AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES PAKISTAN'S TRAFFICKING

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 011365 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMEN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB PK SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES PAKISTAN'S TRAFFICKING EFFORTS WITH MINISTER SHERPAO ¶1. (U) On June 12, Ambassador met with Interior Minister Sherpao to cover a broad range of issues (other reported septels),including trafficking in persons. Minister Sherpao said he had read the 2006 TIP report and found the section on Pakistan to be encouraging. He also thanked Ambassador for his support of Pakistan's anti-trafficking efforts. ¶2. (SBU) Minister Sherpao agreed with the report's conclusion that internal trafficking occurs in Pakistan. He said that the problem is getting provincial authorities, who currently have jurisdiction over internal trafficking, to act. He added that he is working to get the provincial authorities to be more aggressive in fighting internal trafficking. Minister Sherpao also said that while currently the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) does not investigate internal trafficking cases, the Ministry will change the FIA's jurisdiction to include internal trafficking. ¶3. (SBU) Minister Sherpao also detailed two Government of Pakistan (GOP) initiatives that relate to its anti-trafficking efforts. The first is a recently created Public Safety Commission at the federal level. This Commission is intended to foster communication and create a working relationship between federal law enforcement officials and civil society. The second initiative is the recently-created gender crimes unit at the FIA, which is intended to investigate crimes against women, including trafficking. ¶4. (SBU) Comment. Although Minister Sherpao and Ambassador discussed a broad range of issues in their meeting, Minister Sherpao originally calling the meeting to discuss the 2006 TIP report demonstrates the high-level attention trafficking receives in the GOP. End comment. CROCKER