Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CHENGDU165
2009-08-25 08:07:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Chengdu
Cable title:  

HUMAN TRAFFICKING REMAINS SERIOUS IN YUNNAN PROVINCE

Tags:  KTIP KWMN PHUM SMIG PGOV CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RR RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0165/01 2370807
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250807Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3361
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 4037
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


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