B. 2007 STATE 150188
C. 2009 STATE 005577
D. 2009 STATE 62182
1. (U) This is an action request (see paras 2-4).
2. (SBU) Begin action request: Drawing from points in para
6, Post is requested to approach appropriate host government
officials to highlight the United States' strong commitment
to continue to work with the Government of Hong Kong to help
strengthen its efforts to combat and prevent trafficking in
persons (TIP) and to assist victims. Post is requested to
convey the recommendations in para 7 as a non-paper and draw
from the talking points in para 6 to explain to the host
government that efforts to address the first set of
recommendations will help the government maintain a Tier 2
ranking and avoid a downgrade to Tier 2 Watch List or Tier 3
in the upcoming 2010 TIP Report. Additional recommendations
are included in para 7 to aid the host government in making
progress in its overall anti-TIP efforts. The notes
indicated in brackets in the action plan are for post,s
background only and may be omitted from the non-paper. The
&Implementation Guidelines8 referenced in the action plan
notes are contained in reftel B. These guidelines provide
guidance to posts on how the Minimum Standards of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended, (TVPA) are
implemented, and have been cleared by regional bureaus.
3. (SBU) Action request continued: Post is further
requested to emphasize to the Government of Hong Kong that
the first set of recommendations is designed to help the
government show evidence of increasing efforts to combat TIP
since the beginning of the reporting period in April 2009 and
thus avoid a tier ranking downgrade. The longer set of other
recommendations show the government steps that, if taken,
could result in an elevation to Tier 1. Sustained and
significant anti-trafficking efforts by the government
throughout the year will remain the basis for determining
next year's tier placement. We will reconsider the
government's tier placement when we conduct our annual full
assessment for the April 2009 to March 2010 reporting period
next spring.
4. (SBU) In preparation for the 2010 TIP Report, the
Department is asking posts to work with host governments
throughout the year to collect as many statistics as possible
on law enforcement actions and judicial proceedings related
to TIP crimes; specifically the Department requests data on
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences
(e.g., fines, probation, length of prison sentences imposed,
asset seizure information when available). Whether a
government collects and provides this data consistent with
the government's capacity to obtain such data is considered
in determining whether the government qualifies for Tier 1.
Law enforcement statistics, when available, are a good way of
highlighting how well a government enforced its law and
demonstrates strengths and weaknesses in various approaches.
Please note that host governments and embassies must
interpret data terms provided by host governments such as
indictments, charges, cases disposed, cases submitted for
prosecution, etc., to ensure that they fit into one of the
following categories: investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, or sentences.
The Department cannot accept "trafficking-related" law
enforcement statistics (e.g., statistics on prostitution or
smuggling offenses) because their direct correlation to
trafficking crimes is not clear. The Department will accept
only law enforcement data that fall into the following
categories: (1) investigations, prosecutions, convictions,
and sentences for offenses that are explicitly defined as
trafficking; and (2) investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences for offenses that are not defined
explicitly as trafficking but in which the competent law
enforcement or judicial authority has specific evidence
indicating that the defendant was involved in trafficking.
5. (SBU) Please keep in mind the TIP Report measures host
government efforts. In order for anti-trafficking activities
financed or conducted principally by parties outside the
government to be considered for tier placement purposes, Post
needs to demonstrate a concrete role or tangible value-added
by a host government in such activities carried out by NGOs,
international organizations, or posts.
STATE 00087524 002 OF 004
6. (U) Background Points:
Begin talking points:
-- The Obama Administration views the fight against human
trafficking, both at home and abroad, as a critical piece of
our foreign policy agenda. We are committed to making
progress on this issue in the months ahead by working closely
with partners in every country to encourage their
anti-trafficking efforts, as well as seeking out additional
ways to improve our own.
-- Human trafficking is a global phenomenon. It touches
every country in the world, including the United States, and
we have a responsibility to fight it just as our partners do.
The United States funds anti-trafficking programs in nearly
70 countries, as well as 42 domestic task forces that bring
state and local authorities together with NGOs to combat
trafficking within U.S. borders. But there is much more to
do, and the United States is committed to working hard during
the next year to improve its record against TIP.
