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PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #0199/01 0511817
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201817Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9638
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 2219
RUEHBH/AMEMBASSY NASSAU PRIORITY 2707
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1961
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 0800
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 1352
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1785
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 PORT AU PRINCE 000199 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
G/TIP 
G-ACBLANK 
INL 
DRL 
PRM 
STATE FOR WHA/PPC, WHA/EX, AND WHA/CAR FOR JTILGHMAN 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
STATE PLEASE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
INR/IAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
HA, PGOV 
SUBJECT: HAITI'S SUBMISSION FOR THE NINTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 132759 
     ¶B. PORT-AU-PRINCE 00121 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  001.2 OF 010 
 
 
 ¶1. This message is sensitive but unclassified - please 
protect accordingly. 
 
The following are Post's responses to reftel questions posed 
for the reporting period. 
 
HAITI'S TIP SITUATION 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Question 23: 
 
-- A. Reliable sources for additional information include a 
USAID-funded study conducted by Glenn R. Smucker and Gerald 
¶F. Murray (December 2004), the UNICEF Child Alert report 
(March 2006) and the Government of Haiti Ministry of Public 
Health report, Mortality and Morbidity (2005-2006). 
 
USAID funded an additional study conducted by anthropologist 
Glenn R. Smucker.  Electronic copies are available.  The 
report analyzes the situation of restavek children in Haiti. 
The report is scheduled for release in February/March 2009. 
The U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) will 
release the ''Eighth Global Report to the Secretary General 
on Children and Armed Conflict in Haiti'' in March/April 2009. 
 
-- B. Haiti is a country of origin for internationally 
trafficked men, women and children.  Most trafficking in 
persons in Haiti involves children.  Children from rural 
areas move to urban cities for domestic labor, where they are 
commonly referred to as ''restaveks'' (Creole word derived 
from the French words ''rester avec'' meaning ''to stay 
with''.)  Several local and international NGOs differ on 
whether restavek children are victims of trafficking.  Some 
consider all restaveks as victims of trafficking.  Others 
consider only abused restaveks as trafficking victims, 
pointing to the significant number of restavek children who 
live in social fosterage arrangements that offer better 
conditions and opportunities than their households of origin. 
 
Throughout the reporting period and following an economically 
devastating season highlighted by violent riots and 
hurricanes, poor rural families continued to send their 
children to live and work as domestic servants with extended 
family members or friends or wealthier families.  Many NGOs 
report that the incidence of restavek trafficking in urban 
areas has markedly risen.  Sending families hope that the 
child will receive a better quality of life that includes 
food, shelter and access to education, in exchange for 
performing domestic chores.  While some restaveks are cared 
for and receive an education (most attend school in the 
afternoon or evening after completion of chores), many are 
exploited and considered victims of trafficking.  These 
children work excessive hours, receive no schooling or 
payment and are often physically and/or sexually exploited. 
An officer in MINUSTAH's Child Protection Unit Officer 
reported that approximately 75 percent of restaveks are in 
abusive situations.  Some children escape abusive households 
and become homeless street children.  Oftentimes, restaveks 
and street children lack birth certificates.  The MINUSTAH 
Child Protection Officer admitted the need for a bi-national 
study on migration between Haiti and the Dominican Republic 
which could establish reliable data on how many trafficking 
victims in Haiti and the Dominican Republic are of Haitian 
origin. 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  002.2 OF 010 
 
 
 
The Government of Haiti (GoH) estimates that number of 
restaveks as 90,000 to 120,000.  UNICEF estimates run higher, 
between 250,000 and 300,000.  The UN Stabilization Mission in 
Haiti's (MINUSTAH) Child Protection Unit estimates that there 
are between 170,000 and 200,000 restaveks, 65 percent of 
which are girls.  UNICEF's 2006 Child Alert report noted that 
one out of ten children in Haiti is a restavek. 
 
