VZCZCXRO0426
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCG #0103/01 0381112
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071112Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0638
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2264
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4974
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0711

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP GPATEL AND SCA/INS FOR CSIM AND SGANDHI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN SOCI KCRM ELAB PHUM PREL IN
SUBJECT: ROOTING OUT TRAFFICKING IN ANDHRA PRADESH 
 
REF: CHENNAI 77 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On January 29, G/TIP Trafficking in Persons 
Coordinator Gayatri Patel and Embassy INL officer met with NGOs and 
law enforcement officials in Hyderabad, the capital of the south 
India state of Andhra Pradesh (AP), to review projects to combat the 
trafficking of women and children into prostitution and forced 
labor.  Their visit followed the recent announcement by the UN 
Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) of the establishment of 
Anti-Trafficking Units in AP.  The AP state police have welcomed 
UNODC's selection of Andhra Pradesh as one of the focus states, and 
NGOs are positive about new policy changes by enforcement 
authorities to curb trafficking perpetrators.  With the assistance 
of the Anti-Trafficking Units, state police have arrested as many as 
122 suspects in January 2007, a positive trend which is likely to 
continue in the coming months. 
 
USG CONTRIBUTES TO LARGEST LAW ENFORCEMENT TIP PROJECT 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On January 22, the UNODC and the Andhra Pradesh government 
announced the opening of the first of three Anti-Human Trafficking 
Units to train law enforcement officials on various aspects of human 
trafficking.  This positive development is a result of a 2005 
agreement between the United States, India, and the UNODC to train 
and sensitize Indian law enforcement officials and prosecutors to 
work with victims of human trafficking and to bring to justice those 
who abuse them.  In addition to Andhra Pradesh, the units also are 
targeting other focus states prone to trafficking, including Bihar, 
Goa, Maharashtra, and West Bengal.  With a USG contribution of $2.5 
million, this is the single largest anti-trafficking project in the 
world.  Under the agreement, the UNODC will implement the project 
and the Government of India (GOI) will chair the planning and 
implementation meetings to establish the Anti-Trafficking Units. 
 
NGOS FIGHTING AGAINST CHILD LABOR, TRAFFICKING 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶3. (U) In a late January meeting in Hyderabad with the M V 
Foundation (MVF), an NGO that deals with the twin problems of child 
labor and illiteracy, contacts revealed that many of the children 
trafficked from Bihar are sent into construction work in Andhra 
Pradesh.  MVF focuses its activities on releasing children from 
labor, rehabilitation, and it uses its bridge schools to mainstream 
children back into formal schools.  The visiting USG team toured a 
canteen/food parlor run by trafficked victims who earn about $55 
(Rs. 2,500) per month.  This is a project of local NGO Ankuram, 
assisted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 
aimed at helping trafficking victims become economically 
independent. 
 
¶4. (U) In Hyderabad, the USG team also visited Prajwala Astha Nivas, 
a home for child survivors of sex trafficking, and Prajwala 
Enterprises, a training and production center for young female 
survivors of sex trafficking.   The Astha Niwas home now care for 
120 children between the ages 3 and 15 years, most of whom are the 
children of sex workers and are HIV positive.  Astha Niwas also is a 
school for these children, and it offers a safe and secure 
family-like environment for them to grow and develop, despite their 
traumatic experiences.  Prajwala Enterprises is a training and 
production unit created in 2004 as an economic empowerment program 
for survivors of sex trafficking.  Over 200 young women survivors of 
commercial sexual exploitation between 18 and 35 years of age have 
undergone training there based on their aptitude in trades such as 
welding, carpentry, fabrication, photo lamination, screen printing, 
off-set printing, and book binding.  After three months of training 
the women become full-time workers and are involved in all stages of 
production process.  Prajwala's project is a prime example of 
rescue, rehabilitation of women and children, and economic 
empowerment of trafficked victims. 
 
ANDHRA PRADESH GOVT. AND POLICE TAKE ON TRAFFICKING 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) In a meeting with the USG visitors, Mr. Basith, AP Director 
General of Police, questioned the suggestion that inadequate 
governmental efforts to combat trafficking created huge challenges 
for NGOs providing support like trauma care, health, education, and 
livelihood skills to victims.  DGP Basith said he considers the 
UNODC project a "double-edged weapon for curbing the evil of 
trafficking."  As part of the Anti-Trafficking Units project, the 
Crime Investigation Department of the AP Police has created a 
Compendium of Instructions to cover all aspects of anti-human 
trafficking as well as the role of the police in rescue and arrest 
operations and the Department of Women and Child Welfare, NGOs, and 
other government departments.  The Department of Women and Child 
Welfare also has been at the forefront of the AP state government's 
 
CHENNAI 00000103  002 OF 002 
 
 
efforts to combat trafficking by forming one of the first 
anti-trafficking committees and campaigning at the district level 
against trafficking of adolescent girls. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In reviewing the state's legal system to prosecute 
traffickers, NGO representatives consider the use of non-bailable 
sections like 366A, 372, 373, 376, etc. of the Indian Penal Code a 
positive step.  Earlier, cases were booked under the Immoral 
Trafficking Prevention Act which permitted the traffickers to obtain 
release on bail within 48 hours.  NGOs also informed the visitors 
that the AP government now offers Rs. 10,000 in compensation to TIP 
victims, similar to that available to victims under the Bonded Labor 
Act. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  In 2006, the district police in AP Nalgonda district 
received the Civil Rights Award and the Motorola Webber Seavy Law 
Enforcement Award from the International Association of Chiefs of 
Police (IACP), based in Virginia.  The awards recognized their 
Project Aasara, an initiative to combat organized prostitution by 
partnering with education, women, and child welfare departments as 
well as with local NGOs.  In Nalgonda, some of the main perpetrators 
of trafficking are the Domras, a backward caste community practicing 
traditional customs of prostitution.  USAID has also supported these 
anti-trafficking efforts through projects like Aasra and the Child 
and Police Project (CAP) which have reached out to 150 Domra 
families to successfully curb third generation trafficking. 
 
¶8. (SBU) COMMENT:  With the USG funded and UNODC initiated 
Anti-Trafficking Units, we certainly can expect more traffickers to 
be arrested in Andhra Pradesh and, eventually, across India.  The AP 
state police appeared satisfied on their efforts to support the 
UNODC project and their achievement of tangible results.  This 
includes arrests of 122 traffickers, brothel owners, and agents in 
January 2007.  Previously, police had arrested several other 
traffickers and rescued numerous victims (reftel).  Mr. Umapathi, 
the senior AP state government official in charge of 
anti-trafficking activities, projects the arrest of least a thousand 
traffickers by the end of the year.  He says with stronger systems 
in place to provide witness protection and victim support, arresting 
traffickers becomes much easier.  While human trafficking remains a 
serious concern in Andhra Pradesh and India, efforts like the UNODC 
project demonstrate the positive impact that trained law enforcement 
officials can have by working together with government departments, 
NGOs, and community players.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶9. (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy New Delhi. 
 
HOPPER