This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 RANGOON 000309 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, IWI, AND EAP/RSP 
PACOM FOR FPA 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PHUM PREF PREL SMIG BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: THIRD ANNUAL TIP REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 22225 
 
¶1. (SBU) The following report responds to the checklist 
provided in reftel requesting information on trafficking in 
persons activities in Burma.  The report will also be 
forwarded to EAP/BCLTV in Word format. 
 
Begin Report: 
 
Overview of Country's Activities - 
 
¶A. Burma is a country of origin for international trafficking 
of men, women, and children, primarily for sexual 
exploitation but also for labor exploitation.  Internal 
trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labor also 
occurs throughout the country.  There are no reliable 
estimates of the magnitude of the international or internal 
trafficking.  The government does not effectively collect 
such information and, due to strict government controls over 
information flow, there are no independent assessments of the 
problem.  The government estimates that only 46 women were 
trafficked to Thailand in 2002, for instance, while other 
sources generally estimate that there are thousands of 
trafficking victims to Thailand each year.  Sources for 
information on trafficking include government affiliated 
non-governmental organizations, international 
non-governmental organizations, UN offices in Burma, and 
international non-governmental organizations in Thailand. 
Women and girls are the primary international trafficking and 
internal sex trafficking victims while internal forced labor 
trafficking appears to include victims of all ages and both 
sexes. 
 
¶B.  Internationally, Burmese men, women, and children are 
trafficked primarily to Thailand but also reportedly to 
China, Taiwan, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. 
Internally, sex trafficking of women and girls occurs from 
villages throughout the country to urban centers and to other 
centers for prostitution such as trucking crossroads, fishing 
villages, border towns, and mining and military camps. 
 
¶C.  There has been no discernible change in the direction or 
extent of trafficking in recent years, although, as 
mentioned, there is no effective monitoring of the problem. 
 
¶D.  The Myanmar National Working Committee on Women's Affairs 
(MNCWA), a self-sustaining (does not receive government 
funding) government organization, in conjunction with the UN 
Interagency Project on Trafficking in the Sub-Mekong Region 
(UN-IAP) plans to collect data on trafficking in selected 
townships this year.  The results of this survey are not 
available for this year's report.  On the extent of forced 
labor in the country, the International Labor Office believes 
that it still occurs wherever the military has a presence, 
but there is no accurate estimate of the number of victims 
per year. 
 
¶E.  Burma is not a destination country for trafficking in 
persons. 
 
¶F.  Poverty is the driving force behind trafficking in 
persons for sex and exploitative labor practices in Burma. 
Victims are either attempting to make a better living for 
themselves or, more commonly, attempting to make money to 
provide a better standard of living to their family.  Young 
girls in families are the most common targets.  The 
traffickers at the village level are often older women who 
provide "a connection" for the local girls.  Once out of the 
village the girls may pass through several brokers before 
they end up in a brothel in another part of Burma or in a 
foreign country (most frequently Thailand).  Victims are 
generally trafficked by the cheapest means available, in the 
back of trucks or in buses.  Because of tight controls over 
travel near border areas, victims would typically require 
false documentation or bribes to make it through military, 
immigration, and customs check-points, or through the many 
"unofficial" border crossings controlled by cease-fire and 
anti-government groups. 
 
¶G.  During the year, the government has greatly increased its 
commitment to combating sex trafficking, focusing on media 
awareness campaigns and the arrest and prosecution of 
traffickers.  On the issue of forced labor, however, the 
government has continued to do the minimal necessary to avoid 
the implementation of sanctions by ILO member organizations. 
A particularly sensitive aspect of the military's continuing 
use of forced labor is the use of forcibly conscripted child 
soldiers, a practice that has been highlighted in the press, 
which continues but is difficult to quantify, and which the 
government denies.  There have been no prosecutions to our 
knowledge of government officials linked to TIP or against 
Army personnel involved in forced labor.  It is very 
difficult to identify any funding specifically allocated for 
TIP.  The government generally tasks groups to achieve policy 
initiatives without providing sufficient funding.  For 
instance, the most active government organization on sexual 
trafficking, the MNCWA, is "self-sustaining," meaning it 
depends on donations and volunteers to implement its 
programs. 
 
¶H.  Yes, there is undoubtedly some complicity of government 
officials in sexual trafficking, although it is probably 
limited to local or regional officials attempting to 
supplement meager salaries by turning a blind eye to 
trafficking activities.  There are some reports that Military 
Intelligence (the internal intelligence service) controls 
some brothels and, by extension, would be involved in 
trafficking.  We do not have reliable information on the 
extent to which this is happening.  Military officials and 
township officials are directly involved in trafficking for 
forced labor inside the country.  This practice remains 
common throughout the country, but is worst in the border 
areas.  We are aware of no prosecutions of government 
officials for either sex or forced labor trafficking. 
 
