VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDS #0386/01 0440616
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130616Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3771
INFO RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 000386 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/E, AF/RSA, G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, and PRM 
STATE PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PHUM PREF SMIG ASEC
      PREL, ET 
 
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT 
 
REF: (A) STATE 005577 (B) 2008 STATE 132759 
 
¶1. (U) Post provides the following input on trafficking in persons 
issues in Ethiopia. 
 
¶2. (U) Embassy point of contact until March 1: Pol/Econ Officer 
Kimberly E. Wright, office: +251 (11) 517-4112; fax: +251 (11) 
124-2405, WRIGHTKE2@STATE.GOV 
 
After March 1: Deputy Pol/Econ Chief Dante Paradiso, office: +251 (11) 
517-4289; fax: +251 (11) 124-2405, PARADISODX@STATE.GOV 
 
¶3. (U) Number of hours spent in preparation of TIP report cable: AMB: 2 
hours; FS02 Pol/Econ officer: 5 hours; FP04 Pol/Econ officer: 50 hours; 
LES: 30 hours 
 
¶4. (U) Responses are keyed to questions in paragraphs 23-27 of reftel. 
 
¶5. (U) THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION. 
 
-- A. Source(s) and source reliability.  Plans in place (if any) to 
undertake further documentation of human trafficking. 
 
Sources for TIP reportage include eight principal NGOs: the Ethiopian 
Private Employment Agencies Association (EPEAA), the Forum for Street 
Children in Ethiopia (FSCE), the Good Samaritan Association (GSA), the 
International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Organization 
for Migration (IOM), the Organization for the Prevention, 
Rehabilitation, and Integration of Female Street Children (OPRIFS), 
Project Concern International (PCI), and UNICEF-Ethiopia. International 
NGOs (IOM, ILO, PCI, and UNICEF) are known to provide the bulk of 
better researched TIP data.  The four key Government of Ethiopia (GoE) 
offices culled for information for this report include: the 
Prosecutor's High Court Office (11th Bench), the Ministry of Justice 
(MoJ), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), and the Ministry of 
Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA).  Both NGO and government offices 
report capacity challenges in data gathering and reportage.  A year 
ago, MoFA organized a new Women's and Children's Trafficking 
Controlling Department managed under the Women's Affairs and 
Affirmative Action Directorate.  The office collects data from 
Ethiopian diplomatic missions, NGOs, and police sub-stations on the 
status of migrant workers.  To-date, there has been no reported 
coordination between this and other GoE Ministry offices (i.e. MoLSA, 
MoJ) charged with TIP responsibilities.  While no public research 
reports have yet been issued from this office, MoFA intends for this 
department to serve as a clearinghouse for TIP data collection and 
reportage. 
 
--B. Ethiopia as a country of origin, transit, and/or destination for 
internationally trafficked men, women, or children. 
 
Ethiopia is a country of origin for internationally trafficked women, 
to a lesser extent, men, and a smaller, but growing number of children. 
Trafficking also occurs within the country's borders.  Figures vary, 
but local NGOs believe an estimated 100,000 to 125,000 Ethiopians were 
trafficked internationally in 2008, slightly more than the previous 
year.  As an example, in the period beginning June 1 and ending July 1, 
more than 25,847 migrant workers traveled to Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi 
Arabia, and Dubai seeking employment as housemaids, guards, drivers, 
and day laborers.  The Ethiopian consulate has estimated the number of 
Ethiopian workers in Lebanon alone to be between 45,000 and 60,000. 
Trafficking reported in 2008 was primarily labor-related, though no one 
source of reliable data exists currently.  In May after a series of 
mysterious deaths of Ethiopian maids, reports of trafficking and visa 
fraud, the GoE officially banned its citizens from traveling to 
Lebanon. To-date, the ban remains in effect. 
 
While the number of in-country legal labor migration employment 
agencies rose from 36 to 90 between 2005 and 2008, the GoE has 
tightened its implementation of various labor and employment agency 
provisions.  The net result, according to NGOs, is that most Ethiopians 
are trafficked to neighboring countries (particularly Djibouti, Kenya, 
Tanzania, and Sudan) or via intermediate destinations (such as Egypt) 
to the Middle East.  Both Djibouti and Somaliland appear to be newly 
pre-eminent routes for traffickers from Ethiopia. 
 
