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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 000915 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP: GAYATRI PATEL; NEA/IPA: JOSHUA DAVIS; 
NEA/RA: JOHN MENARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB IS ISRAELI SOCIETY GOI INTERNAL
SUBJECT: ISRAEL: SIXTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
(1 OF 4) 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 03836 
     ¶B. TEL AVIV 596 
 
¶1.  (SBU) This cable forms the first part of a four-part 
message in response to reftel A.  Embassy point of contact is 
poloff James Miller, phone (972)3-519-7437, fax 
(972)3-519-7484.  Poloff spent approximately 120 hours in 
preparation of TIP report; deputy polcouns spent six hours, 
polcouns spent six hours, DCM spent two hours, and Ambassador 
spent two hours.  The Government of Israel (GOI) has provided 
for the past four years extensive written answers to post's 
questions about its efforts to combat trafficking.  This year 
the GOI provided the answers on March 1, 2006.  The responses 
in this cable draw from these answers, from a series of prior 
meetings with GOI officials, from meetings with and reports 
by NGO representatives, and from press reports. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
¶2.  (SBU) OVERVIEW OF ISRAEL,S ACTIVITIES TO ELIMINATE TIP 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
-- A. Is the country a country of origin, transit, or 
destination for international trafficked men, women, or 
children? 
 
Israel is a country of destination for victims of TIP, 
primarily for the purpose of prostitution, according to 
statistics compiled by the GOI and NGOs.  NGOs claimed that 
some employers forced adult laborers who entered the country, 
both legally and illegally, to live under conditions that 
constituted trafficking, but presented no evidence of the 
trafficking of children.  GOI officials acknowledge that 
Israel's population of foreign workers sometimes suffers from 
exploitative work conditions, failure to pay proper wages, 
and physical and emotional abuse, and that some employers 
trafficked foreign workers, especially from China and 
Thailand. 
 
-- Specify numbers for each group; how they were trafficked, 
to where, and for what purpose. 
 
-- Sex Trafficking: According to local NGOs, during 2005 
traffickers brought between 1,000 and 3,000 women into the 
country to serve as prostitutes.   The government reported 
that 60 trafficking victims resided in the "Maagan" Shelter, 
and an additional 130 trafficking victims stayed in the 
detention facilities.  The government estimates that at least 
682 more women in the detention centers met the minimum 
criteria the GOI applies to identify likely trafficking 
victims, even if they did not so admit, including place of 
entry (Egyptian border), age (between 15 and 30 years old), 
and place of origin (former Soviet Union Republics). 
 
Police intelligence sources report that during 2005 the 
number of women trafficked into Israel decreased 
significantly, due to the closure of many brothels, stiffer 
sentences for traffickers, and increased police vigilance at 
the borders. 
 
NGOs concur that the number of victims appears to have 
decreased, but question the extent of the decrease.  NGOs 
claim that many traffickers shifted victims from open 
brothels to private apartments and escort agencies, a move 
that makes it difficult to identify victims and to estimate 
accurately the numbers of victims.  Some police investigators 
also questioned the purported decrease.  Police contacts 
reported that the Israeli National Police (INP) concentrates 
its anti-trafficking resources in Tel Aviv; Jerusalem 
commands the second most police resources to combat 
trafficking, but fewer than Tel Aviv; police in Haifa operate 
with even fewer resources than Jerusalem; and the rest of the 
country has fewer still.  According to police sources, 
traffickers have responded to this imbalanced distribution of 
police resources by moving their victims to suburban areas 
and to small- and medium-sized cities, where it is hard to 
estimate the extent of the problem. 
 
According to the GOI, most victims come from the former 
Soviet Union, primarily from Uzbekistan, Moldova, Ukraine and 
Russia.  The GOI and NGOs maintain that Uzbekistan has become 
the leading source country, based on police intelligence data 
and information about the nationalities of women that the GOI 
deports.  Traffickers send the women to brothels or private 
apartments to serve as prostitutes.  To bring the women into 
the country, traffickers use a variety of methods, including 
false documents and fraudulent claims of Jewish identity, to 
enter through Israel,s ports and airports.  Police and NGOs 
claim but do not provide conclusive evidence that most often 
the traffickers transport women illicitly through Israel,s 
desert border with Egypt.  NGOs also say that some enter 
through Ben Gurion airport, and others through the ports. 
 
