VZCZCXRO0632
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCI #0353/01 3240436
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200436Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1769
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON PRIORITY 0352
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 0180
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0063
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0052
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2164

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000353 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM, DRL, AND SCA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IN PREF
SUBJECT: A/S SAUERBREY MEETS WITH CHIN LEADERS ON ACCESS TO REFUGEES 
IN INDIA'S NORTHEAST AND WITH NGOS ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
 
REF: KOLKATA 305 
 
KOLKATA 00000353  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: During a November 7 stopover in Kolkata, 
Population, Refugee, and Migration (PRM) Assistant Secretary 
Ellen Sauerbrey discussed with Burmese Chin leaders the 
condition of the several thousand Chin migrants in India's 
Northeast.  The lack of access by UNHCR to the Chins and other 
refugee populations living in India's Northeast remains a key 
stumbling block to properly assessing the refugees' living 
conditions and claims of persecution.  The USG should seek to 
convince the GOI that access by UNHCR to the Northeast is 
important and necessary, and press the GOI to develop 
comprehensive refugee legislation.  Representatives of three 
NGOs that are involved in repatriation of trafficked women and 
children from India to Bangladesh and Nepal also briefed A/S 
Sauerbrey on the challenges they face, including getting a 
comprehensive, efficient system in place for returning victims 
to their home countries.  End Summary. 
 
Political Migrants: Burmese Chin in the Northeast 
--------------------------------------------- -------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On November 7, PRM A/S Ellen Sauerbrey met with Chin 
National Council Chairman Salai Cinzah and Chin National Council 
Secretary Thang Len Piang.  Cinzah explained that although the 
 
SIPDIS 
majority of the tens of thousands of Chins are believed to be 
economic migrants, in reality they are political migrants.  BBC 
Eastern India Bureau Chief Subir Bhaumik echoed that sentiment. 
Initially in the 1980s, the native residents of Mizoram (Mizos) 
accepted the Chins, who share common ethnic roots.  But as time 
progressed, the Mizos feared that too many Chins would come to 
Mizoram and alter the political landscape.  Currently, almost 
all government jobs go to Mizos, and what little economic 
opportunities there are for Chins are low-paying, menial jobs. 
Many Mizos hold Burmese migrants as a group responsible for 
Mizoram's problems and crimes, said Cinzah, and Mizo community 
leaders have sometimes forced Burmese Chin migrants to go back 
to Burma.  Cinzah said that UNHCR does not have access to 
Northeast India, and the GOI has not granted refugee status to 
Chins.  As ConGen has reported earlier (reftel), Cinzah said 
that some Chins have managed to go to Delhi to seek refugee 
status -- as of September, there were 1,777 refugees from Burma 
under UNHCR/India's mandate  (Note: In 2006, there were 8.4 
million refugees under UNHCR's mandate worldwide.  In India, 
there are nearly 12,000 refugees under UNHCR's direct protection 
of whom 90% are Afghan.  Refugees from Burma form the next 
largest group.  Refugees in India from Tibet and Sri Lanka are 
directly cared for by the GOI.  End Note).  Cinzah put the 
number of Chin who have migrated to India at approximately 
100,000, with 20,000 residing in the Mizoram state capital of 
Aizawl and the rest living closer to the border with Burma. 
(Note: the number of Chin migrants is more generally believed to 
be 60,000-80,000.  End Note). 
 
¶3.  (U) Education is the biggest problem for the Chins, Cinzah 
explained.  There are no schools along the Indo-Burma border, 
and Chin parents wanting to educate their children must send 
them to Mizo government schools.  Though, tuition fees are about 
Rs.150 (USD $3.80) per month (in addition to the cost of school 
uniforms and books) most Chins find it difficult to pay for such 
education.  Cinzah noted that on the Burmese side of the border, 
education facilities are also very poor.  Similar problems exist 
with healthcare.  Medical facilities are unavailable and many 
Chin cannot afford to buy medicines. 
 
¶4.  (U) At the close of the meeting, Cinzah raised an issue 
regarding a potential crisis created in Mizoram due to the 
flowering of the bamboo trees, which happens every 50 years. 
(Note: this event causes a substantial increase in the rodent 
population which results in significant amounts of crops being 
destroyed by rodents and insects.  When this last occurred in 
the 1950s, the resulting famine led to the rise of the 
independent Mizo movement and the creation of the state of 
Mizoram.  End Note.).  Cinzah said that some Chins are already 
apprehensive about the destruction of crops and starvation by 
the end of this year.  Because of the belief in an impending 
rodent infestation many Chin have actually planted fewer crops 
this year, which would exacerbate a shortfall of crops due to 
destruction by rodents. The government has predicted that as 
much as 2/3 of Mizoram crops may be lost, so farmers cut their 
planting by 30% to avoid losses.  The Mizo Chief Minister, a 
product of the Mizo National Front insurgency, is very cautious 
about the possibility of starvation and has requested GOI to 
stock food grains.  The problem is storage -warehousing capacity 
in the area would cover only 50 percent of the grains, so 
 
KOLKATA 00000353  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
eventually the state may have to depend on the army, a strange 
development for a peaceful state like Mizoram. 
 
 
Trafficking in Persons 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) ) In a separate meeting, PRM A/S Sauerbrey discussed 
cross-border trafficking of women and children with Sanlaap 
Director Indrani Sinha, Bhoruka Public Welfare Trust Director 
Dr. Kinsuk Mishra, and Sarfraz Ahmed Khan, a Legal Adviser to 
national NGO Apne Aap.  The NGO representatives said that West 
Bengal is a major source, destination and transit point for 
trafficking victims.  Thirty percent of victims rescued in 
Kolkata are from Bangladesh and Nepal, and the rest are from 
various states within the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, 
North eastern states and districts of West Bengal). 
 
¶6.  (U) Sinha and Khan observed that there were no bilateral 
agreements in place for repatriation of trafficking victims. 
(Note:  The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is 
currently in discussions with the Bangladesh Government on just 
such a protocol.  End note).  In the absence of standard legal 
procedures and prescribed timeline for repatriation, NGOs like 
Sanlaap work with anti-trafficking NGOs across the Nepal and 
Bangladesh borders and with the countries' respective diplomatic 
missions to send the Bangladeshi or Nepali victims back home. 
Although Sanlaap has been able to set up a network and a process 
to repatriate the victims, the process of repatriation is 
generally "long, drawn out and fraught with problems."  Mishra 
added that his NGO Bhoruka has set up project offices at 
Panitanki at the Indo-Nepal border and in Petrapole at the 
Indo-Bangladesh border in order to set up "vigilance committees" 
involving the Panchayat (village council) leaders to prevent 
trafficking of girls.  Mishra said that Bhoruka is also involved 
in repatriating girls back to Bangladesh and Nepal with the help 
of NGOs across the borders. 
 
¶7.  (U) Sinha said that UNICEF had recently stepped in and 
lobbied for a bilateral agreement between India and Bangladesh. 
So far, meetings have been held with the agencies involved in 
the process of repatriation on both sides of the Indo-Bangla 
border and a report has been prepared on the current situation 
of cross border trafficking and the challenges of repatriating 
victims.  A Task Force has been set up in Dhaka.  Sinha fears, 
however, that a new formal system will include various 
government departments and agencies of the two countries, 
complicating the process and making it more time consuming. 
However, Sinha pointed out that if the girls are just "pushed 
back" into Bangladesh and Nepal at the border they run a higher 
risk of being raped and re-trafficked, so attempts have to be 
made to repatriate the victims ensuring their safety and 
security, which necessarily involve multiple law enforcement 
agencies.  Khan told A/S Sauerbrey that a Parliamentary Standing 
Committee is studying a draft comprehensive anti-trafficking 
law, but he felt there is no significant effort to push the law 
through the Houses of Parliament.  (Note:  Khan ended up 
confusing two different initiatives.  Amendments to the Immoral 
Trafficking Prevention Act passed out of a Parliamentary 
committee a year ago, and are being resubmitted by MWCD.  Apart 
from this, MWCD is creating comprehensive anti-trafficking 
schemes that will not require a change in law and will not need 
Parliamentary approval.  End note). 
 
¶8.  (U) In response to a question from A/S Sauerbrey about media 
coverage of TIP, Sinha opined that the media only demonstrated 
an interest in TIP cases if there was a chance to photograph 
victims' faces - which she found unacceptable because victims 
are too traumatized after rescue operations to bear the media 
onslaught.  Sinha noted that the National Human Rights 
Commission (NHRC) has recently prepared a film on trafficking 
and included some interviews with some survivors of trafficking 
from Sanlaap's homes who were able to speak about their 
experiences after receiving proper counseling and assistance. 
She said that NHRC will be screening the film at various events 
across the country to raise awareness about this issue.  While 
all parties agree that media exposure of the inhumanity of human 
trafficking is a crucial aspect of prevention, it is also a norm 
that the identities of trafficking victims, especially minors, 
must be protected. 
 
¶9.  (U) One of the chief activities of the NGOs is raising 
awareness about the problem of trafficking.  Sanlaap works with 
26 schools in 10 districts in West Bengal to spread awareness 
 
KOLKATA 00000353  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
about trafficking.  Khan said that UNODC's training workshops to 
sensitize police personnel on trafficking issues have had a very 
good impact.  He feels the police now are more sensitive towards 
the victims of trafficking and have improved the manner in which 
they treat victims.  Earlier, Khan said, the police used to 
arrest the trafficked Bangladeshi girls and put them in jails 
for three months or longer and then just push them back to their 
country across the border.  Now, they are aware of the 
procedures that need to be followed, such as presenting the 
girls before a Child Welfare Committee.  Along with the 
increased awareness, Sinha indicated that conditions in 
government rehabilitation homes are slightly improved. 
Previously, supervisors at these homes were often untrained and 
insensitive to the needs of the victims, but now the government 
has allowed NGOs to work at the shelters to provide counseling 
to the inmates, take care of their mental health, and provide 
training to supervisors and staff. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Comment:  UNHCR does not now have access to refugee 
populations in the Northeast.  In our encounters with UNHCR 
staff, they appear content to not press the GOI for access, 
perhaps because the GOI does not officially recognize UNHCR, 
which operates in India under the auspices of UNDP.  However, 
given the numbers of potential refugees and the real possibility 
of an increase in Burmese crossing into India should the current 
crisis in Burma deteriorate further, such access to the 
Northeast is important and necessary.  Sustained and coordinated 
pressure by UNHCR, with support from Embassy New Delhi and other 
diplomatic missions may facilitate UNHCR access to the Northeast 
to assess possible political refugee cases and will also allow 
increased reporting on human rights issues in a region generally 
ignored by the international community.  (Note: In the past, 
Medicins sans Frontieres was initially refused access to the 
Northeast, but the GOI relented after a concerted campaign.  End 
note.)  In addition, we should encourage the GOI to create 
comprehensive refugee legislation (which UNHCR also advocates) 
to facilitate future refugee issues. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Comment Continued: NGOs are clear in their assessment 
that Eastern India and its neighboring countries remain the 
primary source for trafficking victims in India.  Any serious 
effort to combat trafficking in persons in India must focus on 
these source areas and not simply destination points.  Long-term 
efforts at sensitizing Indians, particularly law enforcement, to 
the problem of TIP are bearing fruit, and there appears to be a 
growing recognition from some government officials that greater 
cooperation with civil society groups can help tackle the TIP 
problem.  This collaborative spirit, if vigorously applied in 
the international context, could shape more comprehensive 
efforts between India, Nepal, and Bangladesh that would have a 
significant impact, particularly on repatriation of victims. 
 
¶12.  (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy New Delhi.  A/S 
Sauerbrey cleared this cable. 
JARDINE