-- C. What kind of conditions are the victims trafficked into? 
 
Many victims are trafficked from rural to urban areas or overseas for 
domestic work, but some are pushed into a variety of employment streams 
as prostitutes, beggars, or accessories to crimes.  Anecdotal reports 
reflect that trafficking victims are made to live and work under 
life-threatening conditions, subjected to sexual abuse and 
exploitation, and separated from familial support.  Trafficking victims 
often report various human rights violations, including forced labor, 
debt bondage, forced begging, physical and sexual assault, 
prostitution, confinement, denial of salary, and incarceration.  These 
labor conditions put trafficking victims further at risk for sexually 
transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV/AIDS, as well as under-aged 
pregnancies, unsafe abortions, fistulas, and child birth complications. 
 
 
According to the Ethiopian Women's Lawyer's Association (EWLA), 
Ethiopian women in Middle Eastern countries face severe human rights 
abuses including being subject to beatings, sleep deprivation, rape by 
employers, having body parts seared in boiling oil, being burned with 
hot irons, and being thrown out of high-rise buildings.  As a result, 
many are driven to despair and mental illness, with some committing 
suicide. 
 
-- D. Vulnerability to TIP: Certain groups of persons more at risk of 
being trafficked. 
 
More females than males were victims of international trafficking, with 
prostitution comprising a minor share of the trafficking push.  Young 
women, particularly those ages 16-30, were the most commonly trafficked 
group.  Young women are trafficked from all parts of Ethiopia primarily 
to the Gulf States, Sudan and Djibouti to work as domestic laborers and 
less typically as commercial sex workers.  According to FSCE's TIP 
report for July through November 2008, more female children between the 
ages of 10 - 14 have become vulnerable to internal trafficking. 
Local NGOs report that internal trafficking of children and adults has 
continued to be a serious problem.  Both adults and children are 
believed to be trafficked from rural areas to urban areas, principally 
for domestic labor purposes, and, to a lesser extent, for prostitution 
and other labor activities, such as weaving and street vending. 
Vulnerable individuals (such as young adults from rural areas and 
children), who transit the Addis Ababa bus terminals, are sometimes 
identified and targeted by agents (or traffickers) who approach them 
offering jobs, food, guidance, or shelter.  IOM officials report some 
linkages between internal and international trafficking, specifically 
noting that children internally trafficked from Dire Dawa, Bahir Dar, 
and Dessie, are frequently sent to the Middle East, transiting through 
Dire Dawa, Jijiga, Bosasso (in Somalia), and onward to Djibouti. 
 
-- E. Traffickers and Their Methods: 
 
According to Addis Ababa's police child protection unit (CPU) social 
work reports, traffic brokering networks have grown increasingly 
sophisticated and collaborative.  Aware of the police presence in the 
Merkato and downtown Addis Ababa bus terminals, traffickers are 
approaching vulnerable individuals (most often young adults and 
children from rural areas) at bus terminals fifteen to twenty 
kilometers outside of Addis Ababa's city limits.  Although NGO and 
police reports fall short of accusing traffickers of organizing 
national crime syndicates or gangs, their recruitment methods are 
evolving and notable.  Vulnerable individuals transiting the North 
Addis Ababa and Addis Ababa bus terminals are sometimes identified and 
targeted by agents/brokers (or traffickers) who approach them offering 
jobs, food, guidance, and shelter.  Some NGO social workers have 
reported that people from urban areas recruit children in their locale 
for housemaid work or traditional weaving. 
 
Information on who is behind the trafficking has proven difficult to 
document.  MoJ, MoLSA, and IOM sources have noted greater 
sophistication and coordination, or "criminalization", among traffic 
brokering rings. There are several well known operators in Addis who 
have extensive linkages in Ethiopia as well as destination countries. 
In the past, some worked under the cover of legitimate travel agencies. 
 
