VZCZCXRO5064
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #0916/01 1931502
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111502Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1636
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 1165
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RHEFHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 000916 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/AGS, EUR/PGI, DRL/IL, G/TIP, 
INL/HSTC, AND PRM 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC PGOV
GM 
SUBJECT: GERMAN RESPONSE TO 2008 TRAFFICKING IN 
PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: A. HALL-CONWAY EMAIL - 06/19/2008 
     ¶B. BERLIN 750 
     ¶C. BERLIN 240 
 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1. (SBU) On July 1, Emboffs met for a roundtable 
discussion of the 2008 Trafficking in Persons 
(TIP) Report with key German officials from the 
MFA, as well as the Family, Labor and Justice 
ministries.  While the report was well received, 
a Family Ministry official expressed regret that 
more attention had not been given to Germany's 
federal-state interagency working group and to 
the unique role played by a federally-funded NGO 
representing all 38 of Germany's anti-TIP NGOs. 
German officials provided an initial response to 
the report's recommendations for Germany and 
briefly reviewed possibilities to strengthen 
U.S.-German cooperation to combat TIP. 
 
NEW MISSION POINTS OF CONTACT 
 
¶2. (SBU) Mission points of contact for TIP are 
Global Affairs Officer David L. Fisher 
(email:fisherdl@state.gov, tel: 49-30-8305-3124) 
and Legal Advisor Jacqueline Dadswell 
(email:dadswellj@state.gov, tel: 49-30-8305- 
2275). 
 
POSITIVE RESPONSE; EXPLANATION OF GERMAN APPROACH 
WOULD ADD VALUE 
 
¶3. (SBU) German officials from the MFA and the 
Family, Labor, and Justice ministries responded 
positively to the 2008 TIP Report, characterizing 
the report's factual descriptions as accurate. 
Family Ministry Director for the Protection of 
Women from Violence Birgit Schweikert said she 
would have preferred that more attention be given 
to the German approach to combat TIP, but 
acknowledged that much of this might have been 
taken for granted.  Specifically, Schweikert 
pointed to the high quality work of the law 
enforcement community, prosecutors, and 
counseling centers. She also noted that the 
Family Ministry -- particularly through the 
Federal-State Interagency Working Group on 
Trafficking -- pursues a highly coordinated and 
successful strategy with other Ministries and 
promotes formal cooperation between counseling 
centers and law enforcement.  Schweikert agreed 
that one of the TIP Report's primary goals is to 
call on other countries to recognize their 
responsibility to combat trafficking.  With this 
in mind, Schweikert said, Germany's approach -- 
if properly highlighted in future reports -- 
could serve as a model for other countries that 
have a federal government. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Schweikert said the Family Ministry had 
hoped the TIP report would also highlight the 
important role of the government-funded 
Association against Trafficking in Women and 
Violence against Women in the Migration Process 
(KOK), an umbrella organization representing the 
38 TIP counseling centers and NGOs in Germany. 
Schweikert stated that such an institution is 
unique in Europe (and probably throughout the 
world) and therefore is an example that might 
serve as a model for other countries.  Schweikert 
also expressed regret that the Federal 
Government's Second Action Plan to combat 
violence against women had not been mentioned in 
the report. 
 
GERMAN RESPONSE TO TIP REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
¶5. (SBU) RECOMMENDATION 1 - Explore ways to 
increase the number of convicted traffickers who 
 
BERLIN 00000916  002 OF 003 
 
 
serve time in prison: 
 
Justice Ministry Director for Criminal Law 
Perdita Kroeger noted that, within the parameters 
of Germany's independent judicial system, there 
are limited possibilities to influence the 
judiciary.  In addition to efforts underway at 
the National Training Academy for Judges and 
Prosecutors, the only possibility would be to 
introduce legislation to raise the minimum 
sentence for trafficking crimes.  Kroeger did not 
believe such an approach would be successful. 
 
¶6. (SBU) RECOMMENDATION 2 - Take steps to provide 
more even distribution of funding for victim 
services among individual states: 
 
German officials pointed out that some of the 
states (Laender) have more resources than others 
and stressed that the Federal Government has 
little leverage over individual states' decision- 
making on allocation of funds for victim 
services, as these funds come directly from state 
budgets, not the federal budget.  The Federal 
Government does, however, encourage states to 
devote more resources to combating trafficking in 
persons.  German officials said they were 
confused by the wording of the recommendation, as 
it did not make clear that allocation of funding 
is an autonomous decision made by individual 
states, not the Federal Government. 
 
¶7. (SBU) RECOMMENDATION 3 - Improve efforts to 
identify and combat labour trafficking: 
 
Labor Ministry Desk Officer for European Social 
Issues Ute Heinen said the Federal Government 
will play a larger role in combating labor 
trafficking in the future.  Labor Ministry 
officials hope that federal and state efforts 
against forced labor will be more visible in the 
future, as well.  At present the Ministry is 
working to obtain funds for a series of projects 
focused on labor trafficking. 
 
¶8. (SBU) RECOMMENDATION 4: Consider establishing 
national rapporteurs in key regions around the 
country: 
 
The Family Ministry's Schweikert noted that 
rather than exploring the possibility of 
establishing rapporteuers for key regions in 
Germany, the Ministry is considering designating 
a single rapporteur for the entire country. 
Currently the Ministry has been reviewing and 
assessing other countries' approaches on national 
rapporteurs that might serve as a model for a 
German institution.  The Ministry's preliminary 
conclusion is that the Dutch Rapporteur is the 
only institution to date that has produced 
consistently high quality and effective work. 
The Dutch rapporteur collects and assesses 
relevant data and reports to the Dutch parliament 
on an annual basis. 
 
STRENGTHENING U.S.-GERMAN COOPERATION 
 
¶9. (SBU) Finally the discussion turned to 
potential ways to strengthen bilateral 
cooperation in the international fight against 
TIP.  Emboffs reviewed the range of ideas 
provided by G/TIP (ref A), including possible 
visits by USDOJ officials, as well as ICITAP and 
OPDAT trainers.  Emboffs also noted the 
possibility to arrange DVCs, which have the 
advantage of being less expensive and which can 
be conducted more frequently.  German officials 
seemed most interested in a further exchange of 
best practices on victim identification 
techniques and efforts to fight labor 
trafficking.  German officials said they would 
 
BERLIN 00000916  003 OF 003 
 
 
continue to discuss the matter internally and at 
a meeting of the Federal-State Interagency 
Working Group on Trafficking in October.  Post 
will follow-up with German contacts and 
coordinate with G/TIP via email. 
 
TIMKEN JR.