victims; of those, 12 are male, and 44 have re-migrated to Thailand. Many who reintegrated into their communities have become anti- trafficking educators at home. ¶10. The director of the Nexus Institute presented cases from Eastern Europe's experience in combating trafficking, including multi-disciplinary national working groups, some including NGO representatives, and a regional multi-year anti-trafficking action plan. The need for effective training for police, investigators, and prosecutors was emphasized, as were the responsibilities of law enforcement, such as immediately providing victims with social services and protection, ensuring confidentiality, and conducting risk assessments. -------------- OBSTACLES AND PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS -------------- ¶11. The Southeast Asia Regional Cooperation in Human Development (SEARCH) presented its plan for an upcoming 5-year project, which will promote mechanisms to uphold human rights. Three regional partners -- COMMIT, Asean Working Group, and Forum Asia -- will be involved, and SEARCH shared its plans for avoiding duplication and leveraging investments. In the same panel, USAID described its review of a program in seven countries, which allowed them to map their areas of vulnerability, identify needs and gaps, and provide recommendations. They stressed the need to standardize field work such as data collection, research techniques, and monitoring and evaluation, and for increasing the use of mapping to prevent redundancies. Finally, the Australian Agency for International Development (AUSAID) shared what it has identified as the four main challenges to anti- trafficking efforts. They are: -- Widespread refusal to accept that victim protection and aggressive prosecution can be compatible strategies. -- Failure to treat trafficking and related exploitation as criminal offenses. -- Unrealistic expectations on underdeveloped systems to deliver justice. As indicators of progress, AUSAID is looking for trafficking to be treated as a criminal offense, not just a social problem; for destination countries to take a greater role in prosecution; and for prosecutions to be measured as "better," not just "more." -------------- EMPOWERING VICTIMS -------------- ¶12. The International Labor Organization's (ILO's) presentation focused on the need for civil society to empower the marginalized to take action, as opposed to simply protecting their welfare and speaking on their behalf. They also shared the example of Laos PDR's successful use of steering committees from local to national levels, which meet regularly and share information effectively. -------------- FINAL DOCUMENT: RECOMMENDATIONS -------------- ¶13. Delegates concluded the conference by creating a document of recommendations, intended as a guideline for increased cooperation among a variety of sectors and organizations. Below is a slightly abridged version of the document. Final Statement - Conference on ivil Society and Government Collaboration to Combat Trafficking in Persons in the Greater Mekong Sub-region May 22-24, 2006 Bangkok, Thailand We, the participants of the conference on ivil Society and Government Collaboration to Combat Trafficking in Persons in the Greater Mekong Sub- region (GMS) athered in Bangkok, Thailand from May 22-24, 2006, reaffirmed the critical importance of systematic collaboration between NGOs, civil society, and Governments in developing and implementing successful anti-trafficking strategies and programs. This collaboration must cover all aspects of anti- trafficking response overing prosecution, protection, and prevention of human trafficking. Specifically, the conference: Recognizes that civil society encompasses NGOs and many other actors; Recognizes the critical importance of a comprehensive approach to combat human trafficking, focusing on protection, prevention and prosecution, and importantly complemented by coordination of both policies and programs; Takes note of the commitments for close collaboration between Governments and NGOs made by the GMS Governments through the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) process, such as the provision in the COMMIT Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which explicitly acknowledges he important role played by victim support agencies in the areas of prevention, protection, rescue, repatriation, recovery and reintegration, as well as in supporting a strengthened criminal justice response; Takes note of the important efforts by the Governments to conclude and implement a broad range of bilateral MOUs to increase and formalize cooperation between States in their efforts against human trafficking; Recognizing the relevant UN conventions and international legal instruments related to human trafficking which also provide for the involvement of NGOs in implementation and monitoring processes; Acknowledges the key roles that NGOs and civil society organizations are already playing in all aspects of work to eradicate human trafficking in the GMS, and commend the cases of close cooperation between Governments and NGOs which are taking place; In light of the above-mentioned findings, the participants of the conference make the following recommendations, which recognize the critical importance of continuous and intensive collaboration between NGOs and other representative organizations of civil society and Governments. These recommendations shall be communicated to the Governments of the Greater Mekong Sub-region, NGO networks engaged in anti-trafficking working in the sub-region, international NGOs, UN agencies, other inter- governmental organizations, and bilateral and multilateral donor organizations: (1) Governments and NGOs should more systematically partner with each other in order to ensure that civil society is actively involved in all aspects of the determination and implementation of anti-trafficking policies, including national action plans, regulations, and laws. As part of this partnership, the volume and quality of information shared between the Government agencies, ranging from central to grass-roots/local levels, international organizations and NGOs should increase. (2) Governments and NGOs recognize that consistent, high-quality data collection, mapping of gap areas, and quality research are the essential basis for effective policies and responsive programs. Donors, international organizations, research organizations, governments, and NGOs should undertake and support on- going research activities oth quantitative and qualitative. (3) Both the Governments and NGOs should broaden their anti-trafficking partnership to include other civil society organizations, such as those from organized labor, faith-based organizations, migrant communities, and the international and national business community. Work on anti-trafficking initiatives with these new allies should occur in a systematic manner to bring forward new knowledge and resources from these partners, and seek support from them for policies and programs to combat human trafficking. (4) Governments and NGOs recognize that significant gaps in anti-trafficking response still exist in the sub-region, both in terms of geographical coverage and sectors of anti-human trafficking response. It is recommended that these gaps be systematically addressed by joint initiatives of Government and NGOs. (5) Information on the positive role of NGOs in cooperating with Governments on anti-trafficking efforts, and the need to have NGOs involved in order to ensure comprehensive anti-trafficking response, should be reflected in all training curriculums at all levels. (6) Both bilateral and multilateral donor agencies should take decisions on funding of technical assistance and capacity building with particular attention to the need to further strengthen government and civil society cooperation, and to do so in a more coordinated manner. (7) Greater donor coordination, including prioritizing both at the national and regional levels, would enhance and facilitate the process of preventing and combating human trafficking. (8) Government and NGOs recognize the importance of monitoring anti-trafficking projects to ensure accountability, and continuously evaluating impact of those activities, but also recognize that donor agencies should provide longer term commitments to anti-trafficking work being done. Possible approaches could include the development of innovative monitoring modalities, such as regional peer review mechanisms, between and among Governments, NGOs, civil society, international NGOs, and inter-governmental organizations with an emphasis on long-term commitment, and should stress the positive role that NGOs can play in monitoring process and progress. (9) Governments and NGOs recommend that the success of criminal justice actions against human trafficking offenders should be measured according to both the quality of investigations and prosecutions and their quantity. (10) Donors should encourage and support public- private partnerships as a new approach to generate new ideas and additional resources for anti-human trafficking work. (11) Civil society organizations, including NGOs, and law enforcement authorities should exchange experience and information, as appropriate, build deeper mutual understanding, and reach shared objectives to prosecute traffickers and support the recovery of victims of trafficking; and bilateral and multilateral donors should support such opportunities. (12) Stronger cross-border collaboration in all aspects of anti-trafficking response, and technical, financial and personnel support for those initiatives, should be built among governments and NGOs. (13) Where cross-border collaboration and coordination does occur, it is critical that this be broadened to embrace the concept of multi-disciplinary teams that include NGOs, and encourage governments to initiate pilot projects in identified trafficking hot spots on borders. (14) Governments and civil society actors should consider to either extend existing cross-border mechanisms, or to create similar mechanisms, to address human trafficking. (15) Regional agreements on procedures for cooperation in human trafficking should be developed, taking into account agreements already available at the bilateral level. (16) Governments and NGOs understand the urgent need to deepen anti-trafficking response, and ensure that policies and implementation reach to the provincial and local level. (17) Governments and NGOs should collaborate to build capacity of concerned governments officials and NGO staff working to provide protection and recovery services to victims, and improve the standards of the shelters and the services they provide. (18) Workshops should be convened to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders in anti-trafficking actions. Possible results could include the establishment of a multi-disciplinary operations team at the national level to oversee actions on cases of trafficked persons. This team can direct the process of assistance and protection to the victim, and the victim participation in the criminal justice investigation and prosecution process. As part of this process, the roles and scope of NGOs could be more clearly defined, which would in turn help facilitate their operations, and monitoring and evaluation systems be established. (19) Governments and NGOs in places of migrant origin, transit and destination should promote safe migration as a strategy to reduce vulnerability to human trafficking. The participants will seek opportunities to incorporate these recommendations into the anti-human trafficking work that they do upon return to their home countries. Finally, the participants wish to thank the organizers and co-sponsors who made this conference possible, specifically the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of the Royal Thai Government, the Vital Voices Global Partnership, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United States Agency for International Development, the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in the United States Department of State, and the Embassy of the United States in Bangkok, Thailand. The participants believe that the results of this conference directly reflect the leadership and commitment of themselves, as well as these organizations, in addressing the global phenomenon of human trafficking. BOYCE