P 240054Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0531
INFO ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000189 
 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, EAP/MLS and EAP/RSP 
USAID FOR ASIA BUREAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN KTIP CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA ANTI-TIP NATIONAL TASK FORCE RESTRUCTURING 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The RGC is seeking NGO comment on a simplified 
anti-trafficking-in-persons National Task Force structure that will 
be enacted through a Ministry of Interior subdecree.  The subdecree, 
as drafted, states that the new structure will have its own budget 
-- a signal of greater RGC support.  On March 2 and 3, 2009 the RGC 
held consultation meetings with NGOs and other stakeholders 
regarding the proposed new structure, and requested that NGOs vote 
in vice-chairs for the working groups once the subdecree is signed 
into effect.  The National Task Force has been a purposeful and 
effective channel for the RGC's enhanced commitment to combat TIP 
over the past two years, serving as a source of motivation for the 
RGC's willing anti-TIP actors, as it has the direct support of both 
the Prime Minister and DPM Sar Kheng.  We expect that the new High 
Level Working Group will share these same important 
characteristics. 
 
HLWG Gains a Budget 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Ministry of Interior (MOI) drafted a subdecree 
announcing the RGC "High Level Working Group to Combat Human 
Trafficking, Smuggling, Labor and Sexual Commercial Exploitation of 
Women and Children" or "High Level Working Group" (HLWG) to combine 
and replace the National Task Force (NTF) and current High Level 
Working Group structures.  Minister of Interior Sar Kheng will chair 
the group, and Ministry of Interior Secretary of State Ms. Chou Bun 
Eng will chair its secretariat where the day-to-day activity of the 
group will take place.  The draft subdecree states that the 
secretariat will be responsible for creating an annual budget plan, 
coordinating budget resources and implementation of the budget to 
carry out an RGC national plan of action.  The current NTF does not 
have its own budget, instead relying on the good will of ministers 
and cooperative staff from the relevant ministries to carry out NTF 
functions.  Much of the current NTF activity is implemented together 
with the technical assistance of The Asia Foundation through the 
USAID-funded Counter-TIP (C-TIP) program.  The budget included in 
the draft subdecree may also be a signal that the RGC is cognizant 
of the need for a long-term, sustainable funding solution.  With the 
budget becoming an RGC budget line item, the new High Level Working 
Group structure's sustainability becomes more realistic, and the 
RGC's commitment more tangible. 
 
Ministry of Interior Leadership 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) International Organization for Migration (IOM) Anti-TIP 
Program Officer John McGeoghan told poloff that the draft 
subdecree's goal to move the NTF/HLWG structure under the MOI, which 
was previously under the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA), could 
help to improve the structure's long-term effectiveness.  McGeoghan 
stated that MOWA unfortunately does not have a budget as large as 
the MOI, and does not have as much clout within the RGC as the MOI. 
[Note:  John McGeoghan previously worked as an advisor within MOWA 
and has a close relationship with Minister of Women's Affairs Ing 
Kantha Phavi.  End Note.]  McGeoghan was an early skeptic of the NTF 
but he recently told poloff that he believes that without the RGC 
inter-ministerial task force body, Cambodia will not be able to 
eliminate TIP.  The MOI recently selected an active MOWA 
staffperson, Chou Bun Eng, to transfer to the MOI to work as a 
secretary of state in charge of coordinating TIP within the MOI. 
She is the only female MOI official at the secretary of state level 
or higher. 
 
Simplifying the HLWG Structure 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) MOI Secretary of State Chou Bun Eng told poloff that the 
new structure is meant to simplify the RGC focal point for anti-TIP 
work, and to move the group under the leadership of the MOI instead 
of under MOWA.  The new HLWG structure will integrate the policy 
coordination aspects of the current NTF and law enforcement 
implementation abilities of the current HLWG.  The result will be a 
more streamlined government body with simpler lines of reporting to 
oversee efforts to eliminate TIP.  Post understands that the draft 
subdecree may undergo changes as NGOs and stakeholders continue to 
comment. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) A draft subdecree details an improved HLWG with an 
inter-ministerial approach to combating TIP involving the MOI; MOWA; 
Ministry of Justice; Cambodian National Police; Ministry of Tourism; 
Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports; Ministry of Social 
Affairs, Veterans, and Youth; Ministry of Health; Ministry of 
Economy and Finance; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; National Authority 
for HIV/AIDS; and other relevant government agencies.  The proposed 
HLWG structure adds the Ministry of Health and the National 
Authority for HIV/AIDS.  The RGC recognized the need for these two 
government bodies to be included in the anti-TIP structure after 
early 2008 reports that enforcement of a new Law on the Suppression 
of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation had resulted in police 
activity that made it more difficult for health workers to access 
HIV/AIDS at-risk persons such as prostitutes. 
 
