MALTA: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

UNCLAS VALLETTA 000530

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KWMN MT PHUM PREL SMIG KTIP
SUBJECT: MALTA: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
WITH MINISTER FOR JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

REF: STATE 121761


1. (SBU) Summary. Ambassador Bordonaro met with Minister for
Justice and Home Affairs, Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, on December
9, to discuss Malta,s progress on implementing the
Trafficking in Persons Action Plan in the hopes of attaining
Tier 1 status in 2009. Malta has recently taken a number of
positive steps, including courses with the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) for their key personnel in
law enforcement and social services to be trained to provide
internal courses for their own organizations and an
informational awareness campaign. Ambassador Bordonaro
praised the work that Malta has done and encouraged Mifsud
Bonnici to provide additional numbers on the arrests and
prosecutions of traffickers. End summary.


2. (SBU) On December 9, in a meeting with Minister for
Justice and Home Affairs, Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, Ambassador
Bordonaro thanked the Minister for the GOM,s efforts to
address the issue of trafficking in persons (TIP) in Malta.
Ambassador Bordonaro stressed that without clear statistics
on the numbers of arrests, prosecutions and investigations
conducted by the police Malta,s efforts on TIP might not be
accurately reported. Though the extent of TIP is limited in
Malta, Minister Mifsud Bonnici pointed out that the police
actively pursue investigations into possible TIP cases and
promised to deliver the statistics for accurate reporting in
the 2009 TIP Report.

Background
--------------


3. (U) Malta experiences very few cases of trafficking in
persons. Since 2005, the total number, of identified victims
of trafficking, does not reach double digits. On an island
of 400,000 that is 19 miles long at its longest point, the
police are familiar with the prostitutes and the areas in
which they operate. Despite the limited scope of trafficking
in Malta, the police actively investigate all cases of
potential victims of trafficking and have a formalized system
in place to refer potential victims to Appogg, the
Government,s Social Welfare Services Agency and part of the
Ministry for Social Policy.

IOM Training
--------------


4. (SBU) Ambassador Bordonaro also praised the GOM for taking
the initiative to organize EU funding for a training course
for its key law enforcement and social services personnel to
be able to conduct internal training within the police and
social services in order to better identify and assist
possible victims of trafficking. The GOM reached out to the
EU to provide funding for the IOM led course, which was one
of the key recommendations in the G/TIP Action Guide. Ray
Aquilina, Police Inspector on the Vice Squad, and Marion
Gauci, Director at Appogg, participated in a week-long
session to develop a curriculum for internal training courses
with personnel in their respective organizations. Aquilina
and Gauci expect to begin their internal training sessions in
January 2009 so that officers within their respective
organizations have an increased understanding of the issue of
trafficking and are able to identify potential victims and
offer appropriate assistance.

Informational Awareness Campaign
--------------


5. (SBU) Another key recommendation of the G/TIP Action Guide
was an informational awareness campaign. Ambassador
Bordonaro thanked Mifsud Bonnici for responding to the need
for an informational awareness campaign by producing a
brochure in June 2008, to reach out to victims of trafficking
and notify victims of the resources available to them. The
brochure, produced by Appogg, contains detailed information
about how an individual who may be a victim of trafficking
can seek assistance; it also gives detailed information to
help individuals understand how to identify a potential
trafficking victim and where to refer them for assistance.
Since the production of this brochure, Appogg has distributed
these brochures in the hospitals at the police stations and
other community centers. Ambassador Bordonaro encouraged the
Minister to expand the distribution of these brochures and
the informational awareness campaign on TIP to include
nightlife areas, such as Paceville. Mifsud Bonnici indicated
that he would discuss the matter with the head of Appogg, but
opined that it would be a feasible solution.


6. (SBU) Comment: Malta has shown that it is willing to work
with us on TIP and take into consideration all of the USG
recommendations contained within the Action Plan. Mifsud
Bonnici indicated that Malta would be very appreciative of

G/TIP funded training course with a prosecutorial expert. End
comment.
BORDONARO