What is known about trafficking rings can be broken down into the 
following groups.  BROKERS: Local brokers (called 'delalas') are 
business people operating at the rural community level, usually known 
to the victim and his or her family. FACILITATORS: Facilitators mainly 
operate in rural areas.  The main tasks of facilitators in the 
recruitment process are to seek out potential victims, convince victims 
and their families of the benefits of working abroad, and arrange 
meetings with brokers.  TRAVEL AGENCIES AND IMPORT-EXPORT BUSINESSES: 
Travel agencies and import-export businesses coordinate travel to 
destination countries and establish contact with employment agents and 
individuals on the demand side.  Not much is known about the 
recruitment methods used by owners and operators of travel agencies and 
import-export businesses.  They do not advertise their services since 
they are not licensed to arrange employment abroad.  According to FSCE, 
facilitators work with local brokers mostly at the initial stages of 
recruitment. 
 
¶6. (U) SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS. 
 
--A. Government acknowledgement of trafficking. 
 
While the GoE acknowledges that trafficking is a problem in-country -- 
particularly trafficking of young women to Lebanon and the Middle East, 
it has limited capacity to assist and protect its citizenry. 
 
--B. Government agencies involved in, and taking the lead on anti- 
trafficking efforts. 
 
An Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking comprised of officials 
from MoFA, MoJ, MoLSA, the Ministry of Women and ChildrenQs Affairs 
(MoWCA), as well as the Federal Police Commission, the Office of 
Immigration, and the Addis Ababa Prosecutor's Office was established in 
2003 to coordinate anti-TIP efforts across the Ministries and agencies 
charged with preventing, tracking, and prosecuting TIP cases.  MoLSA 
and IOM co-lead the Task Force. 
 
The Task Force was divided into the following four sub-committees in 
2007 which include: research, information, media and legal affairs. 
According to IOMQs National Program Coordinator for 
Counter-Trafficking, and a MoJ-based Task Force member, no meetings or 
outputs from this Task Force or its committees have been reported since 
June 2007.  The Task Force represents the most prominent vehicle 
through which the GoE can monitor and coordinate TIP efforts. 
 
MoLSA trained two new employees to provide orientation workshops to 
migrant workers in 2008.  In the three hour orientation program 
provided by MoLSA staff, migrant workers were briefed on the dangers of 
trafficking, the values, norms, culture, and religion of receiving 
countries, personal hygiene, and how to send remittances to Ethiopia. 
 
-- C. Limitations on the government's ability to address this problem 
in practice. 
 
Services for returnee victims, prevention, and prosecution are 
constrained by a lack of funding, personnel, and training.  According 
to IOM, the Task Force's inactivity is largely a by-product of limited 
funding.  In March 2008, IOM lost a significant share of its TIP 
related funding from USAID.  That funding previously supported IOM's 
efforts to convene the Task Force, and engage it in capacity-building 
and inter-agency coordination efforts.  Ethiopia's under-resourced and 
overwhelmed judicial system lacks the capacity to vigorously prosecute 
trafficking cases.  The inability of police investigators to properly 
code, track, and distinguish smuggling, rape, abduction, and unfair 
child labor practices cases is parallel to the internal practices of a 
judicial system that routinely fails to track trafficking cases 
appropriately.  Consequently, monitoring and enforcement have lagged. 
 
-- D. Systematic government monitoring of anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
Refer to 5-A.  According to a MoFA department director, by the end of 
2009, MoFA's newly organized Women's and Children's Trafficking should 
have the capacity to serve as a resource for systematic TIP monitoring, 
data collection and reportage.  According to MoLSA's Employment and 
Manpower Department Chief, the not yet operational USAID/IOM supported 
and funded database to collect information on irregular migration 
patterns and trafficking should be functional in the next several 
months.  The Inter-Ministerial Task Force is now largely defunct. 
 
¶7. (U) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS: 
 
-- A. Existing Laws against TIP. 
 
The constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) 
clearly prohibits the trafficking of human beings for whatever purpose. 
In May 2005, the GoE enacted new legislation further codifying its 
constitutional anti-trafficking precepts.  The revised May 2005 Penal 
Codes improved trafficking-related language, outlawed labor-related 
trafficking, and replaced the less specific penal code of 1957. 
 
The GoE signed and ratified ILO convention 182 (2003), ILO convention 
29 (2003), and ILO convention 105 (1999).  In late 2006, the Protocol 
to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially 
Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention Against 
Transnational Organized Crime was submitted to the GoEQs Council of 
Ministers for approval.  There is no new development to-date on the 
2006 protocol approval. 
 
During this reporting cycle, an ILO principal highlighted serious 
concerns regarding proposed articles and amendments to ILO Convention 
181 - a proclamation for private employment agencies.  According to 
ILO, one of the articles calls for thirty percent obligatory remittance 
fees from Ethiopian migrant workers, a regulation that would run 
contrary to this already ratified ILO convention.  Thirty percent 
remittance fees would drive already vulnerable trafficking victims 
deeper into poverty. The amended draft proclamation on private 
employment agencies is expected to be reviewed and passed by GoE's 
Council of Ministers and parliament in 2009.  Ethiopia has not 
enacted any new legislation since the last TIP report. 
 
-- B. Punishment of Sex Trafficking Offenses: Prescribed and imposed 
penalties for trafficking people for sexual exploitation. 
 
Refer to 7C. Penal Code Article 635 (Trafficking in Women and Minors) 
specifically criminalizes the trafficking of men, women and children 
for prostitution. 
 
-- C. Punishment of Labor Trafficking Offenses: Prescribed and imposed 
penalties for trafficking for labor exploitation, such as forced or 
bonded labor. 
 
While not explicitly or exclusively linked to trafficking, the below 
highlighted Penal Code Articles are used to prosecute TIP cases. 
Article 596 (Enslavement) criminalizes any attempt to enslave, sell, 
alienate, buy, trade, or exploit another person.  Article 597 
(Trafficking in Women and Children) criminalizes the recruitment, 
transportation, harboring, import, or export of women or minors for the 
purpose of forced labor.  Article 598 (Unlawful Sending of Ethiopians 
for Work Abroad) criminalizes sending Ethiopian citizens abroad for 
work without a license.  Article 599 (Participation of Illegal 
Associations and Juridical Persons) criminalizes any group or 
organization's participation in slave trading.  Article 600 (Default of 
Supervision or Control) criminalizes any government official who fails 
to take all measures to control and prevent trafficking.  Those found 
in violation of any of the above anti-trafficking-related Penal Codes, 
including Article 635; face five to twenty years imprisonment and a 
fine not to exceed 100,000 birr (USD 9,704, as of February 3, 2009). 
For particularly egregious cases involving bodily harm, the penalty may 
be ten to twenty years of rigorous imprisonment.  GoE laws provide 
criminal punishment ranging from five to twenty years of jail time and 
10,000 to 100,000 birr (907 to 9,074 USD, as of February 3, 2009) in 
fines for labor recruiters who engage in recruitment with the purpose 
of subjecting workers to trafficking in destination countries. 
 
As a source country for labor migrants, Private Employment Agency 
Proclamation 104/1998 states that unless the provisions of the Penal 
Code provide more severe penalties, any person or organization who 
sends an Ethiopian national abroad for work without the appropriate 
employment license and visa status is punishable by imprisonment for a 
term of not less than five years and not exceeding ten years with a 
25,000 birr (2,268 USD, as of February 3, 2009) fine. 
 
Ethiopia is not a migrant labor destination. 
 
-- D. Prescribed penalties for rape or forcible sexual assault. 
 
Article 589 of the Penal Code makes rape punishable by imprisonment not 
to exceed ten years.  If committed against a child under the age of 15, 
or to anyone under the protective custody or supervision of the accused 
person, or by a number of persons acting in concert, rape is punishable 
by imprisonment not to exceed 15 years.  Forced sexual assault as 
defined by Article 590 of the Penal Code is punishable by imprisonment 
not exceeding eight years, or with "simple imprisonment" for not less 
than six months.  Depending upon which article is used to prosecute, 
the penalties for rape and sexual assault may be more or less severe 
than the penalties for trafficking. 
 
