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
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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

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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

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eventually the state may have to depend on the army, a strange
development for a peaceful state like Mizoram.


Trafficking in Persons
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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

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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