Haitian law does not specifically prohibit trafficking in 
persons, although labor legislation and other laws, including 
those prohibiting and penalizing slavery, kidnapping and 
rape, could be used to combat trafficking.  Post is not aware 
of a case where these laws are used in practice.  Article 350 
of the Haitian labor code requires payment to domestic 
workers over the age of 15.  This law encourages receiving 
families/employers to dismiss restaveks before they reach 
that age, which in turn contributes to a large population of 
homeless street children.  The informal and deeply-rooted 
practice of restavek has existed for generations and is 
directly related to Haiti's poverty, lack of economic 
alternatives, and/or cultural norms of Haitian extended 
families. 
 
Most trafficking occurs within Haiti's borders and within 
areas of government control.  Absent an anti-trafficking law 
and law enforcement capacity, including human and financial 
resources, the GoH lacks a comprehensive counter trafficking 
response to curb trafficking, protect victims and facilitate 
prosecution of traffickers.  An unknown number of Haitian 
women, men and mostly children are trafficked into the 
Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, the U.S., Europe, Canada and 
Jamaica to work in domestic service, agriculture, 
construction,  among whom an unquantified amount are 
similarly subject to abuse.  Some women and minors are also 
trafficked for sexual exploitation.  An increasing number of 
Haitian economic migrants illegally enter the DR where some 
reportedly become trafficking victims. 
 
Several NGOs reported a sharp increase in 2008 of Haitian 
children trafficked for sexual and labor purposes, especially 
to the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. 
 
Recent comprehensive figures on the trafficking of persons 
across the country's borders are not available.  The most 
recent study of cross-border trafficking, conducted jointly 
by UNICEF and IOM and published in August 2002, found that 
between 2,000 and 3,000 Haitian children were sent to the 
Dominican Republic each year.  Girls between the ages of five 
and fourteen are more vulnerable for placement in urban 
households, while boys usually work in the agriculture 
sector.  Glenn R. Smucker's 2004 study of trafficking of 
Haitian children indicated that despite the existence of GoH 
and NGO estimates of the number of restavek children, there 
are no reliable figures. 
 
There is anecdotal evidence that some women who travel 
voluntarily to the DR as economic migrants become victims of 
sexual trafficking.  A local NGO, the Support Group for 
Repatriates and Refugees (Group d'Appui aux Repatriates et 
Refugies - GARR) -- documented that in 2008 unidentified 
''traffickers'' promised 49 Haitian women work in the 
Dominican Republic and upon arrival were asked to prostitute 
themselves.  Some NGOs report sexual commercial exploitation 
of Haitian women and girls at resorts in the Dominican 
Republic.  There are no reliable statistics. 
 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  003.2 OF 010 
 
 
During the reporting period, Haiti has experienced severe 
political and economic disruptions.  The country experienced 
serious inflation in food and fuel, which contributed to the 
April 2008 food riots.  Following these, Haiti was left 
without a government for five months.  Hurricanes and 
tropical storms that ravaged much of Haiti during a 
three-week period in August and September killed nearly 1,000 
people, displaced 150,000, and caused extensive crop and 
livestock damage.  The global financial downturn has slowed 
the flow of remittances.  The social and economic disruptions 
in the reporting period have increased the pressures thought 
to contribute to both trafficking and the prevalence of 
''restaveks.'' 
 
-- C. While some restaveks received adequate care including 
an education, the Ministry of Social Affairs and reputable 
NGOs believed that many host families compelled the children 
to work long hours (cooking, cleaning, ironing, grocery 
shopping) while providing them inadequate nourishment, and 
frequently abusing them.  Many restaveks worked in low-income 
households; where living conditions, food, health care and 
education for non-biological children were lower priorities. 
Although not all restaveks are victimized, it is believed 
that significant numbers are sexually exploited or otherwise 
abused.  However, there are no reliable statistics. 
 
