VZCZCXRO8656
OO RUEHCN
DE RUEHC #7524/01 2332218
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 212159Z AUG 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG IMMEDIATE 7262
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9986
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 4260
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0830

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 087524 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP PREL KCRM KWMN PHUM SMIG HK
SUBJECT: HONG KONG: TIP TIER 2 ACTION PLAN (2009-2010) 
 
REF: A. 2008 STATE 132759 
     ¶B. 2007 STATE 150188 
     ¶C. 2009 STATE 005577 
     ¶D. 2009 STATE 62182 
 
¶1.  (U) This is an action request (see paras 2-4). 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Begin action request:  Drawing from points in para 
6, Post is requested to approach appropriate host government 
officials to highlight the United States' strong commitment 
to continue to work with the Government of Hong Kong to help 
strengthen its efforts to combat and prevent trafficking in 
persons (TIP) and to assist victims.  Post is requested to 
convey the recommendations in para 7 as a non-paper and draw 
from the talking points in para 6 to explain to the host 
government that efforts to address the first set of 
recommendations will help the government maintain a Tier 2 
ranking and avoid a downgrade to Tier 2 Watch List or Tier 3 
in the upcoming 2010 TIP Report.  Additional recommendations 
are included in para 7 to aid the host government in making 
progress in its overall anti-TIP efforts.  The notes 
indicated in brackets in the action plan are for post,s 
background only and may be omitted from the non-paper.  The 
&Implementation Guidelines8 referenced in the action plan 
notes are contained in reftel B.  These guidelines provide 
guidance to posts on how the Minimum Standards of the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended, (TVPA) are 
implemented, and have been cleared by regional bureaus. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Action request continued:  Post is further 
requested to emphasize to the Government of Hong Kong that 
the first set of recommendations is designed to help the 
government show evidence of increasing efforts to combat TIP 
since the beginning of the reporting period in April 2009 and 
thus avoid a tier ranking downgrade.  The longer set of other 
recommendations show the government steps that, if taken, 
could result in an elevation to Tier 1.  Sustained and 
significant anti-trafficking efforts by the government 
throughout the year will remain the basis for determining 
next year's tier placement.  We will reconsider the 
government's tier placement when we conduct our annual full 
assessment for the April 2009 to March 2010 reporting period 
next spring. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In preparation for the 2010 TIP Report, the 
Department is asking posts to work with host governments 
throughout the year to collect as many statistics as possible 
on law enforcement actions and judicial proceedings related 
to TIP crimes; specifically the Department requests data on 
investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences 
(e.g., fines, probation, length of prison sentences imposed, 
asset seizure information when available).   Whether a 
government collects and provides this data consistent with 
the government's capacity to obtain such data is considered 
in determining whether the government qualifies for Tier 1. 
Law enforcement statistics, when available, are a good way of 
highlighting how well a government enforced its law and 
demonstrates strengths and weaknesses in various approaches. 
Please note that host governments and embassies must 
interpret data terms provided by host governments such as 
indictments, charges, cases disposed, cases submitted for 
prosecution, etc., to ensure that they fit into one of the 
following categories: investigations, prosecutions, 
convictions, or sentences. 
 
The Department cannot accept "trafficking-related" law 
enforcement statistics (e.g., statistics on prostitution or 
smuggling offenses) because their direct correlation to 
trafficking crimes is not clear.  The Department will accept 
only law enforcement data that fall into the following 
categories: (1) investigations, prosecutions, convictions, 
and sentences for offenses that are explicitly defined as 
trafficking; and (2) investigations, prosecutions, 
convictions, and sentences for offenses that are not defined 
explicitly as trafficking but in which the competent law 
enforcement or judicial authority has specific evidence 
indicating that the defendant was involved in trafficking. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Please keep in mind the TIP Report measures host 
government efforts.  In order for anti-trafficking activities 
financed or conducted principally by parties outside the 
government to be considered for tier placement purposes, Post 
needs to demonstrate a concrete role or tangible value-added 
by a host government in such activities carried out by NGOs, 
international organizations, or posts. 
 
STATE 00087524  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) Background Points: 
 
Begin talking points: 
 
-- The Obama Administration views the fight against human 
trafficking, both at home and abroad, as a critical piece of 
our foreign policy agenda.  We are committed to making 
progress on this issue in the months ahead by working closely 
with partners in every country to encourage their 
anti-trafficking efforts, as well as seeking out additional 
ways to improve our own. 
 
-- Human trafficking is a global phenomenon.  It touches 
every country in the world, including the United States, and 
we have a responsibility to fight it just as our partners do. 
 The United States funds anti-trafficking programs in nearly 
70 countries, as well as 42 domestic task forces that bring 
state and local authorities together with NGOs to combat 
trafficking within U.S. borders.  But there is much more to 
do, and the United States is committed to working hard during 
the next year to improve its record against TIP. 
 
-- In addition to setting forth a framework for the United 
States, domestic efforts to combat human trafficking, the 
U.S. Government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act requires 
the State Department to submit an annual report to Congress 
on the status of foreign governments, efforts to combat 
trafficking in persons.  Pursuant to the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA), the 
Department places each country in the 2009 TIP Report onto 
one of three tier lists.  Placement is based more on the 
extent of government action to combat trafficking than on the 
size of the problem, although that is also an important 
factor.  The Department first evaluates whether the 
government fully complies with the TVPA,s minimum standards 
for the elimination of trafficking, which are detailed on 
pages 314-315 of the 2009 TIP Report, and on the State 
Department,s website.  Governments that fully comply are 
placed on Tier 1.  For other governments, the Department 
considers the extent of efforts to reach compliance. 
 
