TIP AMBASSADOR CDEBACA'S VISIT TO MALAYSIA, AUGUST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUALA LUMPUR 000775

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2029
TAGS: KTIP KCRM KWMN PHUM PREL SMIG MY PGOV
SUBJECT: TIP AMBASSADOR CDEBACA'S VISIT TO MALAYSIA, AUGUST
25-27

Classified By: DCM Robert Rapson for reasons 1.4 b and d.

Summary
--------------

1.(U) SUMMARY: Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, Director, Office to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP),met with the
Foreign Minister, the Attorney General's Office, the Minister
for Women's Affairs and other senior GOM officials during his
August 25-27 visit to review Malaysia's Tier 3 ranking and
its recent efforts to address concerns laid out in the US
Action Plan. He also met the local UNHCR Director, several
NGOs, and visited a shelter for female victims of TIP and
concluded his visit with a press roundtable. Throughout his
meetings, Ambassador CdeBaca stressed that TIP is a global
problem and he welcomed opportunities for the United States
and Malaysia work together in combating this form of
modern-day slavery. GOM officials explained the recent
arrest of five immigration officials in connection with the
trafficking of Burmese refugees at the Thai border; that the
TIP Council would be releasing a TIP Action Plan on or about
September 15; the recent issuance of prosecutorial directives
on the handling of TIP cases by the Attorney General's
Chambers (AG); the Ministry of Human Resource's ongoing
construction of a SOP regarding how labor cases are to be
referred to police and prosecutors; and that a new MOU with
Indonesia would be announced shortly and would drop any
provisions for employers to hold migrant workers' passports.
END SUMMARY.

FOREIGN MINISTER CITES PRIME MINISTER'S EMPHASIS ON TIP
-------------- --------------


2. (U) In his August 27 meeting with Malaysian Foreign
Minister Anifah Aman, as during his other Kuala Lumpur
meetings, Ambassador CdeBaca praised the GOM for its efforts
in recent months to enforce its 2007 anti-TIP law, noted that
further efforts on labor trafficking and victim protection
were called for and suggested increased USG-GOM cooperation
and cross-training to enhance prosecution efforts and prevent
trafficking.


3. (C) Foreign Minister Anifah Aman explained that Prime
Minister Najib had directed all relevant ministries to make
combating TIP a priority. FM Anifah noted that Malaysia's
placement on Tier 3 of the 2009 TIP Report was "the least of
(his) concerns," and that the GOM's actions were not to prove
themselves to another country but done simply because "it is
the right thing to do." He reiterated his Ministry,s
commitment and that of the GOM to continue the fight against
trafficking in partnership with the US. In response to
Ambassador CdeBaca's request for a public statement
expressing the GOM's commitment to fighting trafficking, the
FM stated that he thought such a statement could be made.


4. (C) In a follow-on meeting with Ambassador CdeBaca, MFA
Deputy Secretary General Zainol Omar stressed the importance
of addressing trafficking regionally, suggesting that ASEAN
countries should "start small" by exchanging information and
intelligence.

MEETING WITH THE ACTING HEAD OF PROSECUTIONS
--------------


5. (C) In a one-hour meeting at the Attorney General's Office
on August 26, Ambassador CdeBaca engaged in an extensive
discussion with the Acting Head of Prosecution Tuan Abdul
Wahab Mohammad and two senior prosecutors on how to best
handle the prosecution of TIP related cases. Wahab and his
colleagues explained recent steps taken by the AG to ensure
that the anti-TIP law was used when appropriate. They noted
that the AG, moving very quickly, issued national directives
in July stipulating that (1) any case involving a foreign
national would be considered under the anti-TIP law in the
first instance, rather than under the immigration or labor
laws (issued July 23),and (2) that any such case be reported
to the Attorney General's office in Kuala Lumpur, rather than
handled locally (issued July 29).


6. (C) Wahab confirmed the arrest of five immigration
officials in connection with the trafficking of Burmese
refugees at the Thai border as well as the current charging
of one of these individuals. When asked how enforcement
agencies around Malaysia were learning about and enforcing
the anti-TIP law, Wahab and colleagues noted that officers in
four enforcement agencies could make trafficking arrests:
Police, Immigration, Customs and the new Maritime Enforcement
Agency.