¶I.  The government's ability to address sex trafficking is 
limited by the lack of funding allocated for social programs. 
 Burma is among the lowest ranked countries in the world for 
per capita expenditures on health and education services, for 
instance.  The government over the past 14 years has 
drastically cut funding for social services in order to fund 
military priorities.  This trend continues still. Also, 
because of the government's serious economic mismanagement, 
poverty and widespread corruption have become the norm. 
Economic desperation is continually cited as the root cause 
of sex trafficking in the country; people do things they 
would not have considered if they had better economic 
opportunities. 
 
Prevention: 
 
¶A.  Yes, the government this year has begun to acknowledge 
that sex trafficking is a serious problem.  However, the 
government has not publicly acknowledged, especially inside 
the country, that forced labor continues to be a serious 
problem. 
 
¶B.  The Ministry of Home Affairs is the lead agency in 
anti-trafficking actions for sexual trafficking with support 
from the Ministries of Social Welfare, Immigration, and 
Labor, the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General.  The 
Labor Ministry is the lead agency on forced labor. 
 
¶C.  Yes, the MNCWA has conducted seminars, produced and shown 
videotapes on television, and developed radio programs 
highlighting the perils of trafficking.  On forced labor, the 
government has posted in public places directives issued in 
1999 and 2000 prohibiting the use of forced labor.  There has 
been no assessment of the effectiveness of the sexual 
trafficking awareness campaign.  Forced labor appears to be 
continuing unabated in spite of the posting of the directives 
against it. 
¶D.  Although the MNCWA and other social services 
organizations have programs to provide women with income 
generating skills and to encourage women to take a greater 
role in the community, these programs are dwarfed by the 
desperate conditions of most women in the country.  Given the 
government's absence of funding for these programs (they are 
largely "self-sustaining"), they reach only a small 
percentage of the women in need. 
 
¶E.  Prevention has been the focus of the government's efforts 
this year, with public awareness campaigns, workshops, and 
township "talks."  There is no specific budget for these 
activities, however, they are just included in the policy 
programming of relevant Ministries and organizations within 
existing resources. 
 
¶F.  The government attempts to control "civil society" and 
ensure that all citizens support the policies of the regime. 
Local township organizations are extensions of the military 
junta and use a combination of a spoils system and 
intimidation to ensure support for government policies.  As a 
result, the citizenry generally attempts to minimize its 
contacts with these organizations.  On the issue of 
trafficking, citizens are encouraged to attend workshops and 
talks in order to show support for the government policies. 
Because these government programs are self-sustaining, 
citizens are, at least in some cases, also required to make 
cash "donations" to support the programs. 
 
¶G.  The borders with neighboring countries are porous.  While 
the government controls numerous official border crossings, 
there are probably hundreds of other crossings under the 
control of cease-fire groups, anti-government groups, and 
smugglers.  We are not aware of any monitoring of immigration 
or emigration patterns, or the analysis of this data for 
patterns of trafficking. 
 
¶H.  Yes, there is a multi-agency task force under the 
guidance of the Home Ministry to address sexual trafficking 
in persons and a Convention 29 Implementation Committee under 
the Ministry of Labor to address forced labor.  (See 
Prevention - B.)  There is no public corruption task force. 
 
¶I.  The MNCWA participates in regional and world conferences 
on women's issues, including trafficking.  However, there has 
not been any regional coordination on specific interventions 
to prevent, monitor, or control sex trafficking. 
 
¶J.  Yes, there is a national plan to address sexual 
trafficking in persons, which has been disseminated by hand. 
The MNCWA developed the plan in coordination with the 
relevant ministries including Social Welfare, Immigration, 
and Home Affairs.  The plan was not coordinated with 
international NGO's working on TIP.  There is no national 
plan to address the issue of forced labor. 
 
¶K.  The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Brigadier General 
Thura Myint Maung, is the Chairman of the Human Trafficking 
Prevention Work Committee.  The Minister of Labor is the 
person responsible for addressing forced labor. 
 
Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers: 
 
¶A.  No, there is no law specifically prohibiting trafficking 
in persons.  As was the case last year, the laws used to 
prosecute human traffickers are a combination of laws against 
kidnapping and prostitution.  The government is considering 
whether to adopt new legislation specifically addressing 
trafficking in persons but a decision is still pending.  The 
Attorney General's office said it believes existing laws are 
adequate to prosecute traffickers while the Ministry of Home 
Affairs stated a new law may be necessary. 
¶B.  Sentences for trafficking in persons have ranged from 
five to twelve years, with most cases carrying a sentence of 
seven years imprisonment. 
¶C.  Penalties for prostitution are up to ten years 
imprisonment, sexual assault of an adult is up to two years, 
and sexual assault of a minor is up to ten years. 
 