-- In addition to setting forth a framework for the United
States, domestic efforts to combat human trafficking, the
U.S. Government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act requires
the State Department to submit an annual report to Congress
on the status of foreign governments, efforts to combat
trafficking in persons. Pursuant to the Trafficking Victims
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA), the
Department places each country in the 2009 TIP Report onto
one of three tier lists. Placement is based more on the
extent of government action to combat trafficking than on the
size of the problem, although that is also an important
factor. The Department first evaluates whether the
government fully complies with the TVPA,s minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking, which are detailed on
pages 314-315 of the 2009 TIP Report, and on the State
Department,s website. Governments that fully comply are
placed on Tier 1. For other governments, the Department
considers the extent of efforts to reach compliance.
-- Governments that are making significant efforts to meet
the minimum standards are placed on Tier 2. Pursuant to the
TVPRA, the State Department also created a special category
known as Tier 2 Watch List for Tier 2 countries that do not
show increasing efforts from the previous year, have a very
significant number of victims, or whose Tier 2 rating is
based on commitments to take additional steps over the next
year. Governments that do not fully comply with the minimum
standards and are not making significant efforts to do so are
placed on Tier 3.
-- Hong Kong was placed on Tier 2 in this year's Report
because it does not fuly comply with the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so.
-- We offer the following recommended actions (Action Plan
for the Short-Term) to tackle specific concerns highlighted
in the 2009 TIP Report. We believe these to be within the
reasonable ability of your government to fulfill in the
near-term and encourage you to take prompt action to address
them. We will reconsider a government,s tier placement when
we conduct our annual full assessment for the 2009-2010
reporting period next spring. Prompt, appropriate, and
significant actions will lead to a more favorable tier
placement; conversely, failure to address the issues
mentioned above may lead to a Tier 2 Watch List or Tier 3
placement.
-- We would welcome the Government of Hong Kong,s comments
on these recommendations and any other ideas you might have
to advance our common struggle against trafficking in persons.
-- In addition to the short list of recommendations
corresponding to our concerns that resulted in your
government,s placement on Tier 2 in the 2009 TIP Report, we
offer additional suggestions of actions that your government
may choose to take (Action Plan for the Long Term). These
further measures would be in addition to Hong Kong,s
continuation of its current efforts to combat trafficking in
persons.
End talking points.
7. (SBU) Begin Action Plan:
A. Action Plan for the Short-Term: The following are
STATE 00087524 003 OF 004
recommended measures for action during the 2009-2010
reporting period (to avoid a tier ranking downgrade):
1. Through training and revision of standard procedures,
intensify efforts to integrate trafficking in persons
concerns into investigations of illegal immigration, labor
violations and crimes including involuntary servitude of
foreign domestic workers, and commercial sex offenses to
increase TIP prosecutions
-- Punishments limited to administrative penalties such as
bans on future hiring, fines, and payment of back-wages to
victims are not considered sufficiently stringent to deter
trafficking in persons crimes.
2. Create and implement formal procedures to proactively
identify victims of trafficking among vulnerable groups, such
as women and girls in the commercial sex industry and persons
arrested for immigration violations, and refer them to
adequate victim services, such as shelters operated by NGOs.
3. Institute procedures to ensure that victims are not
arrested, incarcerated, or otherwise punished for acts
committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Ensure
that standards exist to make foreign victims of trafficking
aware of their options regarding relief from removal from
Hong Kong, including printed information in key languages.
--Trafficking victims should not be subjected to deportations
or forced returns without safeguards or other measures to
reduce the risk of hardship, retribution, or re-trafficking.
At a minimum, destination countries should contact a
competent governmental body, NGO, or IO in relevant source
country to ensure that trafficked persons who return to their
country of origin are provided with assistance and support
necessary to their well-being.
4. Conduct a visible public awareness campaign that
educates clients of the sex trade, aimed at reducing demand
for commercial sex acts.
B. Action Plan for the Long Term: The following are other
recommended measures, which would strengthen Hong Kong,s
overall anti-trafficking program:
Prosecution
-------------------
--Dedicate increased resources to the investigation and
prosecution of human trafficking cases, such as dedicated
anti-trafficking investigators and prosecutors, and/or
increased funding levels to anti-trafficking law enforcement
entities.