-- Labor Trafficking: The GOI claims, although it does not 
maintain or provide reliable statistics, that trafficking for 
the purpose of labor is not a widespread problem.  In its 
official anti-trafficking report, the government states that 
"there are cases of abuse of foreign workers, but they do not 
amount to trafficking, except in very extreme cases 
(estimated at 15-20 per year)."  Often police and immigration 
authorities categorize trafficked workers who come to their 
attention as illegal foreign workers, unless, as in rare 
cases, the workers take legal action against their 
traffickers. 
 
In 2005, the the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor (ITL 
Ministry) issued 78,719 permits for employment of foreign 
workers.  In addition, the GOI estimates that between 50,000 
and 70,000 illegal foreign workersresided in Israel during 
the year, and government officials claim that very few of 
those have been trafficked.  Two NGOs claim that 
approximately 200,000 foreign workers live in Israel and that 
20 percent of these have been trafficked into Israel 
(approximately 16,000 to 20,000 people), although these NGOs 
do not provide evidence to support their claim.  Former 
Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Workers Committee, MK Ran 
Cohen, stated in February 2005, "To talk of one hundred cases 
of trafficking in human beings, or of abuse and coercion and 
debasement and exploitation, is ridiculous.  Indeed thousands 
of workers in Israel are working, when there is actually 
someone out there in China or Bulgaria, or somewhere else, 
that extorted them before they even got here... and here they 
are in effect being held hostage for the monies they owe. 
There are thousands of cases here." 
 
GOI data indicate that foreign workers come primarily from 
China, Romania, Jordan and Turkey (construction sector); 
Thailand (agricultural sector); the Philippines, Nepal, Sri 
Lanka, and India (care giving sector).  NGOs, and the daily 
newspaper Maariv, allege that Israeli and foreign traffickers 
lured approximately 400 foreign workers to the country with 
promises of jobs that proved non-existent; one NGO reports 
that all of the Nepalese and Chinese nationals in the nursing 
care sector whom the NGO's representatives met in the 
detention centers found themselves in this situation.  Some 
foreign workers reportedly paid up to $10,000 (45,000 NIS) to 
employment agencies for work visas.  These fees are illegal 
under Israeli law.  According to NGOs,  employers dismissed 
approximately 1500 workers workers shortly after arriving. 
Allegedly, some Israeli manpower companies responsible for 
recruiting foreign workers cooperated with authorities to 
deport the newly arrived workers, who were then replaced by 
others, earning the companies additional fees for the new 
workers.  NGOs note that most workers expected to work for 
the two-year duration of their visas in order to recoup their 
initial payments.  Dismissed foreign workers who avoided 
deportation often sought illegal employment, where they 
became even more vulnerable to other forms of abuse from 
employers, such as withholding their passports, limiting 
their movement, and forced them to work and live in inhumane 
conditions. 
 
NGOs claimed that traffickers smuggled into Israel an 
increasing number of workers, among them minors.  Between 
March 2005 and February 2006, NGOs found 55 minors in the 
immigrant detention centers. 
 
Israeli law makes it very difficult for foreign workers to 
change employers.  Human rights groups claim that since 
foreign worker visas tie them to a specific employer, even 
legal foreign workers had little influence on their work 
conditions.  The law does not permit foreign workers to 
obtain citizenship or permanent residence status unless they 
are Jewish. 
 
-- Does the trafficking occur within the country's borders? 
 
According to GOI and NGO contacts, trafficking of Israelis or 
other legal residents of Israel or the occupied territories 
does not occur within the country's borders.  Evidence 
presented in court cases suggests that pimps sometimes "sell" 
foreign women trafficked into Israel for prostitution to 
other pimps within Israel.  NGOs allege that manpower 
agencies and employers sometimes sell or lend their 
trafficked foreign workers to other agencies or employers. 
 
-- Does it occur in territory outside of the government's 
control (e.g. in a civil war situation)? 
 
The GOI controls the entirety of Israel. 
 
-- Are any estimates or reliable numbers available as to the 
extent or magnitude of the problem?  Please include any 
numbers of victims.  What is (are) the source(s) of available 
information on trafficking in persons or what plans are in 
place (if any) to undertake documentation of trafficking? How 
reliable are the numbers and these sources? 
 
The figures cited above are generally reliable, although the 
government and NGOs differ in their estimates.  To determine 
their estimates, NGOs do not compile specific data, but rely 
instead on largely anecdotal evidence drawn from interviews 
and observation.  The GOI relies primarily on data collected 
by the INP, including the Border Police, as well as 
intelligence sources, the Knesset Committee on Trafficking in 
Persons, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Industry, 
Trade, and Labor, and the Immigration Administration (IA). 
(Note: The GOI established the Immigration Administration in 
September 2002.  End note.) 
 
