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FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0964
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2109
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 16 VIENTIANE 000185 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS 
DEPT FOR EAP/RSP 
DEPT FOR G 
DEPT FOR G/TIP 
DEPT FOR INL 
DEPT FOR PRM 
DEPT FOR DRL 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC PREF KFRD PREL
LA 
SUBJECT: SEVENTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT FOR LAOS 
 
REF: 06 STATE 202745 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Laos is overwhelmingly a sending country 
for trafficking, although on a small scale it is also a 
receiving country.  The vast majority of Lao who seek work 
abroad, including those who are victims of trafficking, go to 
Thailand, where cultural and linguistic similarities and an 
abundance of work opportunities ensure Lao can find ready 
employment.  Laos' trafficking problem is largely a matter of 
economics: Laos is among the poorest countries in Asia, and 
its poverty and abundance of unemployed or underemployed 
youth provide a steady stream of laborers to Thailand. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In the past, the Government of Laos (GoL) paid 
attention to trafficking to the extent it believed it could 
gain political capital from the issue.  However, the 
government has begun to take the issue more seriously.  While 
the GoL still portrays Laos as an innocent country whose 
citizens are being preyed upon by nefarious foreign 
traffickers, especially those from Thailand, it has begun to 
accept the fact that many of those complicit in trafficking 
are Lao.  The GoL readily professes its desire to control 
trafficking because Laos is a victim country.  However, the 
government remains less willing to engage the issue of 
internal trafficking or collusion of Lao officials.  The GoL 
denies any official complicity in trafficking.  No officials 
have been punished for involvement in trafficking, although 
local level authorities are almost certainly involved in 
efforts to smuggle Lao workers to Thailand and/or to other 
parts of Laos. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Lao police are by-and-large unskilled in 
investigations and unknowledgeable about trafficking crimes. 
Corruption within Laos' police and court system has made it 
relatively easy for traffickers to avoid prosecution.  The 
GoL has, however, increased its efforts to arrest and 
prosecute traffickers.  The government reported having 
carried out 27 TIP investigations between April 2006 and 
February 2007 resulting in 12 prosecutions.  Moreover, the 
government has increased its awareness-raising activities 
through the use of print, radio, and television media. 
During 2006, the Lao Women's Union (LWU) - one of the most 
effective mass organizations in Laos - also made significant 
efforts to disseminate the 2004 Law on Women and provided 
training to officials in several provinces. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Recent studies indicate that the number of Lao 
migrating to Thailand in search of work has increased.  Many 
of these migrants make their own way to Thailand but others 
sometimes fall prey to traffickers as they seek assistance 
from middlemen either to obtain necessary documents for 
crossing the border or to arrange onward employment.  Many, 
if not most, of these migrants go to Thailand knowing the 
risks but attracted by wages that are far higher than at 
home.  Based on studies of Lao seeking employment in 
Thailand, most who make the trip are not the poorest, who 
lack the means to go, but are relatively well-off farmers or 
their children who live close to the Mekong and have a 
familiarity with Thailand.  Lao workers in Thailand 
undoubtedly face many difficulties, as many returnees relate, 
but many find the rewards worth the risks and remain in 
Thailand for years.  Many of those repatriated to Laos 
eventually return to Thailand to seek employment.  End 
summary. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Hereafter paragraphs are keyed to the paragraphs and 
questions in reftel, with the paragraph numbers from reftel 
given in roman numerals.  The entire text of the 2007 TIP 
report for Laos is sensitive but unclassified (SBU). 
 
XXVII. Overview of Country's Activities to Eliminate 
Trafficking in Persons 
 
A and B. Laos is primarily a source country for trafficking, 
with the vast majority of those trafficked going to Thailand. 
 Some surveys have indicated that perhaps as many as 8,500 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  002 OF 016 
 
 
persons from each of the nine provinces along the Mekong 
River move to Thailand in search of work each year.  A 2003 
labor migration survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor and 
Social Welfare (MLSW) and the Lao National Statistics Center 
found that there were almost 44,000 Lao from Savannakhet 
Province alone (out of a total provincial population of 
approximately 758,000) working as irregular migrants in 
Thailand.  The majority of migrant laborers, and by extension 
of trafficking victims, originate from central and southern 
Lao provinces and Vientiane Municipality.  While there are no 
exact figures on numbers of Lao in Thailand, the Thai 
government has estimated that there are 180,000 Lao in 
Thailand at any time, some working seasonally and others 
living there more-or-less permanently. 
 
There are no figures on how many of these persons are 
actually trafficked, although some NGOs involved with 
trafficking believe that perhaps 15-20,000 persons each year 
are "trafficked" in some sense: their travel across the 
border is brokered, assisted, or controlled in some way, and 
someone other than the migrant profits from this.  A 2004 
International Office for Migration (IOM) study of trafficking 
along the Lao-Thai border noted the widespread use of brokers 
by trafficking victims, although little research on this 
issue has been conducted. 
 
Some Lao who seek work in Thailand fall victim to the worst 
forms of trafficking; the majority of these victims are 
females, but males are also victims, especially of 
exploitative labor.  UNICEF believes that there are four 
areas where Lao are most likely to fall victim to 
exploitative conditions: prostitution, domestic labor and 
factory work (both for women), and the southern Thai fishing 
industry (for men).  Most Lao working illegally in Thailand 
do so in Bangkok (especially in factories, domestic labor and 
prostitution), with a smaller number working in the northeast 
(prostitution and migrant farm labor).  NGO surveys indicate 
the majority of Lao who seek work in Thailand do so willingly 
and in most cases with foreknowledge of the types of work 
they will be doing.  This is especially true of lowland Lao, 
who make up the bulk of those seeking work in Thailand; 
lowland Lao are familiar with Thailand, generally already 
able to speak its language, and have little difficulty 
melding into Thai society. 
 
A small number of ethnic minorities from Laos also seek work 
in Thailand.  While the UN Interagency Project on People 
Trafficking (UNIAP) believes the number of minorities 
trafficked to Thailand is small, minorities are far more 
vulnerable to exploitation than are lowland Lao because of 
their lack of Thai language skills and overall unfamiliarity 
with Thai society.  Recent evidence indicates that the number 
of minority trafficking victims from Laos increased during 
the past year.  Both lowland Lao and ethnic minorities have 
traditionally had little legal recourse in Thailand, as they 
are illegal. 
 
The 2002 bilateral MOU between Thailand and Laos on labor has 
the potential to improve the situation of illegal immigrants 
rescued from abusive situations.  However, the MOU has been 
only partially implemented to date.  The Lao and Thai also 
signed an anti-trafficking MOU in mid-2005 that established 
the framework for cooperation between the two governments.  A 
Lao-Thai Joint Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking was 
completed in late 2006.  IOM has been a key supporter of 
Lao-Thai efforts to implement all elements of the MOU. 
According to IOM, only about 50 percent of the activities 
associated with the MOU have been implemented to date.  The 
February 27, 2007, signing of an MOU between the GoL and IOM, 
however, will allow IOM to have a presence in Laos and to 
work more closely with the GoL on implementation. 
 
Laos is almost exclusively a source country.  Because of the 
country's extreme poverty and poor wages, few traffickers see 
Laos as a destination for their victims.   One exception 
includes a small number of Chinese women who have been 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  003 OF 016 
 
 
trafficked into some areas in the far north of the country 
for prostitution servicing a Chinese clientele there.  In 
addition, the number of Vietnamese women and girls working in 
the sex service industry in southern Laos appears to have 
increased.  In at least one southern province, Vietnamese are 
estimated to make up more than 50 percent of sex service 
workers.  Out of concern that an ADB-funded road project in 
northern Laos, being built largely with Thai and Chinese 
contractors, may fuel an inflow of Chinese and Thai 
prostitutes to service work crews, ADB has undertaken an 
anti-trafficking project in three northern provinces. 
Anecdotal evidence suggests that, while prostitution did 
appear to increase along the Thai constructed portion of the 
highway, there was little evidence of a similar increase 
along the Chinese constructed portion.  Chinese work crews 
reportedly crossed back into China during the weekends rather 
than spending their free time in Laos. 
 
Laos also serves as a transit country in a small number of 
cases. In one case in late 2004, officials from the Lao 
Anti-People Trafficking Unit (LAPTU) within the Immigration 
Department of the Ministry of Public Security intercepted a 
group of five Chinese children near the Cambodian border and 
arrested the Cambodian national who had brought them from 
China.  The children were eventually returned to their home 
villages in China by the Chinese Embassy in Vientiane.  Some 
human smugglers have also operated out of Laos to facilitate 
onward travel of persons seeking to migrate to developed 
countries.  In 2004, for example, Lao police shut down a 
safehouse being used by alien smugglers to hold South Asians 
transiting to third countries and deported the Bangladeshi 
national in charge of the operation. 
 
Most Lao going to work in Thailand are ethnic lowland Lao, 
especially those from areas close to the Mekong River and 
adjoining Thailand.  Although some of these Lao are 
trafficked to Thailand, the large majority go to Thailand on 
their own, following the advice of friends and relatives. 
Others use the services of middlemen to help them locate work 
in Thailand.  The groups most vulnerable to the worst forms 
of trafficking are minors, especially girls, and highland 
minorities from Laos' interior.  There are no accurate 
statistics on the numbers of minorities who have been 
trafficked, but in 2006 some shelters for trafficking victims 
in Thailand have reported an increase in ethnic minority 
victims from Laos.  With strong language barriers and no 
experience out of their remote cultural contexts, such people 
are particularly vulnerable to deception. 
 
The prevailing people-smuggling mode in Laos remains 
transportation to a job in exchange for payment up front. Lao 
people in lowland areas are anxious to obtain work abroad, 
and are willing to pay traffickers to assist them in seeking 
work, especially in neighboring Thailand.  Traffickers fit no 
particular profile. Most are probably Lao nationals with 
experience in assisting cross-border labor movement.  There 
are likely also some Thai traffickers operating in Laos 
intermittently.  Some recruiters and smugglers of people are 
helping fellow villagers, even family members, to migrate, 
while others probably make trafficking a full-time business. 
In one case, a Lao trafficker arrested in Savannakhet 
Province in 2005 had connections with the owners of a garment 
factory in Thailand, and he trafficked young women to this 
factory with apparent foreknowledge of the exploitative 
conditions in which they would be working. 
 
Most Lao learn of work opportunities in Thailand by word of 
mouth, from those who have made the trip and returned and in 
many cases from friends and family members.  In at least some 
cases, particularly of young women involved in prostitution 
in Thailand, the women themselves act as recruiters for 
others when they return to Laos to visit family and friends. 
IOM's 2004 study of trafficking between Laos and Thailand 
found that nearly one-third of Lao trafficking victims had 
family members in Thailand, suggesting this may have been a 
factor in their decision to seek work there.  IOM also found 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  004 OF 016 
 
 
that almost all trafficking victims interviewed for its study 
had used a broker to arrange their travel to Thailand; often 
one broker assisted them to leave Laos and another in 
Thailand assisted them in onward travel to employment in 
Bangkok. Most of those trafficked traveled with a small group 
of friends or relatives.  Brokers' fees varied widely, from 
as little as 500 baht (about $14) to as much as 30,000 baht 
($880). 
The majority, however, paid between 2,500-7,000 baht 
($75-$205) in broker fees. 
 
Corruption of Lao border officials and village authorities 
facilitated human smuggling.  Smugglers assisted persons 
going to Thailand by arranging to obtain their travel papers 
from authorities for fees.  These Lao officials have often 
been complicit in the smuggling and have been aware of the 
intentions of those traveling to Thailand.  False documents 
have sometimes been used to transport people to other 
countries but have not been needed to enter Thailand.  Border 
crossing cards are easily obtainable; they are only valid for 
a few days' travel and only for specific Thai provinces, but 
once across the border the holders easily ignored these 
restrictions.  Some smaller numbers of Lao entered Thailand 
without documentation, usually crossing the Mekong River by 
boat. 
 
IOM's 2004 trafficking study extrapolates information 
obtained from interviews with 124 Lao women repatriated from 
Thailand to draw a picture of trafficking in Laos.  The study 
confirmed much of what NGOs working on the issue in Laos had 
already believed to be true: most of these 124 trafficking 
victims came from central and southern Laos; they migrated 
for economic reasons; they were overwhelmingly from rural 
(but not exceptionally poor) backgrounds; most were employed 
in domestic labor and factory work (only 6 of the 124 were 
employed in the sex industry); and most had been deceived 
about the conditions, but not the type, of work they went 
into. 
 
¶C. The GoL opposes trafficking, based on official government 
pronouncements and on conversations with senior officials. 
The GoL cooperates with NGO programs to limit trafficking but 
lacks its own resources and often takes a political view 
(i.e. blaming Thailand) of the issue.  At the urging of NGOs, 
international organizations, and foreign missions, the GoL 
has taken some positive steps.  It ratified the Convention on 
the Rights of the Child in June 1991 and established the 
National Commission for Mothers and Children in 1992.  In 
December 2006, the GoL passed a Law on the Protection of 
Children that includes a trafficking component.  The Lao 
Women's Union (LWU), a broad-based mass organization, has 
been involved in anti-trafficking efforts since the 
mid-1990s.  The LWU has been active, within its limited 
means, in protection and prevention work. 
 