--Strengthen collaboration with diplomatic missions of
suspected trafficking source countries to identify possible
trafficking cases for investigation by Hong Kong police.
--Continue to work closely with NGO,s assisting in the
identification of human traffickers in order to prosecute
more offenders of trafficking.
Protection
---------------------------
--Increase activities to train and sensitize law enforcement
officers, judges, prosecutors, attorneys, and other
government officials about human trafficking, the proactive
identification of trafficking victims, victim referral
procedures, and the effective and victim-sensitive handling
of both sex and labor trafficking cases.
--Enforce existing Hong Kong laws on holding travel documents
and other identification as collateral on debts.
Ensure officers investigating TIP or related offenses are
aware of options under Hong Kong law to provide protection to
victims of trafficking, including in particular to victims
participating in the prosecution of their traffickers, who
may be at risk of retaliation or retribution by their
traffickers.
-- Engage and cooperate closely with governments of source
countries/territories on the safe repatriation of trafficking
victims and the prosecution of their traffickers.
Prevention
---------------------------
STATE 00087524 004 OF 004
-- Have senior government officials use public forums to
address the human trafficking problem to educate and warn the
general public about trafficking.
-- Work closely with non-governmental organizations, such as
migrant worker groups, and international organizations on
trafficking in persons.
End non-paper.
8. (U) The Department appreciates Post's efforts to address
trafficking in persons issues.
CLINTON
| HONG KONG: TIP TIER 2 ACTION PLAN (2009-2010) | |
2009 August 21, 21:59 (Friday) |
09STATE87524_a |
UNCLASSIFIED,FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY |
UNCLASSIFIED,FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY |
|
-- Not Assigned -- |
13057 |
-- Not Assigned -- |
TEXT ONLINE |
-- Not Assigned -- |
TE - Telegram (cable) |
|
-- N/A or Blank -- -- N/A or Blank -- |
-- Not Assigned -- |
-- Not Assigned -- |
|
Content
Raw content
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 087524
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP, PREL, KCRM, KWMN, PHUM, SMIG, HK
SUBJECT: HONG KONG: TIP TIER 2 ACTION PLAN (2009-2010)
REF: A. 2008 STATE 132759
B. 2007 STATE 150188
C. 2009 STATE 005577
D. 2009 STATE 62182
1. (U) This is an action request (see paras 2-4).
2. (SBU) Begin action request: Drawing from points in para
6, Post is requested to approach appropriate host government
officials to highlight the United States' strong commitment
to continue to work with the Government of Hong Kong to help
strengthen its efforts to combat and prevent trafficking in
persons (TIP) and to assist victims. Post is requested to
convey the recommendations in para 7 as a non-paper and draw
from the talking points in para 6 to explain to the host
government that efforts to address the first set of
recommendations will help the government maintain a Tier 2
ranking and avoid a downgrade to Tier 2 Watch List or Tier 3
in the upcoming 2010 TIP Report. Additional recommendations
are included in para 7 to aid the host government in making
progress in its overall anti-TIP efforts. The notes
indicated in brackets in the action plan are for post,s
background only and may be omitted from the non-paper. The
&Implementation Guidelines8 referenced in the action plan
notes are contained in reftel B. These guidelines provide
guidance to posts on how the Minimum Standards of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended, (TVPA) are
implemented, and have been cleared by regional bureaus.
3. (SBU) Action request continued: Post is further
requested to emphasize to the Government of Hong Kong that
the first set of recommendations is designed to help the
government show evidence of increasing efforts to combat TIP
since the beginning of the reporting period in April 2009 and
thus avoid a tier ranking downgrade. The longer set of other
recommendations show the government steps that, if taken,
could result in an elevation to Tier 1. Sustained and
significant anti-trafficking efforts by the government
throughout the year will remain the basis for determining
next year's tier placement. We will reconsider the
government's tier placement when we conduct our annual full
assessment for the April 2009 to March 2010 reporting period
next spring.
