VZCZCXRO9521
RR RUEHCI RUEHDBU
DE RUEHKA #1321/01 2260758
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140758Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4778
INFO RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 9239
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 8053
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1787
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0095
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 0038
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 0151
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ALMATY 0071
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 0156
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0879
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001321 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
G/TIP FOR SNEUMANN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCRM BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO 2007 TIP REPORT: 
THE WAY FORWARD 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The Embassy briefed Home Ministry and 
police officials on the 2007 Trafficking in Persons report. 
Most of the discussion focused on how to track labor 
migration abuse cases.  The government agreed to include 
representatives of the Foreign and Expatriate Workers 
ministries in future coordinating meetings, and would work 
with us to develop an action plan by end-August.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
MEETING WITH GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP COORDINATING GROUP 
============================================= ======== 
 
¶2. (SBU) POLOFF and AID met with the Home Ministry's 
Anti-Trafficking Cell on July 23 to discuss the 2007 
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.  The Home Ministry was 
represented by Joint Secretary (Political) Mujibur Rahman, 
who spearheads the Ministry's anti-trafficking efforts.  The 
Deputy Secretary, Abdur Rouf, and representatives from the 
Special Branch (Immigration) and Police were also in 
attendance.  All are key Embassy interlocutors on 
anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
NEW FOCUS ON LABOR ISSUES 
========================= 
 
¶3. (SBU) The report's focus on labor was the main focus of 
discussion.  We discussed the need to improve GOB's tracking 
of labor migration cases.  This includes not only following 
administrative penalties and licenses revocations of 
so-called "travel agencies" or "recruitment agencies" which 
break the law, but also cases filed by police, eventual 
prosecutions, and sentences against labor migration violators. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The GOB representatives expressed confusion over the 
different USG and United Nations definitions of trafficking, 
specifically with regard to labor.  According to Home 
Ministry representatives, the cases they track now involve 
violations of the Women and Children's Protection Act. 
Because all cases are prosecuted under the same legislation, 
they have been able to provide specialized training to 
prosecutors and police.  Also, it makes the cases easy to 
track since they all fall into the same category and have the 
same penalties attached, regardless of where in the country 
the case is prosecuted. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Migrant labor issues fall primarily under the 
Expatriate Welfare Ministry, and are covered by different 
legislation. Furthermore, the existing TIP case-tracking 
framework was created specifically to monitor compliance with 
the Women and Children's Protection Act and could not simply 
be expanded to include other types of cases, like labor 
abuses.  They said they would need to discuss the issue in an 
inter-agency meeting and try to come up with a solution that 
meets the TIP report's requirements. 
 
LABOR CASES HARD TO PROSECUTE 
============================= 
 
¶6. (SBU) Another challenge for the authorities regarding 
labor abuses is the difficulty in putting together effective 
prosecutions.  A police representative said the main problem 
in prosecuting cases against illicit recruitment companies is 
that recruitment companies almost always offer to refund 
workers' lost money in exchange for their agreement not to 
testify in court.  For this reason, government efforts to 
compel witnesses to testify generally fail. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Given the difficulty in prosecuting cases, usually 
the strongest penalties that can be meted out are seizure of 
assets, closure of companies, and de-licensing.  These are 
handled by the Expatriate Welfare Ministry.  Starting with 
the next coordination meeting, Expatriate Welfare 
representatives will be invited to attend, and the Home 
Ministry will request data from them on labor cases. 
 
OTHER AREAS TO FOLLOW UP ON 
=========================== 
 
 
DHAKA 00001321  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) POLOFF mentioned other concerns highlighted in the 
TIP report, in particular the lack of appropriate protections 
for witnesses and the GOB's lack of effort in protecting 
adult male victims of sex trafficking. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Home Ministry officials said they would raise 
witness protection within the anti-TIP inter-agency 
coordinating process.  Regarding the issue of adult male 
victims, they cited the fact that their case tracking 
mechanism was built around enforcement of the Women and 
Children's Protection Act, which does not cover adult males. 
They said they would raise this at the inter-agency level as 
well. 
 
FOREIGN MINISTRY TRAINING 
========================= 
 
¶10. (SBU) In separate meetings with the International 
Organization of Migration (IOM) and the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, POLOFF raised the issue of how Bangladesh's 
embassies could better assist victims of trafficking.  He 
cited a recent report from Malaysia of workers who were 
trapped at the Kuala Lumpur airport, unable to enter the 
country because of incorrect paperwork yet unable to return 
to Bangladesh because they lacked return tickets.  The 
Bangladesh Embassy became involved only after several days, 
when the situation had already been resolved. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Foreign Ministry, working with IOM, offered to 
organize a roundtable discussion with director-general level 
Foreign Ministry officials to discuss this issue.  An all-day 
meeting is scheduled for August 18.  POLOFF and the European 
Commission's anti-trafficking program officer are both 
scheduled to speak. 
 
COMMENT: MOVING FORWARD... 
========================== 
 
¶12. (SBU) GOB officials were receptive to our concerns, and 
expressed a commitment to improve efforts against sexual 
trafficking and to combat better the exploitation of migrant 
workers, though they are looking to us for assistance and 
guidance. We will hold a follow-up meeting in late August to 
discuss progress and further steps. 
PASI