TAIWAN'S NATIONAL IMMIGRATION AGENCY STRENGTHENS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 001648 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE PASS G/TIP/MARK TAYLOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ELAB TW SUBJECT: TAIWAN'S NATIONAL IMMIGRATION AGENCY STRENGTHENS EFFORTS TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Taiwan is taking concrete steps to strengthen anti-trafficking efforts, including, for example, implementing measures to protect victims and allow them to obtain temporary work and residency permits, emphasize National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials. Moreover, Taiwan's Executive Yuan (EY) has approved a draft comprehensive trafficking law for submission to the Legislative Yuan (LY). NIA officials, who hope these and other steps will help Taiwan return to Tier 1 status in the U.S. TIP report, tell us they face challenges in addressing TIP issues, including the lack of official relations with labor source countries and the need to extend labor protections to domestic caregivers. The recent visit by DOJ senior TIP prosecutor helped further U.S.-Taiwan discussions and provided working-level Taiwan law enforcement authorities with concrete models for action. NIA supports better coordination between and among Taiwan authorities and NGOs, systematic implementation of victim identification procedures and protections, and extension of labor protections to domestic caregivers. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Over the course of two recent anti-trafficking conferences and a separate meeting with AIT, National Immigration Agency (NIA) Deputy Director General Hsieh Li-kung outlined NIA's efforts to implement a comprehensive plan to combat trafficking in persons. He noted the budget for NIA's 3-year (2008-2010) TIP plan is NTD 390 million (more than USD 10 million). These funds will be used for training, public awareness, constructing and improving shelters, and subsidizing measures such as repatriation costs. Prior to passage of a comprehensive trafficking law, Hsieh noted, NIA has instituted an ad interim Chapter in the Immigration Act on the prevention of trafficking and protection of trafficking victims. The new provisions allow trafficking victims to obtain temporary work and residency permits and require that authorities provide protective measures under the Witness Protection law to victims who testify. (Note: Taiwan's draft comprehensive trafficking law has successfully passed the Executive Yuan interagency review and is set to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan before its current session ends in December, according to NIA contacts.) Education and Awareness -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Prevention is a key component of Taiwan's anti-trafficking action plan, said Hsieh. Therefore, the NIA has shared its training materials with the Ministry of Education, which has incorporated them into elementary school social studies curriculum, clear evidence of Taiwan's long-term commitment to anti-trafficking. In addition, the NIA has plans to continue its public awareness campaign with multi-lingual brochures that provide workers with TIP indicators and telephone numbers for NIA's trafficking hotline and the police. NIA is also producing new Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to be aired on TV and in movie theaters, and flyers and cards to be distributed at locations such as bus stops and convenience stores. Interagency Cooperation -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Although NIA does not have authority over other key stakeholders, such as the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA),the Ministry of Justice, and others, it recognizes that a successful TIP program will require the buy-in of all agencies who may encounter trafficking during the course of executing their responsibilities, DDG Hsieh said. As a result, NIA suggested expanding the membership of the Human Trafficking Prevention Coordination Committee, which now TAIPEI 00001648 002 OF 003 includes the deputy heads of fourteen agencies and a number of outside experts including scholars and NGOs. Even the Office of Veterans Affairs is included, Hsieh added. Department of Justice (DOJ) Speaker's Presentation Lauded -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Jim Felte, Senior Prosecutor in USDOJ's Human Trafficking Unit and a featured speaker at both the NIA's and Legal Aid Foundation's two separate anti-trafficking conferences, was well-received by all participants, said NIA conference organizers. Felte also participated in a NGO roundtable and a Ministry of Justice seminar for trafficking prosecutors, where question-and-answer sessions typically took the better part of an hour. Both the NGO representatives as well as Taiwan authorities felt that Felte's presentation on U.S. experiences in prosecuting traffickers and providing victim protections both acknowledged the challenges to anti-trafficking efforts and provided a launching point for serious discussion of ways in which Taiwan could approach these challenges. ¶6. (SBU) Felte noted that questions, particularly those from Taiwan prosecutors, focused on overcoming real problems in pursuing trafficking cases, rather than attempting to justify why Taiwan should not or could not pursue these cases - an indication, he believed, that the commitment exists to seriously address the TIP issue. The Fourth "P" - Partnership -------------- ¶7. (SBU) In addition to the three "Ps" of Taiwan's anti-trafficking plan - prevention, prosecution, and protection, Hsieh underlined the importance of a "fourth P - partnership." Despite the lack of diplomatic recognition by labor source countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, Taiwan, through the Council of Labor Affairs and TECRO offices abroad, is reaching out to these countries in an effort to coordinate repatriations, encourage better monitoring of foreign brokers, and provide information to foreign laborers on their way to Taiwan. Improving Victim Protections -------------- ¶8. (SBU) DDG Hsieh said that, in addition to improving existing detention facilities, NIA plans to set up four new NIA-run shelters. NIA also hopes to complete plans to integrate interpreter resources from various agencies into one unified database by the end of year. Hsieh underscored the need for labor source countries to initiate protections as well, and for Taiwan to either incorporate domestic caregivers into the Labor Standards Act, which provides labor protections for Taiwan workers, or find another way to extend more comprehensive protections to this vulnerable group of foreign workers. Challenges -------------- ¶9. (SBU) DDG Hsieh and other panelists from MOI, CLA, and elsewhere noted that Taiwan faces special challenges in the international arena. At a regional level, officials complained that the lack of official relations with labor source countries complicates cooperation on regulatory issues such as those dealing with employment brokers and lenders. In addition, Taiwan's lack of standing in the UN makes it difficult to participate fully in international efforts to cooperatively address trafficking issues. Officials expressed interest in the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT),but as COMMIT is a TAIPEI 00001648 003 OF 003 UN Inter-Agency Project initiative, they regretted that Taiwan's participation, at best, would be limited to unofficial actors. These challenges would complicate efforts to formulate regional strategies to combat trafficking, a goal that all parties recognize will require Taiwan's participation to accomplish. ¶10. (SBU) Within Taiwan, there is still more work to be done, noted Hsieh. The issue of domestic caregivers, who currently do not enjoy any labor protections either under the Employment Services Act or the Labor Standards Act, should be addressed, but for many live-in domestic workers, it is hard to draw clear distinctions between working hours, standby time, and off hours. Comment -------------- ¶11. (SBU) NIA, which has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to push forward the anti-TIP agenda, has already instituted wide-ranging reforms from establishing trafficking hotlines to building new shelters to training law enforcement on various components of human trafficking. NIA efforts, however, will not be enough on their own to ensure the full success of Taiwan's anti-TIP program. Such success will also require an equivalent commitment by the Council of Labor Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and other agencies to the overall anti-TIP program (septel). One important factor that is motivating Taiwan to achieve its TIP goals is the desire to reclaim Tier 1 status in the annual U.S. TIP Report, as a matter of pride. RWANG