O 010836Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2767
INFO ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS VIENTIANE 000424 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS - EMERY, INL/GTIP - ZINN, CHAN-DOWNER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB ECON KTIP LA
SUBJECT:  UPDATE - ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSON EFFORTS IN LAOS 
 
REF:  STATE 89216 
 
Summary 
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¶1.  The GOL, limited by resource constraints, continues to encourage 
anti-trafficking in persons (TIP) efforts by the international 
organizations and NGOs.  The UN helps coordinate anti-trafficking 
efforts with donor partners, and several UN agencies and NGOs 
provide training, education, outreach to at-risk populations, and 
shelter to victims.  December's Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) 
provides both a risk of increased trafficking and an opportunity to 
increase educational and enforcement activities.  Laos continues to 
seek assistance in building capacity to catch and prosecute those 
responsible for TIP from and through Laos.  End Summary. 
 
Government Efforts 
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¶2.  As a source, transit, and destination country for trafficked 
persons, Laos continues to seek ways to combat trafficking at all 
levels.  Although resource limitations impede GOL activity and much 
of the anti-trafficking activity comes from international NGOs, the 
GOL encourages the anti-trafficking efforts and makes its own 
contributions.  Lao police have established anti-trafficking 
divisions in all 16 provinces and the Lao Women's Union, a Communist 
Party mass organization, runs a shelter for women and children 
victims in Vientiane Municipality and has six counseling offices in 
Vientiane Municipality and four provinces. 
 
United Nations 
-------------- 
 
¶3.  The coordination for most anti-trafficking activities in Laos 
runs through the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human 
Trafficking (UNIAP), though the GOL also has an interagency 
coordination committee.  The UNIAP hosts periodic meetings, 
co-chaired by the UN Resident Coordinator and a Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs representative, for the various stakeholders to exchange 
information and develop strategies to combat TIP.  UNIAP also 
coordinates anti-trafficking activity in the Mekong sub-region as 
the Secretariat for the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative 
against Trafficking (COMMIT).  UNIAP in conjunction with Lao Radio 
will soon begin broadcasting in the Lao language anti-trafficking 
informational spots and a multiple-part radio drama about a 
trafficking victim. 
 
¶4.  The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with USG funding, 
provides training for police and Lao legal officials throughout the 
country and assesses the Lao laws and policies for effectiveness in 
combating TIP.  Most recently, UNODC responded in August to requests 
from Xiengkhouang and Houaphan provinces to conduct anti-TIP 
training.  Officials in those two provinces have noticed an increase 
in internal trafficking from those provinces to Laos' other northern 
provinces.  In June, UNODC conducted similar workshops in Champassak 
and Vientiane provinces. 
 
¶5.  As one of its many projects in Laos, UNICEF works on providing 
information to potential trafficking victims and has developed two 
comic books in the Lao language that recount stories of trafficking 
victims, one for sexual exploitation and the other for labor 
exploitation.  The books aim to educate secondary school students 
and will be distributed in five provinces. 
 
NGOs 
---- 
 
¶6.  World Vision has three U.S.-funded anti-TIP programs in the 
"southern corridor" provinces of Savannakhet, Champassak, and 
Khammuan -- a source and transit region for most of Lao's 
trafficking victims.  Although World Vision does not yet have a MOU 
with the GOL, the NGO is relying on agreements signed directly with 
provincial officials to carry out two programs:  one on prevention 
by disseminating information to potential victims, and another for 
training of police.  The third component of its mission, assistance 
repatriating trafficking victims, will begin when the MOU with the 
central government is signed.  World Vision has now translated its 
pamphlet, "10 Things You Need to Know about Human Trafficking," 
published earlier this year, into the Lao language. 
 
¶7.  The French NGO Acting for Women in Distressing Circumstances 
(AFESIP) helps in repatriating women and children TIP victims and 
reintegrating them into society.  AFESIP provides counseling and 
medical care at its shelter in Savannakhet and aids in reuniting 
victims with their families.  Some victims find employment with an 
AFESIP-affiliated social enterprise that sells organic beauty 
products in Vientiane city. 
 
SEA Games 
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¶8.  The GOL and many of the NGOs and international organizations who 
work on TIP issues are preparing special programs and materials for 
the December SEA Games in Vientiane.  In addition to the sizable 
migration of young people to urban areas that Laos is experiencing, 
the GOL expects the SEA Games to attract even more young people to 
Vientiane city in search of work.  UNIAP has coordinated with the 
National Tourism Authority, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, 
Ministry of Public Security, and the police to increase activities 
to protect potential trafficking victims and to combat sex tourism. 
Several NGOs report they will enhance their advertising campaigns 
against TIP during the SEA Games. 
 
Comment 
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¶9.  Anti-TIP efforts in Laos help to educate potential victims and 
Lao society about the dangers from traffickers willing to exploit 
the poverty of the country.  The shelters and rehabilitation and 
reintegration services provide a much-needed safety net to victims. 
The police request for training in Xiengkhouang and Houaphan shows 
government officials want to increase their enforcement and 
prosecution capabilities.  The November ILEA Bangkok course on 
Trafficking in Persons (reftel) comes at an opportune time to 
further assist the GOL in more effectively catching and prosecuting 
traffickers. 
 
HUSO