-- Are certain groups of persons more at risk of being 
trafficked (e.g. women and children, boys versus girls, 
certain ethnic groups, refugees, etc.)? 
 
Foreign women are at risk of being trafficked into Israel for 
the purpose of prostitution.  The government maintains that 
Chinese workers are at risk, since traffickers have defrauded 
and abused them in the past.  NGOs claim that male and female 
Filipino and Thai workers are also at risk, as traffickers 
have brought them into Israel under conditions that 
constitute forced labor. 
 
-- B. Please provide a general overview of the trafficking 
situation in the country and any changes since the last TIP 
Report (e.g. changes in direction). 
 
-- Sex Trafficking: Israeli police claim that trafficking of 
persons for prostitution is decreasing, due in part to the 
closure of numerous brothels and the deterrent effect of 
longer sentences for traffickers.  NGOs and some police 
officers assert that two new patterns have emerged: the 
movement of traffickers and their victims from brothels into 
private apartments, and from major urban areas to smaller 
cities and suburbs.  GOI and NGO data indicate that 
Uzbekistan continues to be the number one source country for 
victims of trafficking for sex/prostitution. 
 
-- Labor Trafficking: No reliable data documents the 
scale of labor trafficking, and NGOs and the GOI differ in 
their estimates of the problem.  NGOs argue, with support 
from some public officials, including Members of Knesset, 
that the number of trafficked workers has increased.  Of 
those workers identified as trafficking victims, most still 
come from China, the Philippines and Thailand. 
-- What kind of conditions are the victims trafficked into? 
What methods are used to move the victims (e.g., are false 
documents being used?). 
 
-- Sex Trafficking:  NGOs claim that most women enter Israel 
through the border with Egypt and hence do not need false 
documents.  Those who enter through Ben Gurion Airport, NGOs 
aver, often claim false Jewish identity, which, under the 
&Law of Return,8 enables them to obtain automatic 
citizenship. 
 
According to the GOI, most victims recently trafficked for 
prostitution now work in apartments and escort agencies, 
although NGO workers report that many women still work in 
brothels.  Each woman services an average of five to seven 
clients a day, according to the GOI.  The GOI also claims 
that prostitutes in the apartments (whether living and 
working in the same place, or traveling to visit clients, 
apartments) experience better conditions than do prostitutes 
in brothels.  As a rule, the GOI reports, the women live in 
pairs in apartments, and receive better wages. 
 
NGOs say that traffickers and pimps threaten the lives and 
safety of victims, as well as of relatives the victims have 
left in their countries of origin.  Many brothels have barred 
windows and other security measures to prevent escape. 
Reports from NGOs and the GOI indicate that when trafficking 
victims are permitted to leave the premises, they usually do 
so under the supervision of the pimp or his associates.  In 
those cases where pimps permit victims to leave the brothel, 
the victims, lack of fluency in Hebrew, combined with the 
threats against their families, deters them from going to the 
police. 
 
-- Labor Trafficking:  Most trafficked workers enter Israel 
legally with valid work visas, NGOs claim, unaware of the 
conditions that await them.  Some enter Israel as tourists 
and work illegally when they find a job, according to NGOs 
and the GOI. 
 
Some employers forced individual laborers who entered the 
country, both legally and illegally, to live under conditions 
that constituted trafficking.  Taking advantage of debt 
bondage and the restricted mobility of foreign laborers, some 
employers coerced workers into accepting inhumane working 
conditions through confiscation of documents, confinement, 
threats of deportation, and physical abuse.  Journalists and 
NGOs documented several cases of migrant workers living in 
harsh conditions, subjected to debt bondage, restricted in 
their movements, and lured to Israel under false pretexts 
regarding their work terms and legal status.  NGOs report 
that some employers withheld a portion of workers' salaries 
as a guarantee that the workers will comply with employer 
demands. 
 
-- Which populations are targeted by the traffickers?  Who 
are the traffickers?  What methods are used to approach 
victims? (Are they offered lucrative jobs, sold by their 
families, approached by friends of friends, etc.?) 
 
-- Sex trafficking:  Israel is not a country of origin, 
according to the GOI and NGOs, and available evidence 
supports this claim.  According to the GOI, small-scale 
international crime groups conduct most if not all of the 
trafficking in persons in Israel, and most criminals involved 
in trafficking are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. 
Some NGOs believe, however, that individual freelancers, as 
well as small groups that work in cooperation with freelance 
agents and organizations in Eastern Europe and the Former 
Soviet Union, comprise most of the traffickers.  Evidence 
from police and court records indicates that Israeli Bedouin 
play a part in smuggling women across the border from Egypt. 
 
