VZCZCXRO9336
OO RUEHNZ
DE RUEHC #1811/01 1662338
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 152314Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON IMMEDIATE 0022
INFO RUEHNZ/AMCONSUL AUCKLAND IMMEDIATE 0948

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 STATE 061811 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG NZ
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND -- 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 New Zealand 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 New Zealand 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 New Zealand 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 New Zealand,s country narrative in 
the 2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
New Zealand (TIER 1) 
-------------------------------- 
 
New Zealand is a source country for underage girls trafficked 
internally for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. 
 It is also reportedly a destination country for women from 
Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, the People,s Republic of China, 
Eastern Europe, and other Asian countries trafficked into 
forced prostitution.  Very few minors are found in 
prostitution in legal or illegal brothels.  Some underage 
girls engage in prostitution occasionally on the street 
 
STATE 00061811  002 OF 005 
 
 
without the obvious control of a third party, while other 
girls engaging in prostitution are tightly controlled by 
local gangs.  A number of Asian women migrate voluntarily to 
New Zealand to work in the legal sex trade, although it is 
illegal for them to do so.  Reports indicate that traffickers 
subsequently coerce them to work against their will in 
exploitive situations or by threatening them with abuses of 
the law like deportation or jail.  Unskilled Asians and 
Pacific Islanders migrate to New Zealand voluntarily to work 
legally or illegally in the agricultural sector, and women 
from the Philippines migrate legally to work as nurses.  Some 
of these workers report that manpower agencies placed them in 
positions of involuntary servitude or debt bondage by 
charging them escalating and unlimited recruiting fees, 
imposing unjustified salary deductions on them, restricting 
their travel by confiscating their passports, and 
significantly altering contracts or working conditions 
without their agreement.  Relative to the population of New 
Zealand, the estimated number of trafficking victims is 
modest, although no research has been conducted to determine 
the full extent of the trafficking problem in New Zealand. 
 
The Government of New Zealand fully complies with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking.  New Zealand,s 
laws prohibit all forms of human trafficking, and the 
government funds and participates in international 
anti-trafficking initiatives.  It offers an extensive network 
of protective services to internal and transnational 
trafficking victims, regardless of whether they are 
recognized as trafficking victims.  It is likely, however, 
that foreigners in New Zealand exploited in forced labor and 
the commercial sex trade have not been identified by the 
government as trafficking victims. 
 
Recommendations for New Zealand:  Consider amending relevant 
laws to provide for minimum sentences for trafficking crimes, 
including the internal trafficking of children for commercial 
sexual exploitation; develop and implement a visible 
anti-trafficking awareness campaign directed at clients of 
the legal sex trade; and institute more effective formal 
procedures for law enforcement officials to proactively 
identify trafficking victims in vulnerable populations such 
as women and children engaged in prostitution and migrant 
laborers. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The Government of New Zealand made uneven progress in law 
enforcement efforts against trafficking during the past year. 
 New Zealand prohibits transnational sex and labor 
trafficking under Part 5 and various amendments of the Crimes 
Act of 1961, yet it has prosecuted no offenses under this 
law.  Laws against rape, abduction, assault, kidnapping, 
child sexual abuse, sexual slavery, the receipt of financial 
gain from exploiting children in prostitution, and labor 
exploitation prohibit forms of internal trafficking, but such 
crimes are not specifically included within the 
anti-trafficking provisions of the Crimes Act.  Sufficiently 
stringent maximum penalties of 20 years, imprisonment and/or 
a fine of $250,000 under the above statutes are commensurate 
with those prescribed for other serious crimes.  Although the 
mandatory minimum sentence prescribed as punishment for rape 
is eight years, New Zealand law has no such minimum penalties 
prescribed for either transnational trafficking offenses or 
the commercial sexual exploitation of a child domestically. 
During 2008, law enforcement officers made 21 compliance 
visits to brothels, homes and premises used for the sex 
industry and found nine foreigners illegally working in 
prostitution.  Four of the women were processed for 
deportation, three left voluntarily, and two were allowed to 
remain in New Zealand.  Law enforcement officers who 
interviewed the women did not uncover evidence of labor 
exploitation, and could not determine whether they were 
victims of sex trafficking.   In July, a brothel owner from 
Christchurch became the first person charged under a law from 
2006 banning sexual slavery.  Two girls, ages 16 and 17, were 
found exploited in his brothel for more than a year.  The 
prosecution is pending.  Authorities charged a New Plymouth 
brothel owner in December with several offenses related to 
&employing8 a 15-year-old girl as a prostitute for six 
months in 2005.  Also in December, the Tauranga District 
Court sentenced a Bay of Plenty man to 27 months' 
imprisonment for assisting and receiving earnings from the 
prostitution of his 15-year-old girlfriend in 2006 and 2007. 
Police charged a 47-year old Auckland man with facilitating 
and profiting from the prostitution of underage children in 
February 2009.  The government conducted 264 agricultural 
labor compliance checks in 2008.  Although they received 
complaints of labor exploitation in agricultural work over 
several years, labor officials did not believe the situations 
indicated trafficking and opened no investigations or 
prosecutions in relation to the complaints. 
 
STATE 00061811  003 OF 005 
 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The Government of New Zealand provides strong support and 
social services for victims of all crimes, including 
trafficking, through the New Zealand Council of Victim 
Support Groups.  Under the Victim's Rights Act of 2002 police 
attend to victims, immediate welfare needs, such as food and 
shelter. The law currently allows foreign victims temporary 
legal residence and relief from prosecution for immigration 
offenses, and the Interagency Working Group (IWG) is 
considering a specific immigration status for trafficking 
victims and longer-term support services in the national plan 
of action.  The government offers support services for 
children involved in, or at risk of, commercial sexual 
exploitation.  No identified victims were jailed, fined, or 
deported.  It is possible, however, that foreigners were not 
identified by police and immigration officials as possible 
trafficking victims.  New Zealand significantly contributed 
to victim protection programs in the Mekong Sub-Region and 
the Pacific Island region.  No victims of trafficking were 
proactively identified by the government during the reporting 
period, besides the aforementioned children found exploited 
in New Zealand,s commercial sex trade. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
The Government of New Zealand demonstrated inconsistent 
efforts to prevent human trafficking.  During the year, it 
did not run campaigns to raise public awareness of 
trafficking risks, nor did it take steps to reduce demand for 
commercial sex acts.  It did make efforts, however, to 
educate officials on trafficking and their obligations under 
the laws and included funding for anti-trafficking awareness 
campaigns in next year,s budget.  The IWG, as part of the 
national plan of action process, worked with NGOs and civil 
society, and published its activities on a Ministry web site. 
 An assumption that all women engaging in prostitution in New 
Zealand do so willingly appears to underpin official policy 
and programs, and has inhibited public discussion and 
examination of indications that trafficking exists within 
both the decriminalized and illegal sex industries.  New 
Zealand remained active in international efforts to monitor 
and prevent trafficking.  Its foreign assistance agency 
provided substantial funding to countries and organizations 
to build countries, anti-trafficking capacity, to prevent 
trafficking, and to provide services to victims.  New Zealand 
emphasized its laws on child sex tourism, which apply 
extraterritorially, on its travel webpage.  The government 
provided anti-trafficking training to military personnel 
assigned to international peacekeeping missions prior to 
their deployment. There were no reports of New Zealand 
peacekeeping personnel involved in trafficking or exploiting 
trafficking victims during the year. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶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" 
 
STATE 00061811  004 OF 005 
 
 
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 
 
STATE 00061811  005 OF 005 
 
 
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 New Zealand again given a ranking of Tier 1? 
 
A:  The Government of New Zealand fully complies with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.  New 
Zealand,s laws prohibit all forms of human trafficking, and 
the government funds and participates in international 
anti-trafficking initiatives.  It offers an extensive network 
of protective services to internal and transnational 
trafficking victims, regardless of whether they are 
recognized as trafficking victims.  It is likely, however, 
that foreigners in New Zealand exploited in forced labor and 
the commercial sex trade have not been identified by the 
government as trafficking victims. 
 
Q2:  What is the nature of New Zealand,s trafficking problem? 
 
A:  New Zealand is a source country for underage girls 
trafficked internally for the purpose of commercial sexual 
exploitation.  It is also reportedly a destination country 
for women from Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, the People,s 
Republic of China, Eastern Europe, and other Asian countries 
trafficked into forced prostitution.  Unskilled Asians and 
Pacific Islanders migrate to New Zealand voluntarily to work 
legally or illegally in the agricultural sector, and women 
from the Philippines migrate legally to work as nurses.  Some 
of these workers report that manpower agencies placed them in 
positions of involuntary servitude or debt bondage by 
charging them excessive and escalating recruiting fees, 
imposing unjustified salary deductions on them, restricting 
their travel by confiscating their passports, and 
significantly altering contracts or working conditions 
without their permission.  Relative to the population of New 
Zealand, the estimated number of trafficking victims is 
modest, although no research has been conducted to determine 
the full extent of the trafficking problem in New Zealand. 
 
Q3: What efforts could New Zealand make to improve its 
anti-trafficking efforts? 
 
A:  To advance its efforts to combat trafficking, the 
Government of  New Zealand could:  institute sufficiently 
stringent minimum sentences for convicted trafficking 
offenders, including those who traffic children internally 
for commercial sexual exploitation; institute more effective 
formal procedures for law enforcement officials to 
proactively identify trafficking victims in vulnerable 
populations such as women and children engaged in 
prostitution and migrant laborers; continue investigating and 
prosecuting employment recruiting agencies or employers 
demanding excessive fees from foreign workers, and those 
engaging in contract switching. 
 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON