Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DARESSALAAM83
2009-02-10 04:01:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Dar Es Salaam
Cable title:  

TANZANIA NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN

Tags:  KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB USAID 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6848
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHDR #0083/01 0410401
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100401Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8252
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0484
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 2801
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3317
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 1245
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1152
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 DAR ES SALAAM 000083 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT AF/E FOR JLIDDLE; G/TIP, G-ACBlank;
INL; DRL; PRM
DAPARTMENT PASS USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB USAID
TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS (TIP) REPORT

REF: (A) 2008 STATE 132759; (B) STATE 5577

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 DAR ES SALAAM 000083

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT AF/E FOR JLIDDLE; G/TIP, G-ACBlank;
INL; DRL; PRM
DAPARTMENT PASS USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB USAID
TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS (TIP) REPORT

REF: (A) 2008 STATE 132759; (B) STATE 5577


1. This cable is in response to guidance in reftels.

Sources of Available Information
--------------


2. Reliable sources of information for TIP include Government of
Tanzania (GOT) Ministry of Home Affairs, which is the lead agency on
TIP issues; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which hosts the Interagency
Working Group on TIP; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Community,
Gender, and Children; International NGOs and organizations such as
IOM and ILO; and local NGOs, including KIWOHEDE, CHODAWU, CHILD in
the SUN, and Good Hope Project. While KIWOHEDE is generally a
reliable source for trafficking information, its staff sometimes
provides information that combines details from old and current
cases. There are no GOT plans at this time to undertake further
documentation on TIP cases.

TIP SITUATION IN TANZANIA
--------------


3. The comprehensive Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008 was
passed by the legislature and signed by the president in August.
However, the process of translating the law into Swahili and vetting
it for official publication was not completed until February 2009.
With no explicit anti-trafficking law in force for 2008, there were
no specific arrests for trafficking.


4. Tanzania is a source, transit, and destination country for men,
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and
sexual exploitation. Most victims were trafficked internally from
poor rural areas by family members or friends of the family offering
assistance with education and income in urban areas. Sexual
exploitation was generally reported after young girls were brought
into homes for forced labor. There were no reports of children
trafficked specifically with the intent of sexual exploitation;
however, it is possible that young women are trafficked directly
into prostitution.



5. Those most vulnerable to trafficking were young girls, and to a
lesser extent boys, from impoverished areas of the country.
Trafficking methods varied. Victims were lured by false promises of
income, opportunity to attend school, and better living conditions,
especially by moving from rural to urban areas. Some trafficking
victims left their homes with assistance from their families; some
left on their own to escape life in rural areas; and some were
transported by someone who offered to help them find city work,
legitimate or otherwise. There were reports that men recruited
village girls who had completed primary school but were not entering
secondary school. The men offered the girls money and employment
and promised the girls a better life if they accompanied them to
urban areas; however, many of these girls ended up in forced
domestic labor and some may have ended up in prostitution. Another
method of trafficking involved low-income parents entrusting
children to wealthier relatives or respected members of the
community to care for the child as one of their own. Some took
advantage of this traditional practice and placed children in
abusive or exploitive situations.


6. Generally, boys were trafficked within the country for forced
farm labor and occasionally mining and in the informal business
sectors. Girls were generally trafficked for forced domestic work.
There are some anecdotal reports of girls on the islands of Zanzibar
trafficked for domestic servitude and commercial sexual
exploitation; however, there were no arrests or official reports to
support this claim. Living conditions for trafficked victims were
usually grim, with very basic amenities, long working hours, little
to no pay, and missed educational opportunities.


7. Small numbers of persons were reportedly trafficked to South
Africa, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and possibly other
European countries for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation.
Indian women who entered the country legally to work as entertainers
in restaurants and nightclubs were at times reported to be exploited
as prostitutes after arrival. It is believed that in tourist areas,
such as Zanzibar and Arusha, some hotels hired girls, both locally

DAR ES SAL 00000083 002 OF 005


and from places such as India, who were later coerced into
prostitution.


8. Victims of trafficking were usually moved by bus or train. There
was no information to suggest the involvement of crime rings,
illegal employment groups, travel and tourism agencies or marriage
brokers.

SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI- TIP EFFORTS
-------------- --------------


9. The government was slow to acknowledge trafficking as a problem.
The primary hurdle was the lack of any organized structure
associated with trafficking in Tanzania. However, an intensive
education campaign launched by IOM about the full scope of
trafficking had the effect of getting the Government to realize the
problem. IOM launched a national campaign, Use Sauti Yao (Be Their
Voice) to train law enforcement officials, NGOs and community
leaders on all aspects of child trafficking. Be Their Voice
supported traveling troupes of actors and singers and produced ads
carried on radio, television and in newspapers. There were also
comic books to draw the attention of youth. This national process
was also aided by the U.S. Department of Justice, which sent
trainers to various regions of the country to train police officers,
immigration officials and prosecutors on anti-trafficking measures.
The Ministry of Labor encouraged law enforcement officials and local
communities to increase assistance to the Ministry by identifying
children at risk and preventing their entry into some of the worst
forms of child labor.


