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TO AIT TAIPEI IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060450 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND 
DEMARCHE 
 
REF: A. (A) STATE 59732 
     ¶B. (B) STATE 005577 
 
¶1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10. 
 
¶2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will 
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a 
press conference in the Department's press briefing room. 
This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic 
and foreign news outlets.  Until the time of the Secretary's 
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or 
country narratives contained therein is prohibited. 
 
¶3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press 
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter.  Also provided 
is demarche language to be used in informing Taiwan 
authorities of Taiwan,s tier ranking and the TIP Report's 
imminent release.  The text of the TIP Report country 
narrative is provided, both for use in informing Taiwan 
authorities and in any local media release by Post's public 
affairs section on June 16 or thereafter.  Drawing on 
information provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post may provide 
the host authorities with the text of the TIP Report 
narrative no earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday June 15 
for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local time 
Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts.  Please note, however, 
that any public release of the Report's information should 
not/not precede the Secretary's release at 10:00 am EDT on 
June 16. 
 
¶4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at 
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16 
release.  Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts 
in all countries appearing on the Report.  The Secretary's 
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of 
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and 
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis 
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website 
shortly after the June 16 event.  Ambassador de Baca will 
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign 
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
¶5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on 
Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local 
time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform 
the appropriate official of the June 16 release of the 2009 
TIP Report, drawing on the points in para 9 (at Post's 
discretion) and including the text of the country narrative 
provided in para 8.  For countries where the State Department 
has lowered the tier ranking, it is particularly important to 
advise governments prior to the Report being released in 
Washington on June 16. 
 
¶6. Action Request continued:  Please note that, for those 
countries which will not receive an "action plan" with 
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw 
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement 
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the 
"Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the 
narrative text.  This engagement is important to establishing 
the framework in which the government's performance will be 
judged for the 2010 Report.  If posts have questions about 
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they 
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report, 
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau. 
 
¶7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared 
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the 
press guidance provided in para 11.  If Post wishes, a local 
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June 
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP 
Report's country narrative provided in para 8. 
 
¶8. Begin Final Text of Taiwan,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
TAIWAN (TIER 2) 
-------------------------------- 
Taiwan is primarily a destination for men, women, and 
children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and 
commercial sexual exploitation.  To a far lesser extent, it 
is a source of women trafficked to Japan, Australia, the 
United Kingdom, and the United States for sexual exploitation 
and forced labor, as well as a transit area for People,s 
Republic of China (PRC) citizens seeking to enter the United 
States illegally, some of whom may become victims of debt 
bondage and forced prostitution.  Most trafficking victims 
are workers from rural areas of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, 
and the Philippines, employed through recruitment agencies 
and brokers to perform low-skilled work in Taiwan,s 
construction, fishing, and manufacturing industries, or to 
work as domestic workers.  Many of these workers fall victim 
to labor trafficking by unscrupulous brokers and employers, 
who force workers to perform work outside the scope of their 
contract and often under exploitative conditions.  Some women 
and girls from the PRC and Southeast Asian countries are 
trafficked to Taiwan through fraudulent marriages, deceptive 
employment offers, and illegal smuggling for sexual 
exploitation and forced labor.  Many migrant workers are 
charged job placement and service fees up to the equivalent 
of $14,000, some of which are unlawful, resulting in 
substantial debt that unscrupulous labor brokers or employers 
may use as a coercive tool to subject the workers to 
involuntary servitude.    Labor brokers often help employers 
forcibly deport &problematic8 employees, thus allowing the 
broker to fill the empty quota with a new foreign worker who 
must pay placement and brokerage fees that may be used to 
subject them to involuntary servitude.  Many foreign workers 
remain vulnerable to trafficking because legal protections, 
oversight by authorities, and enforcement efforts are 
currently inadequate.  Taiwan authorities reported that 
traffickers, including syndicates in Southeast Asia, 
continued to recruit women from the PRC, Vietnam, Indonesia, 
and other Southeast Asian countries into marriages with 
Taiwan men, and then force them into prostitution or 
exploitative labor upon their arrival.  Some women knowingly 
enter into false marriages after being promised jobs as 
caregivers or domestic workers in Taiwan, but are 
subsequently forced into Taiwan,s sex industry or into 
forced labor.  NGOs continued to report an increase in the 
number of boys rescued from prostitution, mainly discovered 
during police investigations of online social networking 
sites suspected of fronting for prostitution rings. 
 
Taiwan authorities do not fully comply with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, they 
are making significant efforts to do so.  Taiwan authorities 
made noticeable progress during the reporting period by 
passing a new anti-trafficking law, bolstering law 
enforcement efforts, and approving a budget plan of $14.8 
million for victim protection measures.  Authorities provided 
training for law enforcement, social workers, and judicial 
personnel to enhance investigative skills and increase 
understanding of human trafficking, victim protections, and 
related legal issues.  Taiwan,s efforts on victim 
identification and protection, however, remained inadequate 
over the last year.  NGOs report that immigration, police, 
and local law enforcement officials continue to view 
trafficking victims as runaways or criminals, resulting in 
some victims being penalized rather than assisted. 
 
