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DE RUEHC #1212 1632352
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P 122329Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 061212 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG KPAO KTIP UK
SUBJECT: UNITED KINGDOM--2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE 
AND DEMARCHE 
 
REF: A. 2009 STATE 59732 
     ¶B. 2009 STATE 5577 
 
¶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 the United Kingdom 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 the United Kingdom 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 the United 
Kingdom 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 the United Kingdom's country narrative 
in the 2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
United Kingdom (TIER 1) 
-------------------------------- 
 
The United Kingdom (UK) is a significant destination and, to 
a lesser extent, transit country for women, children, and men 
trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation 
and forced labor, primarily from Eastern Europe, Africa, the 
Balkans, and Asia (principally China, Vietnam, and Malaysia). 
 Some victims, including UK-resident children, are also 
trafficked within the country.  Migrant workers are 
trafficked to the UK for forced labor in agriculture, 
construction, food processing, domestic servitude, and food 
services.  Data collected from assisted women trafficked for 
sexual exploitation revealed that Lithuania, Nigeria, and 
Moldova were the leading sources of trafficking victims in 
the UK in 2008.  Unaccompanied foreign children, including 
girls from the PRC, were trafficked for the purposes of 
sexual exploitation and forced labor.  It is estimated that 
hundreds of young children, mostly from Vietnam and China, 
are trafficked to the UK and subjected to debt bondage by 
Vietnamese organized crime gangs for forced work on cannabis 
farms.  Media reports and results from law enforcement 
operations indicate a large-scale trafficking problem in 
Scotland, involving both women and children for the purpose 
of sexual exploitation.  Inadequate protection measures for 
these victims result in their re-trafficking throughout the 
UK.  London police estimate that 70 percent of the 88,000 
women involved in prostitution in England and Wales are under 
the control of traffickers.  There is anecdotal evidence that 
some trafficking may occur, although not on a large scale, in 
some UK territories such as Bermuda. 
The Government of the United Kingdom fully complies with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Over 
the last year, UK authorities continued to vigorously 
investigate and prosecute trafficking and conducted 
innovative demand reduction and prevention campaigns. 
Concerns remain that some victims, including children, are 
not being adequately identified or receiving adequate 
protection and assistance. 
Recommendations for the United Kingdom:  Adopt and implement 
national procedures for identifying potential trafficking 
victims among vulnerable populations for all forms of 
trafficking in the UK; expand shelter and assistance capacity 
to meet the needs of all trafficking victims, including 
specialized care for children who have been trafficked; 
establish protection measures specifically for foreign 
unaccompanied minors to prevent their trafficking; and ensure 
repatriation and reintegration services for victims to 
prevent their re-trafficking and re-victimization. 
Prosecution 
--------------- 
The UK Government sustained its aggressive efforts to 
investigate and prosecute trafficking offenders in 2008, 
doubling its conviction rate from the previous year.  The UK 
prohibits all forms of trafficking through its 2004 Sexual 
Offenses Act and its 2004 Asylum and Immigration Act, which 
prescribe penalties of a maximum of 14 years, imprisonment, 
though the specific punishments prescribed for sex 
trafficking are less severe than those prescribed for rape. 
In March 2008, the government completed Pentameter II, a 
large-scale operation aimed at disrupting trafficking 
networks and rescuing victims, resulting in the 
identification of 167 potential trafficking victims, the 
arrest of 528 suspects and over $5 million in assets seized 
or forfeited.  The UK government reported prosecuting 129 
ongoing trafficking cases between March 2008 and March 2009. 
Twenty-three trafficking offenders were convicted -- four of 
whom were prosecuted for forced labor offenses -- an increase 
from 10 in 2007.  Sentences imposed on convicted trafficking 
offenders in 2008 ranged from 18 months, to 14 years, 
imprisonment, with an average sentence of five years.  In one 
case, a court sentenced six trafficking offenders to a 
combined total of 52 years for the trafficking of a Slovakian 
teenager for the purpose of sexual exploitation from 2006 
until her escape in January 2008. 
Protection 
--------------- 
The UK government demonstrated sustained efforts to protect 
victims of sex trafficking in 2008, but it did not provide 
comprehensive or systematic protections to trafficked 
children and victims of forced labor.  The government 
provided significant funding for its specialized shelter for 
sex trafficking victims, allocating $1.95 million for its 
operation in 2008.  Overall, the shelter received 293 
referrals, with law enforcement referring the majority of 
potential victims.  However, due to budget restraints and 
limited capacity, only 41 women were accommodated by the 
shelter; others were assisted on an outreach basis with 
counseling, subsistence allowances, medical treatment, 
education and training, and legal support.  In addition, some 
of the victims who were not accommodated at the shelter did 
not meet all of the government,s criteria for admission: 
victims must be over 18; involved in prostitution within 
three months of referral; willing to cooperate in the 
prosecution of their traffickers; and must have been 
trafficked into the UK from abroad.  The government provided 
training to front-line responders on victim identification 
and continued to develop nationwide and systematic referral 
system to improve identification for potential trafficking 
victims.  NGOs and international organizations continue to 
express serious concerns regarding the government,s ability 
to protect children from traffickers in the UK; the 
government does not provide systematic and specialized victim 
care for children who have been trafficked.  Many children 
who are trafficked into the UK from Vietnam and China for 
forced work on cannabis farms disappear after being placed 
into foster care by social services -- likely returning to 
their traffickers.  Moreover, some of these children are 
prosecuted by the government for cannabis cultivation.  While 
UK government policy is not to penalize victims for unlawful 
acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, some 
victims continue to be charged and prosecuted for immigration 
offenses.  The UK provides foreign victims with legal 
alternatives to their removal to countries where they face 
hardship or retribution. According to NGOs, however, this 
process continues to be cumbersome and inconsistent for 
victims seeking such alternatives.  To remedy this, the 
government ratified the Council of Europe,s Convention 
against Trafficking in December 2008 and agreed to provide a 
45-day reflection period and renewable one-year residence 
permits. The government encourages victims to assist in 
trafficking investigations and prosecutions. 
 
Prevention 
--------------- 
The UK government continued to serve as a model in the region 
for its emphasis on progressive anti-trafficking prevention 
campaigns.  It continued its &Blue Blindfold8 awareness 
campaign, launched in January 2008 in 12 major cities in the 
UK.  The government makes its campaign materials available to 
countries for replication and dissemination.  In May 2008, it 
piloted an anti-demand poster campaign in Westminster and 
Nottingham to alert potential clients of prostitution about 
trafficking and off-street prostitution; the campaign also 
included online advertisements in local newspapers.  In 
November 2008, it published the results of a six-month review 
which recommended steps to reduce demand for prostitution. 
In June 2008, the government revised its action plan to 
update progress and to reflect victim protection developments 
on ratifying the Council of Europe Convention.  The 
government continued to fund targeted prevention projects in 
key source countries including Bulgaria, Romania, and many 
countries in Asia.  It provided anti-trafficking training to 
UK nationals deployed abroad for international peacekeeping 
missions in 2008. 
 
¶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 the UK given a ranking of  Tier 1? 
 
A:  The Government of the UK fully complies with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking. 
 
Q2: What progress has the UK made in the past year? 
A: Over the last year, UK authorities continued to vigorously 
investigate and prosecute trafficking and conducted 
innovative demand reduction and prevention campaigns. 
Concerns remain that some victims, including children, are 
not being adequately identified or receiving adequate 
protection and assistance. 
Q3: What can the UK do to improve its fight against 
trafficking in persons? 
A: To improve its anti-trafficking performance, the UK 
government could: adopt and implement national procedures for 
identifying potential trafficking victims among vulnerable 
populations for all forms of trafficking in the UK; expand 
shelter and assistance capacity to meet the needs of all 
trafficking victims, including specialized care for children 
who have been trafficked; establish protection measures 
specifically for foreign unaccompanied minors to prevent 
their trafficking; and ensure repatriation and reintegration 
services for victims to prevent their re-trafficking and 
re-victimization. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts' assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON