HCMC TIP UPDATE: MORE POLICE BUSTS, NGOS FOCUS ON WOMEN'S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 001063 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND G/TIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KTIP PHUM VM SUBJECT: HCMC TIP UPDATE: MORE POLICE BUSTS, NGOS FOCUS ON WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT REF: HCMC 964 AND PREVIOUS HO CHI MIN 00001063 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Southern law enforcement officials continue to make progress in combating human trafficking, as recent arrests in HCMC and Tay Ninh province show. Local NGOs are also making headway in finding long-term solutions to support economic development and women's empowerment in Delta communities. The missing link to all these efforts remains the lack of resources and community support services, especially for victims returning to Vietnam. End summary. Recent Busts in Tay Ninh Ho Chi Minh City -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On November 28, 2008, HCMC press reported the arrests of three men at Tan Son Nhat (TSN) airport who were allegedly taking three Vietnamese women to Malaysia to sell them into prostitution. Local police, in coordination their counterparts in neighboring Tay Ninh Province, interrogated the suspects, who then pointed police to their alleged ringleader, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Yen and three additional accomplices involved in trafficking women to Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan. All four were arrested, bringing the total to seven suspects in one trafficking ring. Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Kiem of HCMC's anti-TIP police (Unit PC-14) said they had been investigating Yen and her group for several months prior to the arrests. Upon searching Yen's home in Ho Chi Minh City, the police found seven other women. ¶3. (SBU) Police said Yen posed as a marriage broker, offering women lucrative marriages to well-heeled Malaysian men. The women were then forced into prostitution after arriving in Malaysia. Initial investigation revealed that Yen met her connection, identified as Lee, through her daughter, who is married to a Malaysian national. Lee agreed to pay Yen $1,000 for each Vietnamese girl she brought to Malaysia. Police said Yen paid brokers in rural Delta provinces of Tay Ninh, Long An, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Can Tho a little over $100 per person to lure young women aged 18 to 25 to HCMC, where they are then sent abroad. Since 2006, authorities said Yen has sold over 100 women, 70 of which are from Tay Ninh, into prostitution in Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan. ¶4. (SBU) The recent arrests exposed the complexity and sophistication of trafficker's schemes as well as the growing effectiveness of local law enforcement, especially in terms of cooperation and coordination across provinces. From late 2007 until July 2008, Tay Ninh province has broken up four trafficking-in-persons rings, arresting a total of 11 suspects and saving 15 potential victims (reftel). All suspects are currently being detained in Tay Ninh. Some of the cases have been transferred for prosecution, and some are still under further investigation. In recent months, anti-TIP police have uncovered 98 cases of trafficking, rescuing 176 out of 217 known victims and arresting 188 traffickers. Local police are still working with foreign officials to try and rescue the 57 victims who remain abroad. According to LtC Kiem, over half of the cases took place in the Mekong Delta. Mekong NGO Focuses on Women's Empowerment, Economic Development -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) On November 25-26, 2008, PAO represented the Consulate General at the Mekong Women for Community Development Ceremony (MWCD) held in Can Tho with about 200 women from Can Tho, Kien Giang, and An Giang provinces. The MWCD, which is organized by the Pacific Links Foundation with some funding from EAP, organized women's groups in five relevant topics -- anti-human trafficking, vocational training, clean water, micro-credit loans, and nutrition -- and provided nine million dong (approximately $531 USD) seed grants to each group. MWCD focuses their efforts on promoting economic growth and development for women in Delta communities, specifically through encouraging Women's Unions to recruit leaders that can develop business plans and projects to generate income. These efforts help provide an economic base for women who might otherwise seek employment or marriage overseas, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by human traffickers. At the same time, MWCD also empowers women to engage with local officials, enhancing the role of civil society and facilitating networking across communities and provinces. ¶6. (SBU) Reports on resulting projects were peppered with concrete examples and testimonials. Those funded to work on anti-TIP projects explained their counseling and outreach efforts to victims, including having to visit returnees grappling with societal stigmatization up to seven times in order to help them re-integrate into the community. One woman, 51, stood up in tears to relay her experience as the third wife of a Korean man. One vocational training success centered on making furniture from water hyacinth; the group reported they HO CHI MIN 00001063 002.2 OF 002 are now exporting hyacinth chairs and mattresses. To stem a labor exodus between rice growing seasons, micro-loans of one million dong ($59 USD) to nine households translated into micro businesses that provide regular income. ¶7. (SBU) The event was no naive pep rally; sessions also laid bare challenges, like the scope of the demand for Vietnamese brides and how the marriage brokering business can lead to trafficking-in-persons, especially given the lack of economic opportunities available in these rural provinces. Aside from the dominance of Taiwanese and Korean men seeking wives, concern was expressed that "even remote areas of China have too many males," raising the spectre of increased migration of women to other Asian countries. In subsequent meetings with MWCD organizers at the Consulate, organizers also bemoaned the lack of support services for returning victims, noting that Vietnam's inadequate health care system, which has an even more acute shortage of personnel and resources in rural provincial communities, do not provide mental health care and counseling, much less the training needed for professionals who want to provide such services. FAIRFAX