-- E. Law Enforcement Statistics. 
 
According to the head of Addis Ababa's Federal High Court prosecution 
office, statistical data for TIP convictions are difficult to secure. 
Suspected criminals are mostly charged under Article 598 of the Penal 
Code (Unlawfully Sending of Ethiopians for Work Abroad).  In December 
2007, with assistance from MoLSA, the Federal High Court established a 
separate criminal (the 11th) bench to hear TIP cases.  From January 
through December 2008, the 11th criminal bench convicted five people, 
and as of February 13, 2009, there are 55 cases still pending. 
Ninety-percent of those cases are related to overseas trafficking. 
Below are the most current details on four of the five cases. 
 
January 2008: One year imprisonment and 25,000 Birr fine for Sunamayt 
Tadele for illegally trafficking Almaz Kebede to Dubai where she was 
physically abused by her employers. 
 
March 2008: Five years rigorous imprisonment and 5,000 Birr fine for 
Amir Mustefa for illegally sending over 40 Ethiopians to work in Saudi 
Arabia where they were over-worked, underpaid, and physically abused. 
 
June 2008: Two individuals were convicted for trafficking.  One 
received fifteen years of rigorous imprisonment and a 15,000 birr fine 
for trafficking an Ethiopian woman to Lebanon where she died under 
suspicious circumstances.  Another received five years of rigorous 
imprisonment and a 5,000 birr fine for aiding the primary trafficker 
above in sending the woman to Lebanon. 
 
-- F. Specialized training provided by the GoE, NGOs, or supported 
through USG funding sources, for officials on how to recognize, 
investigate, and prosecute trafficking. 
 
In June 2008, IOM conducted a workshop on illegal migration for thirty 
immigration officers on TIP identification and investigation.  In July 
2008, IOM in partnership with ILO trained five trade union leaders from 
the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU) on TIP-related ILO 
Conventions and Penal Codes. 
 
In December, MoFA organized an awareness raising panel for mid-level 
GoE officials working on TIP issues at MoLSA, MoJ, MoFA and MoWCA. 
 
In the fall of 2007, USAID supported an IOM designed and developed 
database to be used across all government agencies involved in TIP and 
irregular migration monitoring.  The database is intended to track 
TIP-related data and migrant registrations.  USAID also supported IOM 
in its development, production, and distribution of TIP prevention 
media and awareness materials for the general public.  A total of 2,335 
prevention materials on trafficking issues were distributed to judges, 
law enforcement officials, NGOs, students, and potential migrants.  In 
March 2008, with USAID's support, IOM led a two-day TIP awareness and 
capacity building workshop for 65 civic association members and GoE 
representatives in Addis Ababa.  USAIDQs anti-trafficking grant funding 
to IOM ended on March 31, 2008. 
 
-- G. GoE cooperation with other governments in the investigation and 
prosecution of trafficking cases. 
 
Cooperation from destination countries is largely limited to those 
places where Ethiopia has an Embassy.  Ethiopia plans to establish 
Labor Attaches in several gulf countries, in part to address 
trafficking issues.  MoLSA expects that this step will improve 
cooperation from other governments. 
 
-- H. GoE extradition of persons who are charged with trafficking in 
other countries. 
 
In 2008, there were no formal reports of GoE trafficker extraditions. 
According to the International Law and Consular Affairs Directorate, 
Ethiopia extradites persons only to countries with which it has signed 
extradition treaties.  Ethiopia has extradition treaties with most 
neighboring countries.  MoFA does not collect data on trafficking 
offenders extradited. 
 
-- I. Evidence of government involvement in, or tolerance of, 
trafficking, on a local or institutional level. 
 
In 2008, there were no formal reports of GoE officials colluding with 
traffickers. 
 
-- J. Steps taken if government officials were involved in trafficking. 
 
N/A. 
 
-- K. Legal status of prostitution. 
 