Beginning in 2002 the GoL elevated anti-trafficking to be a 
national priority.  Since that time, Laos has signed a 
memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Thai Government 
regarding border control issues, including trafficking, with 
particular reference to labor and repatriation procedures. 
In 2005, Laos and Thailand negotiated an MOU specifically on 
Cooperation to Combat Trafficking.  IOM has provided support 
for Lao and Thai efforts to implement the MOU, but IOM has 
lacked the full time presence in Laos that is needed to 
establish regular contact and provide implementation 
assistance.  The GoL signed an MOU with IOM on February 27, 
2007, that will allow IOM to open an office in Vientiane. 
IOM expects to provide more regular assistance to Laos in 
implementing the Lao-Thai MOU once its new office is 
established. 
 
Laos is a member of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial 
Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) process, established 
in 2004, and under COMMIT the GoL has established a 
Ministerial Committee on Trafficking with members including a 
Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Security as 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  005 OF 016 
 
 
Secretary.  Laos hosted the COMMIT meeting in 2006.  The 
 
SIPDIS 
meeting elevated the level of attention given to the 
trafficking problem throughout the region and ensured an 
increase in GoL resources (especially in the form of staff 
time to develop a national plan of action to combat TIP). 
Laos is a member of ASEAN and is signatory to the ASEAN 
Declaration Against Trafficking in Persons, particularly 
women and children, adopted at the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane 
in November 2004.  In addition, Laos signed the ASEAN 
Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of 
Migrant Workers in 2007.   The GoL held its first national 
meeting to combat human trafficking in 2006 and is near 
completion of its national plan to combat trafficking in 
persons. 
 
The higher level of development in Thailand, the long and 
porous border between Laos and Thailand, and the corruption 
of Lao border officials make controlling cross-border 
trafficking extremely difficult.  The GoL has signed MOUs 
with several NGOs desirous of doing anti-trafficking work and 
cooperates closely with IOM in facilitating the repatriation 
of trafficking victims from Thailand's Ban Kretakan Shelter 
outside Bangkok.  The GoL recognizes that its nationals 
abroad are a source of significant foreign exchange and has 
issued a decree permitting Lao people to work abroad, 
legitimizing the practice of Lao workers seeking seasonal 
work abroad.  This is paving the way for a more open attitude 
by the GoL toward economic migration, which will presumably 
contribute to a more positive environment for returned 
victims of trafficking. 
 
The 2002 Thai-Lao MOU on Labor has yet to be fully 
implemented because of organizational and logistical 
difficulties on both sides.  According to the MLSW, the 
process of identifying illegal Lao workers in Thailand on a 
large scale began in June 2005.  As of late 2005, more than 
33,000 Lao workers in Thailand had reportedly been identified 
and issued temporary validity Lao passports by the Lao 
Embassy.  Once issued temporary validity passports, Lao 
workers must have employment contracts with their Thai 
employers in order to receive Thai residence permits and to 
renew their temporary Lao passports.  Thai employers, 
however, have a disincentive to report their Lao workers, 
because legally contracted workers must be paid at least 
minimum wages.  The GoL did not provide an update in 2007, 
despite the Embassy's request, regarding the number of Lao 
workers in Thailand that have been documented.  However, a 
news article resulting from a meeting between the 
International Labor Organization (ILO) and the GoL in 
September 2006 indicated that there were more than 100,000 
Lao workers in Thailand, only 10 percent of whom held 
passports and work permits. 
 
The Lao MLSW has primary responsibility within the GoL for 
combating trafficking; through an Inter-Ministerial Committee 
on the Rights of Women, the MLSW has involved the Ministries 
of Justice (MOJ), Public Health (MOPH), and Foreign Affairs 
(MFA), as well as several party-led mass movements in an 
anti-trafficking effort, including the drafting of anti-TIP 
sections contained within the Law on Women. 
 
The MLSW, with NGO help, has run television and radio 
educational campaigns warning of the dangers of trafficking. 
The MLSW has a small unit devoted to children with special 
needs, including a program for protection against and 
prevention of trafficking.  With the help of the 
International Office of Migration (IOM), the MLSW opened a 
reception and processing center for returnees from 
trafficking situations in 2003 in Vientiane.  The GoL signed 
an MOU with IOM on February 27, 2007, that will allow IOM to 
open an office in Vientiane to better monitor return and 
reintegration activities throughout Laos.  A second center 
opened in late 2005 in Vientiane, with funding from UNICEF, 
the Japanese Government and the Asia Foundation.  This second 
center is operated by the LWU and assists both trafficking 
victims as well as victims of domestic violence.  At the end 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  006 OF 016 
 
 
of 2003, with Australian government funding, the Lao 
Immigration Department opened a TIP office under the auspices 
of both the MLSW and the MOJ.  The GoL plans to move the TIP 
office from the Immigration Department to the General Police 
Department within the Ministry of Public Security in March 
¶2007. 
 
District and provincial police and prosecutors are 
responsible for enforcing existing criminal laws that can be 
used against traffickers.  There is no special penal code 
provision against trafficking, but there are statutes on 
procuring, kidnapping, selling persons, and misleading minors 
into criminal activities.  In 2005 the National Assembly 
amended the criminal law to address transnational child 
trafficking.  The amended penal code provides for penalties 
of 20 years imprisonment and fines of 100 million kip 
($10,000 USD) for those convicted of transnational child 
trafficking.  In addition, the new Law on Women contains 
special provisions recognizing the rights of trafficking 
victims to legal protections. 
 
Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that local officials, 
especially police, are often aware of smuggling activities 
and that some profit from them in the form of kickbacks. 
There is also evidence that border officials permit smuggling 
of all kinds, and presumably this includes humans.  That 
said, the Lao-Thai border is extremely porous, and Lao going 
to Thailand can easily avoid official scrutiny. 
 
Lack of resources is the biggest impediment to the 
government's ability to address trafficking problems.  The 
GoL is largely dependent on the donor community to fund 
anti-trafficking activities, just as it depends on the donors 
to fund activities in almost every sector. 
Corruption is another serious problem: it is endemic in Laos, 
particularly in law enforcement where salaries are miniscule. 
 Poor human resources poses yet another problem. Few Lao 
officials have the knowledge base or skills to carry out 
their jobs at international standards. 
 
Many donors believe that resources for anti-trafficking 
should be focused on education and reintegration rather than 
on law enforcement.  Laos is only beginning to develop rule 
of law; the justice system is inefficient; and poor 
conditions in the penal system have raised serious human 
rights concerns in the international community.  Given the 
nature of the regime, calls for more police powers are 
inimical to USG political values, and pressure for heightened 
levels of police activity must be very carefully considered. 
Some NGOs and researchers also fear that an increased 
emphasis on shelters could lead to negative results, 
including shelters being operated more like detention 
facilities, particularly if the GoL runs the shelters with 
little or no oversight by NGOs. 
 
