VZCZCXRO8204
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #0622/01 2860740
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130740Z OCT 09
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6063
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 3959
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 6300

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000622 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP PHUM PGOV PREL VM
SUBJECT: NGO AND GVN PARTNERS TALK ABOUT TIP IN MEKONG DELTA 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000622  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  A recent visit to the Mekong Delta provinces 
bordering Cambodia highlighted the efforts of The An Giang/Dong 
Thap Alliance to Prevent Trafficking (ADAPT) against Trafficking 
in Persons (TIP).  GVN partners reported an increasing number of 
victims from An Giang being trafficked directly across the 
northern border to China, though hard statistics remain 
difficult to determine.  Also, while the number of women 
visiting foreign marriage counseling centers in An Giang has 
decreased in recent years, NGOs have reported "white outs" in 
several villages across the Delta where marriageable-age girls 
have all emigrated overseas.  Lack of local economic 
opportunities and educational awareness remain primary drivers 
of both trafficking and foreign marriages.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
New Evidence of Trafficking to China 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) From August 6-8, EconOff traveled to An Giang and Dong 
Thap provinces to support the anti-trafficking in persons 
activities of USAID-funded ADAPT, an NGO coalition comprised of 
Pacific Links, the East Meets West Foundation and the 
International Children Assistance Network.  ADAPT is leading 
efforts to assist girls in the Mekong Delta who have been 
victims of or are at high risk for cross-border trafficking. 
While in An Giang, EconOff also met with Ms. Tran Thi Lan, Vice 
Chairman of the province's Women's Union, and Mr. Nguyen Thanh 
Hai, Deputy Head of the specialized anti-TIP criminal 
investigation police, PC14, and other Vietnamese government 
bodies that are also doing their part to combat trafficking. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) PC14's Mr. Hai told EconOff that while typically 
victims are trafficked to Cambodia and then to third countries 
such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, there is an 
increasing trend of victims being trafficked to China.  He 
pointed to two specific cases over the last 18 months--in 
February 2009, Vietnamese police arrested two individuals who 
allegedly trafficked four women and one child from An Giang 
Province to Guangxi province on Vietnam's northern border. 
Similarly, in April 2008, police uncovered a case in which 
victims from An Giang were being transported to China by train. 
Hai noted that victims are being taken further inland in China, 
making investigations and repatriations more difficult.  Thus 
far, only one trafficking victim from these two cases has been 
returned to Vietnam.  Mr. Hai also said while these two China 
TIP prosecutions are still pending, ten traffickers have been 
convicted in An Giang between 2004 and 2009, illustrating the 
increasing effectiveness of Vietnamese law enforcement in 
combating TIP. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Despite improving cooperation among GVN agencies 
responsible for combating TIP, accurate official statistics are 
still hard to come by, and the different perspectives among 
partners show in comments made by GVN agencies and NGOs. 
According to An Giang Women's Union Vice Chair Ms. Lan, the 
number of girls who are being trafficked in An Giang province 
has declined significantly in recent years.  Ms. Lan said the 
official number of victims in 2008 was just one person, down 
from a peak of 23 in 2002.  She claimed the total number of 
trafficking victims has been 191 since 1991.  ADAPT staff said 
that those figures only reflect cases reported to the police and 
don't come close to representing the true scope of the problem. 
Based on what they have been hearing in the field, they estimate 
closer to 1,000 victims over the last year alone.  A senior 
contact at the International Organization of Migration said that 
the Women's Unions generally underestimate the number of women 
trafficked, since they rely on women coming forward and many 
victims remain silent for fear of social stigma and 
discrimination.  In contrast, IOM said figures reported by the 
police can be over-estimated, since ward and commune officials 
reporting into the residential registration system in some 
places have a tendency to report "missing" women as trafficked, 
even when IOM has later confirmed through follow up interviews 
that the women left to marry overseas or work in factories 
around Ho Chi Minh City. 
 
 
 
Delta "White Outs" 
 
------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) The trend of young Delta women emigrating overseas for 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000622  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
marriage or employment, primarily to Taiwan and Korea, has also 
contributed to the trafficking problem, as many traffickers pose 
as marriage or labor brokers in order to lure women overseas 
into prostitution or forced labor.  The An Giang Women's Union 
runs a counseling center for women considering foreign 
marriages, briefing them on the culture and traditions of their 
intended countries as well as warning them about popular 
trafficking schemes and informing them of their legal rights 
abroad.  Ms. Lan said while the numbers of girls seeking 
assistance had been steadily declining from 700 cases in 2003 to 
around 200 cases in 2008, there are now several villages, 
particularly around the southern city of Can Tho, where all of 
the marriageable age girls have left to marry foreigners, 
resulting in "white outs."  She said that the center does not 
discourage these marriages, though the media has increasingly 
reported stories of women subjected to domestic violence and 
forced labor after contracting marriage abroad.  Ms. Lan 
estimated that these stories represent only a small number of 
cases ("around 5 percent") and in most instances women who marry 
overseas are able to send back an average of $160 UDS per month 
to their families, and some "good" husbands even build new homes 
for their brides' families in Vietnam.  As families see their 
neighbors economically benefitting from their daughters' foreign 
marriages, increasing numbers want to encourage theirs to do the 
same. 
 
 
 
Efforts to Combat Trafficking 
 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) The An Giang Women's Union is primarily involved in 
public awareness campaigns in border villages, including 
distributing educational materials and using performing arts 
groups and the media to disseminate information about the 
dangers of trafficking.  Ms. Lan said that they receive $25-35 
million VND per year from the GVN for their anti-TIP programs 
and receive aid from IOM to run a Victims Assessment Center and 
from the Asia Foundation to operate a micro-credit program. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) ADAPT is the primary driver for programs geared at 
preventing at-risk girls from being trafficked and for 
repatriating/reintegrating victims from the border provinces. 
In terms of prevention, ADAPT runs a scholarship program for 
more than 300 students in three Mekong provinces encouraging 
families to keep their daughters in school, as well as several 
summer camps where girls learn about the risks of being 
trafficked and participate in exercises to build confidence and 
life skills.  ADAPT also runs a vocational training and job 
placement program that has recently been expanded to the 
culinary industry in Ho Chi Minh City. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) EconOff and USAID reps toured the Open House for 
repatriated victims of trafficking run by ADAPT with the support 
of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA) 
 The bright, welcoming center currently has 20 residents and 
provides room and board as well as temporary residency 
registration procedures, medical care, psychological counseling 
and vocational training. 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment: While the GVN has ramped up efforts in recent 
years to combat TIP through public awareness campaigns and 
increased law enforcement efforts in recent years, providing 
assistance to TIP victims remains primarily in the hands of 
NGOs, several of which have expressed concern over the 
decreasing level of public and private funding available for 
anti-TIP initiatives in Vietnam.  One contact lamented that 
while philanthropic support for anti-TIP programs was very "hip" 
among donors in Vietnamese communities in Southern California 
several years ago, many have decreased their contributions due 
to the economic downturn or decided to donate to other causes. 
At the same time, many NGOs feel USG funding has moved on to 
other Southeast Asian countries perceived to have more urgent or 
more recent TIP issues.  GVN contacts note that young women in 
the Delta will continue to become at-risk for trafficking as 
long as economic hardships at home force them to look at 
opportunities abroad, and believe Vietnam's continued economic 
development is the key to resolving TIP issues long-term.  End 
comment. 
 
 
 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000622  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶10. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. 
DICKEY