Recommendations for Taiwan:  Extend labor protections to all 
categories of workers including domestic workers and 
caregivers to prevent labor trafficking; implement the new 
comprehensive anti-trafficking law and effectively carry out 
its victim and witness protections so that victims are not 
penalized for acts committed as a direct result of being 
trafficked; ensure law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, 
and judges consistently implement victim identification 
procedures and victim protection procedures to prevent the 
prosecution of trafficking victims for acts committed as a 
direct result of being trafficked; encourage victims to 
voluntarily assist in the prosecution of traffickers; 
increase police efforts to investigate trafficking crimes and 
to identify trafficking victims; and improve cooperation with 
governments of labor source countries on trafficking 
investigations. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
Taiwan authorities made notable progress in combating 
trafficking through law enforcement efforts during the last 
year.   In January 2009, Taiwan,s Legislative Yuan passed a 
new anti-trafficking law, which along with portions of the 
Criminal Code, criminalizes trafficking for both sexual 
exploitation and forced labor.  The new law, which provides 
punishment of up to seven years, imprisonment for sex and 
labor trafficking, will come into effect when all 
corresponding statutes and regulations have been amended to 
conform to its provisions.  During the reporting period, 
prosecutors continued to use sections of Taiwan,s criminal 
code, labor law, and immigration law to prosecute labor and 
sex trafficking offenses.  The Labor Standards Law, which 
prohibits forced labor, does not apply to the unknown number 
of Taiwan nationals and the 169,000 foreign workers -- 
approximately half of Taiwan,s foreign work force -- 
employed as caregivers or domestic workers on Taiwan, who are 
especially vulnerable to labor trafficking.  Typical 
punishments imposed on offenders convicted of forced labor or 
labor trafficking-related provisions under the Labor 
Standards Law are fines or imprisonment of less than one year 
) punishments that were not sufficient. The new 
anti-trafficking law criminalizes labor trafficking and 
significantly increases penalties for such offenses. 
According to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), six individuals 
were convicted in 2008 of trafficking-related provisions 
under the Employment Services Act.  There were no 
trafficking-related convictions under the Labor Standards Law 
in 2008.  Taiwan regulations allow employers to implement a 
system of &forced savings,8 a practice known to facilitate 
trafficking whereby employers deduct up to thirty percent of 
a foreign worker,s monthly salary to be placed in a bank 
account in the worker,s name, while the worker has no access 
to the account.  Foreign workers are forced into such an 
arrangement upon arrival in Taiwan, and they are often sent 
home if they object.  The money is not returned if the worker 
ends work early due to abuse or exploitation, thereby 
deterring trafficked workers from seeking assistance. 
Traffickers also lure women to Taiwan with promises of 
marriage to Taiwan men, preying on hopes of a higher standard 
of living.  These arrangements are sometimes fraudulent, 
resulting in foreign women trafficked into forced labor or 
sexual exploitation in Taiwan.  Taiwan authorities banned 
for-profit marriage broker agencies in 2008, although there 
is a one-year grace period to allow existing agencies to 
close down operations. 
 