In the past, Lao authorities have sometimes fined returnees 
or sent them to "reeducation" seminars (sometimes lasting for 
weeks) for leaving the country without authorization or for 
remaining abroad longer than permitted.  With the MLSW 
getting behind efforts to repatriate victims of trafficking 
and to regularize the status of Lao workers in Thailand, 
there is growing consensus within the national government to 
end this system of punishing returnees.  The Prime Minister 
issued an order in December 2005 to stop the practice of 
fining or otherwise penalizing returnees from Thailand. 
Training for immigration officials followed issuance of the 
order.  Although training was not provided to all immigration 
officials, training was provided to immigration officials in 
Savannakhet Province in July 2006.  Savannakhet Province has 
been among the provinces with the most significant 
out-migration.  There is anecdotal evidence that the practice 
of fining returnees, often carried out by village and 
district level officials 
, has begun to diminish.  As of early 2007, the Lao 
government stopped requiring exit permits, which is likely to 
further reduce this practice. 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  007 OF 016 
 
 
 
On an informal level, police in Thailand and Laos cooperate 
in returning illegal Lao migrants.  Anecdotal evidence 
suggests that returnees from Thailand are sometimes 
incarcerated after returning to Laos and held for periods 
ranging from days to weeks in immigration detention 
facilities.  There are reportedly immigration centers in each 
province, but no outside NGOs or international organizations 
have been given access.  Returnees are also subjected to 
"reeducation" to warn them of the dangers of traveling to 
Thailand.  The new Law on Women prohibits authorities from 
punishing trafficking victims for illegal border crossing but 
is not yet fully disseminated and enforced. 
 
¶D.  The GoL, through the Ministerial Committee on 
Trafficking, the Inter-Ministerial Committee, and the MLSW, 
monitors the TIP situation, although it appears this 
monitoring is ad hoc and irregular.  MLSW officials are 
familiar with the trafficking issue but by-and-large lack the 
understanding of the issue found within the NGO community. 
The GoL has no official publication on this topic, other than 
the reports produced by the MLSW. International organizations 
currently working on TIP in Laos put out periodic reports, 
some of which are published.  UNIAP's Lao-language newsletter 
on trafficking developments effectively serves as the GoL's 
mouthpiece on this issue. 
 
XXVIII. Prevention: 
 
A and B. The GoL acknowledges trafficking as a problem and 
cooperates with NGOs conducting anti-trafficking programs. 
Senior officials have acknowledged the trafficking problem, 
and a Politburo member heads the Ministerial Committee on 
Trafficking.  The TIP issue touches upon Lao sensitivities 
about their lack of economic development, education, and 
sophistication.  Stories of Lao people mistreated in other 
countries have considerable currency, and the GoL is keen to 
put them into the public domain.  The TIP issue is one in 
which the GoL sees the Lao people as victims, and in which 
the GoL is guiltless; this serves the government's political 
ends of allowing it to blame problems on foreigners, 
particularly the Thai.  Mistreatment of repatriated Lao from 
Thailand by village and district level Lao officials, while 
reportedly widespread, is not acknowledged by the GoL. 
 
The Ministerial Committee on Trafficking is the lead entity 
on this issue and includes representatives from the 
Ministries of Public Security, Foreign Affairs, MLSW, and 
Justice, as well as the LWU, Lao Youth Union, and Lao 
Federation of Trade Unions.  In practice the Social Welfare 
Department in the MLSW is the agency responsible for 
day-to-day implementation of anti-trafficking work.  A 
committee within the MLSW provides oversight of activities 
related to combating the trafficking of women and children. 
The MLSW also has a seat on the Inter-Ministerial Committee 
on the Rights of Women and its Sub-Committee on TIP.  Also 
represented on that committee are the Immigration Department 
(Ministry of Public Security), the Ministry of Justice, the 
Ministry of Public Health, the LWU, and the Lao Youth Union. 
The Ministry of Education has also been invited to sit on the 
committee. 
 
The Lao government agency with the most interaction with the 
problem is the MLSW, which conducts a program for 
repatriation of girls returning from prostitution or forced 
labor.  The program began in 2002 and is meant to operate in 
conjunction with its Thai counterpart.  IOM sponsors this 
program, which includes a transit center in Vientiane for 
those repatriated from Thailand.  Since late 2001, more than 
800 women and girls have been processed through the MLSW 
shelter, about 260 of whom were processed in 2006. 
Processing typically lasted five to seven days, with the 
shelter providing housing while arrangements were made for 
the onward travel of the victims.  IOM is now inserting some 
skills training into the program.  On February 27, 2007, the 
GoL signed an MOU that will allow IOM to establish a branch 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  008 OF 016 
 
 
office in Vientiane to better assist with return and 
reintegration activities countrywide. 
 
The LWU also supports the GoL's anti-trafficking activities 
and, with its grass roots connections, partners with some 
NGOs such as the Asia Foundation in conducting anti-TIP 
programs.  As noted, UNICEF, the Asia Foundation and the 
Japanese government opened a joint shelter for trafficking 
victims in 2005.  This shelter, which is operated by the LWU, 
provides counseling, legal advice, shelter, and vocational 
training for trafficking victims as well as victims of 
domestic violence.  In 2006 the center assisted 17 
trafficking victims. 
 
¶C. Since 2001, the MLSW, acting with international NGOs, has 
conducted data collection and simultaneous parallel public 
education campaigns.  With NGO and UNICEF funding, the MLSW 
has sponsored media messages on the dangers of trafficking. 
In conjunction with UNICEF, the MLSW conducted a project in 
2006 that was designed to increase trafficking and HIV/AIDS 
awareness via a television and radio drama program.  The 
drama program was produced in the Lao, Hmong, and Khmu 
languages.  The MLSW also worked with UNICEF to set up 
awareness-raising billboards near border checkpoints and in 
Laos' larger cities.  On November 25, 2006, the LWU organized 
a workshop on the dissemination of the Law on Women and Prime 
Minister's Decree on the Development and Protection of Women 
for senior-level Lao officials. 
 
The Ministry of Education has not as yet cooperated in any 
sustained anti-trafficking educational program.  Many NGOs 
highlight the negative effects of trafficking in their 
education programs, however.  Anti-trafficking messages have 
occasionally been disseminated through schools in the 
provinces.  Since 2002, Village Focus International and World 
Education/Consortium have, with USG funding, conducted 
anti-trafficking education campaigns.  In 2005, with a small 
grant from the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking, 
the National University of Laos began to play a small role in 
conducting anti-trafficking media outreach and in 2006 hosted 
at least two awareness-raising events at the university 
library.  The library houses a small information center on 
human trafficking for students and faculty. 
 