4. (SBU) In preparation for the 2010 TIP Report, the
Department is asking posts to work with host governments
throughout the year to collect as many statistics as possible
on law enforcement actions and judicial proceedings related
to TIP crimes; specifically the Department requests data on
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences
(e.g., fines, probation, length of prison sentences imposed,
asset seizure information when available). Whether a
government collects and provides this data consistent with
the government's capacity to obtain such data is considered
in determining whether the government qualifies for Tier 1.
Law enforcement statistics, when available, are a good way of
highlighting how well a government enforced its law and
demonstrates strengths and weaknesses in various approaches.
Please note that host governments and embassies must
interpret data terms provided by host governments such as
indictments, charges, cases disposed, cases submitted for
prosecution, etc., to ensure that they fit into one of the
following categories: investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, or sentences.
The Department cannot accept "trafficking-related" law
enforcement statistics (e.g., statistics on prostitution or
smuggling offenses) because their direct correlation to
trafficking crimes is not clear. The Department will accept
only law enforcement data that fall into the following
categories: (1) investigations, prosecutions, convictions,
and sentences for offenses that are explicitly defined as
trafficking; and (2) investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences for offenses that are not defined
explicitly as trafficking but in which the competent law
enforcement or judicial authority has specific evidence
indicating that the defendant was involved in trafficking.
5. (SBU) Please keep in mind the TIP Report measures host
government efforts. In order for anti-trafficking activities
financed or conducted principally by parties outside the
government to be considered for tier placement purposes, Post
needs to demonstrate a concrete role or tangible value-added
by a host government in such activities carried out by NGOs,
international organizations, or posts.
STATE 00087524 002 OF 004
6. (U) Background Points:
Begin talking points:
-- The Obama Administration views the fight against human
trafficking, both at home and abroad, as a critical piece of
our foreign policy agenda. We are committed to making
progress on this issue in the months ahead by working closely
with partners in every country to encourage their
anti-trafficking efforts, as well as seeking out additional
ways to improve our own.
-- Human trafficking is a global phenomenon. It touches
every country in the world, including the United States, and
we have a responsibility to fight it just as our partners do.
The United States funds anti-trafficking programs in nearly
70 countries, as well as 42 domestic task forces that bring
state and local authorities together with NGOs to combat
trafficking within U.S. borders. But there is much more to
do, and the United States is committed to working hard during
the next year to improve its record against TIP.
-- In addition to setting forth a framework for the United
States, domestic efforts to combat human trafficking, the
U.S. Government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act requires
the State Department to submit an annual report to Congress
on the status of foreign governments, efforts to combat
trafficking in persons. Pursuant to the Trafficking Victims
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA), the
Department places each country in the 2009 TIP Report onto
one of three tier lists. Placement is based more on the
extent of government action to combat trafficking than on the
size of the problem, although that is also an important
factor. The Department first evaluates whether the
government fully complies with the TVPA,s minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking, which are detailed on
pages 314-315 of the 2009 TIP Report, and on the State
Department,s website. Governments that fully comply are
placed on Tier 1. For other governments, the Department
considers the extent of efforts to reach compliance.
-- Governments that are making significant efforts to meet
the minimum standards are placed on Tier 2. Pursuant to the
TVPRA, the State Department also created a special category
known as Tier 2 Watch List for Tier 2 countries that do not
show increasing efforts from the previous year, have a very
significant number of victims, or whose Tier 2 rating is
based on commitments to take additional steps over the next
year. Governments that do not fully comply with the minimum
standards and are not making significant efforts to do so are
placed on Tier 3.
-- Hong Kong was placed on Tier 2 in this year's Report
because it does not fuly comply with the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so.
-- We offer the following recommended actions (Action Plan
for the Short-Term) to tackle specific concerns highlighted
in the 2009 TIP Report. We believe these to be within the
reasonable ability of your government to fulfill in the
near-term and encourage you to take prompt action to address
them. We will reconsider a government,s tier placement when
we conduct our annual full assessment for the 2009-2010
reporting period next spring. Prompt, appropriate, and
significant actions will lead to a more favorable tier
placement; conversely, failure to address the issues
mentioned above may lead to a Tier 2 Watch List or Tier 3
placement.