Article 634 of the Ethiopian Penal Code (revised May 2005) states that 
"...whoever for gain makes a profession of or lives by procuring or on 
the prostitution or immorality of another, or maintains, as a landlord 
or keeper, a brothel, is punishable with simple imprisonment and a 
fine."  While prostitution itself is not a criminal offense in 
Ethiopia, the law prohibits pimping or financially benefiting from 
prostitution. 
 
-- L. TIP status specific to international peacekeeping efforts and 
troop contribution. 
 
According to limited sources of information (U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa's 
Security Assistance Office), Ethiopian troops have not been charged in 
this or previous report cycles for engaging in TIP-related activities. 
The GoE's cooperative role has yet to be tested.  Ethiopian troops are 
currently engaged in three international peacekeeping operations and 
are soon to participate in a fourth.  Thus far there have been no 
reports of Ethiopian forces involved in TIP-related activities. 
 
-- M. Identified problem of child sex tourism. 
 
Ethiopia is not a known destination for child sex tourism. 
 
¶8. (U) PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS: 
 
-- A.  GoE TIP protection under existing laws and in practice. 
 
In practice the GoE's court system lacks the capacity to provide 
protection under its existing laws to TIP victims.  According to NGO 
sources, government authorities have not made any concerted effort to 
interview returned trafficked victims about their experiences.  The 
government accords no special protections, shelter, housing or special 
services benefits to trafficking victims or witnesses.  Many returned 
victims fear retribution not only from accused traffickers but also 
from other trafficked persons trapped in destination countries.  There 
is no codified legal barrier to victims pursuing civil suits or seeking 
legal action against traffickers.  There is no victim restitution 
program either. 
 
-- B. Victim care facilities (shelters or drop-in centers) accessible 
to trafficking victims. 
 
FSCE has CPUs (exclusively for children) and shelters in major cities 
such as Jimma, Bahir Dar, Dire Dawa, Nazareth, Nekempt, Shashemene, 
Awassa, and Addis Ababa.  FSCE has launched a TIP childrenQs victim 
hotline in coordination with the Addis Ababa Police Commission, 
enabling the public to more readily report suspected TIP cases.  The 
Organization for the Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Integration of 
Female Street Children (OPRIFS) has two shelters that can accommodate 
75 child TIP victims (female) at any one time.  Temporarily sheltered 
children are typically provided with meals, basic education classes, 
psychological counseling and vocational training.  While a Charities 
and Societies Proclamation passed in January 2009 will prohibit 
foreign-funded NGOs from informing trafficking victims of their rights, 
or advocating for TIP victims' rights, victim care facilities, per se, 
should not be affected by the law. 
 
In January 2008, the Good Samaritan Association (GSA) was forced to 
close its TIP shelter due to funding constraints. 
 
--C.  Government provision of access to legal, medical and 
psychological services to trafficking victims. 
 
The GoE does not provide legal, medical, or psychological services to 
trafficking victims. 
 
-- D. Government assistance to foreign trafficking victims. 
 
Typically, the GoE's assistance to foreign trafficking victims is 
limited to embassy and consulate referrals. 
 
-- E. Government provision of longer-term shelter or housing benefits 
to victims or other resources to aid the victims in rebuilding their 
lives. 
 
Typically NGOs, not the GoE, provide limited and temporary shelter to 
returnee TIP victims.  In February 2008, IOM assisted in the 
reunification of 34 TIP victims with their families. 
 
From January through December, GSA assisted six returnee (internally) 
trafficked victims (women) to launch small businesses via its training 
and small grants programs.  It also reunified ten TIP victims with 
their families, provided another twelve with counseling services, and 
covered expenses for four who had long-term psychiatric 
hospitalizations.  In January 2008, GSA was forced to close its TIP 
shelter due to funding constraints. 
 
It is noteworthy that from January 2003 to March 2008, USAID funded IOM 
to provide another TIP (mostly young adult) victim telephone hotline. 
The fund also provided for a weekly 20 minute program on Ethiopian 
national radio to discuss TIP issues with callers.  The radio program 
and the hotline have been discontinued due to lack of funding.  IOM 
continues to provide limited counseling and referral services to 
callers who contact their offices. 
 