In 2006 the national English language newspaper, the 
Vientiane Times, ran several articles regarding the dangers 
of human trafficking and the vulnerability of economic 
migrants.  However, the Vientiane Times is targeted to the 
international community in Vientiane, and not all the 
articles appeared in Lao language newspapers, therefore 
missing the audience in most need of information regarding 
trafficking.  Nevertheless, in 2006 the number of articles 
published in Lao language newspapers appeared to increase 
compared to 2005.  The LWU reported having published 15 
anti-trafficking news articles in various Lao print media and 
also broadcast three anti-TIP educational spots on Lao 
television during 2006. 
 
¶D. The GoL, particularly through the LWU and the Lao Youth 
Union mass party movements, officially supports women's roles 
in public decision-making.  Lao youth are officially (by the 
GoL) and unofficially (by NGOs) encouraged to stay in school. 
 However, the GoL invests very little in education.  Teacher 
salaries are woefully inadequate, and teacher training is 
poor.  Textbooks are very scarce.  Only a small percentage of 
Lao youth complete secondary school, and unemployment is high 
even among them.  Young women are apt to drop out after 
primary school, and literacy among women is only two-thirds 
of that among men.  Laos has few post-secondary educational 
or vocational training facilities. 
 
¶E. There are no domestic NGOs in Laos, and only a handful of 
domestic "associations," none engaged in anti-trafficking 
work.  All domestic organizations involved in 
anti-trafficking work, including mass organizations like the 
LWU and the Lao Youth Union, are controlled by the Communist 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  009 OF 016 
 
 
Party and closely adhere to Party directives.  International 
NGOs operate in Laos under close government scrutiny and with 
many government-imposed restrictions.  Some international 
NGOs in Laos include anti-trafficking messages as components 
of their health and welfare programs. 
 
The GoL devoted little money or staff to anti-trafficking 
until 2003.  After the MLSW cooperated with the ILO to do 
research in several provinces, in late 2003 the GoL began 
contributing floor space and personnel to a new anti-TIP 
office, funded by the Government of Australia and housed in 
the Immigration Department.  The GoL plans to move the office 
to the General Police Department in March 2007.  Outside of 
this limited contribution, the GoL has devoted very little of 
its own resources to anti-trafficking efforts and is 
dependent on foreign donors to fund anti-trafficking projects 
conducted outside normal government operations. 
 
¶F. The GoL cannot adequately police its borders, its border 
police are often corrupt, and smuggling in people and goods 
is widespread.  Laos shares long borders with five countries. 
 In most places borders can be crossed easily by land or by 
boat, and the Lao have very limited capacity to monitor 
border areas outside established immigration and customs 
posts. 
 
The MLSW had at one point planned to establish its own 
screening facility in Savannakhet Province but in 2006 
decided instead to allow the NGO Assistance for Women in 
Distressing Situations (AFESIP) to develop a shelter and 
screening center there.  A timeline for the development of 
the center is not yet in place.  AFESIP has thus far been 
unable to secure funding for the planned center. 
 
Within the past several years the GoL has stepped up 
cooperative efforts with neighboring countries, especially 
Vietnam, China, and Thailand, to better control its borders 
to prevent criminal activity, including human trafficking. 
The GoL does not document patterns of immigration and 
emigration.  As noted, the Law on Women decriminalized 
emigration without permission, but many local authorities may 
still treat returnees as criminals. 
 
¶G. There are several mechanisms for coordinating 
anti-trafficking issues among agencies, although it is 
unknown how well these mechanisms work in practice.  The 
Ministerial Committee on Trafficking, established in 2004 as 
part of Laos' COMMIT commitment, is one such avenue.  The 
National Commission for Mothers and Children, an 
inter-ministerial policy coordinating body that handles 
trafficking issues, is another.  A sub-set of this Commission 
is the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Rights of Women, 
which in turn has a sub-committee concerned specifically with 
TIP.  The government does not have a viable anti-corruption 
agency or mechanism. 
 
As noted above, Laos is a member of the COMMIT process and 
participates in its activities.  Laos hosted the COMMIT 
meeting in August 2006, which drew attention to the fact that 
Laos was the only Greater Mekong Sub-region country without 
at least a draft national plan of action to combat human 
trafficking.  During the COMMIT meeting, Laos identified the 
development of a national plan of action as its leading 
anti-TIP priority.  Laos is also a signatory to ASEAN 
anti-trafficking initiatives, including the ASEAN declaration 
against trafficking in persons. 
 
The government of Laos cooperates with United Nations 
agencies, particularly the UNIAP, to monitor, document, and 
suggest remedies for trafficking-related problems.  UNICEF is 
also heavily focused on dealing with this problem, mainly 
through research, but the GoL also cooperates with the IOM 
and ILO to research trafficking and child labor.  The MLSW 
and ILO are working together on the second phase of a plan to 
reduce the migration of children outside Laos.  The project 
focuses on capacity building for Lao officials, 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  010 OF 016 
 
 
awareness-raising in regard to child labor and human 
trafficking, as well as village development fund assistance 
for targeted villages.  Other NGOs, including Village Focus 
International and World Education/Consortium -- both 
USG-funded -- are working with the GoL on trafficking issues 
as well. 
 
¶H. The GoL's first attempt to develop a plan of action to 
address trafficking in persons was not well coordinated, 
having emerged from several meetings in which outsiders could 
not participate and in which the level of expertise was low. 
This plan was formulated by the MLSW with some limited UN 
agency assistance.  There is no evidence the plan was ever 
implemented in any meaningful way.  However, beginning in 
August 2006 with the National Workshop to Combat Human 
Trafficking, the GoL began work on a National Plan of Action. 
 The plan is being supported by UNIAP, and outsiders have 
been allowed to participate, so the plan's development is 
involving more stakeholders than had previously been the 
case.  The draft plan was completed in January 2007 and 
provided to concerned NGOs, international organizations, and 
foreign missions for comment.  With UNIAP assistance, the GoL 
is in the process of revising the draft plan based on 
stakeholder suggestions. 
 
XXIX: Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers: 
 
A, B, and C. As noted, the Law on Women, passed by the 
National Assembly in September 2004, contains provisions 
dealing with trafficking including sections defining the 
rights of trafficking victims.  The law was vetted by NGOs, 
including those active in anti-trafficking.  A U.S. Deputy 
District Attorney working with the Department of Justice's 
Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training 
(OPDAT) Program also vetted the draft of this law.  The LWU 
published a handbook explaining the Law on Women and also 
disseminated more than 7,000 copies of the law in 2006.  The 
Lao penal code has provisions against prostitution, 
procuring, kidnapping, selling persons, and, as of 2005, 
transnational child trafficking.  There are also statutes 
forbidding coercion and depriving people of wages.  The Law 
on the Protection of Children passed in December 2006 
provides legal protections for children against sexual 
exploitation, child labor, and child trafficking. 
 
