FIJI -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060521

SIPDIS

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

REF: (A) STATE 59732 (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 Fiji 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 Fiji
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 Fiji 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 Fiji,s country narrative in the 2009
TIP Report:

--------------
Fiji (TIER 3)
--------------

Fiji is a source country for children trafficked for the
purposes of labor and commercial sexual exploitation, and a
destination country for women from the People,s Republic of
China, Thailand, , and India trafficked for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation. Some women from the P.R.C.
and India who migrate voluntarily to Fiji for work have been
in the past and may still be coerced into forced labor in
sweatshops. Fijian boys and girls are subjected to
commercial sexual exploitation by family members, other
Fijian citizens, foreign tourists, and sailors on foreign
fishing vessels. Staff at local hotels procure underage
girls for commercial sexual exploitation by guests, while
taxi drivers, nightclub staff, and relatives frequently act
as facilitators. Some Fijian children are informally adopted
- sent to live with and work for relatives or families living
in or near schools ) a tradition of child placement that
sometimes leaves the child in an internal labor or sex
trafficking situation.

The Government of Fiji does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking, and it is not
making significant efforts to do so. Despite consistent and,
reliable reports from NGOs, international organizations,
foreign governments, and individuals about trafficking in
Fiji, especially the wide-spread exploitation of children in
the commercial sex trade, the government has demonstrated no
action to investigate or prosecute traffickers, assist
victims, or participate in public awareness campaigns to
prevent trafficking.

Recommendations for Fiji: Develop a national action plan for
combating trafficking in persons; collaborate with civil
society and international organizations to combat the sex
trafficking of children and train law enforcement officers on
victim identification and protection; significantly improve
the record of prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing of
trafficking offenders; develop and institute a formal
procedure to proactively identify victims of trafficking,
especially among vulnerable groups such as homeless children
and women or children found in prostitution; implement and
support a visible anti-trafficking awareness campaign
directed at clients of children in commercial sexual
exploitation; and expand cooperation with international law
enforcement entities to identify and prosecute Fijian
residents, foreign visitors, and travel service providers
involved in child sex trafficking and tourism.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of Fiji demonstrated no significant efforts to
combat trafficking in persons during the year. The
government is limited in its ability to focus on combating
trafficking in persons by an ongoing political and economic
crisis; funding for police, immigration, and other
institutions is generally inadequate. Fiji prohibits
transnational sex and labor trafficking through its
Immigration Act of 2003, which prescribes punishments that
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. The
Government of Fiji reported no arrests, prosecutions, or
convictions of trafficking offenders during the reporting
period. The Immigration Directorate handed a
fully-investigated case with elements of trafficking to the
police for prosecution early in 2008. The police, however,
did not advance the case to the prosecutor, and Immigration
eventually deported the two suspected traffickers involved
due to lack of detention funding. A Combined Law Agencies
Group (CLAG) meets monthly to address law enforcement issues,
including trafficking in persons. There is no evidence of
government officials, complicity in trafficking.

Protection
--------------
The Government of Fiji did not demonstrate any significant
efforts to protect victims of trafficking over the last year.
The Government of Fiji,s law enforcement, immigration, and
social service personnel had no formal system to proactively
identify victims of trafficking among high-risk persons with
whom they come in contact, and the government did not
identify any trafficking victims during the year. The
government has not developed or implemented a process to
refer identified victims to institutions that could provide
short- or long-term care. Due to severe resource
constraints, the government relied on NGOs or international
organizations to provide protective services to victims. One
NGO sheltered a number of female trafficking victims and
their children throughout the year. The Government of Fiji
did not actively encourage victim participation in the
investigation of traffickers or sex tourists. The Fijian
anti-trafficking law includes provisions to ensure that
victims of trafficking are not penalized for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of their being trafficked.

Prevention
--------------
The Government of Fiji demonstrated no meaningful efforts to
raise awareness about trafficking during the year. There
were no visible measures undertaken by the government to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and the government
did not support any anti-trafficking information or education
campaigns during the reporting period. Fijian laws,
including those pertaining to trafficking in persons and
sexual assault, apply to Fijians deployed abroad as part of
peacekeeping missions. The Republic of Fiji Military Forces
provided anti-trafficking training for soldiers in advance of
their being deployed abroad on international peacekeeping
missions. Fiji has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

--------------



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 Fiji again given a ranking of Tier 3?

A: The Government of Fiji does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, and is
not making significant efforts to do so. Despite consistent,
reliable reports from NGOs, international organizations,
foreign governments, and individuals about trafficking in
Fiji, especially the wide-spread exploitation of children in
the commercial sex trade, the government has demonstrated no
action to investigate or prosecute traffickers, assist
victims, or participate in public awareness campaigns to
prevent trafficking.

Q2: What is the nature of Fiji,s trafficking problem?


A. Fiji is a source country for children trafficked for the
purposes of labor and commercial sexual exploitation, and a
destination country for women from the People,s Republic of
China, Thailand, and India trafficked for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation. Fijian boys and girls are
victims of commercial sexual exploitation by family members,
other Fijian citizens, foreign tourists, and sailors on
foreign fishing vessels. Staff at local hotels procure
underage girls for commercial sexual exploitation by guests,
while taxi drivers, nightclub staff, and relatives frequently
act as facilitators.

Q3: How can Fiji improve its anti-trafficking efforts?

A: The Government of Fiji could show progress by:
developing a national action plan for combating TIP;
continuing to collaborate with civil society and
international organizations to combat the sex trafficking of
children; training law enforcement officers on victim
identification and protection; significantly improving the
record of prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing of
trafficking offenders; and expanding cooperation with
international law enforcement entities to identify and
prosecute Fijian residents, foreign visitors, and travel
service providers involved in child sex trafficking and
tourism.


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