The Ministry of Justice reports that authorities commenced 
prosecutions against 481 individuals for suspected 
trafficking from April to December 2008, most of which were 
sex trafficking cases.  From April 2008 until January 2009, 
234 individuals were convicted of trafficking-related 
offenses, including 80 for sexual exploitation and 35 for 
labor trafficking.  In October 2008, the Taoyuan District 
Court convicted eighteen people for offenses related to 
coercing Indonesian and Vietnamese women to engage in 
prostitution and withholding their passports and earnings. 
The court sentenced the principal defendant to twenty years, 
imprisonment and others to as many as twelve years, 
imprisonment.  Some trafficking victims have been required to 
serve as witnesses in the trials of their traffickers and, as 
a result, have spent many months on Taiwan unable to work. 
Although amendments to the Immigration Act in August 2008 
allow some trafficking victims to apply for temporary work 
permits, foreign victims have not been permitted to work 
while awaiting the outcome of labor disputes and trafficking 
investigations, and their mounting, often fraudulent, debts 
owed to home country and Taiwanese labor brokers lead many to 
flee shelters to seek illegal sources of income.  When the 
new anti-trafficking legislation is enacted, victims will not 
be required to serve as witnesses in an open court trial and 
will not need to be designated as witnesses by prosecutors in 
order to obtain a temporary work permit. During the reporting 
period, there were reports that some local officials took 
bribes to turn a blind eye to trafficking, and allegations 
that some Taiwan politicians accompanied employers or brokers 
to local Bureau of Labor Affairs (BLA) mediation sessions 
with workers who registered complaints.  Some sources believe 
these were thinly-veiled attempts to influence BLA officials 
and intimidate workers in order to achieve a favorable 
outcome for the employer or broker.  No officials were 
indicted or convicted of trafficking-related corruption 
during the reporting period. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
Protection efforts by Taiwan authorities improved during the 
reporting period.  A significant number of trafficking 
victims on Taiwan continue to go undetected by law 
enforcement authorities.   Despite provisions in amendments 
to Taiwan,s Immigration Act enacted in August 2008, which 
allows trafficking victims to apply for six-month temporary 
residency and work permits, no such immigration relief has 
been granted.   Although Taiwan authorities have adopted 
formal victim identification procedures, implementation was 
not consistent and the process of referring victims from law 
enforcement custody to shelter facilities remained 
unreliable.  In February 2009, the Ministry of Justice 
amended victim identification principles to simplify and 
standardize trafficking indicators across agencies and to 
provide law enforcement officials with a reference guide for 
questioning victims.  These guidelines encourage multiple 
victim identification assessments by both field officers and 
detention center officials. During the year, officials began 
to outsource victim placement services to NGOs, who are 
better equipped to provide social support services victims 
need.  Nevertheless, many trafficking victims are treated as 
illegal immigrants or illegal laborers, held in detention 
facilities, prosecuted, fined, and ultimately deported. 
While incarcerated, most detainees have limited access to 
psychological or legal counseling.  NGOs reported that more 
victims were being identified by government authorities 
during the period, and the government ensured that these 
identified victims were not penalized for unlawful acts 
committed as a direct result of their being trafficking, 
though other victims not so identified by government 
authorities were likely arrested and penalized for 
immigration violations.   Officials claimed that language 
barriers hamper their ability to sufficiently identify 
victims and investigate trafficking cases.  In 2008, MOI 
began compiling a centralized interpreter database accessible 
by all law enforcement officials.  Victims who cooperated 
with prosecutors in cases where charges were actually filed 
against the trafficker or other defendants were, in most 
cases, excused from punishment.  Taiwan has no law to protect 
foreign trafficking victims from being removed to countries 
where they face hardship or retribution. 
 
 
The treatment afforded to victims varies considerably from 
place to place.  The Council for Labor Affairs (CLA) provides 
subsidies to 11 NGO-operated shelters for trafficking 
victims.  Most of those sheltered in these facilities were 
referred by churches, NGOs, or other informal channels.  In 
August 2008 and March 2009, the National Immigration Agency 
(NIA) contracted NGOs to operate two new trafficking shelters 
for one year, one in Taoyuan and one in Hualien. The Taoyuan 
shelter, which is co-located with one of NIA,s long-term 
detention facilities, housed 12 victims in 2008, most of whom 
were labor trafficking victims.  There are some concerns that 
the shelter, which is a refurbished detention facility, would 
place victims under constant supervision by NIA officials. 
The Crime Victim Protection Act was amended in January 2009 
to expand protections to include foreign victims of 
trafficking.   According to the MOI, local government 
agencies placed 65 trafficking victims with 
government-subsidized NGO shelters during 2008.  In December 
2008, the Executive Yuan approved a $14.8 million budget for 
anti-trafficking efforts through 2010. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
Taiwan authorities report that their efforts to combat 
trafficking abroad are hampered by a lack of formal 
diplomatic relations with source country governments and an 
inability to join relevant international organizations. 
Taiwan demonstrated continued commitment to trafficking 
prevention efforts, spending over $900,000 in training and 
public awareness campaigns in 2008.   Authorities launched a 
multimedia campaign to increase public awareness of Taiwan,s 
human trafficking problem, and held multiple training 
seminars and workshops for law enforcement, prosecutors, 
labor officials, judges, social work and medical personnel, 
and NGOs.  The National Immigration Agency compiled and 
distributed an operations manual on human trafficking cases 
to law enforcement agencies, and the Ministry of Education 
included teaching materials on human trafficking in the 
national curriculum.  A Direct Employment Service Center 
allows the rehiring of foreign domestic workers without going 
through labor brokers.  This program could be improved and 
expanded, however, to encourage greater participation. As 
part of an ongoing campaign to combat child sex trafficking, 
authorities on Taiwan continued to display public service 
announcements in movie theaters, on television, and on online 
chat rooms and the Ministry of Transportation and 
Communications (MOTC) along with NGOs produced pamphlets and 
other materials in Mandarin, Japanese, and English to raise 
awareness of the child sex trade. Taiwan has a law with 
extraterritorial application that criminalizes the sexual 
exploitation of children by Taiwan passport holders traveling 
abroad; however, it did not prosecute anyone for child sex 
tourism abroad during the reporting period. 
 
