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UNCLAS STATE 061069 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG EI
SUBJECT: IRELAND -- 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 the Government 
of Ireland 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 Ireland 
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 Ireland 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 Ireland,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
IRELAND  (TIER 2) 
 
Ireland is a destination and, to a lesser extent, transit 
country for women, men, and children trafficked for the 
purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. 
Women from Eastern Europe, Nigeria, other parts of Africa 
and, to a lesser extent, South America and Asia reportedly 
have been trafficked to Ireland for forced prostitution. 
Labor trafficking victims reportedly consist of men and women 
from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, and the Philippines, 
although there may also be some victims from South America, 
Eastern Europe, and other parts of Asia and Africa.  One 
Irish NGO reported that forced labor victims are found in 
domestic labor and restaurant and agricultural work. 
Unaccompanied minors from various source countries, 
particularly China, are vulnerable to trafficking.  Over the 
last eight years, 388 unaccompanied immigrant children have 
disappeared from state care.  While Irish authorities believe 
the majority of these children have been reunited with family 
members, the government reported that a small number of the 
missing children have been found in involuntary servitude in 
brothels, restaurants, and in domestic service. 
 
The Government of Ireland does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  The 
government enacted legislation criminalizing human 
trafficking during the reporting period, increased 
trafficking awareness efforts, and investigated nearly 100 
cases of potential trafficking.  Although Ireland made 
significant strides, there was no evidence that trafficking 
offenders were prosecuted or convicted during the reporting 
period, and concerns remained about victim identification and 
protection. 
 
Recommendations for Ireland: Vigorously prosecute trafficking 
offenses and convict and sentence trafficking offenders; 
continue to implement procedures to guide officials in 
proactive identification of possible sex and labor 
trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, such as 
unaccompanied foreign minors; continue to take steps that 
will ensure trafficking victims are not penalized for 
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being 
trafficked; and continue prevention measures targeted at 
reducing the vulnerability of the unaccompanied foreign minor 
population to trafficking. 
 
Prosecution 
-------------- 
The Government of Ireland made significant progress in 
improving its anti-trafficking legislative tools and in 
training personnel to combat human trafficking, but there 
were no documented prosecutions of trafficking offenders 
during the reporting period  The Government of Ireland 
prohibits all forms of trafficking through the Criminal Law 
(Human Trafficking) Act, enacted in 2008.  Penalties 
prescribed range from no prescribed minimum to life 
imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and 
commensurate with punishments prescribed for rape.  In 2008, 
the Government initiated 96 investigations into alleged human 
trafficking offenses.  The government reported no 
prosecutions or convictions under its human trafficking 
statute in 2008.  One defendant was convicted and sentenced 
to 15 years, imprisonment in 2007 for sexual violence 
offenses against two victims, one of whom might have been in 
domestic servitude.  The government reported that it 
cooperated with other countries on international 
anti-trafficking investigations and arrested three people 
wanted in other European countries on trafficking charges. 
In conjunction with IOM, the government trained more than 770 
police officers and 130 other government officials, including 
airport authorities, on anti-trafficking law enforcement 
techniques. 
 
Protection 
------------ 
Ireland provided limited protection and assistance to 
trafficking victims during 2008.  The government disbursed 
funds for one NGO that works with sex trafficking victims, 
and to which the government referred suspected trafficking 
victims.  Suspected victims of trafficking may also receive 
housing and services under the state program for asylum 
seekers.  In December, the anti-trafficking working group 
formalized procedures for the referral of victims to NGOs, 
which will be codified in the National Action Plan.  Irish 
officials also referred trafficking victims to NGOs providing 
food, shelter, health care, and legal assistance or to 
immigrant detention centers.  The government assessed child 
victims, needs individually and placed the majority of child 
victims in the care of the government,s Health Service 
Executive.  As a result of the problem of missing 
unaccompanied minors, the government upgraded security at 
some of the residential housing units in which they were 
placed and trained health department officials working with 
these children in proactive trafficking victim identification 
efforts.  The government encouraged victims to participate in 
investigations and prosecutions of trafficking offenders 
through witness protection measures and a 60-day reflection 
period -- both newly designed government incentives.  The 
government provided temporary legal alternatives to the 
removal of foreign victims during the reflection period, and 
longer term residency arrangements are possible.  One of the 
lead anti-trafficking NGOs in Ireland publicly expressed 
concerns that the Irish government does not recognize all 
signs of trafficking as it screens suspected trafficking 
victims, though this concern was not unanimous among NGOs. 
Out of 40 suspected human trafficking victims referred to 
police during the reporting period, two were granted the 
60-day reflection period by authorities.  Of the remainder, 
all reside legally in Ireland.  The police did not report the 
existence of any other victims during the reporting period. 
There was evidence during the year that potential trafficking 
victims were penalized for unlawful acts committed as a 
direct result of their being trafficked.  One suspected 
victim spent several months in jail for failing to provide 
proof of identification, though she claimed she had been 
forced into prostitution in Ireland. 
 
Prevention 
-------------- 
Ireland made significant progress in prevention efforts 
during the reporting period.  In October, the government 
launched a broad awareness campaign using the &Blue 
Blindfold ) Don,t Close Your Eyes to Human Trafficking8 
theme developed by the UK Human Trafficking Centre.  Ireland 
held the lead role in the G6 anti-trafficking campaign, which 
included newspaper advertisements on four separate dates, 
distribution of 1,250 information packs to various government 
and civic organizations, advertising on mass transit, 
Internet advertisements, business cards distributed to 
hairdressers, advertisements in rugby programs, and a 
dedicated website.  The Irish government produced a short 
film and advertisement designed to educate potential clients 
of the sex trade about human trafficking and to draw 
attention to the criminal liability these clients potentially 
face for exploiting trafficking victims.  Ireland coordinated 
its government response to human trafficking through a 
specially created unit in the Justice Department.  The 
director of the government,s anti-trafficking unit has 
addressed numerous conferences within Ireland and has created 
pages on Internet social networking sites.   The new law 
criminalizing human trafficking provides for extraterritorial 
jurisdiction over Irish residents who engage in child sex 
tourism abroad.  Ireland,s Department of Defense provided 
anti-trafficking training of Irish troops being deployed 
abroad as peacekeepers.  Ireland 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) 
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 Ireland given a ranking of Tier 2? 
 
A: The Government of Ireland does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  The 
government enacted legislation criminalizing human 
trafficking during the reporting period, increased 
trafficking awareness efforts, and investigated nearly 100 
cases of potential trafficking.  Although Ireland made 
significant strides, there was no evidence that trafficking 
offenders were prosecuted or convicted during the reporting 
period, and concerns remained about victim identification and 
protection. 
 
Q2: What can Ireland do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
 
A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the Irish 
government could: vigorously prosecute trafficking offenses 
and convict and sentence trafficking offenders; continue to 
implement procedures to guide officials in proactive 
identification of possible sex and labor trafficking victims 
among vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied foreign 
minors; continue to take steps that will ensure trafficking 
victims are not penalized for unlawful acts committed as a 
direct result of being trafficked; and continue prevention 
measures targeted at reducing the vulnerability of the 
unaccompanied foreign minor population to trafficking. 
 
Q3:  What sources does the State Department use for 
information? 
 
A: The Department of State prepared this Report using 
information from U.S. embassies, foreign government 
officials, NGOs and international organizations, published 
reports, research trips to every region, and information 
submitted to tipreport@state.gov. 
 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON