Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08NEWDELHI3058
2008-12-04 09:38:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:  

INDIA: TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT

Tags:  IN KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SOCI KTIP 
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OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #3058/01 3390938
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 040938Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4516
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI IMMEDIATE 3918
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA IMMEDIATE 3157
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI IMMEDIATE 2979
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 003058 

SIPDIS

TO MARK TAYLOR IN G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IN KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SOCI KTIP
SUBJECT: INDIA: TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT

REF: A. STATE 109260

B. NEW DELHI 3015

NEW DELHI 00003058 001.2 OF 003


Per request in Ref A, below is post's submission for the TIP
interim assessment:

Prosecutions
-------------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 003058

SIPDIS

TO MARK TAYLOR IN G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IN KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SOCI KTIP
SUBJECT: INDIA: TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT

REF: A. STATE 109260

B. NEW DELHI 3015

NEW DELHI 00003058 001.2 OF 003


Per request in Ref A, below is post's submission for the TIP
interim assessment:

Prosecutions
--------------


1. (SBU) Criminal prosecutions against individuals for
trafficking offenses remain a challenge in India, due to
several inherent problems. Law and order is a state
responsibility per the Indian constitution, which makes it
difficult for the central government to intervene to enforce
laws effectively. The police continue to be a weak link
since they are underpaid, spread thin, lack awareness of
trafficking, and operate within a culture where most people
have little respect for the law. Conducting prosecutions and
obtaining convictions are further hampered since witnesses
are often reluctant to testify because they are bribed or
fear for their safety. (See Ref B). However, things are
beginning to change.


2. (SBU) According to Ministry of Labour and Employment Joint
Secretary Siddharth Dev Verman, the GOI initiated 77,617
prosecutions and obtained 22,657 convictions over the past
ten years for violations of the Child Labor law. The GOI is
planning to create 297 anti-human trafficking units over a
period of four years with an investment of approximately
$18.64 million U.S. The nationwide effort is based upon the
successful joint GOI/USG/UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
pilot project that trained and sensitized law enforcement
officials in five target states. The GOI will also train
6894 police personnel on anti-human trafficking issues at
both the central and state levels.

Centralized Law Enforcement Authority
--------------


3. (U) Although the Ministry of Women and Child Development
(MWCD) remains the nodal agency on TIP issues, several other
GOI ministries maintain significant roles and possess heavier
clout under Indian law. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
is responsible for law enforcement regarding TIP. The
Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE) retains control over

all aspects of TIP and labor, while the Ministry of Overseas
Indian Affairs (MOIA) has jurisdiction over issues pertaining
to emigration and exploitation of Indian nationals outside of
India. Coordination across the various Indian agencies
remains a challenge, especially since the GOI lacks an
established and strong interagency process.


4. (U) The Ministry of Home Affairs created a "nodal cell"
in 2006 to coordinate anti-TIP law enforcement activities on
behalf of the GOI, and convenes periodic meetings with state
officials on trafficking. Although we continue to urge the
GOI to expand that cell, it has not done so thus far.
Historically, the GOI requires time and sustained efforts to
be able to develop a consensus within the Indian bureaucracy
and move forward with a new approach regarding any particular
issue.


5. (SBU) The MHA is also responsible for countering
terrorism; its top leadership has been understandably focused
on improving GOI coordination against terrorism over the past
several years in response to continuing terrorist strikes on
Indian soil. Despite the constant terrorist threat to
India's national security, the GOI has still not created a
federal counter-terrorism entity to coordinate nationwide and
among states. (Note. In the wake of the unprecedented Mumbai
terrorist strikes, the media reports the GOI plans to
establish a federal entity focused on combating terrorism.)
As is the case in most nations, trafficking---unlike
terrorism---is not perceived as a national security threat.
Thus, one should not be surprised the GOI has not been able
to make as much progress on this issue as we would like.


6. (SBU) The Ministry of Women and Child Development is
creating a National Missing Children Tracking System to
assist in the return of missing, runaway, abducted, or
trafficked children to their families. This system will link
India's 28 state capitals. The MWCD is also producing a
website that various users---NGOs, police, and the general
public---can access to help locate and return missing
children. The MWCD included the website's creation as part
of the ministry's Child Protection Scheme in the GOI's 11th
Five-Year Plan (2007-2012) that is currently being
implemented. This website will become operational by the

NEW DELHI 00003058 002.2 OF 003


beginning of 2009.