¶D.  The penalty for rape or forcible sexual assault under the 
Lao penal code, Article 119, is three to five years 
imprisonment.  Abduction is punishable under Article 92 by 
five to fifteen years imprisonment.  Rape of a minor is 
punishable by seven to 15 years, prostitution by up to one 
year, and pimping by up to three years.  Some of these 
statutes have been used against traffickers. 
 
The central government has not kept figures on prosecution of 
human trafficking, although the draft national plan of action 
calls for the establishment of provincial and central 
government statistics centers to collect this data. 
Generally, however, each case has been handled within its own 
local jurisdiction and was pursued under other provisions of 
the penal code.  LAPTU is currently trying to identify 
instances of trafficking from other more routine 
immigration-related cases prosecuted by provincial and 
central government courts.  With the recent passage of the 
new transnational child trafficking law, child trafficking 
figures may be available in coming years, but the GoL still 
has no law against human trafficking. 
 
¶E.  Prostitution is illegal in Laos but in practice is 
widespread, and authorities make few efforts to halt it. Lao 
law prohibits foreigners from engaging in sexual activity 
with Lao citizens outside of marriage, and some foreigners 
have been fined or arrested under this law.  The government 
periodically moves to shut down establishments, such as bars, 
nightclubs and discos, where prostitutes operate. 
Nevertheless, extreme poverty and lack of viable economic 
opportunities for young people ensure a perpetuation of 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  011 OF 016 
 
 
prostitution in spite of anti-prostitution laws and 
occasional government campaigns. 
 
The majority of establishments offering sex workers - discos, 
bars, and restaurants - charge the guest a fee to take the 
sex worker out of the establishment.  Fees usually range from 
$2 to $4 USD.  The actual fees for sex services are generally 
arranged between the sex worker and the client.  However, 
open prostitution appears to be increasing in some areas, and 
some provincial governments simply limit the number of 
prostitutes allowed to work at each venue rather than 
enforcing the law against prostitution.  Drinking 
establishments and guest houses frequently have prostitutes 
available, sometimes as employees and sometimes freelance. 
The activities of owners/operators of establishments with 
prostitutes are also criminalized, as are those of clients. 
Although prostitution laws are often not enforced, some 
researchers feel that increased enforcement by the GoL would 
actually result in negative consequences - prostitutes going 
underground and being more likely to be subjected to abuse; 
and also a greater likelihood of increased low-level GoL 
involvement in the prostitution trade. 
 
There is also some evidence indicating that Chinese 
prostitutes are working in Laos, particularly in Vientiane 
and some provincial capitals in northern Laos, although the 
numbers are apparently very low.  These sex workers 
apparently serve a primarily Chinese and Sino-Lao clientele. 
Some ethnic Lao prostitutes working in northern Laos' border 
provinces are capable of speaking rudimentary Chinese - a 
function of proximity but also a sign of the increasing 
Chinese traffic through the area.  Despite an apparent 
increase in Chinese clientele, the majority of sex service 
clients, even in northern Laos, are reportedly local Lao. 
However, the planned 2007 completion of the section of the 
Kunming - Bangkok Highway that traverses Luang Namtha and 
Bokeo Provinces in northern Laos is expected to result in a 
significant increase in Chinese and Thai traffic within Laos. 
 The Lao Ministry of Health and several NGOs have worked to 
educate people residing in the area of the dangers of 
HIV/AIDS and other STDs. 
 
¶F.  The GoL has begun to take law enforcement efforts to 
combat human trafficking more seriously, although some 
officials are still reluctant to acknowledge there is an 
internal trafficking problem.  The GoL reported 27 TIP 
investigations in 2006.  These investigations resulted in 15 
arrests, 12 of which were prosecuted.  In three cases, the 
perpetrators were "reeducated" and released.  Specific 
details of the arrests have not been provided.  Among the 12 
that have been prosecuted, three persons have been sentenced, 
five arrestees incarcerated and pending court action, and 
four are in pretrial detention pending the results of ongoing 
investigations. 
 
Among those individuals who have been sentenced, the average 
sentence was 6 years with fines ranging from $500 to $3,500 
USD.  Two of the cases that resulted in convictions in 2006 
involved collaborative investigations between Lao and Thai 
police.  Although LAPTU is trying to establish itself as a 
clearing house for information on trafficking-related crime, 
there is currently no public record in Laos of arrests, 
trails, verdicts, or sentences available.  As LAPTU expands, 
and as the National Plan of Action to Combat Human 
Trafficking is finalized and implemented, the GoL hopes to 
develop a more reliable system for collecting information on 
trafficking arrests and prosecutions. 
 
In 2006, while Lao law enforcement officials have been 
involved in the successful investigation and arrest of 
several human traffickers, particularly those cases involving 
transport of Lao citizens to Thailand, the government has not 
been as willing to address internal trafficking issues.  For 
example, the U.S. Embassy brought a human trafficking case to 
the attention of the government in May 2006.  The case 
involved a guest house/brothel owner who, in the presence of 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  012 OF 016 
 
 
U.S. Embassy officers, local and provincial police, and a 
representative of the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
admitted that his wife recruited girls under the age of 16 to 
work at their establishment as sex workers.  A sex worker who 
had recently turned 16 years old reported having been 
recruited by the woman when she was 15.  Following the 
Embassy's request that Lao officials further investigate the 
matter, the Embassy was told by a central government law 
enforcement official that it would be "against local law" to 
arrest the owner of the sex service establishment. 
 
¶G.  Human smugglers in Laos run the gamut from individuals in 
small villages to foreigners who enter Laos with specific job 
targets (such as prostitution or garment work) and perhaps 
with specific ethnicities in mind.  By most accounts local 
individuals or even family members frequently feed their 
charges into larger systems in Thailand.  More systematic 
recruitment may be increasing, however.  Seasonal farm, 
construction, and factory laborers have traditionally moved 
in large numbers back and forth between Laos and Thailand, 
and these have become well-worn circuits.  Many of those 
working in these occupations are males.  Girls and women, on 
the other hand, are often seen as vulnerable to more serious 
forms of exploitation because they often travel alone or in 
small numbers and tend to rely more often on transport 
providers who are unknown to them. 
 
The total profits generated from TIP in Laos are unknown.  As 
most traffickers in Laos are probably not professional 
traffickers, their revenues are likely consumed locally. Most 
brokers involved in trafficking appear to be 
local people, often known to those trafficked, with 
knowledge of how to obtain travel documents and where 
employment can be found outside the country.  A trafficker 
arrested in Savannakhet in February 2005 was, according to 
LAPTU, the owner of a local travel agency, indicating travel 
agencies in some instances may be serving as fronts for human 
smuggling operations.  Little research has been done on 
trafficking networks, and much of the information about this 
aspect of trafficking is speculative. 
 
