VZCZCXRO2477
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #1063/01 3450650
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 100650Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5211
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 3474
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 5440

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 001063 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KTIP PHUM VM
SUBJECT: HCMC TIP UPDATE:  MORE POLICE BUSTS, NGOS FOCUS ON WOMEN'S 
EMPOWERMENT 
 
REF: HCMC 964 AND PREVIOUS 
 
HO CHI MIN 00001063  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Southern law enforcement officials continue 
to make progress in combating human trafficking, as recent 
arrests in HCMC and Tay Ninh province show.  Local NGOs are also 
making headway in finding long-term solutions to support 
economic development and women's empowerment in Delta 
communities.  The missing link to all these efforts remains the 
lack of resources and community support services, especially for 
victims returning to Vietnam.  End summary. 
 
Recent Busts in Tay Ninh Ho Chi Minh City 
----------------------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU) On November 28, 2008, HCMC press reported the arrests 
of three men at Tan Son Nhat (TSN) airport who were allegedly 
taking three Vietnamese women to Malaysia to sell them into 
prostitution.  Local police, in coordination their counterparts 
in neighboring Tay Ninh Province, interrogated the suspects, who 
then pointed police to their alleged ringleader, Nguyen Thi Ngoc 
Yen and three additional accomplices involved in trafficking 
women to Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan.  All four were 
arrested, bringing the total to seven suspects in one 
trafficking ring.  Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Kiem of HCMC's 
anti-TIP police (Unit PC-14) said they had been investigating 
Yen and her group for several months prior to the arrests.  Upon 
searching Yen's home in Ho Chi Minh City, the police found seven 
other women. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Police said Yen posed as a marriage broker, offering 
women lucrative marriages to well-heeled Malaysian men.  The 
women were then forced into prostitution after arriving in 
Malaysia.  Initial investigation revealed that Yen met her 
connection, identified as Lee, through her daughter, who is 
married to a Malaysian national.  Lee agreed to pay Yen $1,000 
for each Vietnamese girl she brought to Malaysia.  Police said 
Yen paid brokers in rural Delta provinces of Tay Ninh, Long An, 
Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Can Tho a little over $100 per person 
to lure young women aged 18 to 25 to HCMC, where they are then 
sent abroad.  Since 2006, authorities said Yen has sold over 100 
women, 70 of which are from Tay Ninh, into prostitution in 
Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The recent arrests exposed the complexity and 
sophistication of trafficker's schemes as well as the growing 
effectiveness of local law enforcement, especially in terms of 
cooperation and coordination across provinces.  From late 2007 
until July 2008, Tay Ninh province has broken up four 
trafficking-in-persons rings, arresting a total of 11 suspects 
and saving 15 potential victims (reftel).  All suspects are 
currently being detained in Tay Ninh.  Some of the cases have 
been transferred for prosecution, and some are still under 
further investigation.  In recent months, anti-TIP police have 
uncovered 98 cases of trafficking, rescuing 176 out of 217 known 
victims and arresting 188 traffickers.  Local police are still 
working with foreign officials to try and rescue the 57 victims 
who remain abroad.  According to LtC Kiem, over half of the 
cases took place in the Mekong Delta. 
 
Mekong NGO Focuses on Women's Empowerment, Economic Development 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------ 
¶5. (SBU) On November 25-26, 2008, PAO represented the Consulate 
General at the Mekong Women for Community Development Ceremony 
(MWCD) held in Can Tho with about 200 women from Can Tho, Kien 
Giang, and An Giang provinces.  The MWCD, which is organized by 
the Pacific Links Foundation with some funding from EAP, 
organized women's groups in five relevant topics -- anti-human 
trafficking, vocational training, clean water, micro-credit 
loans, and nutrition -- and provided nine million dong 
(approximately $531 USD) seed grants to each group.  MWCD 
focuses their efforts on promoting economic growth and 
development for women in Delta communities, specifically through 
encouraging Women's Unions to recruit leaders that can develop 
business plans and projects to generate income.  These efforts 
help provide an economic base for women who might otherwise seek 
employment or marriage overseas, leaving them vulnerable to 
exploitation by human traffickers.  At the same time, MWCD also 
empowers women to engage with local officials, enhancing the 
role of civil society and facilitating networking across 
communities and provinces. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Reports on resulting projects were peppered with 
concrete examples and testimonials.  Those funded to work on 
anti-TIP projects explained their counseling and outreach 
efforts to victims, including having to visit returnees 
grappling with societal stigmatization up to seven times in 
order to help them re-integrate into the community.  One woman, 
51, stood up in tears to relay her experience as the third wife 
of a Korean man.  One vocational training success centered on 
making furniture from water hyacinth; the group reported they 
 
HO CHI MIN 00001063  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
are now exporting hyacinth chairs and mattresses.  To stem a 
labor exodus between rice growing seasons, micro-loans of one 
million dong ($59 USD) to nine households translated into micro 
businesses that provide regular income. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The event was no naive pep rally; sessions also laid 
bare challenges, like the scope of the demand for Vietnamese 
brides and how the marriage brokering business can lead to 
trafficking-in-persons, especially given the lack of economic 
opportunities available in these rural provinces.  Aside from 
the dominance of Taiwanese and Korean men seeking wives, concern 
was expressed that "even remote areas of China have too many 
males," raising the spectre of increased migration of women to 
other Asian countries.  In subsequent meetings with MWCD 
organizers at the Consulate, organizers also bemoaned the lack 
of support services for returning victims, noting that Vietnam's 
inadequate health care system, which has an even more acute 
shortage of personnel and resources in rural provincial 
communities, do not provide mental health care and counseling, 
much less the training needed for professionals who want to 
provide such services. 
FAIRFAX