-- D. Poor children, women and men in Haiti are at risk of 
being trafficked.  Many Haitian babies never receive a birth 
certificate thereby making him/her more susceptible to 
trafficking and/or exploitation.  MINUSTAH Child 
Protection Officer said there are very few legal protections 
offered to undocumented Haitians. 
 
Most Haitian adults do have identity cards which were 
required of vetting in previous elections.  Lack of national 
identification cards for some adults 18 and over also makes 
those individuals more vulnerable to trafficking.  The GoH's 
Office of National Identification (ONI), with technical 
assistance from the Organization of American States (OAS) and 
the Government of Canada, is making efforts to make more 
available national identification cards.  ONI began 
distribution of 170,000 new cards in the Artibonite, West, 
and North West department and hopes to issue 700,000 for new 
voters before Haiti's partial senatorial elections in April. 
 
NGOs such as Save the Children (STC) work with children with 
different types vulnerabilities to educate them and promote 
their rights.  STC worked with local organizations targeted 
at youth, specifically the Haitian Coalition Defending Child 
Rights' Observatory, which monitors and collects information 
on children and shelters catering to children.  The 
collection of this data aids STC to identify cases of 
exploitation, violence and trafficking.  Many other 
organizations rely on information shared from local NGOs and 
community organizations. 
 
-- E. Often times, children are sent to live with non-family 
because the nuclear family lacks the resources to adequately 
provide for the child.  According to UNICEF, prospective 
employers or intermediaries (traffickers) visit families and 
promise, often mendaciously, that their children will be fed, 
educated and cared for.  Following the devastating hurricane 
season, NGOs reported to a USAID-Haiti officer an increase in 
transactional sex in the Artibonite area.  NGOs speculated 
that a large number are restavek children. 
 
SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOH's ANTI-TIP EFFORTS 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  004.2 OF 010 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Question 24: 
 
-- A. The GoH acknowledged that trafficking is a problem. 
Many GoH institutions admitted that they lack sufficient 
human, technical or financial resources to effectively 
counter trafficking in persons or provide services to 
trafficking victims. 
 
-- B. Government agencies involved in anti-trafficking 
efforts include: 
 
The Social Welfare Institute (IBESR) 
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST) 
The Ministry of Interior and Territorial Collectivities 
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
The Haitian National Police's (HNP) Brigade for the 
Protection of Minors (BPM) 
 
The Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR) and the 
BPM are the lead agencies combating trafficking of children 
in Haiti.  The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST), 
through (IBESR), is legally responsible for enforcing child 
labor laws and is mandated to lead anti-child trafficking 
efforts.  Most NGOs cite IBESR's weak administrative capacity 
and its lack of resources and support from the GoH.  The same 
NGOs, however, say that IBESR is cooperative and takes 
advantage of training opportunities and NGO assistance. 
IBERS lacks the resources to conduct independent 
investigations into child trafficking or domestic servitude 
although they have occasionally assisted other agencies and 
NGOs. 
 
The BPM is responsible for investigating crimes against 
children and implementing child protection measures, 
including against trafficking.  However, as a matter of 
policy, it does not seek or pursue restavek cases given the 
absence of legal penalties against the practice.  The BPM has 
two holding cells in Port-au-Prince to serve as temporary 
housing for minors.  The BPM also lacked resources and 
training to work effectively. 
 
Minister of Social Affairs Gabrielle Baudin and Minister of 
Feminine Condition Marie Laurence Jocelyn Lassague strongly 
supported both the anti-trafficking and adoption draft laws, 
neither of which was inserted into the 2008-09 legislative 
agenda. 
 
-- C. The GoH's ability to adequately address trafficking in 
persons continues to be hampered by inadequate government 
resources (including lack of capacity to adequately monitor 
land and maritime borders); by government corruption; by 
inadequate numbers, training and equipment for the national 
police; and by perennially weak institutions.  The absence of 
criminal penalties for holding restaveks, in conjunction with 
continuing (albeit eroding) social acceptance of the 
practice, remain impediments to eradicating the restavek 
phenomenon.  The Ministry of Social Affairs, supported 
principally by IOM and other NGOs, submitted the 
anti-trafficking law to Parliament in April 2008. However, 
the Parliament did not register it on the 2008-2009 
legislative agenda.   There is no general consensus as to why 
the legislation was removed from the agenda. 
 