10. According to the ILO, the key problem with the persistence of
trafficking and child labor in agriculture, mining and fishing lies
with small-scale, often family, enterprises. According to the
Director of the Good Hope Project, which rescues children from the
Tanzanite mines, large mining companies support Good Hope's work and
refer children to it. Good Hope sees the biggest challenge as
parents and youths who prefer to seek immediate riches over the long
term benefit of education. Another NGO, Kiwohede, was instrumental
in developing a special office within the Dar es Salaam Police
Department to assist with identifying and placing children involved
in the worst forms of child labor into Kiwohede's care for education
and healthcare assistance.


11. Few resources were directed specifically to anti-trafficking.
Enforcement efforts in Tanzania were hindered by the lack of
institutional capacity, poor pay for civil servants, and not enough
officers to help assess at-risk situations and identify possible
victims. The victims who were identified during the year were
turned over to the NGO community for care, but not systematically
tracked by any government agency. In favorable news, although the
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Unit under the Ministry of Home Affairs
did not have a specific budget, it expanded from a one-person office
to a staff of five. The Unit had plans to expand by opening
regional offices throughout the country. Staffing shortages in the
educational sector, HIV/AIDS, and the high level of poverty
continued to make Tanzanian children vulnerable to exploitation.
However, the level of awareness about child labor and trafficking
was high at year's end, stemming from the efforts of the GOT and
partner NGOs working in the most vulnerable regions across the
country. Tanzania made significant strides, but still had much to
do. During President Bush's 2008 visit to Tanzania, President
Jakaya Kikwete noted strengthening the educational system as one of
his most pressing issues. Opportunities for secondary education
improved with the mass building of new schools; however, finding
well trained teachers and paying them a competitive salary remained
a major challenge.

Investigation and Prosecution of Trafficking
--------------


12. Tanzania's Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act came into effect
February 2009. The GOT investigated and prosecuted cases that may
have had trafficking components; however, because the
anti-trafficking law was not in effect in 2008, there were no
specific trafficking prosecutions or GOT-held case files reported at
reporting time.


DAR ES SAL 00000083 003 OF 005



13. The GOT Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) requested U.S.
assistance to train state attorneys on effective use of the new
anti-trafficking legislation. By February, a DOJ prosecutor had
trained more than 50 prosecutors, including 3 student-trainers who
will continue the program in the future. Training included
lectures, moot court exercises, open discussions, and power-point
presentations. The DOJ prosecutor worked cooperatively with the DPP
leadership to ensure that prosecutors were given adequate time away
from their regular duties to attend training. DPP permitted
student-trainers adequate time to travel and assist with the
training.

An overview of the New Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, 2008
-------------- --------------


14. The law is divided into eight parts, with sections covering
issues such as Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons; Investigations
and Judicial Proceedings; Rescue, Rehabilitation, Protection and
Assistance to Victims; the establishment of an Anti-Trafficking
Fund; and the establishment of an Anti-Trafficking in Persons
Committee. Prevention, detection, detention, prosecution and the
full scope of providing shelter and protection activities currently
carried out by the NGO community is mandated to the GOT either
solely or in collaboration with NGOs.


15. As examples, the law delineates the following penalties:

--The person committing a severe trafficking in persons offence,
such as involvement in child prostitution or child pornography, upon
conviction shall be liable to a fine of not less than five million
shillings (approximately USD 3,800)but not more than hundred and
fifty million shillings (USD 115,000) or to imprisonment for a term
of not less than ten years but not more than twenty years or both.

--A person acting as an intermediary for the purposes of trafficking
in persons upon conviction shall be liable to a fine of not less
than four million shillings (USD 3,000) but not more than one
hundred and fifty million shillings (USD 115,000) or to imprisonment
for a term of not less than seven years but not more than fifteen
years or both.

--A person who buys or engages the services of trafficked person for
prostitution commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to
a fine of not less than one million shillings (USD 800) but not more
than thirty million shillings (USD 23,000) or to imprisonment for a
term of not less than twelve months but not more that seven years or
both.

--Other penalties, which vary depending on the circumstances,
include payment of compensation to the victims and confiscation and
forfeiture of the property and instruments derived from trafficking
in persons.


