A/S SAUERBREY MEETS WITH CHIN LEADERS ON ACCESS TO REFUGEES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000353 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR PRM, DRL, AND SCA/INS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: IN PREF SUBJECT: A/S SAUERBREY MEETS WITH CHIN LEADERS ON ACCESS TO REFUGEES IN INDIA'S NORTHEAST AND WITH NGOS ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REF: KOLKATA 305 KOLKATA 00000353 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: During a November 7 stopover in Kolkata, Population, Refugee, and Migration (PRM) Assistant Secretary Ellen Sauerbrey discussed with Burmese Chin leaders the condition of the several thousand Chin migrants in India's Northeast. The lack of access by UNHCR to the Chins and other refugee populations living in India's Northeast remains a key stumbling block to properly assessing the refugees' living conditions and claims of persecution. The USG should seek to convince the GOI that access by UNHCR to the Northeast is important and necessary, and press the GOI to develop comprehensive refugee legislation. Representatives of three NGOs that are involved in repatriation of trafficked women and children from India to Bangladesh and Nepal also briefed A/S Sauerbrey on the challenges they face, including getting a comprehensive, efficient system in place for returning victims to their home countries. End Summary. Political Migrants: Burmese Chin in the Northeast -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On November 7, PRM A/S Ellen Sauerbrey met with Chin National Council Chairman Salai Cinzah and Chin National Council Secretary Thang Len Piang. Cinzah explained that although the SIPDIS majority of the tens of thousands of Chins are believed to be economic migrants, in reality they are political migrants. BBC Eastern India Bureau Chief Subir Bhaumik echoed that sentiment. Initially in the 1980s, the native residents of Mizoram (Mizos) accepted the Chins, who share common ethnic roots. But as time progressed, the Mizos feared that too many Chins would come to Mizoram and alter the political landscape. Currently, almost all government jobs go to Mizos, and what little economic opportunities there are for Chins are low-paying, menial jobs. Many Mizos hold Burmese migrants as a group responsible for Mizoram's problems and crimes, said Cinzah, and Mizo community leaders have sometimes forced Burmese Chin migrants to go back to Burma. Cinzah said that UNHCR does not have access to Northeast India, and the GOI has not granted refugee status to Chins. As ConGen has reported earlier (reftel),Cinzah said that some Chins have managed to go to Delhi to seek refugee status -- as of September, there were 1,777 refugees from Burma under UNHCR/India's mandate (Note: In 2006, there were 8.4 million refugees under UNHCR's mandate worldwide. In India, there are nearly 12,000 refugees under UNHCR's direct protection of whom 90% are Afghan. Refugees from Burma form the next largest group. Refugees in India from Tibet and Sri Lanka are directly cared for by the GOI. End Note). Cinzah put the number of Chin who have migrated to India at approximately 100,000, with 20,000 residing in the Mizoram state capital of Aizawl and the rest living closer to the border with Burma. (Note: the number of Chin migrants is more generally believed to be 60,000-80,000. End Note). ¶3. (U) Education is the biggest problem for the Chins, Cinzah explained. There are no schools along the Indo-Burma border, and Chin parents wanting to educate their children must send them to Mizo government schools. Though, tuition fees are about Rs.150 (USD $3.80) per month (in addition to the cost of school uniforms and books) most Chins find it difficult to pay for such education. Cinzah noted that on the Burmese side of the border, education facilities are also very poor. Similar problems exist with healthcare. Medical facilities are unavailable and many Chin cannot afford to buy medicines. ¶4. (U) At the close of the meeting, Cinzah raised an issue regarding a potential crisis created in Mizoram due to the flowering of the bamboo trees, which happens every 50 years. (Note: this event causes a substantial increase in the rodent population which results in significant amounts of crops being destroyed by rodents and insects. When this last occurred in the 1950s, the resulting famine led to the rise of the independent Mizo movement and the creation of the state of Mizoram. End Note.). Cinzah said that some Chins are already apprehensive about the destruction of crops and starvation by the end of this year. Because of the belief in an impending rodent infestation many Chin have actually planted fewer crops this year, which would exacerbate a shortfall of crops due to destruction by rodents. The government has predicted that as much as 2/3 of Mizoram crops may be lost, so farmers cut their planting by 30% to avoid losses. The Mizo Chief Minister, a product of the Mizo National Front insurgency, is very cautious about the possibility of starvation and has requested GOI to stock food grains. The problem is storage -warehousing capacity in the area would cover only 50 percent of the grains, so KOLKATA 00000353 002.2 OF 003 eventually the state may have to depend on the army, a strange development for a peaceful state like Mizoram. Trafficking in Persons -------------- ¶5. (U) ) In a separate meeting, PRM A/S Sauerbrey discussed cross-border trafficking of women and children with Sanlaap Director Indrani Sinha, Bhoruka Public Welfare Trust Director Dr. Kinsuk Mishra, and Sarfraz Ahmed Khan, a Legal Adviser to national NGO Apne Aap. The NGO representatives said that West Bengal is a major source, destination and transit point for trafficking victims. Thirty percent of victims rescued in Kolkata are from Bangladesh and Nepal, and the rest are from various states within the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, North eastern states and districts of West Bengal). ¶6. (U) Sinha and Khan observed that there were no bilateral agreements in place for repatriation of trafficking victims. (Note: The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is currently in discussions with the Bangladesh Government on just such a protocol. End note). In the absence of standard legal procedures and prescribed timeline for repatriation, NGOs like Sanlaap work with anti-trafficking NGOs across the Nepal and Bangladesh borders