VZCZCXRO7003
OO RUEHKR
DE RUEHC #0528/01 1622242
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 112214Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY KOROR IMMEDIATE 1649

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 STATE 060528 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG PS
SUBJECT: PALAU -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND 
DEMARCHE 
 
REF: (A) STATE 59732 (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 the Government 
of Palau of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's imminent 
release.  The text of the TIP Report country narrative is 
provided, both for use in informing the Government of Palau 
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 
government 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 in the Government of Palau 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 Palau,s country narrative in the 2009 
TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Palau (TIER 2) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Palau is a transit and destination country for a small number 
of women trafficked from the Philippines and the People,s 
Republic of China (PRC) for purpose of commercial 
exploitation, and for a small number of men from the 
Philippines, the PRC and Bangladesh for the purpose of forced 
labor.  Some employers recruit foreign men and women to work 
in Palau through fraudulent representation of contract terms 
and conditions of employment.  These foreign workers 
willingly migrate to Palau for jobs in domestic service, 
agriculture, or construction, but are subsequently coerced to 
 
STATE 00060528  002 OF 005 
 
 
work in situations significantly different than what their 
contracts stipulated ) excessive hours without pay, 
confiscation of their travel documents, and the withholding 
of salary payments as a means of controlling their movement; 
these conditions may be indicative of involuntary servitude. 
Some workers are also threatened by their employers, and some 
women expecting to work as waitresses or clerks, are forced 
into commercial sexual exploitation in karaoke bars and 
massage parlors.  Since the late 1990s, the Philippines 
government banned its nationals from migrating to Palau to 
serve as domestic workers. 
 
The Government of Palau does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  During 
the reporting period, the government continued its law 
enforcement and prosecution efforts against trafficking 
offenders.  Victim services and efforts to raise public 
awareness of human trafficking, however, remained limited. 
 
Recommendations for Palau:  Increase efforts to investigate, 
prosecute, and punish trafficking offenders; monitor 
employment agents recruiting foreign men and women for work 
in Palau to prevent trafficking for labor exploitation; 
establish formal procedures to identify and refer trafficking 
victims to protective services; work with NGOs or 
international organizations, as appropriate, to provide 
additional services to victims; and develop and conduct 
anti-trafficking information and education campaigns. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The Government of Palau made minor progress in its law 
enforcement and prosecution efforts against trafficking 
offenders during the reporting period.  The Anti-Smuggling 
and Trafficking Act of 2005 prohibits all forms of 
trafficking in persons.  Its sufficiently stringent 
penalties, ranging from ten to 50 years, imprisonment and 
fines up to $500,000, are commensurate with penalties 
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.  Despite 
limited resources and a relatively small number of victims, 
Palau prosecuted and convicted four trafficking offenders in 
¶2007.  These traffickers had forced 15 Filipinas and nine 
Chinese waitresses into commercial sexual exploitation and 
subjected them to food deprivation, confinement, and illegal 
salary deductions.  One of the traffickers appealed his 
conviction in 2008.  In February 2009, the conviction was 
reversed and the case against the trafficker was dismissed 
without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled.  There were no 
other investigations, prosecutions, or convictions during the 
reporting period.  The government did not train law 
enforcement officers to proactively identify victims or to 
identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, 
such as foreign women in prostitution. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The government of Palau offered minimal protective services 
to victims of trafficking over the reporting period.  No 
long-term protective services were available to victims, and 
Palauan government agencies did not employ formal procedures 
to identify and refer trafficking victims for the services 
which were available.  The government did not identify or 
assist any victims of trafficking during the year although it 
has done so in the past.  A religious organization provided 
limited assistance to victims of any crime.  In the past, its 
services were available to trafficking victims and would be 
made available again, as needed.  Palauan law does not 
penalize victims for illegal acts committed as a direct 
result of being trafficked, and encourages victims to assist 
in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking 
offenders.  The government does not remove victims to 
countries where they may face hardship or retribution.  In 
2007, Filipina and Chinese victims were offered the choice of 
remaining in Palau and seeking different employment or 
returning home. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
The government made no discernable efforts to prevent human 
trafficking through planned campaigns to educate the public 
about its dangers, but publicized its anti-trafficking 
activities at least twice during the year.  Government 
agencies cooperated with each other, with foreign 
governments, and with international organizations on 
trafficking matters.  No detailed information about Palau,s 
national plan to address trafficking was available at the 
time of this Report,s drafting.   Palau Customs, Immigration 
and Police have formed a four-person training team which has 
created an identity crime training program for government 
employees, to help them recognize false documents which might 
be used by traffickers.  Palau also improved its immigration 
controls, in part to deter trafficking in persons, in 
 
STATE 00060528  003 OF 005 
 
 
accordance with its participation in the Pacific Regional 
Immigration Identity Project and the Pacific Immigration 
Directors Conference.  The government made no discernable 
efforts to address the demand for commercial sex acts or the 
demand for forced labor during the reporting period.   Palau 
has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer 
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to 
the host government 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) 
 
STATE 00060528  004 OF 005 
 
 
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 Palau placed on the 2009 Report?  Why was it 
given a ranking of Tier 2? 
 
A:  Palau was placed on the TIP Report this year because 
there is evidence that it is a country of origin, transit, or 
destination for victims of severe forms of trafficking. 
Palau was given a Tier 2 ranking because the Government of 
Palau does not fully comply with the minimum standards for 
the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making 
significant efforts to do so.  During the reporting period, 
the government continued its law enforcement and prosecution 
efforts against trafficking offenders.  Victim services and 
efforts to raise public awareness of human trafficking, 
however, remained limited. 
 
Q2:  What is the nature of the trafficking situation in Palau? 
 
A:  Palau is a transit and destination country for a small 
number of women trafficked from the Philippines and the 
People,s Republic of China (PRC) for purpose of commercial 
exploitation, and for a small number of men from the 
Philippines, the PRC and Bangladesh for the purpose of forced 
labor.  Some employers recruit foreign men and women to work 
in Palau through fraudulent representation of contract terms 
and conditions of employment.  These foreign workers 
willingly migrate to Palau for jobs in domestic service, 
agriculture, or construction but are subsequently coerced to 
work in situations significantly different than what their 
contracts stipulated ) excessive hours without pay, 
confiscation of their travel documents, and the withholding 
of salary payments are used as a means of controlling their 
movement.  Some workers are also threatened by their 
employers and some women expecting to work as waitresses or 
clerks are forced into commercial sexual exploitation in 
karaoke bars and massage parlors.  Since the late 1990s, 
Palau has been the subject of a Philippines government 
deployment ban for domestic helpers. 
 
Q3:  How can Palau improve its anti-trafficking efforts? 
 
A:  The Government of Palau could increase efforts to 
investigate, prosecute, and punish trafficking offenders; 
 
STATE 00060528  005 OF 005 
 
 
monitor employment agents recruiting foreign men and women 
for work in Palau for compliance with existing labor laws; 
establish formal procedures to identify and refer trafficking 
victims to protective services; work with NGOs or 
international organizations to provide additional services to 
victims; and develop and conduct anti-trafficking information 
and education campaigns. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON