VZCZCXYZ0645
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVN #0145/01 0600544
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290544Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1866
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2266

UNCLAS VIENTIANE 000145 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS 
DEPT FOR EAP/RSP 
DEPT FOR G 
DEPT FOR G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC PREF KFRD PREL LA
SUBJECT: EIGHTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT FOR LAOS 
 
REF: STATE 2731 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Laos is overwhelmingly a sending country for trafficking, 
although on a small scale it is also a receiving country, with some 
domestic trafficking victims in the commercial sex trade. The vast 
majority of Lao who seek work abroad, including those who are 
victims of trafficking, go to Thailand, where cultural and 
linguistic similarities and an abundance of work opportunities help 
ensure Lao can find ready employment. Laos' trafficking problem is 
largely a matter of economics: Laos is among the poorest countries 
in Asia, and its poverty and abundance of unemployed or 
underemployed youth provide a steady stream of laborers to Thailand. 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Government of Laos (GOL) has put trafficking high on 
its agenda in the last year, with statements at the highest levels - 
including the Deputy Prime Minister/ Minister of National Defense - 
calling for increased public awareness and protection for victims. 
In 2007, the GOL began an intense focus on preventing the 
trafficking and exploitation of children, primarily through public 
awareness campaigns and statements by senior leaders.  Efforts to 
address internal trafficking seem to be increasing, with ongoing 
investigations; mentions of the problem in the government-controlled 
press; statements by senior leaders, including the Deputy Prime 
Minister; and referral of domestic victims of trafficking, 
proactively identified by local authorities, to a shelter run by the 
Lao Women's Union (LWU).  Victims of internal trafficking are almost 
exclusively in the commercial sex trade; post has seen no evidence 
of forced labor within Laos during the reporting period. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Civil servants' salaries are low (usually $35-$60 per 
month)and corruption is rampant.  GOL officials are susceptible to 
involvement in trafficking in persons, trafficking of narcotics and 
wildlife, illegal logging, and other money-making schemes. However, 
post has no reports of particular cases of trafficking with the 
involvement of GOL officials. Although the GOL has a number of 
well-written laws on the books, has signed important international 
agreements on the issue, and is drafting comprehensive plans to 
combat trafficking, it continues to suffer from an extremely low 
level of capacity in training, knowledge, and resources to 
effectively prevent, prosecute, or protect victims.  The GOL is 
increasingly open to assistance from international organizations and 
NGOs to help fill some of those gaps. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Lao police are by-and-large unskilled in investigations and 
unknowledgeable about trafficking crimes. Working closely with 
international and non-governmental organizations, the GOL is 
attempting to remedy the situation with training classes for police 
and law enforcement officers, investigators and prosecutors, customs 
and border officials, transport and construction ministry officials, 
tourism leaders, journalists, and representatives of just about 
every other segment of society that time and resources allow it to 
reach.  However, corruption within the Lao police and court systems 
has made it relatively easy for traffickers to avoid prosecution. In 
addition, Lao society is not used to working out problems through 
the legal system, preferring to use arbitration and mediation 
through respected village leaders. With only 80 members in the Lao 
Bar Association, half of whom do not have formal legal training, 
convincing victims to bring their cases to the authorities for 
formal prosecution continues to be a challenge. (Note: Most 
prosecutors and judges are not members of the bar.  Usually, bar 
members are academics or in some form of private practice. Neither 
formal legal training nor LBA membership is required to practice law 
in Laos. End note.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) The penal code was amended in 2006 to include a specific 
definition of trafficking and the penalties commensurate with the 
crime (Article 134). However, passage of the law is only the first 
step in enforcement, as the legal community and NGOs work to train 
officials to apply the new code. As a result, according to the 
Ministry of Public Security, police investigated 38 cases of Article 
134 violations (human trafficking) in 2007, resulting in 23 arrests 
and 8 cases sent for prosecution.  Those 8 cases remain in the court 
system, with another 20 ongoing investigations.  (Note: Unlike 
previous years, post is not reporting trafficking-related 
prosecutions; as per instructions, we are including only those cases 
falling specifically under Article 134 of the criminal code for 
trafficking in persons. End note 
 
¶6. (SBU) Most migrants from Laos make their own way to Thailand. 
Those that fall victim to traffickers usually do so once they find 
employment, but others can fall prey to traffickers as they seek 
assistance from middlemen either to cross the border or to arrange 
onward employment. Many, if not most, of these migrants go to 
Thailand knowing the risks but attracted by wages that are far 
higher than at home. Based on studies of Lao seeking employment in 
Thailand, most who make the trip are not the poorest, who lack the 
means to go, but are relatively well-off farmers or their children 
who live close to the Mekong and have a familiarity with Thailand. 
Lao workers in Thailand undoubtedly face many difficulties, as many 
returnees relate, but many find the rewards worth the risks and 
remain in Thailand for years. Many of those repatriated to Laos 
eventually return to Thailand to seek employment again.  NGOs have 
recently expressed concern about a study showing that as many as 50% 
of formally-identified trafficking victims, all of whom have 
received some kind of assistance and protection, have returned to 
Thailand. In a more disturbing development, those victims appear to 
be acting as "magnets," taking others from their local villages back 
across the border with them on the assumption that, having been 
through a bad situation once, they are now the authorities on how to 
avoid repeating their mistakes. All of these trends bear watching. 
 
--------------------- 
TIP REPORT RESPONSES 
--------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Hereafter paragraphs are keyed to the paragraphs and 
questions in reftel, with the paragraph numbers from reftel given in 
roman numerals. The entire text of the 2008 TIP report for Laos is 
sensitive but unclassified (SBU). 
 
XXVII. Overview of Country's Activities to Eliminate 
Trafficking in Persons 
 
A and B. Laos is almost exclusively a source country, with the vast 
majority of those trafficked going to Thailand.  Because of the 
country's extreme poverty and poor wages, few traffickers see Laos 
as a destination for their victims. (Lao factory workers earn 
between $49-$100 per month, while the minimum wage in Thailand is 
roughly $150 per month.) Laos also serves as a transit country in a 
small number of cases, although the potential for further transit 
grows as road construction and infrastructure projects accelerate, 
linking China, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia through Laos. Although 
much smaller in scope, internal trafficking is also a problem, 
almost exclusively with young women and girls falling victim to the 
commercial sex trade in urban areas.  Post has seen no evidence of 
forced labor in Laos during the reporting period. 
 
The World Bank in 2006 estimated that there are at least 250,000 Lao 
workers employed in Thailand, of whom 80,000 are unregistered 
according to the Thai Ministry of Labour. The Lao Ministry of Labor 
and Social Welfare puts the number of Lao workers in Thailand at 
150,000, noting that most are there illegally. There are no 
generally accepted figures on how many of these persons are actually 
trafficked. Although some of these Lao are trafficked to Thailand, 
the large majority go to Thailand on their own, following the advice 
of friends and relatives. Others use the services of middlemen to 
help them locate work in Thailand. The majority of migrant laborers, 
and presumably the majority of trafficking victims, originate from 
central and southern Lao provinces and Vientiane Municipality. The 
groups most vulnerable to the worst forms of trafficking are minors, 
especially girls, and highland minorities from Laos' interior. While 
the UN Interagency Project on People Trafficking (UNIAP) believes 
the number of minorities trafficked to Thailand is small, minorities 
are far more vulnerable to exploitation than are lowland Lao because 
of their lack of Thai language skills and overall unfamiliarity with 
Thai society. UNIAP studies show that the majority of 
formally-identified victims of trafficking are girls between the 
ages of 12-18, from rural but not remote or extremely poor areas, 
belonging to the lowland Lao or Tai ethnic group (approx. 66% of the 
population), with some basic education. A 2004 International Office 
of Migration (IOM) study adds that most were employed in domestic 
labor and factory work (only 6 of the 124 surveyed by IOM were 
employed in the sex industry), and most had been deceived about the 
conditions, but not the type, of work they went into. Other studies 
suggest that one-third of trafficking victims were employed in the 
sex industry. 
 
In 2007, 280 formally-identified victims of cross-border human 
trafficking were returned to Laos, bringing the total number of 
victims repatriated to Laos from Thailand since 2001 to more than 
1,044. An additional 21 were repatriated in January 2008. Staffing 
problems in Thailand have delayed the February repatriation until 
March 2008.  Of those victims, 60% have been from the cities of 
Vientiane or Savannakhet. Approximately 100 other victims are 
currently residing in rehabilitation centers inside Thailand, 
according to details provided by the Lao Ministry of Labor and 
Social Welfare (MLSW). However, almost all Lao government agencies, 
international organizations, and NGOs working in the trafficking 
sector note that the vast majority of victims are not formally 
identified. Most who return to Laos do so by crossing back and 
returning to their villages or to larger urban centers, largely 
without contact with authorities. IOM and Agir pour les Femmes en 
Situation Precaire (AFESIP), a French NGO specializing in victims of 
sexual exploitation, both note that victims generally prefer to 
avoid Thai authorities and what is usually a stay of 5-8 months in 
the shelter in Thailand. Male victims are rarely formally identified 
or seek assistance. 
 
UNICEF believes that there are four areas where Lao are most likely 
to fall victim to exploitative conditions: the southern Thai fishing 
industry (for men), prostitution, domestic labor, and factory work 
(for women). Most Lao working illegally in Thailand do so in Bangkok 
(especially in factories, domestic labor and prostitution), with a 
smaller number working in the northeast (prostitution and migrant 
farm labor). 
 
Some Lao who seek work in Thailand fall victim to the worst forms of 
trafficking; the majority of these victims are females, but males 
are also victims, especially of exploitative labor. Most NGOs 
believe the majority of trafficked persons become victims once they 
reach their destinations, particularly at their places of 
employment, rather than during the migration process itself. 
According to information  from NGOs, the government, or in the 
literature reviewed here, there are no cases of kidnapping, very few 
cases reported of the "sale" of minors by parents or other figures 
to traffickers, and little occurrence of pressure to migrate from 
parents. 
 
The prevailing people-smuggling mode in Laos remains transportation 
to a job in exchange for payment up front. Lao people in lowland 
areas are anxious to obtain work abroad and are willing to pay 
smugglers and traffickers to assist them in seeking work, especially 
in neighboring Thailand. However, a report by Voice of America on 
February 2, 2008, stated that one trafficking "gang" in Laos has 
recently changed its methods in response to greater efforts to 
combat trafficking by Vientiane authorities.  According to the 
report, the "gang" is attempting to build relationships with parents 
in target villages and convince them to send their children to work 
for them in purportedly legitimate jobs. Generally smugglers and 
traffickers fit no particular profile. Aside from the Thai employers 
who traffic the victims when they reach their destination, most 
cross-border traffickers are probably Lao nationals with experience 
in assisting cross-border labor movement. There are likely also some 
Thai traffickers operating in Laos intermittently. Some recruiters 
and smugglers of people are helping fellow villagers, even family 
members, to migrate, while others probably make trafficking a 
full-time business. 
 
IOM's 2004 study of trafficking between Laos and Thailand found that 
nearly one-third of Lao trafficking victims had family members in 
Thailand, suggesting this may have been a factor in their decision 
to seek work there. Most of those trafficked traveled with a small 
group of friends or relatives. Brokers' fees varied widely, from as 
little as 500 baht (about $14) to as much as 30,000 baht ($880). The 
majority, however, paid between 2,500-7,000 baht ($75-$205) in 
broker fees, if they used one. 
 
According to Norwegian Church Aid, many migrants borrow money from 
"those who transport them" or from neighbors to finance the travel. 
This suggests a vulnerability from indebtedness that can lead to 
subsequent exploitation.  Initially, migrants may go on their own or 
be hired by agents, but many would try to help the migration of 
friends or relatives once they had arrived at their destinations. 
Young people would rather rely on informal networks of friends or 
relatives than agents for transport, accommodation, and employment. 
Younger children who do not have these networks, or travel without 
informing their families, are those most likely to rely on agents or 
solely on themselves, and are hence most at risk from traffickers. 
 
One August 2006 study by the UN notes that adult men and boys are 
more likely to be traveling with friends, to known destinations, 
without "help" by middle-men. Conversely, women tended to be 
younger, more likely to rely on agents which often involved 
incurring debts, less likely to know where they were going, and more 
likely to migrate alone or with only a few friends. 
 
Most Lao learn of work opportunities in Thailand by word of mouth, 
from those who have made the trip and returned, and in many cases 
from friends and family members. In at least some cases, 
particularly of young women involved in prostitution in Thailand, 
the women themselves act as recruiters for others when they return 
to Laos to visit family and friends. An unpublished 2007 IOM study 
indicates a new and disturbing trend: approximately 50% of 
formally-identified trafficking victims, who have received 
assistance to reintegrate into their communities in Laos and formal 
protection from the authorities, returned across the border seeking 
work in Thailand. Furthermore, they apparently acted as "magnets" 
for their peers, perhaps with the assumption that, having fallen 
victim once, they are now in a better position to avoid those 
situations and help others do the same. The Director of the LWU 
shelter confirmed this trend, noting that, even after counseling and 
vocational training, many victims still cannot find employment in 
Laos and choose to return to Thailand. 
 
False documents have sometimes been used to transport people from 
Laos to other countries but have not been needed to enter Thailand. 
Border crossing cards are easily obtainable; they are only valid for 
a few days' travel and only for specific Thai provinces, but once 
across the border the holders easily ignore these restrictions. Many 
Lao entered Thailand without documentation, usually crossing the 
Mekong River by boat or traveling across an unmonitored land border. 
 
 
The Lao and Thai governments signed an anti-trafficking MOU in 
mid-2005 that established a framework for cooperation between the 
two governments. A Lao-Thai Joint Action Plan to Combat Human 
Trafficking was completed in late 2006.   IOM has been a key 
supporter of Lao-Thai efforts to implement all elements of the MOU. 
The February 27, 2007, signing of an MOU between the GOL and IOM has 
allowed IOM to establish a presence in Laos and to work more closely 
with the GOL on implementation. 
 
¶C. Laos is a member of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative 
Against Trafficking (COMMIT) process, established in 2004, and under 
COMMIT the GOL has established a Ministerial-level National Steering 
Committee on Trafficking with members chaired by a Deputy Prime 
Minister who is concurrently the Minister of National Defense. The 
Secretariat of that organization is presided over by the Director of 
 
SIPDIS 
Investigations, Ministry of Public Security (MOPS). The MLSW has the 
lead in trafficking prevention, as well as victim's assistance and 
reintegration. MOPS has the lead on investigations and arrests, 
while the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and the Public Prosecutor's 
Office manage the criminal process.  The LWU, a broad-based mass 
organization, has been involved in anti-trafficking efforts since 
the mid-1990s. The LWU has been active, within its limited means in 
protection and prevention work and currently runs a shelter in 
Vientiane for victims of domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, and 
human trafficking. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) chairs a 
regular meeting with all relevant GOL offices and all the NGOs and 
international organization in the sector to coordinate activities, 
in addition to facilitating meetings with counterparts in Thailand, 
Cambodia, Vietnam, and China on regional trafficking matters. All of 
the GOL agencies listed above are represented on the Ministerial 
Steering Committee. The Lao Youth Union, Federation of Trade Unions, 
and Ministry of Education also play roles in educating potential 
trafficking victims. Public awareness campaigns and journalism 
training - both of which have received significant attention in the 
 
reporting period - are run with the assistance of the Ministry of 
Information and Culture, which controls the Lao media. 
 
¶D. Lack of resources is the biggest impediment to the 
government's ability to address trafficking problems. The GOL is 
largely dependent on the donor community to fund anti-trafficking 
activities, just as it depends on international donors to fund 
activities in almost every sector. Post notes that 70% of the 
government's capital budget comes from official development 
assistance.  There are only about 10,000 police officers in a 
country of 6 million people. The LWU Shelter is funded mostly from 
international or NGO assistance, and the GOL depends on IOM and 
AFESIP to further provide long-term assistance for immediate needs 
and reintegration. The GOL does fund the transit center, where a 
victim remains for approximately one week while authorities conduct 
family and victim assessments to determine if the victim wants to 
return home or move to another shelter. 
 
Corruption is another serious problem: it is endemic in Laos, 
particularly in law enforcement where salaries are minimal. Poor 
human resources pose yet another problem.  Few Lao officials have 
the knowledge base or skills to carry out their jobs at 
international standards. The higher level of development in 
Thailand, the long and porous border between Laos and Thailand, and 
the corruption of Lao border officials make controlling cross-border 
trafficking extremely difficult. 
 
A weak judicial sector and the population's general reluctance to 
use the court system make it difficult to investigate charges of 
both internal and cross-border trafficking. For example, the Lao Bar 
Association (LBA) has only 82 members, and half of them are without 
formal legal training. Legal aid clinics in and outside of 
Vientiane, begun in June 2007 with funding from The Asia Foundation, 
have made a little headway in raising awareness about the role of 
lawyers in protecting society; moreover the LBA still does not have 
the resources to handle the few cases that are brought to its 
attention.  Through the aid clinic program, the Bar Association is 
currently working on one case for a victim of internal trafficking 
and one of cross-border trafficking. Neither case has been referred 
to the police yet. The legal aid clinic, although small, is a 
promising avenue for victims of internal trafficking, since they 
need assistance in navigating the legal procedures to bring their 
traffickers to justice. Rather than resorting to the formal legal 
system, most Lao, of all ethnicities, prefer to rely on village 
mediation and respected local authorities to settle disputes. Many 
victims of trafficking likely do not understand what resources are 
available to them in the judicial sector, even if the local 
officials in their areas have received training on human trafficking 
investigation and enforcement procedures. 
 
The Lao-Thai border is extremely porous, and Lao going to Thailand 
can easily avoid official scrutiny. Post has not received any 
specific reports of actual trafficking cases involving government 
complicity or particular officials colluding in human trafficking 
during the reporting period, from NGOs or other sources, but the 
poor salaries and general levels of corruption make such involvement 
likely. 
 
Many donors believe that resources for anti-trafficking should be 
focused on education and reintegration rather than on law 
enforcement. Laos is only beginning to develop rule of law; the 
justice system is inefficient; and poor conditions in the penal 
system have raised serious human rights concerns in the 
international community. Given the nature of the Lao regime, calls 
for more police powers are inimical to USG political values, and 
pressure for heightened levels of police activity must be very 
carefully considered. In the meantime, international efforts to 
bring professional skills and capacity to the investigation and 
prosecution efforts continue.  The UN Office for Drug Control and 
Crime (UNODC) and the Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project 
(ARTIP), an Australian effort, run local and regional training 
programs with MOPS, MOJ, and Public Prosecutors offices. So far 
several hundred Lao law enforcement officials have received some 
form of training on combating human trafficking from March 
2007-February 2008. 
 
The Prime Minister issued an order in December 2005 to stop the 
practice of fining or otherwise penalizing returnees from Thailand. 
Training for immigration officials followed issuance of the order. 
As of January 2007, the Lao government stopped requiring exit 
permits for Lao to travel abroad, which further reduced the practice 
of penalizing illegal migrants upon return. The instructions against 
fining, and the removal of the legal basis for those fines (failure 
to procure exit permits) have apparently been effective in reducing 
the financial penalties faced by trafficking victims. 
 
However, NGOs warn that this "special treatment" - i.e. assistance 
in returning home, vocational training, etc. - is perceived as an 
advantage by illegal migrants who are not identified as trafficking 
victims. In small villages where everyone knows everyone else, this 
makes it impossible to protect the privacy of the victims and makes 
trafficking appear to convey some tangible advantages on its 
victims.  (Comment: Several NGOs in Laos have raised their concerns 
about the increased attention on reintegration and assistance for 
victims for just this reason.) 
 
The Government is studying the patterns of trafficking, assistance 
delivery, and reintegration to find better ways to assist victims of 
trafficking. AFESIP, an NGO with a focus on rehabilitation for sex 
workers, assists the MLSW with family assessment for victims at the 
transit shelter before they are returned to their homes. After a 
week at the transit shelter, run by the MLSW, victims may ask to 
either go home or receive additional counseling and assistance. The 
majority request to return home, having just spent 5-8 months, or up 
to a year, in shelters in Thailand. The remainder are referred to 
the LWU shelter or the AFESIP shelter, where they receive counseling 
and vocational training for anywhere from 14 days to 6 months.  The 
LWU shelter in Vientiane assisted 48 victims in 2007 and is housing 
40 victims as of February 2008, its maximum capacity. The Director 
estimates that one-third are trafficking victims, almost all of them 
trafficked within Laos. The remaining 2/3s are victims of domestic 
violence or sexual assault. The AFESIP shelter has assisted 20 
victims in their shelter as long-term residents in 2007, is 
currently housing 19 victims as residents.  It has assisted another 
46 victims with vocational training and employment services through 
their social enterprise project (essentially beauty shop training). 
Both LWU and AFESIP try to place former victims with employers, if 
the victims do not wish to return home, and follow up on a regular 
basis. 
 