In some cases, NGOs aver, traffickers lure women by offering 
them service sector jobs.  NGOs claim while traffickers 
employ a wide variety of such recruitment ploys, most often 
women know they will serve as prostitutes in Israel, but 
traffickers mislead them about the pay and conditions. 
 
-- Labor trafficking:  NGOs charge that some 
employment/manpower agencies engage in activities that meet 
the definition of labor trafficking.  The GOI maintains, 
however, that government officials have not seen evidence 
that Israeli employment, travel and tourism agencies or 
marriage brokers facilitate trafficking. 
 
Available evidence does not indicate that government 
officials are involved in trafficking.  For more information 
about this issue, please see responses, below, to question C, 
and to question L in the section on investigation and 
prosecution of traffickers. 
 
-- Also briefly explain the political will to address 
trafficking in persons. 
 
During 2005, the government continued its good faith and 
collaborative efforts to fight TIP, according to the GOI and 
NGOs, and built on policies it adopted in previous years. 
NOTE: Prior annual reports detail further evidence of GOI 
determination to fight TIP.  END NOTE. 
 
-- Sex trafficking: Post provides below an overview of the 
government,s demonstrated political will to combat sex 
trafficking. 
 
Prevention 
 
In October, the MFA re-established an inter-ministerial 
committee to address trafficking in persons for the purposes 
of prostitution and labor.  The committee draws members from 
the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Interior, 
Industry Trade and Labor, Social Affairs, as well as the 
Police and the IA.  The committee has met three times since 
its inception and has begun to prepare preliminary 
recommendations for the Directors General Committee charged 
with leading Israel,s anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
During the year, according to the GOI, cooperation between 
government agencies and NGOs working on the TIP issue 
improved and expanded.  The GOI invited NGOs to help train 
government officials to fight trafficking.  GOI,s de facto 
inter-agency TIP coordinator, who works in the Ministry of 
Justice (MOJ), collaborated with the Israel Defense Force 
(IDF) to introduce an informational article on trafficking in 
women in the IDF,s monthly circular.  A representative of 
the IDF Education Corps also worked with the coordinator and 
NGOs to begin developing anti-trafficking seminars and 
lectures for IDF soldiers. 
 
The GOI provided evidence of its increased efforts to 
identify victims of sex trafficking in detention centers.  As 
part of a pilot program, officials in the IA solicited input 
from various government agencies and NGOs to create a 
questionnaire that assists in identifying trafficking victims 
among detained illegal residents.  Officials distributed the 
questionnaire to women in the country,s three immigration 
detention facilities.  Also, judges of the Tribunal for 
Detention Review, which adjudicates the status of alleged 
illegal residents, have begun to identify victims of 
trafficking.  They received a two-day seminar on trafficking 
in June, and, in cooperation with officials at the IA, the 
MOJ, and the INP, instituted a referral procedure to send 
suspected sex trafficking victims directly to the shelter. 
 
Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
 
During 2005, the state attorney established guidelines 
stipulating that, in general, prosecutors should not take 
legal action against trafficking victims for offences the 
victims committed while being trafficked, even if the victims 
return to Israel several times.  The deputy attorney general 
directed prosecutors to conduct a risk assessment for all 
illegal residents who raise substantial allegations that they 
or their families may face danger if returned to their 
countries of origin, regardless of their status as a state 
witness. 
 
In November, a comprehensive law to forbid all forms of 
trafficking passed its first reading (of three) in the 
Knesset, a crucial step on the way to becoming a law.  The 
Knesset passed a law in April that gives the police and the 
courts the authority to limit the use of properties that 
previously served as brothels if there is a reasonable basis 
to suspect that they will continue to serve that purpose. 
The GOI also submitted an amendment to the Courts Law to the 
Knesset, which allows one judge, instead of a bench of three 
judges, to hear criminal trials regarding trafficking in 
persons.  This amendment aims to expedite trafficking cases, 
as in the past the necessity to convene three judges 
consistently caused delays.  It has also passed its first 
reading.  The Courts Administration issued guidelines 
enjoining judges to expedite trafficking cases.  Also, as a 
result of coordinated international police efforts during the 
year, several governments extradited individuals to Israel on 
charges of trafficking in persons (for further details about 
these extraditions, please see response, below, to question H 
in the section on the prosecution and investigation of 
traffickers.) 
 