Six HLWG Working Groups 
----------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The draft subdecree states that the new HLWG will include 
six sub-level working groups; however, we understand that the 
sub-level working groups and their terms of reference may change 
during draft review and comment.  The current NTF structure includes 
four sub-level working groups.  A prevention working group will be 
responsible for:  producing education and awareness materials; 
disseminating anti-TIP information including information on the 
national law to government officials and to the Cambodian public; 
coordinating and conducting research; and, creating a work plan and 
recommending policies based on the above functions.  A protection, 
rehabilitation, reintegration, and repatriation working group will 
be tasked with:  promoting actions to protect, rehabilitate, 
reintegrate and repatriate TIP, smuggling, and labor and sexual 
exploitation victims; establishing national minimum standards for 
victim protection and assistance; updating lists of victim 
assistance service providers; providing assistance materials to 
victims; capacity building for service providers; and, monitoring 
shelters.  An "MOU-monitoring" working group will be charged with: 
coordinating HLWG agencies, other RGC authorities, and NGOs to 
implement bi- and multilateral memoranda of understanding (MOU); 
evaluating the results of MOUs; and, recommending ways to more 
effectively work together with countries with which the RGC has MOUs 
on anti-TIP issues. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) A rescue and raid operation working group will be expected 
to focus on:  researching possible targets of raids; collecting TIP 
information at border crossings; collaborating with the Cambodian 
National Police Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection 
Department on investigations; tracking the progress of cases and 
ensuring victims are referred to the Ministry of Social Affairs, 
Veterans, and Youth; identifying possible TIP victims; collecting 
evidence in advance of raids; and, capacity building on rescue and 
raid techniques.  A prosecution working group will be tasked with: 
monitoring and collecting information for TIP and sexual 
exploitation cases; strengthening the information provided to 
prosecutors; improving court officials' capacity to better 
investigate and prosecute TIP cases; disseminating and providing 
training on the Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and 
Sexual Exploitation; providing prosecution-related policy 
recommendations; coordinating communication with legal institutions; 
providing support to victim assistance service providers; 
coordinating the prosecution process; and, coordinating with 
bilateral and multilateral partners to ensure the law is properly 
enforced.  A child protection working group will be:  helping to 
prevent the trafficking and sexual exploitation of children; 
implementing the UN Convention on Child Rights and other 
child-related conventions; cooperating with countries in the region 
to prevent transnational trafficking of children; monitoring 
implementation of relevant laws; restricting child pornography and 
importation of drugs that are abused by youth; working together with 
tour agencies, hotels, restaurants, and other tourist areas to raise 
awareness about the Cambodian law and measures to prevent child sex 
tourism; and, mobilizing community participation to prevent children 
from being trafficked, rescue those who have been trafficked, and 
collect evidence to prosecute perpetrators. 
 
Institutionalizing Provincial Working Groups 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) If signed into effect, the HLWG subdecree will 
institutionalize Phnom Penh-based and provincial-level working 
groups in all 23 provinces.  Provincial working groups in each of 
Cambodia's provinces have already been created; however, the 
provincial working groups had not been mandated through a subdecree. 
 The draft subdecree formalizes that Phnom Penh and all provinces 
must establish a working group based on the HLWG structure chaired 
by the governor of the municipality/province.  It also states that 
each provincial working group must create its own work plan. 
 
Request for NGO Comment 
----------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) On March 2 and 3, the RGC presented the draft subdecree 
during workshops together with NGOs and other stakeholders. 
According to World Hope International Cambodia Assessment Center 
Director Kristin Wiebe, the RGC asked participants to review the 
draft and provide comment back to the RGC.  Also, NGO participants 
were asked to consult among themselves and to vote on which NGOs 
should act as co-chairs for the six sub-level working groups of the 
new HLWG structure.  Wiebe stated the consultation process on the 
subdecree was a step forward for the Cambodian government, which for 
many years did not consider it important to work together with NGOs 
but, Wiebe believes, now is beginning to understand the expertise 
and information it can gain through working collaboratively with 
NGOs. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) International Justice Mission (IJM) Country Director 
Patrick Stayton recently echoed IOM Officer John McGeoghan's 
statement that the RGC would not be able to effectively combat TIP 
in Cambodia without a coordinated structure such as the HLWG.  Post 
agrees with this assessment.  Without a doubt, the work of anti-TIP 
NGOs has been essential to the successes already achieved in 
combating TIP in Cambodia.  But the problem will never be truly 
eliminated without the leadership and active participation of the 
Cambodian government, not just NGOs.  While true in any country, it 
is even more so in Cambodia where endemic corruption has a 
stranglehold on all government and societal institutions.  The HLWG 
has been the culmination point of the RGC's determined anti-TIP 
commitment and has channeled that commitment into concrete actions 
and achievements.  The draft subdecree is illustrative of this 
commitment -- if passed by April 2009, as expected -- will help to 
improve the effectiveness of the RGC's efforts and further 
institutionalize and make more sustainable the RGC commitment to 
combating TIP. 
 
RODLEY