¶D.  The government states that it has prosecuted 93 cases 
against human traffickers.  It states that it has arrested 
160 trafficking brokers.  It has provided the Embassy and 
G/TIP with extracts of 30 of the prosecutions.  Some of these 
prosecutions appear to be against traffickers while others 
appear to be against migrant smugglers.  There have been no 
prosecutions relating to forced labor. 
 
¶E.  Human trafficking for sexual exploitation appears to be 
primarily small-scale operations using village contacts that 
feed into more established trafficking "brokers."  There is 
no evidence of travel or tourism agencies being involved in 
the trafficking.  We have no information on where profits 
from this kind of trafficking end up.  Human trafficking 
relating to forced labor is directed by the military and 
supported by township officials who arrange to meet the 
military's requirements. 
 
¶F.  The prosecutions of traffickers that we have reviewed 
indicate that most arrests occur as the result of "tip-offs" 
to local police rather than investigations.  While the 
government maintains extensive and intrusive controls over 
the population, trafficking in humans is not the target of 
these efforts. 
 
¶G.  The government does not provide this specialized training 
but the UN-IAP has conducted workshops that touch on this 
aspect of trafficking. 
 
¶H.  No, there is no evidence that the government is 
cooperating with other governments on the investigation and 
prosecution of trafficking cases.  When G/TIP and Emboff 
recommended greater cooperation with Thailand on this issue, 
government officials were non-committal. 
 
¶I.  No, there have been no extraditions of human traffickers 
to other countries.  Burmese law prevents the extradition of 
nationals except under exceptional circumstances. 
 
J/K.  Given the pervasive government control that exists over 
the activities of all citizens, there has to be some 
tolerance and/or collusion of government officials in sexual 
human trafficking in order for the practice to continue on a 
large scale.  The National Committee Against Human 
Trafficking told G/TIP and Emboff, however, that there have 
been no arrests or prosecutions of government officials 
involved in trafficking.  On forced labor, the military is 
the driving force behind the practice, and there have been no 
related arrests or prosecutions. 
 
¶L.  No, the government has not signed any of these 
international instruments. 
 
Protection and Assistance to Victims 
 
¶A.  The MNCWA and the Ministry of Social Welfare assist 
returning trafficking victims.  The assistance largely 
consists of counseling and job training at care centers 
before the women are returned to their families.  The MNCWA 
states that in 2002 a total of 15 victims were counseled at 
these facilities before being returned to their families, 
while 122 victims were transferred directly back to their 
families. 
 
¶B.  No, the government does not provide funding to foreign or 
domestic NGOs for services to victims.  Foreign NGOs have 
provided some services and support to the government and 
local NGOs beginning this year.  For the first time, 
international NGOs have coordinated a limited number of 
victim repatriations with the government and local NGOs and 
provided public awareness materials to the government 
(pamphlets to the Ministry of Home Affairs at its request). 
 
¶C.  There appears to be a growing understanding of the need 
to protect victims, especially those returning from 
international trafficking.  We have heard of no returning 
victims being arrested or jailed. 
 
¶D.  There has not been much focus on this aspect of sexual 
human trafficking in public awareness campaigns to date and 
we know of no case in which the victims have filed suit 
against traffickers.  In the area of forced labor, victims do 
not have an adequate mechanism for lodging complaints or 
seeking prosecutions. 
 
¶E.  We do not have any information on the level of protection 
the government can or does provide witnesses in trafficking 
cases. 
 
¶F.  The UN-IAP has established an excellent workshop for 
government officials on the recognition and provision of 
assistance to victims of sexual human trafficking.  The 
workshops are intended to be self-sustaining, with government 
officials becoming the workshop trainers.  The workshops 
appear to be very effective and are being offered to an 
ever-expanding number of officials who interface with the 
trafficking issue (police, social workers, immigration 
officials, etc.).  The training has not been provided to 
Burmese Embassy staff in other countries and we have no 
information that these staff have instructions on engaging 
with NGOs working with trafficking victims. 
 
G/H. See "A" and "B" above; also "Overview - I." 
 
End Report. 
 
¶2. (U)  The Embassy point of contact on TIP is Poloff John 
Haynes, tel. 95-1-256-020, fax 95-1-256-018, e-mail 
haynesjd@state.gov.  Time spent on preparing this report: 24 
hours by an FS-2. 
Martinez