-- We would welcome the Government of Hong Kong,s comments
on these recommendations and any other ideas you might have
to advance our common struggle against trafficking in persons.
-- In addition to the short list of recommendations
corresponding to our concerns that resulted in your
government,s placement on Tier 2 in the 2009 TIP Report, we
offer additional suggestions of actions that your government
may choose to take (Action Plan for the Long Term). These
further measures would be in addition to Hong Kong,s
continuation of its current efforts to combat trafficking in
persons.
End talking points.
7. (SBU) Begin Action Plan:
A. Action Plan for the Short-Term: The following are
STATE 00087524 003 OF 004
recommended measures for action during the 2009-2010
reporting period (to avoid a tier ranking downgrade):
1. Through training and revision of standard procedures,
intensify efforts to integrate trafficking in persons
concerns into investigations of illegal immigration, labor
violations and crimes including involuntary servitude of
foreign domestic workers, and commercial sex offenses to
increase TIP prosecutions
-- Punishments limited to administrative penalties such as
bans on future hiring, fines, and payment of back-wages to
victims are not considered sufficiently stringent to deter
trafficking in persons crimes.
2. Create and implement formal procedures to proactively
identify victims of trafficking among vulnerable groups, such
as women and girls in the commercial sex industry and persons
arrested for immigration violations, and refer them to
adequate victim services, such as shelters operated by NGOs.
3. Institute procedures to ensure that victims are not
arrested, incarcerated, or otherwise punished for acts
committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Ensure
that standards exist to make foreign victims of trafficking
aware of their options regarding relief from removal from
Hong Kong, including printed information in key languages.
--Trafficking victims should not be subjected to deportations
or forced returns without safeguards or other measures to
reduce the risk of hardship, retribution, or re-trafficking.
At a minimum, destination countries should contact a
competent governmental body, NGO, or IO in relevant source
country to ensure that trafficked persons who return to their
country of origin are provided with assistance and support
necessary to their well-being.
4. Conduct a visible public awareness campaign that
educates clients of the sex trade, aimed at reducing demand
for commercial sex acts.
B. Action Plan for the Long Term: The following are other
recommended measures, which would strengthen Hong Kong,s
overall anti-trafficking program:
Prosecution
-------------------
--Dedicate increased resources to the investigation and
prosecution of human trafficking cases, such as dedicated
anti-trafficking investigators and prosecutors, and/or
increased funding levels to anti-trafficking law enforcement
entities.
--Strengthen collaboration with diplomatic missions of
suspected trafficking source countries to identify possible
trafficking cases for investigation by Hong Kong police.
--Continue to work closely with NGO,s assisting in the
identification of human traffickers in order to prosecute
more offenders of trafficking.
Protection
---------------------------
--Increase activities to train and sensitize law enforcement
officers, judges, prosecutors, attorneys, and other
government officials about human trafficking, the proactive
identification of trafficking victims, victim referral
procedures, and the effective and victim-sensitive handling
of both sex and labor trafficking cases.
--Enforce existing Hong Kong laws on holding travel documents
and other identification as collateral on debts.
Ensure officers investigating TIP or related offenses are
aware of options under Hong Kong law to provide protection to
victims of trafficking, including in particular to victims
participating in the prosecution of their traffickers, who
may be at risk of retaliation or retribution by their
traffickers.
-- Engage and cooperate closely with governments of source
countries/territories on the safe repatriation of trafficking
victims and the prosecution of their traffickers.
Prevention
---------------------------
STATE 00087524 004 OF 004
-- Have senior government officials use public forums to
address the human trafficking problem to educate and warn the
general public about trafficking.
-- Work closely with non-governmental organizations, such as
migrant worker groups, and international organizations on
trafficking in persons.
End non-paper.
8. (U) The Department appreciates Post's efforts to address
trafficking in persons issues.
CLINTON
Metadata
VZCZCXRO8656
OO RUEHCN
DE RUEHC #7524/01 2332218
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 212159Z AUG 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG IMMEDIATE 7262
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9986
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 4260
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0830
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