¶H.  In March 2007 the GoL's anti-TIP office, which is 
currently housed in the Immigration Department, is scheduled 
to be relocated to the General Police Department.  This move 
was decided during the August 2006 National Workshop to 
Combat Human Trafficking and is seen as a means of broadening 
the scope of anti-human trafficking policing.  With more GoL 
focus on the anti-TIP office and continued Australian funding 
for LAPTU, the GoL should be able to proceed with more 
thorough investigations.  To assist the LAPTU unit in 
improving its skills, the Asia Regional Trafficking in 
Persons Project (ARTIPP) has placed an expatriate policeman 
as an advisor to the anti-TIP office and has indicated that 
funding for LAPTU will increase in 2007. 
 
The Lao police have received some training assistance in 
investigative techniques.  Among others, the USG-funded 
International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok has 
trained Lao police on trafficking-related crimes and on sex 
crimes, including those aimed at children.  In February 2007 
Bangkok-based U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
Officers visited Laos to discuss child sex tourism and to 
develop a working relationship with key GoL agencies and NGOs 
addressing the issue.  A U.S. Department of Justice Office of 
Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) 
delegation also provided some training to prosecutors and 
investigators in the context of a seminar on management of 
the prosecutorial function in November 2006.  However, in 
general the ability of the Lao police to investigate 
trafficking or other crimes is extremely limited.  Post has 
seen no indication that electronic surveillance has been used 
to thwart traffickers and doubts that the police have much 
capacity in this area. 
 
¶I. With Australian funding and Lao personnel, the TIP office 
also has the mission of educating those GoL officials with 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  013 OF 016 
 
 
whom they come into contact regarding the TIP issue. The TIP 
office itself has provided some training to its own personnel 
as well as relevant officials in the MLSW and the Immigration 
Department.  LAPTU has created a handbook on investigations 
of trafficking crimes for use by LAPTU investigators as well 
as by police generally. 
 
In November 2006 the GoL cooperated with the French Embassy 
to hold a four-day seminar in Vientiane for Lao and 
Vietnamese police officials aimed at encouraging greater 
anti-TIP collaboration along the Lao-Vietnamese border.  In 
December 2006 UNODC organized a seminar in Vientiane on human 
trafficking for Lao police.  This seminar focused on criminal 
legislation, criminal procedures, and the process of victim 
repatriation as well as the differences between human 
trafficking and smuggling. 
 
¶J. Laos is beginning to cooperate more closely with Thailand 
in the investigation of trafficking cases.  This cooperation 
is still in its infant stage, and improvement in the 
bilateral relationship is advancing slowly.  However, recent 
successes in working with Thai authorities to arrest 
traffickers and shut down exploitive Thai businesses hiring 
Lao workers indicate that the partnership may be more 
fruitful in the long term.  With the creation of the LAPTU 
the Lao have a law enforcement mechanism that has a mandate 
to work with law enforcement agencies in other countries. 
The GoL reported that the arrests of two of the four 
individuals convicted of human trafficking in 2006 resulted 
from joint Lao-Thai investigations. 
 
¶K. Laos has extradition agreements with Vietnam, Thailand and 
Cambodia.  However, the GoL has not extradited anyone for 
trafficking-related crimes. 
 
¶L. There is no evidence of GoL involvement in trafficking on 
an institutional level.  However, at the local level, 
observers believe it almost certain that some officials are 
involved in facilitating trafficking, sometimes in collusion 
with their Thai counterparts. 
 
¶M. According to the GoL, no government officials have been 
disciplined or punished for involvement in human trafficking. 
 
 
¶N. There is no evidence that Laos has a significant problem 
with child sex tourism, although there have been a few cases. 
 The Law on Protection of Children, which was passed by the 
National Assembly in December 2006, reportedly criminalizes 
child sexual abuse, child labor, and child trafficking as 
well as provides protection for victims.  International 
organizations provided assistance in developing the draft 
law.  However, the final version of the law that was passed 
has not yet been released to the international community and 
implementing regulations remain to be issued.  In practice, 
authorities would be extremely intolerant of such activities, 
and pedophiles would likely face severe punishment. 
 
The Ministry of Justice supported and the National Assembly 
passed a new law on transnational child trafficking in 2005 
that set strict penalties for those convicted of 
transnational child trafficking.  Also, in early 2006 the Lao 
National Tourism Administration, in cooperation with Child 
Wise, Australia's leading child protection agency, launched a 
campaign against child sex tourism. 
 
¶O. The GoL has signed and ratified ILO Conventions 29, 105, 
138, and 182.  The GoL has signed the protocol on trafficking 
supplemental to the UN Convention Against Trans-National 
Crime, with the aim of getting control of perpetrators of 
cross-border crimes.  The GoL has signed the UN's Convention 
on the Rights of the Child (CRC).  It has also signed a 
memorandum of understanding with the ILO through which it has 
joined IPEC's international program for the elimination of 
child labor. 
 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  014 OF 016 
 
 
XXX. Protection and Assistance to Victims: 
 
A through C. The MLSW and the Immigration Department, in 
cooperation with the IOM and UNIAP, are establishing better 
procedures to assist returning victims of trafficking.  The 
MLSW maintains a small transit center for that purpose in 
Vientiane.  The transit center has assisted more than 800 
human trafficking victims since it opened in late 2001.  The 
center assisted 259 trafficking victims in 2006 and has 
assisted 15 victims during the months of January and February 
¶2007.  The GoL cooperates with the IOM to protect and counsel 
returnees that have been processed through the MLSW transit 
center.  A joint UNICEF-Japanese Government-Asia Foundation 
funded shelter which is run by the LWU opened in late 2005. 
It provided shelter and legal, medical, and counseling 
assistance to 17 human trafficking victims between April 2006 
and February 2007.  In June 2006, the GoL approved an MOU 
allowing Assistance for Women in Distressing Situations 
(AFESIP) to open shelters in Vientiane Municipality and 
Savannakhet Province. AFESIP opened a shelter in Vientiane in 
October 2006 that is dedicated to providing longer-term 
shelter and counseling for victims of sexual exploitation, 
both domestic and those returned from abroad. 
 
In 2006, the Lao MLSW cooperated with the Thai Ministry of 
Social Development and Human Security on a pilot project to 
locate Lao trafficking victims who were missing in Thailand. 
The pilot project lasted from February through August 2006 
and aimed at establishing coordination mechanisms between 
Laos and Thailand including a mechanism for reporting missing 
persons, a standard form for reporting missing persons, and a 
systematic tracking mechanism in Thailand. 
 
¶D.  Unless they are repatriated as part of the bilateral 
cooperative program, victims of trafficking must run the 
gauntlet of authorities on both sides of the border to return 
to Laos.  Police in both countries sometimes confiscate the 
cash earnings of trafficking victims, and police have also 
been known to offer "rewards" for the return of victims to be 
able to confiscate earnings.  Returnees may still be subject 
to fines or reeducation in Laos pending the complete 
dissemination and enforcement of the Law on Women. 
 
