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

UNCLAS BANGKOK 002291 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN KCRM ELAB PHUM PREL TH TIP KTIP
SUBJECT: DPM SURAKIART PLEDGES TO RESOLVE SHAN TRAFFICKING CASE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Ambassador called DPM Surakiart on April 20 to 
urge him to press for resolution of the long-standing detention of 
six stateless Shan hill tribe trafficking victims in Malaysia. 
Ambassador told Surakiart that this case has been an issue of 
concern to us since early last year and is likely to be highlighted 
in the upcoming TIP report.  Surakiart said he fully agreed that the 
victims should be repatriated as soon as possible and had instructed 
the responsible Thai ministries to do so as soon as the minimum 
criteria had been fulfilled.  He said he had spoken to the Interior 
Minister about the case two days ago, and would do so again late 
today to urge resolution.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ambassador called Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart on April 
20 to urge him to press for resolution of the long-standing 
detention of six stateless Shan hill tribe trafficking victims in 
Malaysia.  The Shan victims have been held since a Malaysian police 
raid in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, in February 2005.  A Thai Cabinet 
resolution in June 2005 called for the victims to be repatriated to 
Thailand if they could prove their prior residency in this country. 
Despite such evidence being provided for most (if not all) of the 
women, and despite numerous entreaties by national TIP authority Dr. 
Saisuree Chutikul, the MFA and the Ministry of Social Development 
and Human Security (MSDHS), the case has been held up by Ministry of 
Interior officials who claim that Thai law does not provide for the 
repatriation of stateless citizens.  Lower-level Ministry officials 
are also said to be concerned about the legal precedent that would 
be established by following the Cabinet resolution's provisions. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ambassador told Surakiart that this case has been an issue 
of great concern to us for some time now, and is likely to be 
highlighted in the Thailand chapter of our upcoming global 
trafficking-in-persons report.  Ambassador said the USG was well 
aware of the important strides Thailand has made in combating 
trafficking-in-persons in recent years, and that we did not want 
these efforts to be overshadowed by the failure to resolve this 
particular matter. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Surakiart replied that he was following the case as the 
former chairman of the National TIP Committee who had pushed the 
June 2005 resolution through the Cabinet.  He said he agreed fully 
that the victims should be repatriated as soon as possible, and that 
he had instructed the Ministry of Social Development and Ministry of 
Interior to do so as soon as the minimum criteria of the Cabinet 
resolution had been fulfilled.  He said he had not been certain of 
the number of victims involved, having been told by his staff they 
could amount to 13 women.  (Note: Embassy has been told by 
International Justice Mission, the lead NGO investigating this case 
since its inception, that the number is now six, after several women 
arranged their release informally and returned to Thailand.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Surakiart said he further spoke to Minister of Interior 
Kongsak Wanthana two days ago (April 18) to urge his intervention, 
claiming that it was the first time Kongsak had heard of the matter. 
 Surakiart said Kongsak committed to look into the matter as soon as 
possible, noting that yesterday (April 19) was a Thai holiday due to 
senatorial elections.  Surakiart told Ambassador he would call 
Kongsak again today to check up on the status. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment:  This is not Surakiart's first intervention in 
this case.  Laboff previously spoke to PermSec Wanlop Phloytabtim in 
the Ministry of Social Development on April 12 and was told that 
Surakiart had sent an instruction to the Thai Embassy in Kuala 
Lumpur to speed up the repatriation process and that "he would pick 
up the victims himself."  The Thai Embassy had responded that the 
Ministry of Interior still had jurisdiction over the case, echoing 
the contents of an April 7 letter sent by MFA Director General 
Nongnuth to G/TIP Ambassador Miller confirming that "a special 
commission" had been set up at Interior.  After several false 
promises, we hope that the RTG finally cuts through the red tape and 
repatriates these long-suffering victims in a timely manner. 
 
BOYCE