Assistance to victims 
 
During the year, the government or a constituent element 
thereof transferred 46 women to the government-run shelter, 
36 of whom agreed to testify against their traffickers. 
Israeli law stipulates that victim testimony must be taken 
within two months of the indictment of suspected traffickers. 
 Chief Justice of the Tel Aviv District Court Justice Edna 
Beckenstein told post that she and all the judges under her 
authority strictly adhere to this law.  The government 
reported that during the year victims waited an average of 
two months, in all court districts, from the time of filing 
the indictment until the first court hearing.  The Director 
of the Courts Administration also appointed a judge in the 
Tel Aviv District Court to be responsible for hearing the 
testimony of trafficking victims. 
 
The government also made progress during the year in 
assisting victims by obtaining more resident visas than 
previously, and helping more victims to find jobs in the 
framework of the shelter program.  The state-funded &Legal 
Aid8 program based in the MOJ helped women in the shelter to 
apply for visas, protect their privacy, file civil suits, and 
communicate with prosecutors in criminal cases.  The Ministry 
of Social Welfare funded the shelter to provide women 
psychological and psychiatric counseling and extensive 
medical care.  In addition, the courts awarded more victims 
financial compensation for the crimes committed against them 
(for more details about financial compensation, please see 
response, below, to question E in the section on protection 
and assistance to victims).  The de facto coordinator 
continued to help individual trafficking victims. 
 
-- Labor trafficking: Post provides below an overview of the 
government,s demonstrated political will to combat labor 
trafficking. 
 
Prevention 
 
The Knesset has made significant progress toward passing 
legislation that will prohibit all forms of trafficking, 
including for the purpose of labor exploitation.  Currently, 
Israeli law prohibits trafficking only for the purpose of 
prostitution.  The government,s re-established 
inter-ministerial committee to fight trafficking combines, 
for the first time, officials with expertise in both sex and 
labor trafficking.  In addition, the GOI has made significant 
strides toward implementing a pilot program for recruiting 
foreign workers that is designed to prevent trafficking.  The 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) agreed to 
facilitate the pilot program in Thailand, where the GOI will 
grant IOM exclusive authority in recruiting, selecting and 
preparing Thai laborers who seek to work in Israel.  GOI 
officials say the program ran into last-minute delays when 
the Government of Thailand proved unable to sign the 
agreement.  The GOI hopes to launch the program in 2006. 
NGOs claim that the GOI played a part in causing the 
program,s delay by refusing to sign a bilateral agreement 
with Thailand about the employment of foreign workers, 
insisting instead that the Thai government and IOM sign the 
agreement.  A February 26, 2006 article in Haaretz also 
states that &the Foreign Ministry refused to join a treaty 
that the International Organization of (sic) Migration was 
ready to sign with the Government of Thailand.8  In 
addition, NGOs aver, the GOI neglected to approach other 
source countries about this program. 
 
In the meantime, GOI officials drafted in 2005 an official 
proclamation of workers, rights, which they then translated 
into 14 languages, distributed to manpower agencies and 
employers, posted in Israel,s immigrant detention centers, 
and displayed on the website of the ITL Ministry. 
 
Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
 
The INP, IA, and the ITL Ministry implemented during 2005 
improvements in their efforts to prevent labor trafficking by 
more effectively monitoring and prosecuting employers and 
manpower companies that traffic or abuse foreign workers.  In 
March 2004, in response to judicial criticism concerning 
protracted detention of foreign workers, the attorney general 
ordered that such workers be brought before the court within 
four days of arrest.  The government generally honored the 
attorney general,s directive during 2005, according to the 
GOI and NGOs.  The Prosecution Division of the ITL Ministry 
filed 206 criminal indictments in 2005 against employers of 
foreign workers, including manpower companies, for violations 
of the labor laws. 
 
While law enforcement agencies have successfully prosecuted 
employers for labor law violations, including for violations 
tantamount to trafficking, they have not severely penalized 
labor agencies for trafficking because trafficking for 
purposes other than prostitution is not illegal.  NGOs 
maintain that a high deportation "a8 encourages the 
police to allocate far more resources to deporting workers 
than it does to investigating traffickers.  NGOs also claim 
that the GOI has exacerbated labor trafficking in Israel by 
failing to enforce laws against accepting fees for foreign 
laborers, and by limiting the freedom of foreign workers to 
change employers.  These two government actions lead to debt 
bondage for foreign workers who must tolerate appalling 
conditions in Israel to pay off the debt they acquired to get 
to Israel. 
 