-- D. The GoH has no systematic monitoring mechanism to 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  005.2 OF 010 
 
 
document anti-trafficking efforts.  The GoH, specifically 
IBESR, provides unofficial basic reports upon request to NGOs 
such as UNICEF recording visits to orphanages and shelters 
(i.e. accounting for the number of children).  Other NGOs 
such as IOM, Save the Children and the Pan American 
Development Foundation (PADF) receive no reports from the GoH. 
 
INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Question 25: 
 
-- A. Haiti does not have a law specifically prohibiting the 
trafficking of persons, either for sexual purposes or labor. 
There are no legal penalties for employing children in 
domestic labor as restaveks.  However, children ages 15-18 
years old must obtain a work authorization from the Ministry 
of Labor and employing a minor without the authorization is 
punishable by fines.  There are other laws available to the 
GoH for use in combating human trafficking which the 
Government does not apply to restavek situations.  These 
include labor laws and laws prohibiting and penalizing 
slavery, kidnapping and rape. Haitian law prohibits the 
forced labor of adults and children. 
 
An assembly of international donor agencies, local and 
international NGOs, commonly known as the ''Collectif,'' has 
plans to continue to pressure Parliament to add the 
anti-trafficking law to the 2008-09 legislative agenda. 
Thereafter, it plans to offer training to members of 
parliament on trafficking that would educate members them on 
the distinction between abusive/exploitative and non-abusive 
restaveks. 
 
-- B. Haiti does not have specific penalties for trafficking 
people for sexual exploitation. 
 
-- C. Haiti does not have specific penalties for trafficking 
people for labor exploitation. 
 
-- D. In September 2005, the president of the Interim 
Government issued a decree criminalizing rape.  The penalty 
for rape is a minimum of 10 years, increasing to 15 years if 
victim is younger than 16 years old, and life or hard labor 
for premeditated rape.  There is no specific penalty for, or 
statute prohibiting trafficking for commercial sexual 
exploitation. 
 
National police statistics showed that 282 rapes were 
reported during 2008, an 89 percent increase from the 2007 
figure of 149. Ninety rape victims were adult women, 189 were 
female minors, two were adult men, and one was a male minor. 
Post does now know how many of these cases, if any, were 
linked to trafficking.  MINUSTAH cited difficulty in 
persuading judges and the Haitian national police to give 
adequate attention to rape cases. 
 
In 2007 doctors and hospitals began issuing free medical 
certificates to victims of sexual aggression, including rape, 
for use when pressing charges against attackers.  The 
Ministry of Feminine Condition strongly advocated this 
initiative. 
 
-- E. Lacking an anti-trafficking law the GoH did not 
prosecute any cases against traffickers.  Most reporting 
generally comes from UN agency analyses, local and 
international NGOs.  The government did not collect 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  006.2 OF 010 
 
 
statistics on trafficking or exploitation. 
 
-- F. NGOs offered training to GoH officials on how to 
recognize trafficking.  PADF, through a USAID-funded program, 
conducted multiple training sessions for local NGOs, IBESR 
and BPM on identification of trafficking in persons activity. 
Save the Children implemented two projects that aimed to 
enhance GoH capacity to protect Haitian children, combat 
trafficking in persons and address the needs of child 
victims.  Training themes included (''identification of 
sexually abused children, assistance to victims, reinsertion 
of victims into their families, non-violent discipline in the 
family, and child rights.  STC reported that the GoH was 
cooperative and participated in many training sessions 
offered. 
 
-- G. Refer to answer in Question 25 E. 
 
-- H. Haitian law prohibits the extradition of Haitian 
nationals under any circumstances and for any crime. 
There is no effort within the GoH to modify that law. 
 
