JAPAN, THE U.S., AND TIP: AT A TIPPING POINT?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TOKYO 001185

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2019
TAGS: ELAB KTIP PGOV PHUM JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN, THE U.S., AND TIP: AT A TIPPING POINT?

Classified By: CDA J. P. Zumwalt for Reasons 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Following an unprecedented multi-year,
multi-agency effort to meet TVPA (Trafficking Victims
Protection Act) minimum standards, the Government of Japan
has indicated at a high level that it is considering no
longer cooperating with the United States in providing
information for the Annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP)
Report. Japanese government officials uniformly believe that
the TIP report does not apply objective criteria across
countries, is inaccurate in terms of factual details relating
to Japanese laws and anti-TIP efforts, and selectively uses
unsubstantiated anecdotes to make its case. The sensitivity
of this issue to bilateral relations can be expected to
increase with the apparent decision to keep Japan at a Tier 2
level again despite continued improvements in many areas this
year. This cable reviews the record of Japan's "Comprehensive
National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons"
(2004). Mission Japan judges that Japan's anti-TIP efforts
have been effective and would be models of cooperation. END
SUMMARY.

The Action Plan
--------------

2. (U) Shocked by a Tier 2 Watchlist ranking in 2004, and
wanting to seize leadership in Asia on this issue, the
Japanese government established an Inter-Ministerial Liaison
Committee to draft a national plan of action to address
trafficking in persons. The task force consisted of the
Cabinet Secretariat, Cabinet Office, National Police Agency,
Ministry of Justice, MOFA, and the Ministry of Health Labor
and Welfare, (and has recently been enlarged to include the
Gender Equality Bureau, and the Human Rights Bureau). This
task force proposed a National Action Plan, which was adopted
in December of 2004. Since adopting the plan, the task force
has continuously reviewed it in cooperation with NGOs.

Amendments to Laws
--------------

3. (U) As a center piece of the plan, Japan strengthened laws
criminalizing TIP and TIP-related criminal activities by
amending many existing laws, including the Penal Code, Code
of Criminal Procedure, Law for Punishment of Organized
Crimes, Employment Security Law, Law on Control and
Improvement of Amusement Businesses, Immigration Control and
Refugee Recognition Act, Law for Punishing Acts Related to
Child Pornography and Child Prostitution, and the Child
Welfare Law, as well as other laws and statues. These laws
now clearly and unambiguously outlaw both TIP for sexual
exploitation and TIP for labor exploitation. (NOTE: G-TIP
argues that Japanese laws do not cover the recruitment of
laborers using knowingly fraudulent or deceptive offers for
purposes of forced labor. Japanese prosecutors vigorously
disputed this allegation. END NOTE.)

Approval of Trafficking Protocol
--------------

4. (U) In June of 2005 the Japanese Diet approved the
conclusion of the Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish
trafficking in persons, especially women and children. For
what it characterizes as technical reasons, Japan has not yet
approved the so-called "mother convention" of this protocol,
the "U.N. Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime."
So although Japan is not a signatory to the broader
convention yet (though it indicates it wants to as soon as is
feasible),it has legally acceded to the provisions of the
convention that relate to TIP.

Prevention: (External)
--------------

5. (SBU) Japanese prevention efforts have focused on the use
of immigration control methods to reduce the number of
trafficking victims entering the country, combined with a
vigorous program to greatly reduce the number of illegal (and
hence vulnerable) foreigners in the country. One of the
centerpieces of these efforts has been a crackdown on the
"entertainer" category of visa that had been identified as
the prime means of bringing TIP victims into the country. As
a result, the numbers of people entering on this category of
visa fell from 133,103 in 2003 to 38,355 in 2007 (with this
downward trend continuing in 2008). Coupled with this,
training of consular personnel at Japanese embassies and
consulates in source countries, and of immigration personnel
in TIP victim identification methods, has also increased the
difficulty of trafficking foreign victims into the country.

TOKYO 00001185 002 OF 003


(NOTE: So vigorous has been these prescreening methods that
complaints have been received from a number of Human Rights
and Women's Rights groups that young single women arriving in
Japan who match Japanese Immigration criteria are subjected
to unwarranted and extensive interviews before being allowed
to stay in Japan. Nonetheless, in the 20-30 year-old age
category, unlike all other age categories where more men
enter Japan than women, in 2007 for example 1,049,719 women
entered Japan compared to 801,145 men. END NOTE.)