--F. GoE referral process to transfer victims detained, arrested or 
placed in protective custody by law enforcement. 
 
The most well-known protective TIP victim entities in Ethiopia are the 
CPUs, co-run by the police and FSCE. These CPUs are specialized police 
sub-stations with on-site social workers, shelters, and minimal 
supportive services available to child victims only. 
 
-- G.  Total number of trafficking victims identified during the 
reporting period. 
 
In Addis Ababa alone, 972 children were reported (from FSCE-supported 
CPUs) as trafficked in 2008. Seventy-five percent of those children 
were girls.  Of these, 40 were placed in foster care, 93 were sent to 
temporary shelters (FSCE, IOM, or ORPIFIS) until their families were 
traced, and 766 were reunified with relatives in Addis or outlying 
regions.  NGOs (OPRIFIS, FSCE, and IOM) worked in conjunction with the 
police and provided the majority of shelter and social services. 
According to a 2008 FSCE TIP report, the number of female internal 
trafficking victims from the Oromia (123), Amhara (114) and Southern 
regions (112) is on the rise. 
 
-- H. Formal government systems to proactively identify victims of 
trafficking. 
 
Refer to 7-F. To date, the database is not yet fully operational. 
 
-- I. Rights of TIP victims. 
 
There were no formal reports of TIP victims being detained, jailed, 
prosecuted, or fined during this cycle.  Victims are rarely prosecuted 
for prostitution, but are sometimes charged for violations of other 
laws such as those governing immigration. 
 
-- J. Law enforcement encouragement of victims to assist in trafficking 
investigation and prosecution. 
 
While police investigators may encourage TIP victims to come forward 
with possible evidence for investigation and prosecution, they rarely 
have the financial resources to support victims in so doing. 
Typically, returnee victims have to travel great distances to make 
court appearances or meet with investigators.  Although there are few 
means for a victim to obtain restitution, if a victim is a material 
witness in a court case against a former employer, the victim is 
permitted to seek other employment pending the trial proceedings. 
 
-- K. Government-provided specialized training for officials in 
identifying trafficking victims and in the provision of assistance to 
trafficked victims, including the special needs of trafficked children. 
 
Refer to 7-F regarding GoE officials training on TIP identification. 
The GoE provided no specialized training for its officials on the 
provision of assistance to trafficked victims, or on the special needs 
of trafficked children. 
 
-- L. Government provision of assistance, such as medical aid, shelter, 
or financial help, to its nationals who are repatriated as victims of 
trafficking. 
 
Refer to 8-D. Most TIP services are designed, brokered, and implemented 
by NGOs, often financed by international donors.  In July, IOM, 
supported by the Ethiopian and Tanzanian governments, returned a group 
of trafficking victims from Dar-Es-Salaam to their homes in Ethiopia. 
 
-- M. International organizations or NGOs, if any, working with 
trafficking victims.  Types of services provided, cooperation received 
from local authorities. 
 
The most prominent international organizations of this type are PCI, 
ILO, IOM, and UNICEF. 
UNICEF has been promoting counter-trafficking and victimsQ assistance 
measures in Ethiopia for twenty years, mainly through MoLSA.  UNICEF 
provides training and logistical support to youth clubs on HIV/AIDS, 
child labor abuse, and trafficking.  For the last three years, UNICEF 
has directed the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of a 
comprehensive "Justice for Children Programme."  This has included the 
development of training packages for judges and prosecutors on ILO 
Conventions and Penal Code Articles relevant to trafficking. 
 
During this reporting cycle, an IOM campaign provided information on 
the risks of visa fraud and trafficking to migrants, potential 
migrants, victims of trafficking, returnees and their families. 
Approximately 60,000 people have benefited from these services during 
the past eight years.  IOM co-leads the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on 
Trafficking (IMTFT).  In the fall of 2007, IOM provided technical 
assistance to the IMTFT via the establishment of a database to track 
labor migration patterns.  As of December 2008, MoLSA staff had not yet 
received full training on how to use the database.  As such, the IOM 
supported, USAID funded database is not yet a functional tracking tool 
at any of the Ministry offices. 
 