-- I. There is no evidence that GoH officials are involved in 
or tolerate trafficking. 
 
-- J. N/A 
 
-- K. Prostitution is illegal in Haiti; however, there are no 
specific penalties for persons engaging in related 
activities, such as brothel owners/operators, clients, pimps 
or enforcers.  Despite the law, prostitution remains a 
widespread practice, particularly among women and girls. 
Local NGOs reported that police generally ignored 
prostitution.  NGOs report an increase in prostitution in the 
Gonaives and St. Marc areas following the 2008 hurricanes. 
 
STC works with an all-girl shelter catering to street 
children.  STC reported that a number of the girls were 
victims of child prostitution.  STC did not provide the exact 
number.  GARR has a project in two border towns, Perdenales 
and Lascahobas, that offers services to prostitution victims. 
 
-- L. Haiti does not contribute troops to international 
peacekeeping forces.  Haiti does not have a standing military. 
 
-- M. Haiti does not have an identified problem of child sex 
tourists coming to the country.  Some NGOs, however, shared 
reports of UN military personnel exploiting child prostitutes 
in Haiti.  The GoH helped the Government of Canada 
authorities investigate and collect evidence to prosecute two 
Quebec aid workers for abusing teenage boys while working at 
an orphanage in Les Cayes in November 2008.  A Canadian court 
tried and sentenced the perpetrators to two years in prison. 
The Haitian National Police, with the support of and 
cooperation from UNPOL, IBESR and NGOs, led the 
investigation. 
 
Haiti is a transit and destination country for Dominican 
women and girls on a smaller scale.  Women (ages unknown) 
from the Dominican Republic are frequently trafficked into 
Haiti for prostitution. Also refer to answer in Question 25 E. 
 
PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Question 26: 
 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  007.2 OF 010 
 
 
-- A. Haiti does not have an anti-trafficking law that 
mandates protection to Haitian citizens.  The GoH lacks 
resources and therefore provides few direct resources to 
assist victims of trafficking.  The recently renovated 
shelter for children in Carrefour, the ''Centre d'Accueil,'' 
presently holds 400 children with five caretakers. 
 
All institutional care centers are privately-run.  The GoH 
refers orphans and street children to the institutions.  The 
capacity of the GoH to monitor these centers in the capital 
is improving but remains weak at the departmental level. 
UNICEF provides support to IBESR (social welfare agency of 
the Ministry of Social Affairs) in strengthening the 
monitoring and evaluation system of such institutions.  IBESR 
has evaluated 73 of 133 registered care centers in 
Port-au-Prince.  IBESR issued injunctions to centers that 
need to improve knowledge and practice of child rights and 
protection. 
 
MINUSTAH's Child Protection and Civil Affairs Units provides 
support to the four regions where IBESR is represented- 
Port-au-Paix, Cap Haitien, Gonaives and Jeremie, but IBESR's 
limited local capacity provided minimal progress. Many NGOs 
provided services to a number of repatriated Haitians from 
the DR, but it is unclear exactly how many recipients were 
victims of trafficking. 
 
Appeal for emergency relief following the August-September 
hurricanes exposed a number of unregistered orphanages.  Many 
of the children were found not to be orphans and are believed 
to be exposed to child trafficking and exploitation outside 
of a legal and protective environment.  IBESR and UNICEF 
estimate up to 500 unauthorized institutions hosting children. 
 
-- B. The GoH generally did not provide protection, shelter 
or assistance to victims and witnesses.  The GoH referred 
victims to NGOs for services.  International agencies and 
NGOs such as UNICEF, PADF (USAID-funded) and Save the 
Children (STC) offered support programs designed to assist 
street children and/or trafficked victims with daily needs 
and to explore re-insertion into biological families.  Save 
the Children reinserted 28 trafficked girls into their homes. 
 STC representative said that out of the 600 children it has 
worked with in the last year, 70-80 percent were restaveks 
and street children. 
 