AFESIP broke ground on a new shelter in Savannakhet Province in 
October 2007, on land donated by the MLSW, intended to increase 
capacity and bring its counseling and vocational training services 
closer to the victims and their families - most of whom are from 
southern Laos.  AFESIP will also construct a transit shelter for the 
MLSW on the same site, doubling the MLSW's overall capacity and 
providing a second site closer to another trafficking hotspot. The 
shelters are scheduled to open by the end of 2008. 
 
¶E.  Statistics in Laos are notoriously unreliable and difficult to 
find. However, the GOL understands that international assistance and 
monitoring require that the GOL collects more information to better 
understand the trafficking situation and evaluate new programs. The 
MLSW, for example, completed a study of 250 child victims in 2007, 
looking at their homes, trafficking routes, jobs, health, and 
education. As part of the COMMIT process, MOPS is collecting data - 
and sharing it with the international community - on trafficking 
arrests and investigations under the new Article 134 of the penal 
code. The LWU and MLSW keep track of the numbers of victims in the 
transit shelter and LWU shelter. The GOL has signed Memoranda of 
Understanding (MOUs) with IOM, World Vision, AFESIP and others to 
work on programs to protect victims, and usually gathers data on 
trafficking patterns and the victims as part of the work of these 
NGOs. In July 2007, Government-controlled Lao media published a 
study on the impact of a trafficking awareness campaign, noting for 
example that 71% of young people had heard the term "human 
trafficking" and that the majority had heard it from the media.  The 
National Plan of Action, drafted with the assistance of the 
international community, is the first in the region with specific 
metrics for evaluation. However, the Plan has not yet been approved 
by the Prime Minister. 
 
XXVIII: Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
 
A, B, and C. Laos has a law specifically prohibiting human 
trafficking, for both sexual and non-sexual purposes. 
 
In 2006, Laos enacted the revised Article 134 of the penal code. 
While other laws passed earlier appear to have criminalized human 
trafficking, representatives of the Ministry of Public Security told 
Emboff that, without a penal code article, it has been virtually 
impossible to prosecute a trafficker under specific human 
trafficking provisions in other laws. 
 
Begin Text: 
Article 134: Human Trafficking 
Human trafficking is the seeking, concealing, transporting or taking 
of people within or from other countries by means of deception 
fraud, threats/intimidation, duress, financial constraints or other 
means for the purpose of labor exploitation, prostitution, 
dissemination of pornographic material, or other purposes contrary 
to national culture, removal of body organs for the purpose of 
making illegal gains. 
 
The above mentioned actions performed on minors/children under 18 
years of age will be considered as human trafficking even in the 
absence of deception or fraud, intimidation, duress or financial 
constraints. 
 
Any person performing infractions in the category of human 
trafficking shall be punished by privation of liberty for a period 
of five to fifteen years and shall be fined an amount of 10.000.000 
to 100.000.000 Kip [note: USD 1086 to 10,860) and shall have their 
assets confiscated according to Article 32 of this law. 
 
In the case with infractions performed habitually, performed as an 
organized group, the victim is a child/minor, the victim is two or 
more people, the perpetrator is a close relative, or the victim is 
seriously injured, is physically maimed or has lost mental faculties 
the perpetrator performing the infraction in the category of human 
trafficking shall be punished by privation of liberty for a period 
of fifteen to twenty years and shall be fined an amount of 
100.000.000 to 500.000.000 Kip (note: USD 10,860 to 54,300) and 
shall have their assets confiscated according to Article 32 of this 
law. 
 
In the case where the offence results in the victim being 
permanently disabled, contracts AIDS or results in the loss life, 
the perpetrator as a human trafficker shall be punished by privation 
of liberty for life imprisonment and shall be fined an amount of 
500.000.000 to 1.000.000.000 Kip (USD 54,300 to 108,695)and shall 
have their assets confiscated according to Article 32 of this law or 
shall be executed/sentenced to death. 
 
When the offence is in the category of trafficking women or children 
the law on the Promotion/Development and Protection of women can be 
applied. 
 
Preparation to commit, attempt such infractions shall be punished. 
 
End Text. 
 
As noted, the Law on Women, passed by the National Assembly in 
September 2004, contains provisions dealing with trafficking 
including sections defining the rights of trafficking victims, in 
addition to the same penalties and definitions of human trafficking 
that were later included in penal code Article 134. Those specific 
provisions on victims' rights and protections are listed below. Note 
that Article 28 includes paragraphs requiring that Lao government 
officials at embassies and consulates abroad assist Lao victims, and 
Lao government agencies in Laos assist foreign victims. Both are 
charged with working with foreign countries to assist in 
prosecutions. 
 
Begin text of Lao Law on Development and Protection of Women: 
 
Article 25. Rights of Victims 
A victim means a person who has suffered from trafficking in women 
and children. Victims have the following rights: 
 
¶1. To ask for assistance from any individual who is nearby; 
¶2. To notify police officers; 
¶3. To testify and present evidence relating to the case, to 
concerned officers; 
¶4. To request for compensation, to be rehabilitated and to be 
reintegrated into the society; 
¶5. To receive protection and care to ensure personal safety; 
¶6. Not to be prosecuted and detained on any charge of trafficking in 
women and children, prostitution, [or] illegal immigration; 
¶7. Not to be photographed, [and] not to have any video recorded or 
broadcast, where such would affect personal honour; 
¶8. To receive suitable assistance in the form of shelter, food, 
clothes, medical services, vocational training, repatriation and 
others; 
¶9. To have other rights according to laws and regulations. 
 
Article 26. Duties of Society 
Individuals or organisations that discover victims of trafficking in 
women and children or receive data or information concerning such 
trafficking shall report to the village administration, the police 
or other concerned authorities, and shall, at the same time, give 
assistance to victims. Party and State organisations, the Lao Front 
for National Construction, mass organisations, social organisations 
and families shall disseminate information and educate so that the 
whole society becomes aware of the acts and impact of trafficking in 
women and children in order that women and children stay vigilant 
and not fall victim to such trafficking and be active in combating 
and preventing [such trafficking]. 
To combat and prevent trafficking in women and children, the 
government establishes a national committee for prevention of 
trafficking in humans. 
 
Article 28. Assistance by Officers to Victims 
During the process, police officers must cooperate with concerned 
counterparts such as doctors, social workers and other parties in 
order to give necessary and urgent assistance, to provide medical 
treatment and counseling services to the victims and to send them to 
safe shelter. In the case where the victims are children, there 
shall be special treatment to restore [their] physical and mental 
health and to provide assistance to [meet] the specific needs of the 
children, in order to ensure that those children have guardians and 
to help them to return to their family and society. 
 
In the case of victims abroad who are Lao citizens, the concerned 
Lao embassy or consulate shall give necessary and urgent assistance 
to the victims, especially safety and social welfare, and shall 
co-operate with concerned officials of that country in order to 
prosecute offenders, and the victims shall be repatriated 
thereafter. 
 
In the case of victims in the Lao PDR who are citizens of foreign 
countries, in addition to implementing the third paragraph mentioned 
above, Lao officials shall cooperate with the embassy or consulate 
of the victim's country in the Lao PDR through the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs in order to repatriate the victims. 
 
End text. 
 
The Law on the Protection of Children's Rights, enacted on December 
27, 2006, echoes the definition and penalties for trafficking that 
are in Article 134, further states in Article 89 that sexual 
intercourse with a child under age 15 is against the law, and "Any 
individual who offers, receive an offer, recruit or provide children 
under 18 years old to serve as prostitute shall be imposed a fine is 
deemed to have committed a crime and shall be imposed a punishment 
by applying (new) Article 134 of the penal code." 
 
These laws were vetted by NGOs, including those active in 
anti-trafficking. A U.S. Deputy District Attorney working with the 
Department of Justice's Overseas Prosecutorial Development 
Assistance and Training (OPDAT) Program also vetted the draft of the 
Law on Women, parts of which were later incorporated into penal code 
Article 134. The Lao penal code also has provisions against 
prostitution, procuring, kidnapping, and selling persons. There are 
statutes forbidding coercion and depriving people of wages. 
 
¶D.  The penalty for rape or forcible sexual assault under the Lao 
penal code, Article 119, is three to five years imprisonment. 
Abduction is punishable under Article 92 by five to fifteen years 
imprisonment. Rape of a minor is punishable by seven to 15 years, 
prostitution by up to one year, and pimping by up to three years. 
Some of these statutes have been used against traffickers prior to 
the passage of Article 134. The legal age of consent in Laos is 15. 
 
 
¶E.  Prostitution is illegal in Laos but in practice is widespread, 
and authorities have usually made few efforts to halt it. Both sex 
workers and clients are usually Lao.  Lao law prohibits foreigners 
from engaging in sexual activity with Lao citizens outside of 
marriage, and foreigners are fined regularly, or occasionally 
arrested, under this law. The government periodically moves to shut 
down establishments, such as bars, nightclubs and discos, where 
prostitutes operate. For example, in October and November 2007, 
police sought to shut down bars and entertainment venues with 
prostitutes in the UNESCO world heritage city of Luang Prabang, one 
of the region's great tourist attractions. Nevertheless, extreme 
poverty and lack of viable economic opportunities for young people 
ensure a perpetuation of prostitution in spite of anti-prostitution 
laws and occasional government campaigns. Campaigns against 
prostitution in other major cities in Laos at the end of 2007 appear 
to have pushed sex workers out of some entertainment venues and into 
other ways of meeting clients, including the use of mobile phones 
and meeting at guest houses, rather than clubs. 
 
The majority of establishments offering sex workers - discos, bars, 
and restaurants - charge the guest a fee to take the sex worker out 
of the establishment. Fees usually range from 2 to 4 USD. The actual 
fees for sexual services are generally arranged between the sex 
worker and the client.  Drinking establishments and guest houses 
frequently have prostitutes available, sometimes as employees and 
sometimes freelance. The activities of owners/operators of 
establishments with prostitutes are also criminalized, as are those 
of clients. Although prostitution laws are often not enforced, some 
researchers feel that increased enforcement by the GOL would 
actually result in negative consequences - prostitutes going 
underground and being more likely to be subjected to abuse; and also 
a greater likelihood of increased low-level GOL involvement in the 
prostitution trade. 
 
¶F.  The GOL has begun to take law enforcement efforts to combat 
human trafficking more seriously, although some officials are still 
reluctant to acknowledge there is an internal trafficking problem in 
the commercial sex trade. According to the Ministry of Public 
Security, the GOL used Article 134 to investigate 38 cases of human 
trafficking in 2007, resulting in 23 arrests and 8 ongoing 
prosecutions. An additional 20 cases are currently under 
investigation at the time of this reporting. The 8 cases in the 
courts have not yet made it to judgment or sentencing under this law 
during the reporting period. (Note:  According to UNIAP, the MOPS 
reported 27 cases of cross-border trafficking and 14 convictions 
from November 2006-December 2007. However, it appears that those 
cases were "trafficking-related," and not prosecuted specifically 
under Article 134. End note.) 
 
Anecdotally, press reports include the arrest of a woman in Oudomxai 
province by the Anti-Human Trafficking unit in December 2007 on 
suspicion of trafficking 2 women to China.   Also in December, the 
LWU reported a case where the LWU shelter had provided legal 
assistance to a 13-year-old girl who had been forced "to entertain" 
drinkers in a bar in Vientiane. The girl was sent to a hospital 
after an illness, and hospital staff reported the case to the 
police, who asked the LWU for assistance.  According to the LWU, the 
case is under investigation by the Vientiane People's Court.  (Note: 
The LWU seeks to convince women at its shelter to cooperate with the 
police in investigations, with mixed success.  End note.)  In August 
2007, newspapers reported the arrest of two women suspected of 
selling a niece to a Thai businessman in June, although in that case 
the women were arrested under prostitution charges. 
Post notes that the case of the 13-year old girl is significant in 
that local officials were able to pro-actively identify a victim of 
internal trafficking, provide victims' services, and begin the 
process of prosecuting the traffickers. Given the low levels of 
attention usually paid to internal trafficking, both the actions and 
the subsequent highlighting of the event in the 
government-controlled press may point to a nascent effort by the GOL 
to begin addressing the problem. Furthermore, the AFESIP annual 
report for 2007 notes the following development in the last few 
months of 2007: "On another side, the government authorities reacted 
quickly to rescue girls victims of trafficking and sexual 
exploitation in bars, closed the premises and arrested traffickers 
(bar owners)[sic]. These are also extremely encouraging results 
showing the positive collaboration and political will of the 
authorities." The AFESIP report says that authorities in Champassak 
and Savannakhet provinces have been particularly cooperative in 
locating and rescuing child victims of sexual exploitation; those in 
Vientiane and Oudomxai provinces less so. 
 