In July 2008, Project Concern International (PCI) Ethiopia launched a 
two-year G/TIP-funded "Anti-Trafficking-in-Persons Project" to improve 
the delivery of victim protection and assistance services for both 
children and adults and to increase human trafficking prosecutions in 
Ethiopia. 
 
The ILO Sub-Regional Office in Addis Ababa has undertaken two studies 
on existing legislative TIP frameworks.  ILO is now analyzing the 
compatibility of the GoE's proposed amendments to the Private 
Employment Agencies Proclamation with ILO Convention No. 181.  ILO 
convention 181 seeks to ensure that employment agencies sending workers 
abroad help to protect them from trafficking and visa fraud. 
 
¶9. (U) PREVENTION: 
 
-- A. Anti-trafficking information or education campaigns during the 
reporting period. 
 
In early and late 2008, IOM broadcasted national anti-TIP radio spots 
in Amharic, Tigrigna, Oromiffa, and Somali languages, along with IOM 
hotline numbers.  Callers from across the regions were provided with 
counseling services with a special focus on the risks of trafficking 
and legal alternatives to labor migration.  Towards the end of 2008, 
IOM launched another such program on Ethiopian national radio in Addis 
Ababa on the risks of trafficking visa fraud. 
 
--B. Government monitoring of immigration and emigration patterns for 
trafficking evidence. 
 
The government monitors immigration and emigration patterns for 
evidence of trafficking.  With IOM and other NGO partner assistance, 
thirty immigration officers have been trained to spot and question 
those most susceptible (children and young women) to trafficking and 
verify the legitimacy of the travel.  Beyond application of 
Proclamation 104, little else has been done. 
 
-- C. Mechanism for coordination and communication between various 
agencies, internal, international, and multilateral on 
trafficking-related matters. 
 
Refer to 6-B on the Task Force. 
 
-- D. National plan of action to address trafficking in persons. 
 
An amended bill, the "Employment Exchange Service Proclamation", was 
very recently submitted to parliament for review.  The legislation 
seeks to set better minimum wages for workers, outlaw extraneous 
commission fees, and require employment agencies to open branches in 
every country they send recruits to.  The bill may be passed in the 
next several months.  MoLSA has recently pledged to deploy Labor 
Attaches to most of the gulf state countries known to be trafficking 
destinations for Ethiopians. 
 
In November, a task force headed up by MoLSA consisting of UN agencies, 
government institutions, NGOs, and civic societies was established to 
develop a national plan of action on the elimination of child labor in 
Ethiopia, with a sub-focus on child trafficking measures.  While this 
plan of action is specific to child labor, broader TIP issues are noted 
in the 2006 Inter-Ministerial Task Force on TraffickingQs National 
Action Plan (draft).  Little action has been taken to either finalize 
the 2006 Task Force draft document, or work on the deliverables (such 
as better coordinating anti-TIP efforts across the Ministries) 
highlighted therein.  According to an ILO Program Officer, the 25 
members of the task force on the elimination of child labor started 
drafting the action plan in early December.  MoLSA and MoWCA have no 
clear or fixed guidelines, duties, or responsibilities specific to the 
national action planQs development. 
 
-- E: Measures the government has taken during the reporting period to 
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. 
 
We were unable to identify any GoE measures to reduce demand for 
commercial sex acts during this reporting period. 
 
-- F. Measures the government has taken during the reporting period to 
reduce the participation in international child sex tourism by 
nationals of the country. 
 
Refer to 7-M. Ethiopia is not a known destination for international 
child sex tourism. 
 
-- G. GoE measures to prevent Ethiopians in international peacekeeping 
operations from engaging in trafficking or exploiting trafficking 
victims. 
 
Refer to 7-L.  The engagement in, or exploitation of victims of, 
trafficking has not arisen as an issue with Ethiopian peacekeepers. 
 
YAMAMOTO