E through H. Laos has no victim restitution program.  The GoL 
has no special program for witness protection, a matter of 
concern to the LAPTU. A witness may claim the protection of 
the police because the Law on Women recognizes the right of 
trafficking victims to protection and requires the police to 
provide witness protection.  In theory, a trafficking victim 
could file a civil suit against a trafficker, although this 
has not been done in practice. 
 
The 2004 Law on Women contains provisions recognizing the 
rights of trafficking victims and requires authorities to 
respect these rights.  The joint UNICEF-Japanese 
Government-Asia Foundation shelter which is run by the LWU 
and opened in late 2005 is able to provide some protection to 
trafficking victims involved in ongoing investigations. 
There are now three shelters for trafficking victims: the 
MLSW's IOM-funded shelter; the LWU shelter noted above; and 
an AFESIP shelter which was opened in October 2006.  All 
three shelters are in Vientiane Municipality.  NGOs and 
international organizations fund most assistance to 
trafficking victims offered through these shelters. 
 
Actual laws against trafficking are contained in the criminal 
code, including laws forbidding prostitution, procuring, 
kidnapping, fraud, forced labor and, as of 2005, a law 
against transnational child trafficking.  The GoL, in 
conjunction with NGOs, has provided limited specialized 
training to police in recognizing trafficking victims.  The 
LWU produced a training manual that it has used to educate 
officials about the 2004 Law on Women.  The LWU organized six 
training sessions for police, prosecutors, health and 
education officials, and court decision enforcement officials 
in five target locations in 2006:  Champassak (August 2006), 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  015 OF 016 
 
 
Oudomsay (July 2006), Savannakhet (March 2006), and Vientiane 
Provinces (June and September 2006) as well as Vientiane 
Municipality (November 2006).  The LWU and MLSW also 
organized January and February 2007 assessment meetings in 
Vientiane Province to gauge the success of implementation of 
the Law on Women. 
 
UNICEF and Save the Children UK have organized seminars 
designed to educate officials about TIP issues as well.  The 
MLSW has also organized and paid for several such seminars on 
its own and held a meeting in December 2006 to assess the 
implementation of the Lao on Women.  The meeting was chaired 
by a LWU representative and included approximately 45 
attendees including immigration police, prosecutors, and 
judges. 
 
The Lao Embassy in Bangkok has occasionally acted to help 
Thai authorities and the Lao MLSW coordinate their 
repatriation program.  Lao Embassy officials have also 
escorted returnees to Laos on some occasions.  The Thai 
Center for the Protection of Children's Rights (CPCR) and the 
Foundation for Women of Thailand have also been involved with 
this effort. 
 
¶I. The following NGOs and International Organizations 
currently work on trafficking issues in Laos: 
 
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) 
Phonkheng Rd, Ban Phonsaat 
Tel: (855-21) 213390, 213391, 213394, 213395, 213396, 
213397 and 214227 
Fax: (855-21) 212029 and 214819 
 
UNICEF 
Thadeua Rd, Ban Watnak 
Tel: (855-21) 315200, 315201, 315202, 315203, 315204 fax: 
(855-21) 314852. 
 
Save the Children, Australia: 
213 Phonsavanh St, Unit 16, ban phonsavanneua 
Tel: (855-21) 416937, 415432 
 
Save the Children, Norway: 
P.O.Box 7475 
Vientiane, 
Lao PDR 
Tel: (855-21) 314814-5 
Fax: (855-21) 314813 
 
Save the Children, UK 
373 Nasay St., Ban Nongbone 
Tel: (856-21) 452058, 452059 and 452060 
Fax: (856-21) 452 057 
 
ILO - IPEC: 
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor 
006 Phonkheng Rd, 
Phonexay Village, Xaysettha District, 
Vientiane Prefecture, Lao PDR 
Tel/fax: (856-21) 412335 
Mobile (856-20)511633, 515015. 
 
Norwegian Church Aid 
P.O. Box 4804, Vientiane 
Tel: (856-21) 413-867, 416-510, 450-264 
Fax: (856-21) 413-450 
 
World Vision 
197 Dongpayna Road 
P.O. box 312 
Vientiane 01005 
Tel: (865-21) 412-933, 452-100 
Fax: (856-21) 452-101 
 
Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking 
P.O. Box 2391, Vientiane 
 
VIENTIANE 00000185  016 OF 016 
 
 
Tel: (856-21) 262-396 
Fax: (856-21) 262-609 
 
World Education/Consortium 
10 Fagnum Rd, Ban Phiawat 
Tel: (855-21) 214524, 222439 
Fax: (855-21) 217553 
 
Village Focus International 
P.O. Box 4697 
Vientiane 
Lao PDR 
Tel. (856-21) 452-020 
 
Handicap International 
158 Rue Chaimeuang 
Bp 946 
Savannakht, Lao PDR 
Tel. (856-41) 212818 
 
Care, International 
139/17 Thong Toum road 
P.O. Box 4328 
Vientiane, Lao PDR 
Tel. (856-21) 217-988 
Fax. 214-415 
 
Assistance for Women in Distressing Situations (AFESIP) 
P.O. Box 3128 
Vientiane, Lao PDR 
Tel. (856-21) 312-362 
Fax. 214-415 
 
International Office for Migration (IOM) 
8th Floor, Kasemkij Building 
120 Silom Road 
Bangkok 10500 Thailand 
Tel. (66-2) 206-8500 
Fax. (66-2) 206-8599 
 
These NGOs have roughly the same anti-trafficking goals:  to 
educate youth, to elicit better behavior from government 
toward victims, and to encourage the evolution of the rule of 
law with regard to trafficking and other abuses.  UNICEF 
and UNDP, because of their size and steady funding, probably 
enjoy the best government access, and they cooperate readily 
with the smaller NGOs.  The International Office of Migration 
(IOM), based in Thailand but now with approval to open an 
office in Laos, is increasingly involved in trafficking 
matters in Laos. 
 
Embassy POC on anti-trafficking is Political Officer Terry 
Mobley, Tel: (856-21) 26-7000, Fax: (856) 26-7190, E-mail 
mobleytd@state.gov (Terry will complete his assignment in 
Laos in July 2007).  The 2007 TIP report for Laos was 
prepared by Terry Mobley, grade FS-3, and required 
approximately 30 hours to complete the writing of the report. 
 One locally engaged staff member also conducted 
approximately eight hours of data collection work in support 
of the updated TIP report, and the post review and clearance 
process required approximately eight hours.  The TIP 
portfolio requires approximately seven percent of a full-time 
officer's time - roughly 150 hours per year. 
HASLACH