HUMAN TRAFFICKING REMAINS SERIOUS IN YUNNAN PROVINCE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000165 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM AND G/TIP JUSTICE FOR OPDAT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTIP KWMN PHUM SMIG PGOV CH SUBJECT: HUMAN TRAFFICKING REMAINS SERIOUS IN YUNNAN PROVINCE REF: A. A) 08 BEIJING 004697 ¶B. B) 08 BEIJING 004347 ¶C. C) 08 BEIJING 004240 ¶D. D) 08 CHENGDU 000052 CHENGDU 00000165 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) This cable contains sensitive but unclassified information - not for distribution on the Internet. ¶2. (SBU) Summary: Yunnan faces more serious human trafficking issues than other Chinese provinces, particularly cross-border trafficking of women for forced marriages and children for illegal adoptions, a Yunnan Provincial Women's Federation (YPWF) official told CG. Yunnan had its own anti-trafficking regulations in place long before the central government, and currently has an Anti-Trafficking Leading Group to coordinate government efforts as well as a special Anti-Trafficking Office within the Public Security Bureau. Cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO) has yielded good results so far, but Yunnan lacks a shelter for trafficking victims. No nexus exists in Yunnan between narcotics and human trafficking, Li said. End Summary. ¶3. (SBU) Human trafficking is a more serious problem in Yunnan than in other Chinese provinces YPWF Vice President Li Yi told CG August 12 in Kunming. (PolEconOff, PolEconFSN, and YPWF Rights and Interests Department Chief Wu Tao, who participated in an IVLP program in July-August 2009, also attended.) Yunnan sees three kinds of trafficking: transnational trafficking, trafficking between provinces, and trafficking within the province. While Yunnan's 4060km border with Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam explains the problem of transnational trafficking seen in the province, trafficking between Chinese provinces is in fact the most prevalent, Li said. (Note: YPWF's definition of TIP, like that used by other Chinese interlocutors, differs from the U.S./international definition to include children kidnapped for illegal adoptions. This cable includes issues raised by Yunnan officials that do not fall within the standard TIP definition, but which do involve human trafficking in more general terms. End Note.) Yunnan Trafficking Mainly for Marriage and Adoption -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Noting differences between trafficking issues in Yunnan Province and other parts of the world, Li explained that women are most often trafficked in Yunnan for forced marriages, though women from Southeast Asia are trafficked through China and sent abroad to work in the sex trade. Women are often lured by a proposed work situation in Yunnan, later realizing that they have been brought for forced marriages. The families into which these women are forcibly married are often extremely strict with them and prevent their escape, noting that early pregnancies often assure they will stay. Children, on the other hand, (primarily male) are generally trafficked for illegal adoptions rather than child labor, she said. ¶5. (SBU) Li added that while the majority of trafficking is between Chinese provinces, cases do arise of transnational trafficking for forced labor. She gave a recent example of a group of Vietnamese being trafficked to China, where they were forced to work in a coal mine. The group was reportedly later rescued by the Public Security Bureau and repatriated. (Note: When CG asked Vice Chairman Li for statistics on human trafficking cases in Yunnan she declined, saying statistics are collected and reported by the PSB or the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking [UNIAP]. End Note.) Yunnan Government Anti-Trafficking Efforts -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Yunnan government has paid close attention to human trafficking issues, especially since 2002, Li reported. With the cooperation of the ILO, which has conducted a series of projects in Yunnan, the government has been able to increase public awareness in trafficking prevention, including educating migrant farmers and their families on how to prevent and deal with trafficking. They have seen good results recently, Li said, though Yunnan lacks adequate assistance facilities for victims of trafficking. ¶7. (SBU) An Anti-Trafficking Office exists directly under the Yunnan Province Public Security Bureau, Li said, though anti-trafficking efforts are coordinated by the Anti-Trafficking Leading Group under the Yunnan Province Communist Party and the provincial government. This Leading Group is a loose organization of 32 relevant government/social organizations, CHENGDU 00000165 002.2 OF 002 including the PSB, Civil Affairs Department, Education Department, Judicial Department, All-China Women's Federation (YPWF is part of the ACWF),and others. Yunnan faced human trafficking issues much earlier than other parts of China, Li continued, and so already had its own regulations and action plan prior to passage and implementation of relevant national laws and plans (Ref A). Waiting on a Shelter for Kunming? -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Li stressed to CG that Kunming currently lacks shelters for trafficking victims. Kunming needs shelters to provide accommodation, training, psychological counseling and other services to rescued victims of trafficking to help them return to normal life. Kunming is an ideal location for such shelters, Li argued, as it is the geographic and transportation center of Yunnan, and all rescued victims of trafficking must be first be sent to Kunming before reaching their hometown. Such shelters would also serve victims of domestic violence, she added. (Note: post understands two proposals have been submitted in the past to G/TIP for funding of such shelters, one several years ago by the ILO with help from YPWF, and another this year by Save the Children with help from YPWF. Neither proposal received funding. End Note.) No Narcotics/Human Trafficking Nexus in Yunnan -------------- - ¶9. (SBU) Asked whether there was any connection between narcotics traffickers and human traffickers in Yunnan, Li said that while both problems are very complicated, they do not share a connection in Yunnan. Noting the high profit margins in both crimes, Li added that one of the major reasons human trafficking persists in Yunnan is that a trafficker can sell a baby at the price of 8,000 - 10,000 RMB (USD 1200 - 1500),with a profit of about 5,000 RMB (USD 750). ¶10. (U) This cable has been coordinated with Embassy Beijing. BROWN