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.

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Self-Evaluation and Action Plan in the Works
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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.

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Reaching Out to NGOs
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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.

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Public Awareness Activities Continue
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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

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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