Law Enforcement Efforts
--------------


7. (U) During the interim period of July 1 to December 31,
two prominent cases of trafficking illustrate the GOI's
growing law enforcement focus on the problem. In September
2008, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) quickly
ordered an inquiry after reports surfaced of girls from
northeastern India being trafficked to Malaysia for sex work.
An Imphal-based travel agent lured the girls with promises
of well-paid jobs in Singapore. Instead, traffickers sold
them to a club in Kuala Lumpur. After the MOIA alerted
Indian embassies in Singapore and Malaysia, embassy officials
promptly rescued the girls and paid for their repatriation to
India. The GOI arrested the travel agent in Imphal and has
recognized that the North-East is emerging as a
source-transit-destination point for trafficking of women and
children.


8. (U) On October 30, a New Delhi city court sentenced Mr.
Chander Shekhar, a former employee of the non-governmental
organization Prayas, to two years in jail after he was
convicted of child trafficking. The Delhi police arrested
Shekhar in September 2006 after a television journalist
exposed the trafficking racket by catching Shekhar on camera
agreeing to sell three children for 30,000 rupees
(approximately $600 U.S.) to gold smugglers.


9. (SBU) The Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE)
continues to make concerted efforts against trafficking of
children for labor. In May 2008, The Ministry issued a
"Protocol on Prevention, Rescue, Repatriation and
Rehabilitation of Trafficked and Migrant Child Labour," that
seeks to provide practical guidelines to key stakeholders on
crucial issues relating to trafficked and migrant child
labor. MOLE plans to hold four regional workshops in
December to disseminate information on the new protocol,
which calls for each district in India to create a taskforce.


10. (U) Responding to a question raised in Parliament on
October 22, 2008, Minister for Labour and Employment Oscar
Fernandes stated during the period April 2007 to March 2008,
716 bonded laborers had been rescued and rehabilitated from
the states of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh, and Haryana.

Other Significant Developments
--------------


11. (SBU) The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD)
is also making vigorous efforts to combat trafficking. In a
meeting with Poloff on October 31, 2008, Joint Secretary
Manjula Krishnan stressed that the ministry is committed to
being proactive and thinking "out-of-the box." MWCD has
explored public-private partnerships as one way to help
industries ensure labor is not exploitative and provide for
rehabilitative training and upgrading of workers' skills.
Krishnan stated she has already visited Sweden and the United
Kingdom to look at their models, and expressed interest in
the State Department's Corporate Social Responsibility
program. In addition to the Swadhar Scheme that provides
shelter and support to women in distress, MWCD has initiated
Ujjawala a comprehensive new plan for the prevention, rescue,
rehabilitation, and reintegration of trafficking victims.
Since August 2008, MWCD has provided the four states of
Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur and Nagaland approximately
12,135,900 rupees (approximately $242,718 U.S.) for a total
of 18 projects at 12 rehabilitation centers.


12. (U) MOLE continues to expand the list of occupations and
activities that are banned from employing children. In
September 2008, MOLE added nine items including diving,
mechanized fishing, food processing, timber handling,
processes involving exposure to free silica.


13. (SBU) The Indian cabinet is considering amendments to the
Prevention of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA),1965
that widen its scope, focus on traffickers, and make
implementation more effective. Major amendments include
deletion of sections that provide punishment for seducing or
soliciting for purpose of prostitution and that pertain to
removal of a prostitute from any place. The MWCD proposed
the amendments in light of the fact that women and children
involved in prostitution are victims of trafficking, and
charging them under the currently worded sections
re-victimizes them. The delay in introduction of the

NEW DELHI 00003058 003.2 OF 003


amendments to Parliament is partly due to differing views
within the cabinet. According to Krishnan, the Ministry of
Health is concerned that one amendment which criminalizes
demand will have an adverse impact on the GOI's HIV/AIDS
programs. There are also some outstanding legal issues.


Comment
--------------


14. (SBU) Although comprising a single political unit and
nation state, India is as culturally and linguistically
diverse as all the nations of Europe put together. Varying
economic levels, religious backgrounds, social and caste
divisions, and the central government's relative weakness in
comparison to states on the subject of law and order add
further complications and challenges to GOI efforts to
effectively combat trafficking in persons. We must
acknowledge the complex context and reality within which the
GOI operates.


15. (SBU) In the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the
GOI coalition government faces upcoming parliamentary
elections to be held by May 2009 in a seriously weakened
position. At best, we expect the GOI to make continued
progress at a slow and steady pace rather than through
well-coordinated interagency efforts aimed at quickly
achieving uniform progress across the breadth and length of
India.
MULFORD