Prevention: (Internal)
--------------

6. (SBU) Coupled with attempts to stem the flow of potential
victims into the country, there has been a major effort to
reduce the number foreigners illegally living in Japan. This
has resulted in a decrease in these numbers from a peak of
298,646 in 1993 to 149,785 in 2008. Recognizing the need of
the Japanese economy for low skilled foreign workers (for
smaller companies in particular, and for the so-called
"dangerous, dirty, and difficult" jobs which Japanese no
longer want to do),the government expanded its Trainee Visa
program. The number of workers entering the country on this
program increased over the same period (1993 to 2008) from
39,795 to approximately 100,000 in 2008.

Protection: (Internal)
--------------

7. (SBU) The heart of Japans' efforts to protect TIP victims
is a system of 47 Prefectural Women's Shelters combined with
a USD 300,000 per year contract with IOM (International
Organization for Migration) to assist in screening TIP
victims, and resettling them in their home countries. The
government has worked consistently year-by-year to improve
the shelters for TIP victims. Recent improvements include
the addition of a new program to train multilingual
counselors in TIP issues, and an expanded range of activities
available at the shelters.

Protection : (External)
--------------

8. (SBU) The most innovative and proactive of Japan's
attempts to fight TIP has been the funding for a number of
anti-TIP programs in source countries. Often contained in
its Human Security development programs, Japan has annually
contributed about USD 8.7 million to specific anti-TIP
programs in source countries. Japan also annually hosts
international, regional, bilateral and domestic anti-TIP
conferences and symposia to improve levels of cooperation,
and identify best practices.

Significant Progress: Always Finally Considered Insignificant?
-------------- --------------

9. (C) Every TIP report since 2004 has praised Japan for
making "significant progress" in its anti-TIP efforts. In
2005 the report went so far as to state, "The foundations
that the Government of Japan has laid offer promises of
results that would place Japan in a leadership role in
fighting trafficking." Takeshi Hiramatsu, Director of MOFA's
International Organized Crime Division, has become
increasingly critical of the TIP process and the United
States handling of TIP reporting. He stated to Embassy
Tokyo, "I have never seen the Japanese government undertake
such a concerted effort across so many different
bureaucracies and agencies. And frankly, after sending teams
to look at TIP efforts in other countries, we have concluded
that the rankings are simply not objective."


10. (C) The TIP reports from 2006 through 2008 focus on two
issues as the main reasons for not granting Tier 1 status.
First, across these three years Japan is cited for the large
portion of suspended sentences given to traffickers.
Interpreted minimum sentencing guidelines under the TVPA call
for an incarceration period of at least one year. In fact
given that Japanese courts rarely grant bail, most of these
traffickers in fact have served two years in jail during
pretrial detention and the legal proceedings themselves. The
second issue cited across these three years of TIP reports
relates to the declining numbers of victims identified from
the peak in 2005. The reports themselves concede that
observers state the TIP problem in Japan in response to
government efforts has assumed forms that are more difficult
to track. No credence is given in the reports to government
claims that a reduction of 94,748 in the number of
entertainer visas granted, and a reduction of 148,861 in the
number of illegal overstays in the country, and a greatly

TOKYO 00001185 003 OF 003


increased scrutiny at consular and immigration officer
levels, has had a significant effect on the scale of the
problem.


11. (C) COMMENT: If new safeguards were to be put in place,
Japan's Trainee Visa program could be considered a model of
how to fight labor trafficking. At present it does not
sufficiently protect the "trainees" especially during the
first year of what is normally a three-year program. Abuses
have been reported and are of concern. The program however is
a largely successful attempt to reduce the vulnerability of
migrants to labor trafficking by replacing large segments of
the underground economy with monitorable and protectable,
legal work situations. Japan has a TIP problem and while its
responses are not perfect, they are without question,
substantial and significant. Given that the TIP problem in
Japan has, as a result of Japanese government proactive
measures, shifted into forms that are more difficult to
police (as is common with Tier 1 countries),if the goal of
U.S. policy is victim-centered, it may be time to consider a
shift from an adversarial approach to Japan, which now is in
danger of backfiring, to a cooperative approach in which the
two countries spearhead a new international effort to deal
with TIP using innovative, proactive strategies that also
significantly address the problem at the level of root
causes. END COMMENT.
ZUMWALT