NGOs noted that when investigators from the Crime Unit of the 
IA caught employers confiscating the passports of their 
foreign workers, the investigators most often merely 
instructed these employers to return the passports, rather 
than arresting or prosecuting the employers for breaking the 
law.  Foreign workers who had informed the IA about this 
illegal practice then had to return to work for an angry 
employer who had broken the law with impunity. 
 
Assistance to Victims 
 
In May 2005, the government made a concerted effort to combat 
labor exploitation and trafficking in the construction 
sector.  It launched a new system of employment for foreign 
workers at construction firms.  The new system ties workers 
to manpower companies instead of their employers.  The 
manpower companies pay the workers their salaries, and the 
construction firms pay the manpower companies for the service 
of the workers (the firms &rent8 the workers).  The workers 
may change employers while working for the same manpower 
company, and they can also change manpower companies.  The 
ITL Ministry has licensed 40 manpower companies to hire 
foreign construction workers, and has required each of them 
to post a bond of 4 million NIS to ensure the rights due to 
their workers; if the company fails to pay a worker, then the 
ITL Ministry can pay the worker by drawing on this bond. 
 
As part of this system, the ITL Ministry reports that it has 
also developed a mechanism for automatic payment for overtime 
work, ensuring that workers receive payment every month for 
236 hours, regardless of how many hours they have actually 
worked.  Ministry officials believe that this approach 
eliminates the possibility that a manpower company will not 
pay his workers for overtime hours, and stems from the 
realization that foreign workers tend to work many overtime 
hours and often do not receive the pay stipulated by law for 
those additional hours.  In addition, the system requires 
manpower agencies to pay a special monthly deposit for 
employees over and above monthly wages, to be paid when an 
employee leaves the country.  Ministry officials say they 
designed this bonus to serve as an incentive for foreign 
workers to leave when their visa expires; for each month 
beyond the expiration of their visas that workers remain in 
Israel, they lose a part of this bonus pay. 
 
Following an evaluation of this new system for the 
construction sector, GOI officials say they plan to implement 
it in all fields that employ foreign workers. 
 
NGOs report problems with this system, including the 
government,s failure to inform workers about the structure 
of the system and their rights within it.  Workers face 
limitations in their ability to change employers, since 
construction firms often own the manpower companies and 
therefore refuse to send workers to rival construction firms. 
 Workers may only change manpower company every three months, 
and hence must wait up to 12 weeks while continuing to work 
in sometimes intolerable conditions, say NGOs. 
 
The GOI appointed in July, 2005 an ombudswoman to investigate 
workers, complaints, and she has energetically advocated on 
behalf of workers.  Between July 15 and December 31, 2005, 
the ombudswoman reports that she received 265 complaints; she 
has handled 178 of these complaints, and continues to examine 
¶85.  Workers in the construction sector who seek to change 
employer before the end of three months may appeal to the 
ombudswoman.  She claims to have approved the requests of 
most workers who applied to change employers.  NGOs noted, 
however, that she faced significant limitations: the GOI has 
failed to specify the ombudswoman,s responsibilities and 
budget, to publicize her availability, phone number, 
location, and office hours, and to provide her with 
translation services.  In practice, the NGOs claim, the 
ombudswoman takes, on average, more than three months to 
process complaints, and she often requires NGOs to provide 
translation. 
 
-- C.  What are the limitations on the government's ability 
to address this problem in practice?  For example, is funding 
for police or other institutions inadequate?  Is overall 
corruption a problem?  Does the government lack the resources 
to aid victims? 
 
Available evidence indicates that official corruption in this 
sector is not a widespread problem.  The government has 
limited financial and human resources available to combat 
TIP, in part due to the ongoing security threat and 
developments with the Palestinians, according to GOI sources. 
 Disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank required 
an enormous expenditure of human, political and financial 
capital.  INP sources claim funding for police and law 
enforcement has generally proved adequate, although some 
police officers maintain that the government does not direct 
enough INP resources to combating TIP.  NGOs believe that the 
GOI could increase funding for the prevention of TIP in the 
country.  NGOs pointed specifically to the failure of the GOI 
to fund the position of the GOI TIP coordinator and her 
assistant.  (Note: The GOI has made strenuous efforts at 
budget reform, including adherence to limitations on the 
budget deficit, agreed to as part of the terms of the U.S. 
loan guarantees agreement.  End note.) 
 
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