CORRECTED COPY: HUMAN TRAFFICKING/SMUGGLING ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001930

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR
G/TIP
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM HA
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY: HUMAN TRAFFICKING/SMUGGLING ON
THE HAITIAN BORDER

PORT AU PR 00001930 001.2 OF 002



1. SUMMARY. Kenel Senatus of Solidarite Fwontalye (SF),a
Haitian-based human rights/anti-human trafficking
organization in Ouanaminthe, reported that human trafficking
and alien smuggling are widespread and openly conducted at
Haiti's northeastern border with the Dominican Republic.
Traffickers regularly transport both adults and children
across the border, where they are destined to serve as cheap
manual labor, domestic servants, or prostitutes. Weak GoH
institutions remain ineffective in combating the
well-organized human trafficking trade. A recent
G/TIP-sponsored anti-trafficking initiative implemented by
the Pan-American Foundation (PADF) aims to augment grassroots
efforts by SF, which at present is the only organization
conducting anti-trafficking activity along the border.
Without policies and efforts coordinated between the GOH and
the Dominican Republic, however, little will stand in the way
of traffickers' continuing their criminal activities with
impunity. End summary.


2. Poloff, accompanied by G/TIP staffers Barbara Fleck and
Kathleen Bresnahan, met on October 29 with members of
Solidarite Fwontalye (SF) in the town of Ouanaminthe, located
on Haiti's northeastern border with the Dominican Republic
(DR). SF is a NGO dedicated to the promotion of human rights
for Haitians living in the northeastern border areas and to
the prevention of human trafficking across the Haiti/DR
border. The meeting focused on trafficking in persons,
particularly children.


3. Kenel Senatus, SF's coordinator for human rights, noted
that the trafficking of persons across the Haiti/DR border is
widespread and openly conducted. Senatus claimed that most
trafficking occurs on market days, when Haitians most
frequently cross the border to the DR market-town Dajabon to
buy goods to bring back to Haiti. Haitians who are
trafficked to the DR are generally used for three functions:
cheap manual labor, domestic service, and prostitution.


4. Senatus told Poloff that children are trafficked across
the border for the same reasons, but are also used as
full-time beggars. (Note: He added that he heard unconfirmed
reports that children are trafficked for their organs as
well. He was unable to provide evidence, however, to
substantiate the claim. End note.) Senatus claimed that
traffickers on both sides of the border sometimes buy
children from internal traffickers who acquire the children
from other parts of Haiti and transport them to the border
for sale. Senatus also claimed that in other cases,
traffickers acquire unsupervised children simply by abducting
them. He said furthermore that the average age of trafficked
children is 12-15 years and that traffickers in the DR often
meet their counterparts at the Dominican border to assume
custody and escort the children away.


5. Senatus claimed that human traffickers employ a
well-organized network of individuals who directly
participate in and profit from trafficking by renting rooms
and providing food to victims. On the one hand, he
reiterated, officials on both sides of the border are well
aware of what is going on, but Dominican immigration
authorities are selective in enforcement against traffickers
and in repatriating victims. Haitian authorities lack the
capacity and presence on the ground to respond to the
problem. The Haitian government institutions responsible for
protecting the well-being of children, the Institute for
Social Well-Being and Research (IBESR) and the Brigade for
the Protection of Minors (BPM),do not have a presence in
Ouanaminthe. In fact, Senatus claimed that due to the
absence of IBESR and BPM, local authorities routinely refer
cases to SF for follow-up investigations. SF typically does
not intervene when adults are trafficked to the DR because
Haiti lacks anti-trafficking laws, and SF believes that many
of the adults are in fact economic migrants who consent to
the smuggled across the border. SF regularly intervenes,
however, in cases where children are involved, and
consequently, SF members are sometimes threatened and/or
assaulted.


PORT AU PR 00001930 002.2 OF 002



6. Comment: G/TIP recently awarded the Pan-American
Foundation (PADF) $250,850 to begin work on a Haiti/Dominican
Republic Cross-Border anti-trafficking project. PADF will
implement the project in Ouanaminthe and will seek to engage
SF, the Office of the Mayor of Ouanaminthe, and the local
Office of National Migration in the project. SF's
involvement is instrumental, as they possess the local
knowledge and experience necessary to augment the government
capacity on the border. During the visit, Ouanaminthe
migration officials demonstrated a willingness to learn
anti-trafficking measures from SF. G/TIP hopes that the
project will result in increased victim assistance and
strengthened capacity and coordination among border officials
and civil society actors.
TIGHE