PADF, in a USAID-funded project, supported two shelters 
throughout Haiti and helped place approximately 250 children 
(homeless street children and restaveks) in protective 
shelter and protective services in Port au Prince and Cap 
Haitien in 2008.  PADF reported that there are approximately 
3,000-4,000 restaveks in Cap Haitien.  PADF fully supported 
19 documented restaveks who were subject to abuse.  The 
children received shelter, food, medical care and access to 
education.  PADF also supported approximately 230 children in 
a shelter facility in Port au Prince that offers a range of 
temporary and some permanent services. 
 
-- C. Haiti's FY 2009 national budget allocated USD 925,000 
(37,000,000 Haitian Gourdes) to the Ministry of Social 
Affair's IBESR, of which USD 675,000 is specifically for 
salaries and USD 250,000 for purchase of equipment and other 
expenses. IBESR generates additional revenue from adoption 
fees and other service fees that are also mainly used for 
salaries.  IBESR's limited budget constrains capacity to 
invest in counter-trafficking or exploitation cases. 
 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  008.2 OF 010 
 
 
The GoH did not provide funding to NGOs for services of 
trafficking.  The GoH, especially IBESR, however, was more 
actively involved in the monitoring of shelters and 
orphanages.  Also refer to answer in Question 26 A. 
 
-- D. Refer to answer in Question 26 A. 
 
-- E. The government assisted in providing longer-term 
shelter only in the case of a limited number of children. 
See Question 26 A. 
 
-- F. BPM, in its mandate of child protection, has the task 
of referring all children in custody to IBESR for 
disposition.  Refer to answer in Question 26 A. 
 
-- G. The most recent study of trafficking across the border 
in August 2002, conducted jointly by UNICEF and IOM, found 
that between 2,000 and 3,000 Haitian children were sent to 
the Dominican Republic each year.  Several NGOs reported a 
sharp increase during 2008 of child trafficking for sexual 
and labor purposes, especially to the Dominican Republic and 
the Bahamas.  UNICEF estimated that approximately 30,000 
children were trafficked into the DR.  The Support Group for 
Repatriated and Refugees (Group d'Appui au Repatriates et 
Refugies -GARR), a local respected and specialized NGO 
working on the Haiti-DR border since 2001, noted a 
substantial increase in child trafficking to the Bahamas; 
exact numbers are unavailable. 
 
GARR reported that Dominican authorities repatriated to Haiti 
746 Haitian children.  GARR is not aware of how many were 
victims of trafficking.  A trafficking victim does not 
usually disclose that he/she was trafficked or abused.  GARR 
also reported that in June 2008, 75 children were arrested 
and repatriated from the Dominican Republic.  GARR was 
unaware of how many, if any, were trafficking victims.  The 
Dominican Republic in July repatriated 115 Haitians, mostly 
women and children who were engaged in child labor and/or 
sexual exploitation activities.  According to IOM, based on 
reports from its contacts in local and community 
organizations, approximately 30,000 children are trafficked 
into the DR each year.  However, Post is unaware of any 
reliable statistical data which would support a figure of 
this magnitude.  MINUSTAH reported information from local NGO 
Solidarite Fwontalye that on June 24, Dominican authorities 
repatriated 45 minors (28 girls and 17 boys) to Ouanaminthe 
(close to Cap Haitien).  Post is unaware if any were 
trafficking victims. 
 
In July 2008, MINUSTAH, in partnership with IOM and PADF 
(USAID-funded), provided support to Haitian authorities for 
the transportation of 47 children victims of trafficking, 
aged between two and eight years, from Port au Prince to be 
reunified with their families in Jeremie. 
 
-- H. The GoH acknowledged the problem of internal 
trafficking, including that of children.  BPM, a branch of 
the Haitian national police, investigated cases of child 
trafficking and monitored the movement of children across the 
border with the DR but faced barriers, such as the lack of a 
law and meager resources, to achieve operational 
effectiveness.  Local and international NGOs were at the 
forefront of combating international trafficking of children. 
 