7. (SBU) Wahab also provided a statistical summary of cases
under Malaysia's 2007 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act since

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it was put into effect in early 2008: out of 51 total cases
since then, 47 related to sex trafficking while four related
to labor trafficking; four cases had resulted in convictions,
46 were pending, and one had been dismissed when a key
witness refused to testify; the cases covered 38 accused
persons and involved 73 victims.


8. (C) Wahab and his colleagues explained GOM efforts to
enforce the 2007 Trafficking in Persons law, emphasizing the
difficulties involved in successfully prosecuting cases. One
issue identified was that victims were held in shelters for a
maximum of 90 days after which they would be deported.
During this 90-day period, the prosecutors had to record
their statements for later use in trials. Victims,
traumatized and focused on returning to their home countries,
were reluctant to testify. Ambassador CdeBaca explained that
U.S. prosecutors, facing the same issues, had developed a
system under which victims were sheltered for as long as was
needed for them to develop a trusting relationship with
police and prosecutors, and so that they could testify in
person in trials. Wahab and colleagues expressed interest in
learning more about how the U.S. justice system prosecuted
trafficking cases. This comment was followed by a discussion
of planned future training by the U.S. Department of Justice,
Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training
(USDOJ/OPDAT) tentatively scheduled for October or November
of 2009 in Malaysia as well as the potential for follow-on
training in the United States.

MEETING WITH THE HOME MINISTRY
--------------


9. (SBU) Senior Deputy Secretary General of the Home Ministry
Raja Azhar explained that the TIP Council is supervised by
the Home Ministry and consists of three committees: a Legal
Committee headed by the Attorney General's Chambers, a Care
and Protection Committee run by the Ministry of Women,
Family, and Community Development, and an Enforcement
Committee consisting of the Royal Malaysian Police,
Immigration, and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
(Note: The GOM has subsequently added two committees to be
run by the Human Resource Ministry: a Media and Publicity
Committee and a Committee to Study Labor Trafficking Issues.
End Note).


10. (C) Raja further explained to Ambassador CdeBaca that
Malaysia's interagency TIP Council would publish the GOM's
TIP action plan on or about September 15. The plan would
outline an SOP for handling TIP cases and incorporate the
AG's two recent directives (see para. 5). The plan would
also direct TIP training to be included in police and legal
training curricula by 2010. It also called for the opening
of approximately six new shelters for TIP victims including a
300-person shelter for male victims of trafficking near the
Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Azhar noted that they
wouldn,t be able to share the full text of the draft plan
with us until after the Council had approved it, but he did
read excerpts from the section that dealt with labor
trafficking issues. (Note: In a meeting on September 11,
Muhd Khair Razman Bin Mohamed Annuar, Deputy Undersecretary
for the Home Ministry informed PolOff that the release of the
plan would be delayed by one to two months. End Note.)


11. (C) Azhar discussed Malaysia's declarative agreement with
the Government of Indonesia regarding a new migrant workers'
MOU to be announced shortly. Motivated in large part by
domestic political pressure, the governments have constructed
a new MOU directed at protecting the rights of maids and
other migrant workers. Specific to beefing up their
anti-trafficking efforts, the GOM has removed language
contained in its previous MOU that gave employers the right
to confiscate migrant workers' passports. Moreover, the MOU
mandates that employers pay migrant employees by depositing
their paychecks into a bank account in the migrant's name.
By doing so, the GOM is able to monitor whether employers are
complying with the agreement and pursue remedies for the
migrant workers if they fail to do so. The MOU also calls
for one day off a week for migrant workers as well as a
standard minimum wage.


12. (C) Azhar explained GOM plans to reduce the number of
migrant recruiting agencies. He acknowledged that many
workers are currently being brought into Malaysia but are not
matching up with jobs thereby contributing to the numbers of
individuals in Malaysia vulnerable to trafficking. The GOM
intends to investigate such companies and be stricter on the
issuing of permits needed to run such companies and envision
cutting the number from a current level of 277 to 110.


13. (C) Raja Azhar explained that the GOM had a short window
of opportunity (until March 2010) to make amendments to its

KUALA LUMP 00000775 003 OF 004


anti-TIP law without extensive parliamentary review.
Ambassador CdeBaca informed the Home Ministry that he had
suggestions for improving their anti-TIP law that he would
forward to their attention. In response to their expressed
willingness to look at US caselaw on TIP, Ambassador CdeBaca
explained that he would also forward leading US cases on TIP
and slavery.

MEETING WITH THE HUMAN RESOURCES MINISTRY
--------------


14. (C) Deputy Minister of Human Resources Datuk Maznah
Mazlan, accompanied by several of her top deputies, told
Ambassador CdeBaca that many of the USG's concerns regarding
how TIP matters would be handled would be addressed in the
TIP Council's Action Plan to be approved in mid-September.
In response to Ambassador CdeBaca's suggestion that the GOM
consider allowing TIP victims in shelters to receive job
training, the Deputy Minister said they would consider this.


15. (C) The Deputy Minister reviewed provisions to amend the
1955 Employment act that would improve the handling of labor
trafficking cases. She brought out the draft text for the
Ministry's SOP for implementing the amended law. She also
discussed GOM plans for cracking down on and reducing the
number of labor recruitment agencies operating in Malaysia,
and the standardization of labor contracts in an effort to
protect migrant workers.

MEETING WITH THE WOMEN,S MINISTER
--------------


16. (C) Minister for Women, Family, and Community Development
Datuk Seri Shahrizat Adbul Jalil began the August 27 meeting
with Ambassador CdeBaca and Ambassador Keith by raising
concerns about Malaysia's recent placement on Tier 3 and
asking for clarification as to what types of actions qualify
countries for Tiers 1 and 2. The Minister stated that as a
country, Malaysia could not condone TIP and expressed her
Ministry's firm commitment to working both "hard and smart"
with the US to combat TIP. She noted that she was open to
suggestions and looked forward to learning from the US on how
to better combat TIP. The Minister indicated the GOM would
need to give further study to Ambassador CdeBaca's suggestion
that better convictions would arise if victims were allowed
to remain in Malaysia for longer and not be kept in
detention. She suggested that such a move would represent a
major change in how the GOM administers its trafficking
victim programs, but said that nonetheless her Ministry would
give the proposal consideration.

NGO ROUND TABLE, UNHCR AND THE AUSSIES
--------------


17. (C) At a roundtable discussion with leading NGOs hosted
by Ambassador Keith, Tenaganita founder and Director Irene
Fernandez stressed the need to address labor trafficking,
saying that outsourcing of workers from Bangladesh, Nepal,
Vietnam and other countries sometimes led to labor
trafficking situations. Aegile Fernandez, TIP coordinator
for Tenaganita, added that the estimated 500,000 domestic
servants from abroad in Malaysia often worked excessive hours
with no days off. The NGOs focused their comments largely on
individual issues and cases each was working on and not on
GOM actions per se. They emphasized: (1) that the Tier 3
ranking was effectively motivating the GOM to act; (2) that
the USG should keep pressure on the GOM; and (3) the USG
should apply pressure to US corporations that subcontract
work to companies in Malaysia with questionable labor
practices.


18. (C) Ambassador CdeBaca also met briefly with Australian
Ambassador for People Smuggling, Peter Woolcott, who was in
Kuala Lumpur with a senior Australian delegation for
high-level talks with the GOM on Australia,s priority issue
of people smuggling. Woolcott and Ambassador Cdebaca
exchanged notes on their respective interactions with the
Malaysians. Woolcott expressed a desire to work with the US
on law enforcement training projects on TIP both globally and
in the region, although emphasizing that Australia,s
priority was on addressing people smuggling.


19. (C) Alan Vernon, Director of UNHCR Malaysia, explained
over lunch with Ambassador Cdebaca that he felt that many of
the GOM's TIP problems arose out of their immigration
practices )- allowing loose borders with no real path to
citizenship for immigrants. This gave rise to a permanent
undocumented lower class that could be exploited by
traffickers. However, Vernon noted that there have been
significant changes since the 2009 Tip Report had been
published and remarked that trafficking of people to the Thai

KUALA LUMP 00000775 004 OF 004


border had effectively come to a halt based on UNHCR,s
informal surveys of Burmese refugees in Malaysia. He also
said that UNHCR's ability to contact and register refugees
had greatly improved in recent months.


20. (U) The GTIP delegation cleared this cable.
KEITH