VZCZCXRO6330
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHHK #2123/01 3260657
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 210657Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6285
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 002123 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, G/TIP, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2033 
TAGS: KCRM KFRD KWMN PHUM SMIG MC
SUBJECT: MACAU/HUMAN TRAFFICKING: PRESSING AHEAD WITH 
VICTIM ASSISTANCE, AWARENESS PROGRAMS 
 
REF: HONG KONG 1148 
 
Classified By: Consul General Joe Donovan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. Summary and comment:  The Macau Special Administrative 
Region Government (MSARG) is making progress on assistance 
programs for human trafficking victims and on increasing 
public awareness of the trafficking in persons (TIP) issue. 
Having passed their landmark anti-TIP law in June (reftel), 
MSARG social welfare departments have taken initial steps to 
institutionalize services such as shelters, psychological 
counseling, financial and medical aid for TIP victims. 
Social service providers are looking to the United Nations 
for training to help them improve and target their programs. 
MSARG officials are now considering the rehabilitation and 
reintegration needs of victims, to include possibly offering 
training on marketable vocational skills.  Successful 
implementation of rehabilitation programs would be a 
significant advancement of Macau's anti-TIP program.  The 
Macau government continues to utilize all forms of media in 
its public awareness efforts, with the government's 
Consultative Commission on Women's Affairs increasingly 
active in raising TIP's public profile.  That said, the MSARG 
will need to intensify and diversify its public awareness 
efforts to encourage the general public to be active 
stakeholders in fighting TIP.  To date, neither of the two 
TIP-designated hotlines have generated any investigations. 
End summary and comment. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Initial Victim Assistance Services in Place 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) In an October 28 meeting, Social Welfare Bureau (SWB) 
President Ip Peng Kin outlined the social, financial and 
medical assistance programs for trafficking in persons (TIP) 
victims the Macau Special Administrative Region Government 
(MSARG) has established since June.  SWB has designated 21 
beds in a special section of an existing women's shelter for 
victims of trafficking in persons (TIP).  Since July, the 
shelter has received 16 TIP-related victims, most of them 
between the ages of 16-20.  SWB personnel encourages all 
victims to undergo a complete medical exam that includes 
testing for sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs).  If doctors 
discover STDs, they would issue free medication.  Ip told us 
half of the 16 victims have accepted medical treatment. 
Victims may also get psychological counseling upon request. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Macau does not offer a legal alternative to 
repatriation for foreign victims of trafficking.  As most TIP 
victims found in Macau are from the Chinese mainland, the 
MSARG relies on China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to 
confirm a victim's identity and country of origin for 
repatriation.  SWB told us most victims are eager to return 
to their home country but are often too ashamed to return to 
their family village or town because of their previous work. 
SWB policy is not to question victims' claims but to simply 
provide transportation to their desired destination. 
 
¶4. (C) TIP victims will not be repatriated by the MSARG until 
they have provided a statement to the police, which can be 
used in lieu of testifying in court under Macau's civil law 
system.  During this interim period, victims remain at the 
shelter at which they receive a weekly allowance and enjoy 
freedom of movement but must return to the shelter by 10 p.m. 
 Victims determined to be at high-risk of being harmed by 
their traffickers if found are placed under 24-hour police 
protection at a separate shelter.  As of a November 3 
meeting, Judicial Police (JP) Criminal Investigations 
Department head Chau Wai Kuong told us JP has not yet needed 
to provide this level of protection. 
 
¶5. (C) With these initial programs and services in place, SWB 
is exploring ways to expand its assistance capacity and 
improve its TIP-specific services. They are working with the 
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to arrange 
training on effective ways to adapt the UNODC Toolkit to 
Combat Trafficking in Persons to Macau's needs. At the 
October 28 meeting, SWB personnel told us they currently did 
not provide vocational skills training that could help TIP 
victims attain gainful employment after returning to their 
home country.  Human Trafficking Deterrent Measures Committee 
coordinator Vong Chun-fat, however, told us in a November 3 
meeting that the MSARG was considering starting this type of 
training but provided no further details.  (Comment: 
Implementing such vocational training would be a significant 
development; it would signify MSARG is broadening its focus 
from prosecution and protection to include rehabilitation and 
reintegration of trafficking victims into society. End 
comment.) 
 
HONG KONG 00002123  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
Public Awareness Campaigns 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Macau is making strides to increase public awareness 
of the TIP issue.  Television, radio and newspaper 
announcements continue to highlight the new law and alert the 
public to the two hotlines available to handle TIP-related 
issues.  SWB's Ho told us SWB recently funded the 
non-governmental organization Macau Women's General 
Association to develop and publish a TIP quiz contest in 
Macau's most-widely read Chinese language newspaper, the 
Macau Daily News. Participants who correctly answer a certain 
number of questions will win prizes.  The Consultative 
Commission on Women's Affairs (CCWA), an advisory body that 
reports to the Chief Executive, in recent months has 
heightened its role as a major stakeholder on TIP issues.  In 
September, CCWA organized a seminar at which the MSARG Legal 
Affairs Bureau briefed members and guests on the new anti-TIP 
law and measures to assist and protect victims.  The CCWA 
also has stepped in to sponsor a day-long seminar being 
organized by local NGO Good Shepherd Sisters (GSS) for 
November 25 that is expected to have over 150 attendees. 
(Note: The seminar originally was to be the second and final 
State Department-funded seminar under a Women's Issues Grant 
given to GSS but CCWA's sponsorship has freed up U.S. funds 
to be used for another awareness event tentatively planned 
for March 2009. End note.) 
 
¶7. (C) GSS Director Sister Juliana Devoy told us CCWA members 
who attended the first GSS seminar held in June (reftel) were 
so impressed with the presentations and content that they 
wanted to offer Macau government funds to help expand the 
scope and reach of the November seminar.  For example, part 
of the funding will pay for simultaneous translation of the 
English presentations into Cantonese. Sister Juliana is 
"amazed" at the speed at which a normally slow-paced Macau 
government has committed to tackling the TIP problem.  She, 
however, feels the MSARG needs to intensify its public 
awareness efforts because TIP is a new issue for the public, 
and many people still do not understand the role they can 
play in combating TIP. Her point is underscored by the fact 
that neither of the two TIP hotlines have generated any 
investigations, according to Chau. 
DONOVAN