and with the countries' respective diplomatic missions to send the Bangladeshi or Nepali victims back home. Although Sanlaap has been able to set up a network and a process to repatriate the victims, the process of repatriation is generally "long, drawn out and fraught with problems." Mishra added that his NGO Bhoruka has set up project offices at Panitanki at the Indo-Nepal border and in Petrapole at the Indo-Bangladesh border in order to set up "vigilance committees" involving the Panchayat (village council) leaders to prevent trafficking of girls. Mishra said that Bhoruka is also involved in repatriating girls back to Bangladesh and Nepal with the help of NGOs across the borders. ¶7. (U) Sinha said that UNICEF had recently stepped in and lobbied for a bilateral agreement between India and Bangladesh. So far, meetings have been held with the agencies involved in the process of repatriation on both sides of the Indo-Bangla border and a report has been prepared on the current situation of cross border trafficking and the challenges of repatriating victims. A Task Force has been set up in Dhaka. Sinha fears, however, that a new formal system will include various government departments and agencies of the two countries, complicating the process and making it more time consuming. However, Sinha pointed out that if the girls are just "pushed back" into Bangladesh and Nepal at the border they run a higher risk of being raped and re-trafficked, so attempts have to be made to repatriate the victims ensuring their safety and security, which necessarily involve multiple law enforcement agencies. Khan told A/S Sauerbrey that a Parliamentary Standing Committee is studying a draft comprehensive anti-trafficking law, but he felt there is no significant effort to push the law through the Houses of Parliament. (Note: Khan ended up confusing two different initiatives. Amendments to the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act passed out of a Parliamentary committee a year ago, and are being resubmitted by MWCD. Apart from this, MWCD is creating comprehensive anti-trafficking schemes that will not require a change in law and will not need Parliamentary approval. End note). ¶8. (U) In response to a question from A/S Sauerbrey about media coverage of TIP, Sinha opined that the media only demonstrated an interest in TIP cases if there was a chance to photograph victims' faces - which she found unacceptable because victims are too traumatized after rescue operations to bear the media onslaught. Sinha noted that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has recently prepared a film on trafficking and included some interviews with some survivors of trafficking from Sanlaap's homes who were able to speak about their experiences after receiving proper counseling and assistance. She said that NHRC will be screening the film at various events across the country to raise awareness about this issue. While all parties agree that media exposure of the inhumanity of human trafficking is a crucial aspect of prevention, it is also a norm that the identities of trafficking victims, especially minors, must be protected. ¶9. (U) One of the chief activities of the NGOs is raising awareness about the problem of trafficking. Sanlaap works with 26 schools in 10 districts in West Bengal to spread awareness KOLKATA 00000353 003.2 OF 003 about trafficking. Khan said that UNODC's training workshops to sensitize police personnel on trafficking issues have had a very good impact. He feels the police now are more sensitive towards the victims of trafficking and have improved the manner in which they treat victims. Earlier, Khan said, the police used to arrest the trafficked Bangladeshi girls and put them in jails for three months or longer and then just push them back to their country across the border. Now, they are aware of the procedures that need to be followed, such as presenting the girls before a Child Welfare Committee. Along with the increased awareness, Sinha indicated that conditions in government rehabilitation homes are slightly improved. Previously, supervisors at these homes were often untrained and insensitive to the needs of the victims, but now the government has allowed NGOs to work at the shelters to provide counseling to the inmates, take care of their mental health, and provide training to supervisors and staff. ¶10. (SBU) Comment: UNHCR does not now have access to refugee populations in the Northeast. In our encounters with UNHCR staff, they appear content to not press the GOI for access, perhaps because the GOI does not officially recognize UNHCR, which operates in India under the auspices of UNDP. However, given the numbers of potential refugees and the real possibility of an increase in Burmese crossing into India should the current crisis in Burma deteriorate further, such access to the Northeast is important and necessary. Sustained and coordinated pressure by UNHCR, with support from Embassy New Delhi and other diplomatic missions may facilitate UNHCR access to the Northeast to assess possible political refugee cases and will also allow increased reporting on human rights issues in a region generally ignored by the international community. (Note: In the past, Medicins sans Frontieres was initially refused access to the Northeast, but the GOI relented after a concerted campaign. End note.) In addition, we should encourage the GOI to create comprehensive refugee legislation (which UNHCR also advocates) to facilitate future refugee issues. ¶11. (SBU) Comment Continued: NGOs are clear in their assessment that Eastern India and its neighboring countries remain the primary source for trafficking victims in India. Any serious effort to combat trafficking in persons in India must focus on these source areas and not simply destination points. Long-term efforts at sensitizing Indians, particularly law enforcement, to the problem of TIP are bearing fruit, and there appears to be a growing recognition from some government officials that greater cooperation with civil society groups can help tackle the TIP problem. This collaborative spirit, if vigorously applied in the international context, could shape more comprehensive efforts between India, Nepal, and Bangladesh that would have a significant impact, particularly on repatriation of victims. ¶12. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy New Delhi. A/S Sauerbrey cleared this cable. JARDINE