16. The complete law can be viewed from the GOT website as a pdf
file at the following link:
http://www.parliament.go.tz/Polis/PAMS/Docs/6 -2008.pdf

Protection and Assistance to Victims
--------------


17. The government relies on the NGO community to provide both long-
and short-term shelter and care for victims of trafficking. Most
facilities are geared toward children and typically provide free
education and medical, psychological care, and legal services. Most
also have a technical training component to give victims a skill as
a preventative measure against repeated exploitation, and provide
follow-up visits in the home once a child is reunited with the
family. The government often allows free use of buildings, will
provide teachers, doctors, social workers, and occasionally provides
food and medical supplies. Foreign trafficking victims have access
to NGO facilities, but are usually treated by the government as
illegal immigrants and housed in prisons until arrangements can be
made for their deportation. It is difficult to place a monetary
value on the GOT's contribution, because help from the government
was sporadic, government service providers do not charge for their
services, free-use facilities given to NGOs ranged from standard to
buildings with no electricity or plumbing, and there is no national

DAR ES SAL 00000083 004 OF 005


tracking mechanism for trafficked victims.. The new anti-TIP law
calls for the GOT to assist trans-border trafficked victims with
care and repatriation, but GOT officials freely admit that there are
no funds available for such assistance at present.


18. The primary groups working with victims of trafficking are IOM;
ILO; KIWOHEDE, a girls shelter with facilities throughout the
country; Child in the Sun, a boys shelter primarily in Dar es
Salaam; Winrock, which works in farming communities throughout the
country; and Good Hope Project, a program focused in the tanzanite
mining areas.


19. KIWOHEDE and Child in the Sun reported giving assistance to
approximately 80 victims they identified as trafficked, and
medically screened 50 victims who were later reunited with their
families. Some rescued victims were provided with grants for school
or micro income generating projects before being returned home. An
NGO in the Kilimanjaro region that specializes in rescuing children
from the mining industry, Mererani Good Hope Program, withdrew an
estimated 750 from child labor and prevented an estimated 1300 from
being lured into the worst forms of child labor; all were assisted
with school placements and some also received vocational training.

Child Soldiers and TIP Education for the Military
-------------- --------------


20. The laws of Tanzania state that no child under 18 may crew on a
ship or be employed in a mine, factory, or any other worksite where
working conditions may be hazardous, to include military service.
All soldiers are required to complete a module on the respect of
human rights and anti-trafficking activities as a part of their
basic curriculum.

Prevention
--------------


21. In 2008, DOJ and IOM experts provided courses to police and
immigration officers on identifying and arresting suspected
traffickers and providing care for victims. DOJ and IOM conducted
programs in seven different training venues, such as academies,
local precincts and off-site locations, in six regions: Zanzibar,
Mwanza, Moshi, Dar es Salaam, Iringa, and Mbeya. The fourteen
training sessions consisted of three separate training curriculums.
These included a one week Instructor Development course, three to
five day courses on Criminal Investigation on Human Trafficking, and
one day courses on the duties of the first responder to a human
trafficking offense. About 400 police and immigration officers and
30 prosecutors attended training. An additional 12 police and
immigration officials were trained in legal procedures relating to
TIP. The program included training for GOT trainers as well.


22. In Dar es Salaam, a female police officer was given permission
to wear civilian clothes to appear less threatening to young girls
and to work in partnership with KIWOHEDE, the largest rescue program
for girls in the country. Tanzania hosted the Eastern and Central
African Anti-Trafficking Conference, which involved nine countries.
Conference discussions centered on a collective strategy for
preventing trafficking. Although internet access is still very low
in Tanzania, the recently established cyber-crimes unit includes a
person responsible for TIP investigations. A national team composed
of police and prosecutors attended a regional conference in Nairobi,
Kenya, to strategize on laws covering cyber-crime, include
trafficking. In December 2008, Tanzania opened the East African
Regional Training Academy for immigration officials. The academy's
curriculum included a complete module devoted to anti-trafficking
education, designed and taught by IOM. Immigration academy
officials were in talks with police commanders about incorporating
the nearby police academy into future training sessions. Tanzania
encouraged other countries in the region to ratify TIP conventions
and enact laws so that there could be a joint effort in fighting
TIP.

Heroes
--------------

23. Mr. Joseph Konyo, the Trafficking in Persons Coordinator and
Police Commander in Charge of Trans-National Human Related Offenses
in the Ministry of Home Affairs, was the force behind the GOT

DAR ES SAL 00000083 005 OF 005


anti-trafficking legislative effort. When he was appointed anti-TIP
coordinator in 2006, he did not initially appreciate the full scope
of the problem in Tanzania.. After returning from a DOJ-sponsored
International Visitors program in the U.S. in 2007, Konyo championed
the cause of establishing an anti-TIP law in Tanzania, expanded his
section to include five officers, established a close working
relationship with the NGO community, and was the first to complete
the DOJ-sponsored Anti-TIP Teacher Trainer Course. The
establishment of Tanzania's Anti-TIP law in 2009 is due in large
part to the efforts of Mr. Konyo.

ANDRE