FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA -- 2009 TIP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 STATE 060525

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG FM
SUBJECT: FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA -- 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 FSM 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 FSM 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
atwww.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 FSM 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 FSM,s country narrative in the 2009
TIP Report:

--------------
Federated States of Micronesia (Tier 2 Watch List)
--------------

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is a source country
for some women trafficked to Guam for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation, and possibly a destination
for women from the People,s Republic of China (PRC)
trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual
exploitation. The FSM may be a destination country for a few
men and women from other Pacific nations trafficked for the
purpose of forced labor. In one reported case, a small group
of young women in the state of Chuuk were lured by job
opportunities in the service and hospitality sectors with

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salaries unavailable locally to the U.S. Territory of Guam.
Instead of working as store clerks or waitresses, however,
the women were forced to engage in prostitution. Brothel
owners reportedly confiscated their passports and physically
harmed the victims to ensure their obedience. Very little
data on human trafficking in FSM exists, as the government
has not conducted any relevant investigations, studies, or
surveys on the issue. Anecdotal reporting suggests that few
victims are trafficked within or outside the FSM.


The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia does not
fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to
do so. Despite significant overall efforts, the government
has not provided evidence of vigorous efforts to identify
trafficking victims and to prevent trafficking incidents by
educating the public about the dangers of trafficking;
therefore FSM is placed on Tier 2 Watch List. In the two
police academy classes that have taken place since 2007,
anti-Trafficking in Persons techniques were a major part of
the curriculum.


Recommendations for FSM: Develop and implement a
comprehensive federal anti-human trafficking law; create or
support campaigns to educate and inform the public about the
dangers of trafficking; monitor the practices of overseas
employment recruiters, and investigate recruiters who may be
involved in trafficking; and develop an internal structure
which ensures victims, access to protective services.

Prosecution
--------------
FSM national police has jurisdiction over trafficking issues,
although no specific or comprehensive federal laws prohibit
human trafficking or trafficking-related offenses such as
slavery, forced labor, or forced prostitution. Each of the
four states could prosecute trafficking offenses under
related laws prohibiting false imprisonment, criminal
coercion, kidnapping, and even &making threats.8 Penalties
for trafficking offenders under these laws range from five to
ten years imprisonment and are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties for other serious crimes, such as
rape. The government,s Transnational Crime Unit (TCU),part
of the Pacific Transnational Crime network, was the main
conduit for general law enforcement information coming from
international sources. The Unit had regular contract with
the FBI and the Australian Federal Police. FSM police
cooperated with foreign law enforcement officials
investigating the case of the women trafficked from Chuuk to
a brothel in Guam, where prosecution of the illegal brothel
owners for trafficking began in early 2009. FSM reportedly
began an investigation into the activities of the Micronesian
citizen who recruited the women in Chuuk and is believed to
also have been trying to recruit women in the state of
Pohnpei. Law enforcement agencies operated under significant
resource, personnel, and capacity constraints.

Protection
--------------
During the reporting period, the government did not identify
any trafficking victims within FSM,s borders, and therefore
did not provide specific assistance to victims of
trafficking, though it ensured that identified victims would
have access to limited, general protective services provided
by government agencies. No NGOs provide victim services
independently or in cooperation with the government. FSM has
no laws specifically protecting trafficking victims or
witnesses, although general material witness laws give the
government the right to detain witnesses for their own
protection. Effective due process procedures in the FSM
criminal justice system generally ensured that the rights of
all victims of crime were respected and protected. While no
specific civil remedy for trafficking victims is spelled out
in the state or national codes, each state's code does
provide general redress for personal injuries caused by
another. Victims may bring personal injury civil suits
against traffickers, although no suits have ever been filed.
The law did not provide legal alternatives to the removal of
foreign victims to countries where they faced hardship or
retribution.

Prevention
--------------
The government made no efforts to prevent trafficking or
increase the public,s awareness of trafficking risks in FSM
and the region during the reporting period. Evidence and
anecdotal reports suggest that the current number of internal
or transnational trafficking victims is relatively low; the
government,s limited resources were thus often directed to
meet more emergent priorities. The government, however, did
initiate anti-Trafficking in Persons training for new police

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recruits in the last two police academy classes. FSM
supports no anti-trafficking task forces or working groups.
The government has run no campaigns aimed at reducing the
demand for commercial sex acts. FSM 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

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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 is Micronesia included in the Report this year? Why
was it given a ranking of Tier 2 Watch List?

A: Micronesia was ranked on the 2009 TIP Report because
there is evidence that it is a country of origin, transit, or
destination for victims of severe forms of trafficking.
Micronesia was placed on Tier 2 Watch List because the
Government of the Federated States of Micronesia does not
fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to
do so. Despite significant overall efforts, the government
has not provided evidence of vigorous efforts to identify
trafficking victims and to prevent trafficking incidents by
educating the public about the dangers of trafficking;
therefore FSM is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.

Q2: What is the nature of the trafficking problem in FSM?

A: FSM is a source country for some women trafficked to Guam
for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, and
possibly a destination for women from the People,s Republic
of China trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual
exploitation. It may also be a destination country for a few
men and women from other Pacific nations trafficked for the
purpose of forced labor. In one reported case, a small group
of young women in the state of Chuuk were lured by job
opportunities in the service and hospitality sectors with
salaries unavailable locally to the U.S. Territory of Guam.
Instead of working as store clerks or waitresses, however,
the women were forced to engage in prostitution. Brothel
owners reportedly confiscated their passports and physically
harmed the victims to ensure their obedience. Anecdotal
reporting suggests that few victims are trafficked within or
from FSM. Very little data on human trafficking in FSM
exists, however, as the government has not conducted any
relevant investigations, studies, or surveys on the issue.

Q3: What measures can FSM take over the next year to improve
its anti-trafficking fight?

A: The FSM government could: develop and implement a
comprehensive federal anti-human trafficking law; create or
support campaigns to educate and inform the public about the

STATE 00060525 005 OF 005


dangers of trafficking; monitor the practices of overseas
employment recruiters, and investigate recruiters who may be
involved in trafficking; and develop an internal structure
which ensures trafficking victims, access to protective
services.


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