-- I. Victims are not fined, prosecuted, detained, jailed or 
deported. 
 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  009.2 OF 010 
 
 
-- J. There is no evidence that the GoH encourages victims to 
assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking. 
Victims with financial means may file a civil suit against 
alleged traffickers, but lawsuits may take several years to 
litigate.  The GoH does not have a victim restitution program. 
 
-- K. Refer to answer 25 F. 
 
-- L. The GoH is mandated by law to provide financial 
assistance to its repatriated nationals regardless of 
circumstance. Financial assistance is not contingent upon 
being a victim of trafficking.  The GoH is responsible for 
providing approximately USD 10 to assist in the repatriates 
return to his/her region of origin and a meal.  Some NGOs 
stated that the GoH did not habitually provide these services 
in practice. 
 
-- M. The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) provides 
direct services to trafficked children, including shelter, 
education and health care, and supports the training of GoH 
officials to identify trafficking victims and activity and 
promotes advocacy efforts.  PADF is also helping create a 
cross-border awareness campaign; a program for referral to 
shelters and protection services for women and children; an 
expansion of temporary border area shelter capacity and 
victims care services; and training of border area 
authorities. 
 
Other intergovernmental organizations and NGOs that work with 
trafficking victims and receive cooperation from the 
GoH include MINUSTAH, UNICEF, IOM, STC, GARR, Catholic Relief 
Services (CRS), World Vision and Solidarite 
Fwontalye/Solidaridad Fronteriza, among several other local 
NGOs and community organizations.  Refer to answers in 
Questions 23 D, 24 C, 25 E, 25 F, 25 K, 26 A and 26 B. 
 
Local authorities cooperated in referring and coordinating 
the abovementioned services. 
 
PREVENTION 
----------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Question 27: 
 
-- A. The GoH did not sponsor anti-trafficking information or 
education campaigns during the reporting period.  NGOs did 
sponsor such programs for the broader public, such as radio 
announcements in border towns, in cooperation with GoH 
officials. 
 
-- B. The National Office of Migration (ONM) mandate includes 
documentation and registering of trafficking cases.  NGOs 
reports that the ONM does not fulfill its mandate and that 
most statistics it produces are unreliable. 
 
The GoH lacks the resources and manpower to adequately 
monitor and secure its borders.  Airport officials ask 
additional questions and require supplemental documentation 
before clearing unaccompanied minors. 
 
-- C. The assembly of NGOs and foreign donor agencies known 
at the ''Collectif'' (referred to in Question 25 A), is the 
only mechanism between various agencies, internal, 
international, or multilateral on trafficking-related matters. 
 
-- D. The GoH has no national plan of action to address 
trafficking in persons. 
 
PORT AU PR 00000199  010.2 OF 010 
 
 
 
-- E. GOH officials' participation in NGO-implemented 
training is the only measure the government has taken to 
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. 
 
-- F. GOH participation in NGO-implemented trainings for its 
officials is the measure the government has taken to reduce 
participation in international child sex tourism by 
nationals. 
 
-- G. Not applicable.  Haiti does not contribute troops to 
international peacekeeping efforts. 
 
NOMINATION OF HEROES AND BEST PRACTICES 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Post has no nominations for the heroes category or 
selections for the best practices category. 
 
EMBASSY CONTACT INFORMATION 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Embassy Economic/Political Officer Madelina Young is 
the point of contact on trafficking issues.  She can be 
reached at 011-509-22-29-8000 x 8044 or at YoungMM@state.gov. 
 Ms. Young spent 120 hours on compiling and drafting the 
report. (Note: After July 6, 2009, please refer all inquiries 
to Kathy-Lee Galvin at GalvinK@state.gov or 
011-509-22-29-8000 x8241.  The fax number for Ms. Young and 
Ms. Galvin is 011-509-22-29-80-24.  End note.) 
SANDERSON