MACAU -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060455

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG MC
SUBJECT: MACAU -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND
DEMARCHE

REF: A. (A) STATE 59732

B. (B) STATE 005577


1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10.


2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a
press conference in the Department's press briefing room.

This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic
and foreign news outlets. Until the time of the Secretary's
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or
country narratives contained therein is prohibited.


3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter. Also provided
is demarche language to be used in informing the Government
of Macau of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's imminent
release. The text of the TIP Report country narrative is
provided, both for use in informing the Government of Macau
and in any local media release by Post's public affairs
section on June 16 or thereafter. Drawing on information
provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post may provide the host
government with the text of the TIP Report narrative no
earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday June 15 for WHA, AF,
EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local time Tuesday June 16 for
SCA and EAP posts. Please note, however, that any public
release of the Report's information should not/not precede
the Secretary's release at 10:00 am EDT on June 16.


4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16
release. Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts
in all countries appearing on the Report. The Secretary's
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website
shortly after the June 16 event. Ambassador de Baca will
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT.


5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on
Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local
time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform
the appropriate official in the Government of Macau of the
June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the points
in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the text of
the country narrative provided in para 8. For countries
where the State Department has lowered the tier ranking, it
is particularly important to advise governments prior to the
Report being released in Washington on June 16.


6. Action Request continued: Please note that, for those
countries which will not receive an "action plan" with
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the
"Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the
narrative text. This engagement is important to establishing
the framework in which the government's performance will be
judged for the 2010 Report. If posts have questions about
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report,
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau.


7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the
press guidance provided in para 11. If Post wishes, a local
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP
Report's country narrative provided in para 8.


8. Begin Final Text of Macau,s country narrative in the 2009
TIP Report:

--------------
MACAU (TIER 2)
--------------
Macau is primarily a destination for the trafficking of women
and girls from the Chinese mainland, Mongolia, Russia,
Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Central Asia for
the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Most victims
are from inland Chinese provinces who migrate to the border
province of Guangdong in search of employment, where they
fall prey to false advertisements for jobs in Macau. Foreign
and mainland Chinese women and girls are deceived into
migrating voluntarily to the Macau Special Administrative
Region (MSAR) for employment opportunities in casinos, as
dancers, or other types of legitimate employment; upon
arrival in Macau, some of the victims are passed to local
organized crime groups, held captive, and forced into sexual
servitude. Chinese, Russian, and Thai criminal syndicates
are sometimes involved in bringing women into Macau for its
legalized prostitution industry. Victims are sometimes
confined in massage parlors and illegal but widely tolerated
brothels, where they are closely monitored, have their
identity documents confiscated, are forced to work long
hours, or are threatened with violence. The control of some
victims by organized crime syndicates makes it particularly
dangerous for them to seek help. More rarely, Macau is also
a source territory for women and girls trafficked elsewhere
in Asia for commercial sexual exploitation.

The MSAR does not fully comply with the minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. During the reporting period,
the government passed a comprehensive anti-trafficking law
and began to provide shelter, counseling, and medical and
financial assistance to trafficking victims. Nevertheless,
overall efforts to investigate and prosecute traffickers,
particularly those involved in organized crime, remain
inadequate. Victim identification and protection efforts
also need improvement. Macau has the resources and
government infrastructure to make greater efforts in
addressing trafficking in persons.

Recommendations for the Macau Special Administrative Region:
Push for greater investigations and prosecutions of
traffickers under the new comprehensive anti-trafficking law;
cooperate closely with source country governments on
cross-border trafficking cases; increase efforts to identify
victims of trafficking among vulnerable groups such as
migrant workers and foreign women and children arrested for
prostitution; ensure that victims of trafficking are not
punished for crimes committed as a direct result of being
trafficked; provide specialized training to Social Welfare
Bureau social workers in providing assistance to victims of
human trafficking and designate a social worker to assist
trafficking victims in the shelter; and support a visible
anti-trafficking awareness campaign directed at employers and
clients of the legalized sex trade.

Prosecution
--------------
The Macau government made some progress in its
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the reporting
period. In June 2008, the Macau Legislative Assembly passed
comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, which prohibits
all forms of trafficking in persons and prescribes penalties
ranging from three to 12 years, imprisonment, which are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other grave crimes, such as rape. While the government
conducted some investigations into cases of human
trafficking, there were several cases during the reporting
period of Vietnamese and Mongolian women allegedly trafficked
to Macau for commercial sexual exploitation that Macau
authorities did not investigate. Reports from law
enforcement officials in source countries indicate a lack of
cooperation by Macau authorities when requesting assistance
and follow-up in cases involving foreign nationals. Two sex
trafficking prosecutions are awaiting trial, both of which
resulted from victims filing complaints with authorities.
Macau authorities have yet to obtain a conviction of a
trafficking offender. In October 2008, two Macau female sex
trafficking victims were rescued in Japan after one of the
victims sent a text message to a relative. Macau authorities
worked with INTERPOL and Japanese law enforcement in the
repatriation of the victims. Macau police arrested one
trafficker in this case, who has not yet been prosecuted.
Corruption is a significant problem in Macau, and is often
closely linked to the gambling industry and organized crime
networks. One Macau police officer arrested in 2007 for
allegedly blackmailing two women in prostitution for
&protection8 fees has not been brought to trial. Macau
authorities did not report any allegations of official
complicity with human trafficking in 2008. The control of
Macau, Chinese, Russian, and Thai criminal syndicates over
Macau,s lucrative sex trade continued to challenge the
effectiveness of prosecution efforts in Macau.

Protection
--------------
MSAR authorities demonstrated some efforts to protect
trafficking victims in 2008. Although Macau authorities,
with NGO assistance, developed guidelines for the proactive
identification of trafficking victims, most trafficking
victims were self-identified. Foreign victims found it
extremely difficult to escape their state of servitude given
the lack of services in their native language and the lack of
their government,s diplomatic representation in Macau.
During the reporting period, several foreign women were
trafficked to Macau for commercial sexual exploitation but
were not identified by Macau authorities; they were instead
assisted by foreign NGOs and their home governments, who
arranged for their repatriation. The Macau government
provided temporary shelter, counseling, and financial and
medical services to 23 victims of trafficking in a shelter
run by the Social Welfare Bureau. One additional victim
stayed in a local NGO shelter. Victims are provided a weekly
stipend during their time in the shelters, but are not
offered legal alternatives to their removal to countries
where they may face hardship or retribution. Due to the lack
of effective victim identification, other victims were likely
deported for immigration violations. Persons detained for
immigration violations were usually deported and barred from
re-entry to Macau for up to two years. The Women,s General
Association of Macau receives government funding to run a
24-hour trafficking victim assistance hotline. Although the
Macau police also ran a trafficking hotline, the public
appeared to lack awareness about the hotline,s existence,
and no trafficking cases were identified from hotline calls
during the reporting period.

Prevention
--------------
The government demonstrated progress in its trafficking
prevention efforts. The government continued to publish
anti-trafficking brochures in multiple languages that were
displayed at border checkpoints, hospitals, and public
gathering areas. It also ran radio and television
advertisements, and organized several seminars to increase
public awareness of human trafficking, in which senior Macau
government officials called on the public to help the
government fight trafficking. Authorities set aside funding
to conduct an independent evaluation of the trafficking
situation in Macau in 2009. The government did not take
measures during the reporting period to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or conduct any awareness campaigns
targeting clients of Macau,s legalized prostitution industry.


9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to
the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP Report
country narrative:

(begin non-paper)

-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA),
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to
Congress. The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and
create partnerships around the world in the fight against
modern-day slavery. The USG approach to combating human
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol"). The TVPA
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in
which the victims, labor or services (including in the "sex
industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud,
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological
manipulation. While much attention has focused on
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a
showing that the victim was moved.

-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that
only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin,
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of
three tiers. Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking"
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1. Countries
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards,
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum
standards are classified as Tier 2. Countries assessed as
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3.

-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a
"Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year.
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of
each year. Countries are included on the "Special Watch
List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List.

-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined:
(1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim
population. As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier

3. Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report). The new law allows for a waiver
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a
determination by the President that the country has developed
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the
minimum standards.

-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for
participation by government officials or employees in
educational and cultural exchange programs. In addition,
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian,
trade-related or certain types of development assistance)
with respect to countries on Tier 3. Countries classified as
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier
classification, would avoid such sanctions. Guidelines for
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared
by Posts with host governments.

-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon: fraudulent
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in
workers, home countries; the lack of adequate labor
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the
flawed design of some destination countries, "sponsorship
systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor. As the
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and
traffickers, profits are estimated at $31 billion. The
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated
"cost of coercion."

-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on
website www.state.gov/g/tip.

-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State
Department. We are providing you an advance copy of your
country's narrative in that report. Please keep this
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June

16. The State Department will also hold a general briefing
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June
17 at 3:30 pm EDT.

(end non-paper)


10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as
possible after the TIP Report is released. Funding for
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human
Rights Report. Posts needing financial assistance for
translation costs should contact their regional bureau,s EX
office.


11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use
with local media.

Q1: Why was Macau given a ranking of Tier 2?

A: The Macau Special Administrative Region does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do
so. During the reporting period, the government passed a
comprehensive anti-trafficking law and began to provide
shelter, counseling, and medical and financial assistance to
trafficking victims. Nevertheless, overall efforts to
investigate and prosecute traffickers, particularly those
involved in organized crime, remain inadequate. Victim
identification and protection efforts also need improvement.
Macau has the resources and government infrastructure to make
greater efforts in addressing trafficking in persons.

Q2: What progress has Macau made in the past year?

A: In June 2008, the Macau Legislative Assembly passed
comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, which prohibits
all forms of trafficking in persons. The government provided
temporary shelter, counseling, and financial and medical
services to 23 victims of trafficking in a shelter run by the
Social Welfare Bureau in 2008. The government continued to
publish anti-trafficking brochures in multiple languages that
were displayed at border checkpoints, hospitals, and public
gathering areas. It also ran radio and television
advertisements, and organized several seminars to increase
public awareness of human trafficking, in which senior Macau
government officials called on the public to help the
government fight trafficking.

Q3: What efforts could Macau make to improve its fight
against trafficking in persons?

A: The Macau government could: push for greater
investigations and prosecutions of traffickers under the new
comprehensive anti-trafficking law; cooperate closely with
source country governments on cross-border trafficking cases;
increase efforts to identify victims of trafficking among
vulnerable groups such as migrant workers and foreign women
and children arrested for prostitution; ensure that victims
of trafficking are not punished for crimes committed as a
direct result of being trafficked; provide specialized
training to Social Welfare Bureau social workers in providing
assistance to victims of human trafficking and designate a
social worker to assist trafficking victims in the shelter;
and support a visible anti-trafficking awareness campaign
directed at employers and clients of the legalized sex trade.



12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the
preceding action requests.
CLINTON