¶9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer 
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to 
the host authorities as a non-paper with the above TIP Report 
country narrative: 
 
(begin non-paper) 
 
-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA), 
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to 
Congress.  The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and 
create partnerships around the world in the fight against 
modern-day slavery.  The USG approach to combating human 
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in 
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the 
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized 
Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol").  The TVPA 
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in 
which the victims, labor or services (including in the "sex 
industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, 
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological 
manipulation.  While much attention has focused on 
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol 
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a 
showing that the victim was moved. 
 
-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that 
only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking 
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009 
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin, 
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of 
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of 
three tiers.  Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum 
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking" 
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1.  Countries 
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards, 
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum 
standards are classified as Tier 2.  Countries assessed as 
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making 
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3. 
 
-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a 
"Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year. 
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to 
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the 
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of 
each year.  Countries are included on the "Special Watch 
List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP 
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been 
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined: 
(1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human 
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant 
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over 
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of 
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim 
population.  As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008 
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been 
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after 
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier 
¶3.  Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this 
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP 
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch 
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to 
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report).  The new law allows for a waiver 
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a 
determination by the President that the country has developed 
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make 
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the 
minimum standards. 
 
-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory 
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on 
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance 
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for 
participation by government officials or employees in 
educational and cultural exchange programs.   In addition, 
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to 
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other 
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian, 
trade-related or certain types of development assistance) 
with respect to countries on Tier 3.  Countries classified as 
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's 
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in 
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier 
classification, would avoid such sanctions.  Guidelines for 
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared 
by Posts with host governments. 
 
-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of 
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of 
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and 
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon:  fraudulent 
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in 
workers, home countries; the lack of adequate labor 
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the 
flawed design of some destination countries, "sponsorship 
systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal 
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor.  As the 
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced 
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and 
traffickers, profits are estimated at $31 billion.  The 
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the 
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated 
"cost of coercion." 
 
-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on 
website www.state.gov/g/tip. 
 
-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the 
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State 
Department.  We are providing you an advance copy of your 
country's narrative in that report.  Please keep this 
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June 
¶16.  The State Department will also hold a general briefing 
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June 
17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
(end non-paper) 
 
¶10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country 
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web 
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as 
possible after the TIP Report is released.  Funding for 
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human 
Rights Report.  Posts needing financial assistance for 
translation costs should contact their regional bureau,s EX 
office. 
 
¶11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use 
with local media. 
 
Q1: Why was Taiwan again given a ranking of Tier 2? 
 
A: Taiwan authorities do not fully comply with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, they 
are making significant efforts to do so..  Taiwan authorities 
made noticeable progress during the rating period by passing 
a new anti-trafficking law, bolstering law enforcement 
efforts, and approving a budget plan of $14.8 million for 
victim protection measures.   Authorities provided training 
for law enforcement, social workers, and judicial personnel 
to enhance investigative skills and increase understanding of 
human trafficking, victim protections, and related legal 
issues.  Taiwan,s efforts on victim identification and 
protection, however, remained inadequate over the last year. 
NGOs report that immigration, police, and local law 
enforcement officials continue to view trafficking victims as 
runaways or criminals, resulting in some victims being 
penalized rather than assisted. 
 
Q2: What progress has Taiwan made in the past year? 
 
A: In January 2009, Taiwan,s Legislative Yuan passed a new 
anti-trafficking law, which along with portions of the 
Criminal Code, criminalizes trafficking for both sexual 
exploitation and forced labor.  The Ministry of Justice 
amended victim identification principles to simplify and 
standardize trafficking indicators across agencies and to 
provide law enforcement officials with a reference guide for 
questioning victims.  .  During the reporting period, the 
National Immigration Agency (NIA) contracted NGOs to operate 
two new trafficking shelters. Taiwan demonstrated continued 
commitment to trafficking prevention efforts, spending over 
$900,000 in training and public awareness campaigns in 2008. 
 
Q3: What efforts could Taiwan make to improve its fight 
against trafficking in persons? 
 
A: The authorities on Taiwan could:  extend labor 
protections to all categories of workers including domestic 
helpers and ; enact the new comprehensive anti-trafficking 
law and effectively implement its victim and witness 
protections so that victims are not penalized and allowed to 
work while awaiting legal proceedings; ensure law enforcement 
personnel, prosecutors, and judges consistently implement 
victim identification procedures and victim protection 
procedures to prevent the prosecution of trafficking victims; 
improve incentives for victims to voluntarily assist in the 
prosecution of traffickers; increase police efforts to 
investigate trafficking crimes and to identify trafficking 
victims;   and improve cooperation with governments of labor 
source countries. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON