MACAU AIMS TO IMPROVE ANTI-TIP PROGRAM, ENGAGE NGOS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 001729 SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP, G, DRL, INL, EAP/RSP, EAP/CM E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2034 TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM SMIG HK MC CH SUBJECT: MACAU AIMS TO IMPROVE ANTI-TIP PROGRAM, ENGAGE NGOS REF: HONG KONG 556 Classified By: Acting Consul General Christopher Marut. Reasons 1.4 B/ ¶D. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: New trafficking in persons (TIP) initiatives taken by the Macau Special Administrative Region Government (MSARG) demonstrate a continuing commitment to strengthening its anti-TIP program. Macau officials are conducting a self-evaluation of Macau's range of anti-TIP efforts to identify areas for improvement and help focus resources. A working group is mapping out a five-year TIP action plan expected for completion before the end of the year. The MSARG will contract a local university later this year or early next year to conduct an external assessment of the TIP situation in Macau and the government's efforts. It has also stepped up collaboration with local NGOs on its victim assistance guidelines, website development, and public outreach efforts. The MSARG has added specific campaigns to educate foreign workers and students about labor and sex trafficking to its existing roster of public awareness activities. These measures are the latest in the government's two-year push to address TIP, and show the MSARG continues to devote significant resources to TIP issues. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. -------------- Self-Evaluation and Action Plan in the Works -------------- ¶2. (C) The Macau Special Administrative Region Government's (MSARG) Anti-Human Trafficking Deterrent Measures Committee ("the Committee") Coordinator Vong Chun-fat recently told us the Committee had embarked on a self-evaluation of its overall TIP efforts to identify areas for improvement. At the same time, Macau also recently established a working group led by the Deputy Director of the MSARG's International Law Office to map out a five-year TIP action plan. The plan is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year. To further examine Macau's TIP problem, the MSARG either later this year or at the beginning of next year will contract a local university to conduct a comprehensive assessment of Macau's TIP situation and the government's anti-TIP program. -------------- Reaching Out to NGOs -------------- ¶3. (C) Director of the Good Shepherd Sisters (GSS) Women's Shelter in Macau Sister Juliana Devoy told us the Committee sought her input earlier this year on their TIP victim assistance guidelines and content to be featured on their upcoming website. Sr. Juliana noted this was a welcomed departure from earlier reluctance by the MSARG to engage NGOs. The Committee later offered funding to print booklets featuring anti-TIP poster entries by secondary school students from a contest GSS ran in March (see reftel). An initial print of two thousand books will be distributed to secondary schools along with an MTV-produced video that warns of the different types of traps potential TIP victims may encounter. ¶4. (C) To address their lack of services in foreign languages highlighted in the 2009 TIP report, the MSARG has asked GSS and local NGO General Women's Association to help identify locals who can speak South Asian and Southeast Asian languages to serve as interpreters for TIP victims who do not speak Chinese or English. Social Welfare Bureau (SWB) officials say they are working with GSS to enroll TIP victims in some of the training courses offered at the GSS shelter, such as one-on-one computer training and seamstress classes. The goal is to teach TIP victims marketable skills for future employment when they return home. SWB is also exploring with GSS how best to use GSS' presence in many Southeast Asian countries to help with victims' rehabilitation and integration in their home countries. -------------- Public Awareness Activities Continue -------------- ¶5. (C) In a September 3 meeting with ConGen officers, Vong outlined several public education campaigns the MSARG either recently launched or will soon deploy. Although all TIP victims identified so far have been trafficked for sexual exploitation, Vong explained the Committee felt it was nevertheless also important to educate the foreign labor force about labor trafficking. Television terminals have been placed at immigration and health centers where foreign laborers go to process work documents and get medical evaluations to broadcast a MTV-produced TIP video and several HONG KONG 00001729 002 OF 002 local television educational TIP commercials in Cantonese and Mandarin. The Labor Department also will increase outreach to foreign domestic workers to educate them on their rights. The MSARG established a working group to address schools on the dangers of human trafficking. The government will also provide materials, including the booklet of anti-TIP posters, to students to share with their families. MARUT