-- Governments that are making significant efforts to meet 
the minimum standards are placed on Tier 2.  Pursuant to the 
TVPRA, the State Department also created a special category 
known as Tier 2 Watch List for Tier 2 countries that do not 
show increasing efforts from the previous year, have a very 
significant number of victims, or whose Tier 2 rating is 
based on commitments to take additional steps over the next 
year.  Governments that do not fully comply with the minimum 
standards and are not making significant efforts to do so are 
placed on Tier 3. 
 
-- Hong Kong was placed on Tier 2 in this year's Report 
because it does not fuly comply with the minimum standards 
for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making 
significant efforts to do so. 
 
-- We offer the following recommended actions (Action Plan 
for the Short-Term) to tackle specific concerns highlighted 
in the 2009 TIP Report.  We believe these to be within the 
reasonable ability of your government to fulfill in the 
near-term and encourage you to take prompt action to address 
them.  We will reconsider a government,s tier placement when 
we conduct our annual full assessment for the 2009-2010 
reporting period next spring.  Prompt, appropriate, and 
significant actions will lead to a more favorable tier 
placement; conversely, failure to address the issues 
mentioned above may lead to a Tier 2 Watch List or Tier 3 
placement. 
 
-- We would welcome the Government of Hong Kong,s comments 
on these recommendations and any other ideas you might have 
to advance our common struggle against trafficking in persons. 
 
-- In addition to the short list of recommendations 
corresponding to our concerns that resulted in your 
government,s placement on Tier 2 in the 2009 TIP Report, we 
offer additional suggestions of actions that your government 
may choose to take (Action Plan for the Long Term).  These 
further measures would be in addition to Hong Kong,s 
continuation of its current efforts to combat trafficking in 
persons. 
 
End talking points. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Begin Action Plan: 
 
¶A.  Action Plan for the Short-Term: The following are 
 
STATE 00087524  003 OF 004 
 
 
recommended measures for action during the 2009-2010 
reporting period (to avoid a tier ranking downgrade): 
 
¶1.    Through training and revision of standard procedures, 
intensify efforts to integrate trafficking in persons 
concerns into investigations of illegal immigration, labor 
violations and crimes including involuntary servitude of 
foreign domestic workers, and commercial sex offenses to 
increase TIP prosecutions 
 
-- Punishments limited to administrative penalties such as 
bans on future hiring, fines, and payment of back-wages to 
victims are not considered sufficiently stringent to deter 
trafficking in persons crimes. 
 
¶2.    Create and implement formal procedures to proactively 
identify victims of trafficking among vulnerable groups, such 
as women and girls in the commercial sex industry and persons 
arrested for immigration violations, and refer them to 
adequate victim services, such as shelters operated by NGOs. 
 
¶3.     Institute procedures to ensure that victims are not 
arrested, incarcerated, or otherwise punished for acts 
committed as a direct result of being trafficked.   Ensure 
that standards exist to make foreign victims of trafficking 
aware of their options regarding relief from removal from 
Hong Kong, including printed information in key languages. 
 
--Trafficking victims should not be subjected to deportations 
or forced returns without safeguards or other measures to 
reduce the risk of hardship, retribution, or re-trafficking. 
At a minimum, destination countries should contact a 
competent governmental body, NGO, or IO in relevant source 
country to ensure that trafficked persons who return to their 
country of origin are provided with assistance and support 
necessary to their well-being. 
 
¶4.    Conduct a visible public awareness campaign that 
educates clients of the sex trade, aimed at reducing demand 
for commercial sex acts. 
 
¶B.  Action Plan for the Long Term: The following are other 
recommended measures, which would strengthen Hong Kong,s 
overall anti-trafficking program: 
 
Prosecution 
------------------- 
 
--Dedicate increased resources to the investigation and 
prosecution of human trafficking cases, such as dedicated 
anti-trafficking investigators and prosecutors, and/or 
increased funding levels to anti-trafficking law enforcement 
entities. 
 
--Strengthen collaboration with diplomatic missions of 
suspected trafficking source countries to identify possible 
trafficking cases for investigation by Hong Kong police. 
 
 
--Continue to work closely with NGO,s assisting in the 
identification of human traffickers in order to prosecute 
more offenders of trafficking. 
 
Protection 
--------------------------- 
 
--Increase activities to train and sensitize law enforcement 
officers, judges, prosecutors, attorneys, and other 
government officials about human trafficking, the proactive 
identification of trafficking victims, victim referral 
procedures, and the effective and victim-sensitive handling 
of both sex and labor trafficking cases. 
 
--Enforce existing Hong Kong laws on holding travel documents 
and other identification as collateral on debts. 
 
 Ensure officers investigating TIP or related offenses are 
aware of options under Hong Kong law to provide protection to 
victims of trafficking, including in particular to victims 
participating in the prosecution of their traffickers, who 
may be at risk of retaliation or retribution by their 
traffickers. 
-- Engage and cooperate closely with governments of source 
countries/territories on the safe repatriation of trafficking 
victims and the prosecution of their traffickers. 
 
 
Prevention 
--------------------------- 
 
STATE 00087524  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
-- Have senior government officials use public forums to 
address the human trafficking problem to educate and warn the 
general public about trafficking. 
 
-- Work closely with non-governmental organizations, such as 
migrant worker groups, and international organizations on 
trafficking in persons. 
 
End non-paper. 
 
¶8.  (U) The Department appreciates Post's efforts to address 
trafficking in persons issues. 
CLINTON