¶G.  The GOL does provide training on human trafficking to officials, 
sometimes using NGOs and international organizations in addition to 
sessions run by GOL agencies.  Examples during the reporting period 
include the June 2007 workshop for officials from the Ministry of 
Communication, Transport, Post and Construction and their local 
counterparts from northern provinces(road construction in northern 
Laos is seen as a potential risk factor for human trafficking); 
front line law enforcement training for 46 police and border agents 
June 2007 led by ARTIP; workshops every three months under the ASEAN 
Workshop on Criminal Justice Reponses to Trafficking; June 2007 
workshops by a U.S.-funded academic on patterns of trafficking and 
victims' needs for officials in Vientiane and Savannakhet; September 
2007 training by the Ministry of Public Security for military 
officers (from the Ministry of National Defense) on human 
trafficking investigations; regular train-the-trainers courses with 
the Royal Thai Police on Human Trafficking Investigations Skills; 
UNODC and Ministry of Justice joint training for trafficking 
awareness; the June 2007 ASEAN Regional Taskforce Meeting in Hanoi 
on sexual exploitation of children; and UNIAP programs at the 
National University to educate students on the dangers of 
trafficking in January 2008. 
 
¶H.  The GOL does cooperate with other agencies, particularly Thai 
police, to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases. Post does 
not have information on the total number of such international 
investigations, although anecdotal press reports suggest that almost 
all trafficking cases begin with information from victims coming 
from Thailand. However, according to The Asia Foundation, 
cross-border investigations are hampered by lack of technical 
resources and information. The formally-identified victims who are 
repatriated to Laos - roughly 280 last year - have folders of case 
information that are sent to the Lao authorities at the time of the 
repatriation. However, the information is usually hand-written in 
Thai, and Lao officials often cannot read the handwriting, leaving 
thousands of pages of documents on specific, identified cases 
sitting in archives. 
 
¶I.  Laos has extradition agreements with Vietnam, Thailand, and 
Cambodia. However, the GOL has not extradited anyone for human 
trafficking-related crimes. 
 
¶J. There is no evidence of GOL involvement in trafficking on an 
institutional level, nor have specific human trafficking cases been 
reported to the Embassy through NGOs or other means with information 
about the involvement of individual Lao officials in human 
trafficking cases during the reporting period. However, at the local 
level, observers believe it almost certain that some officials are 
involved in facilitating trafficking, sometimes in collusion with 
their Thai counterparts. These local Lao officials may be complicit 
in the smuggling and have probably been aware of the intentions of 
those traveling to Thailand. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests 
that local officials, especially police, are often aware of 
smuggling activities and that some profit from them in the form of 
kickbacks. There is also evidence that border officials permit 
smuggling of all kinds, and presumably this includes humans. 
However, since the majority of Lao victims are trafficked once they 
reach their destination in Thailand, it is uncertain how many - and 
to what extent - Lao officials are involved in the human trafficking 
trade as opposed to smuggling. 
 
¶K. According to the GOL, no government officials have been 
disciplined or punished for involvement in human trafficking. 
 
¶L. Laos does not contribute troops to international peacekeeping 
efforts. 
 
¶M.  There is no evidence that Laos has a significant problem with 
child sex tourism, either as a destination or a source of tourists 
for the sexual exploitation of children. Sexual relations between 
foreigners and Lao citizens outside marriage are prohibited by law, 
and police routinely fine foreigners who are suspected of the crime. 
Sex with a minor under age 15 is also illegal. In practice, 
authorities are extremely intolerant of such activities, and 
pedophiles, if arrested, would likely face severe punishment. 
However, the increase in tourism and the child sex tourism problems 
in the region have attracted the attention of Lao authorities, who 
are attempting to prevent child sex tourism from taking root in 
Laos. At the June 2007 ASEAN Regional Conference on Child Sex 
Offenders and again at the November 2007 Greater Mekong Subregional 
Seminar, Lao officials presented their plans for working in 
coordination with the tourism sector to prevent the problem in Laos. 
They noted that tourism in Laos has grown from less than 900,000 
visitors in 2004 to over 1.4 million visitors in 2007. Over 55% of 
those tourists are from Thailand, with another 23% coming from other 
Asian countries. "International" tourists (from Europe, Australia 
and the Americas) make up the remaining 22% of tourists coming to 
Laos. 
 
With laws criminalizing sexual exploitation of children, Laos has 
strong legal codes in place. The government has called on 
traditional trafficking agencies - MOPS, MLSW, Ministry of Justice - 
to work with the Lao National Tourism Authority to combat the 
problem. Already many major international hotels in Vientiane and 
Luang Prabang - the biggest tourism destinations - have posters 
created by Childwise prominently displayed in bars and lobby areas. 
Working at the behest of the MLSW, Save the Children undertook a 
regional education campaign to increase awareness of the problem, 
including a radio program.  (Note:  Radio reaches over 80% of the 
Lao population, the largest reach of any medium in Laos. End note.) 
Tourism sector employees are receiving training to report suspicious 
behavior, including a seminar jointly hosted by the GOL and NGOs in 
Luang Prabang in September 2007.  Tourism police have guidelines 
drafted in July 2007 for using the laws and identifying potential 
victims. Training of tourist police in the use of these guidelines 
continued until the end of the year in Savannakhet, Champassak, and 
Vientiane. The guidelines state that protecting children from child 
sex tourism and child labor abuse in the tourism industry is a 
primary objective for the tourism police.  Laos also has a telephone 
number available to report incidents, although Post has no 
information on specific cases reported through this mechanism. 
Vientiane Province established a task force on child sex tourism in 
December 2007 to coordinate efforts between the authorities and the 
tourism sector. In December 2007, the Lao Youth Union hosted a major 
event to warn against the exploitation of children, garnering 
coverage through all Lao media and including statements by the 
Deputy Foreign Minister and other senior Lao officials to raise 
awareness of the problem.  See note in paragraph F above on police 
reacting to reports of child prostitutes, based on AFESIP's annual 
report. 
 
XXIX. Protection and Assistance to Victims 
 
A through C. The MLSW and the Immigration Department, in cooperation 
with IOM, UNIAP, and AFESIP, work together to provide victims' 
assistance. The MLSW maintains a small transit center for that 
purpose in Vientiane. The transit center has assisted more than 1044 
human trafficking victims since it opened in late 2001, including 
approximately 280 in 2007 and 21 in January 2008. The GOL cooperates 
with IOM to protect and counsel returnees who have been processed 
through the MLSW transit center.  Victims stay in the transit 
shelter for approximately one week, while officials attempt family 
assessments and counseling. Victims are asked whether they wish to 
return to their families or need additional time in a shelter.  Very 
few request referrals to the LWU or AFESIP shelters since they spent 
5-8 months, on average, in a shelter in Thailand before being 
returned to Laos.  GOL officials escort victims home when that is 
the choice made by the victims. Those victims not ready to return 
home are referred to the AFESIP shelter or the LWU shelter for 
longer term care and vocational training. The LWU shelter for 
victims of domestic violence and trafficking opened in late 2005 
with joint funding from UNICEF, the Japanese Government, and The 
Asia Foundation. It provided shelter and legal, medical, and 
counseling assistance to 48 women in 2007 and 40 in January/February 
¶2008. Approximately one third were trafficking victims.  AFESIP 
opened its shelter in Vientiane in October 2006, dedicated to 
providing longer-term shelter and counseling for victims of sexual 
exploitation, both domestic and those returned from abroad.  That 
shelter assisted 20 victims as long term residents in 2007 and 
currently has 19 residents. In addition, AFESIP provided 46 other 
victims with vocational training and employment services on an 
"outpatient" basis. In October 2007 AFESIP broke ground on a new 
shelter for trafficking victims in Savannakhet, which is expected to 
open in 2008. AFESIP will construct a second transit center, to be 
run by the MLSW, on the same piece of land. The MLSW provided the 
land for the shelter and transit center. 
 
Generally the government does not have the resources to provide 
extended care to trafficking victims, beyond the basic services at 
the MLSW transit center, and requests assistance from NGOs, 
negotiating MOUs and terms of reference. When possible, the 
government does provide assistance in kind, for example, providing 
the land for the AFESIP shelter in Savannakhet. The LWU has a 
representative in every village in Laos and helps to monitor cases 
of victims returning home after staying in its shelter. 
 
¶D.  Trafficking victims are currently identified through a formal 
program with Thai authorities, whereby Thailand identifies the 
victims, provides initial shelter and some counseling, then 
repatriates them to Laos. IOM and the Lao Embassy in Bangkok 
facilitate the process. In 2007, approximately 280 trafficking 
victims were returned to Laos under this mechanism and another 21 
followed in January 2008. Staffing problems in Thailand resulted in 
February's repatriation being postponed until March 2008. The 
victims spend a week at the transit center, then are returned home 
or referred to the LWU or AFESIP shelters. Domestic trafficking 
victims, such as girls found working in the "beer shops," can be 
referred to either shelter as well.  There is currently no figure 
available for domestic trafficking victims. 
 
¶E.  Prostitution is not legal in Laos. 
 
¶F. Trafficking victims returned through the formal process described 
in paragraph D above are not jailed. They are placed in a transit 
shelter one week while officials and social services staff from the 
MLSW conduct assessments, then are returned home or sent to longer 
term shelters at the victims' request. The elimination of exit visas 
in January 2007 and the elimination of the "fines" for returning 
migrants in 2005 have helped protect victims from legal prosecution. 
None of the organizations we spoke to could identify a specific 
instance of identified trafficking victims being forced to pay fines 
to local authorities for returning home. (Monitoring of returned 
victims, incidentally, has greatly improved over the reporting 
period, with IOM and AFESIP both working with local Departments of 
Labor and Social Welfare to track reintegration procedures and 
programs.) The MLSW and other GOL parties continue to instruct 
provincial authorities that they cannot fine returning trafficking 
victims. Post has heard anecdotally of cases of female victims of 
domestic trafficking simply "freed" from the bar owners and sent 
home, while the bar owners are apparently facing prosecution. There 
have been no attempts to prosecute or fine victims of domestic 
trafficking or sexual exploitation who have passed through either 
the AFESIP or LWU shelter. 
 
G and H. Laos has no victim restitution program.  The GOL has no 
special program for witness protection, a matter of concern to the 
trafficking police, although the law calls for the protection of the 
victims' identities (see section 28, Law on the Protection of Women, 
Article 25,"Rights of Victims"). In theory, a trafficking victim 
could file a civil suit against a trafficker, although this has not 
been done in practice. Access to legal redress is gated mostly by 
culture and resources for both the victims and the legal community. 
Most Lao, including trafficking victims, are not familiar with the 
use of court procedures to redress grievances of any kind. The legal 
aid clinic program run by the Lao Bar Association is working to 
teach people how lawyers can provide assistance, although there are 
only 82 member of the bar in Laos. The Ministry of Justice is also 
working to disseminate information on this issue, include a January 
2008 seminar in Xieng Khouang province, which trained local leaders 
in the role of lawyers and provided information on the laws on the 
protection of women and children, the human trafficking law, and 
others. Most Lao use mediation and arbitration through respected 
village leaders to settle disputes. NGOs report stories of victims 
asking for village leaders to intervene in local situations where 
brokers may have acted in bad faith, but those situations are often 
not reported to the authorities. With only 10,000 or so policemen in 
the entire country, many villages do not have local law enforcement 
personnel to even take reports, much less conduct thorough 
investigations. Many trafficking victims may not even know that 
legal avenues exist, which is why the LWU and other mass 
organizations expend so much effort on disseminating laws.  The MLSW 
has a small unit devoted to protecting children with special needs, 
including a program for protection against and prevention of 
trafficking. See paragraphs A-F above for more details of the 
shelters, services, and funding provided to assist victims. 
 
¶I. The government does provide training in all areas of the 
trafficking problem, supported by NGOs, international organizations, 
and regional bodies, although targeted toward specific at risk 
provinces.  See paragraph E in Section 28, for a representative, 
albeit not comprehensive, list of training programs. Representatives 
at Lao embassies abroad are also instructed in their duties to 
assist in repatriation of victims, as noted in Section 28 in the 
text of the Law on the Protection of Women. Lao representatives at 
the Embassy in Thailand, for example, work with IOM and the MLSW to 
repatriate Lao victims. The Lao Embassy in Bangkok has a special 
unit charged with assisting migrants and trafficking victims. 
Usually the unit provides documents for the repatriation, if 
necessary, and coordinates shelter and assistance with the 
authorities in Thailand. The unit has, on occasion, funded the 
return of truly destitute victims who are not returned via the Thai 
shelter/IOM mechanism, although the MFA does not keep track of those 
numbers.  Officials from the Lao Embassy in Bangkok have also 
escorted returnees to Laos on some occasions, according to the MFA. 
The Thai Center for the Protection of Children's Rights (CPCR) and 
the Foundation for Women of Thailand have also been involved with 
this effort. 
 
The MLSW has a unit dedicated to protecting children identified as 
trafficking victims, and both the AFESIP shelter and the LWU shelter 
have programs in place for younger children. Approximately 60% of 
the victims of human trafficking returned from Thailand are under 
age 18. 
 
¶J.  The government provides initial medical screening and counseling 
for victims in a transit shelter in Vientiane, as well as 
counseling, medical services, vocational training, employment 
services, and ongoing monitoring to victims sent to the LWU shelter. 
 AFESIP, under an MOU, provides similar services and monitoring for 
the victims referred to its shelter.  IOM and AFESIP, with 
assistance from MLSW, currently try to monitor victims reintegrated 
directly into the community after staying in the transit shelter. 
The LWU also does monitoring of former victims. 
 
¶K. The GOL does not have the means to fund NGOs or international 
organizaions working in Laos. However, the GOL provides office space 
(to IOM and others), land for shelters (to AFESIP), and staff 
(usually MLSW or LWU) to assist in monitoring and assistance 
programs run by NGOs and IOs. The LWU shelter is staffed with LWU 
employees for example, but funded by outside organizations. The GOL 
does keep a close eye on NGOs working in victims' assistance as part 
of the overall effort to coordinate programs. MOUs are signed and 
workplans developed to meet the needs in particular provinces and 
among specific populations. To the extent its resources allow, the 
GOL does appear to provide or refer victims to appropriate 
organizations to get assistance. 
 
The following IOs and NGOs work in Laos: UNDP:UNICEF; UNIFEM; UNODC; 
UNFPA; ARTIP; Save the Children, Australia; Save the Children, 
Norway; Save the Children, UK; International Labor Organization; 
Norwegian Church Aid; World Vision; Asia Regional Cooperation to 
Prevent People Trafficking; World Education/Consortium; Village 
Focus International; IOM; Care, International; AFESIP; Childwise; 
Friends International; and Oxfam. 
 
 
XXX. Prevention: 
 
¶A. The GOL acknowledges trafficking as a problem at the highest 
levels and has made combating trafficking in persons a national 
priority, within its limited means. 
 
¶B. With NGO and UNICEF funding, the MLSW has sponsored media 
messages on the dangers of trafficking.  In July 2007, the 
Government-controlled Lao media published a study on the impact of 
the trafficking awareness campaign, noting for example that 71% of 
young people had heard the term "human trafficking" and that the 
majority had heard it from the media. Programs at the National 
University of Laos and "feature" articles in the press warn young 
people of the dangers of trafficking regularly. The MLSW also worked 
with UNICEF to set up awareness-raising billboards near border 
checkpoints and in Laos' larger cities. Many Lao schools, libraries, 
and public buildings also have posters on the dangers of 
trafficking. In December 2007, the Lao Youth Union held a day-long 
event with workshops, puppet shows, and plays to address child 
trafficking specifically. The event, led by the Deputy Prime 
Minister/Minister of National Defense, was covered widely in the Lao 
press, including radio, television, and print. The Deputy PM also 
specifically warned of the dangers of child sexual exploitation and 
domestic trafficking, showing that the government is beginning to 
focus on these problems in Laos. 
 
¶D. The Government of Laos cooperates with IOM and United Nations 
agencies, particularly the UNIAP, to monitor, document, and suggest 
remedies for trafficking-related problems. Since 2001, the MLSW, 
acting with international NGOs, has conducted data collection and 
simultaneous parallel public education campaigns. IOM and the MSLW 
have a number of studies of trafficking patterns underway, including 
the study on patterns of child trafficking cited earlier. See 
section 27, paragraph E for more details. In most places borders can 
be crossed easily by land or by boat, and the GOL has a very limited 
capacity to monitor border areas outside established immigration and 
customs posts. 
 
¶E.   There are several mechanisms for coordinating anti-trafficking 
issues among agencies. The Ministerial Committee on Trafficking, 
established in 2004 as part of Laos' COMMIT commitment, is one such 
avenue and is designed primarily to coordinate among Lao government 
ministries.  The Inter Agency Coordination Committee, chaired by 
UNIAP, includes any interested NGO or diplomatic community 
representative as well as representatives from the MFA, Ministry of 
Justice, MOPS, MLSW, and the Prosecutor's Office. This group meets 
approximately every 3-4 months to discuss new initiatives, share 
information, and request assistance from each other or a government 
ministry. (For example, NGOs are sharing phone numbers, brochures, 
and other materials that will be included in multi-agency "Safe 
Migration" kits for distribution in areas with at-risk populations 
and will include information on how to identify trafficking risks 
and how to seek assistance, including telephone numbers in both Laos 
and Thailand. This initiative began when three agencies learned that 
they were all working on contact information cards for those at 
risk.) 
 
The GOL is currently working with UNIAP to develop an action plan to 
address prevention, prosecution, protection, and reintegration for 
2008 and 2009. NGOs were asked in January 2008 to fill in areas on 
the plan grid where they are currently working so the GOL can 
identify the gaps. At the January 2008 meeting, and based on the 
plans for upcoming years, NGOS are concerned that their focus on 
international trafficking means they don't have experience on the 
ground in Laos to work on the commercial sex trade issues that the 
government has identified as areas of future concern, for example, 
in the casinos built by the Chinese in northern provinces. NGOs now 
are not sure how to work with commercial enterprises or deal with a 
trafficking victim when the victim is already at home. Current 
standards of protection - removal of the victim from the situation 
and return home with assistance - won't work as the model, and the 
NGOs are not sure how to proceed. This kind of discussion and 
problem identification bodes well for future efforts in Laos. The 
State Inspection Committee, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, is 
charged with overseeing anti-corruption efforts. 
 
¶F. The GOL held its first national meeting to combat human 
trafficking in 2006 and completed the national plan to combat 
trafficking in persons in July 2007. Any representative of a foreign 
embassy, NGO, or IO with an interest in trafficking was welcome at a 
series of open meetings on the draft NPA and could actively 
participate in working groups to establish the performance 
evaluation metrics that are included in the plan. Although the last 
country in the region to complete an NPA on human trafficking, Laos 
will apparently be the first to include metrics for evaluation in 
its plan. According to the MLSW, the plan was approved by the 
National Assembly in October 2007 and is waiting final ratification 
by the Prime Minister's office. MFA officials told Emboff that the 
delay is caused by Cabinet concerns over whether Laos will have the 
budget to fully implement the NPA. 
 
¶G.  The government's efforts to combat prostitution appear to be 
limited to law enforcement activity against owners and operators of 
venues and public awareness campaigns on child sexual exploitation 
(cited above). Police periodically move to shut down establishments, 
such as bars, nightclubs and discos, where prostitutes operate.  For 
example, in October and November 2007, police sought to shut down 
bars and entertainment venues with prostitutes in the UNESCO world 
heritage city of Luang Prabang, one of the region's great tourist 
attractions. Nevertheless, extreme poverty and lack of viable 
economic opportunities for young people ensure a perpetuation of 
prostitution in spite of anti-prostitution laws and occasional 
government campaigns.  Campaigns against prostitution in other major 
cities in Laos at the end of 2007 appear to have pushed sex workers 
out of some entertainment venues and into other ways of meeting 
clients, including the use of mobile phones and meeting at guest 
houses, rather than clubs. 
 
¶31.  BEST PRACTICES:  Post considers the Interagency Coordination 
Committee meetings cited in paragraph E, above, as a best practice. 
The coordination has resulted in specific actions by NGOs and IOs, 
including the collaboration on the Safe Migration campaign, to 
improve the use of their resources and broaden their reach. It also 
helps the NGOs collectively identify future problems and resource 
gaps, such as their concerns over commercial sex trade and domestic 
trafficking initiatives.  The Committee meeting has also served to 
identify overlaps and deconflict programs. For example, Save the 
Children and World Vision have identified that they are both working 
on a very similar program for youth, but in geographically distinct 
areas. Finally, the meeting gives the NGOs and international 
organizations (and interested Embassy representatives) a forum for 
collectively raising trafficking issues to representatives from a 
group of Lao ministries at the same time, giving the "sense of the 
community" greater weight that it otherwise might have.  We note 
that the ICC process generally has the NGOs/IOs meet together first 
and then join an expanded meeting that includes the GOL 
representatives. The "Committee" is chaired by UNIAP on the NGO side 
and the Director General of the MFA's International Organizations 
Department on td authoritim