US embassy cable - 04HOCHIMINHCITY196

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000196 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/BCLTV, G/TIP, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KWMN, SOCI, PGOV, SMIG, VM, TIP 
SUBJECT: TRAFFICKING RETURNEES IN AN GIANG UPDATE 
 
REF:  03 Hanoi 001671 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  An Giang province's program to help 
trafficking returnees resettle has met with mixed success, 
according to provincial officials.  The NGO-supported project, 
working in conjunction with the provincial Women's Union and the 
Ho Chi Minh City-based Little Rose Shelter, has so far assisted 29 
girls aged 11 to 17 from the border province who had been or have 
a high risk of being trafficked to Cambodia.  Officials from the 
An Giang Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs 
(Dolisa) also claimed that trafficking has been significantly 
reduced in the province.  Poloff was unable to meet with 
trafficking returnees in the province, although Pol/Econ FSN 
assistant was able to talk with two victims at the Little Rose 
Shelter.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) The returnee project, done in conjunction with the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM), targeted An Giang 
"girls" (so far victims have ranged from 11 to 17 years old) who 
had been or have a high risk of being trafficked to neighboring 
Cambodia.  IOM may expand the project to include other border 
provinces, like Tay Ninh.  This project follows an IOM-sponsored 
program to train local officials to identify and locate 
trafficking returnees (reftel).  Victims receive four months of 
psychological counseling and vocational training (sewing) at the 
Little Rose Shelter, plus US$50 of start-up money upon their 
return to An Giang province.  The first group of fifteen victims 
returned to the province in 2003, while a second group of fourteen 
victims completed the returnee program on February 25, 2004.  Most 
of the victims were initially trafficked for labor and worked in 
"cafes" in Cambodia.  Both provincial and shelter officials 
admitted, however, that many actually worked in the sex industry. 
A third group of fourteen victims from the province arrived at the 
shelter in Ho Chi Minh City on February 24. 
 
3.  (SBU) Provincial officials initially claimed that the program 
had been a success for "most" women, including five who had 
married since their return.  When asked how many were not 
successful, officials stated that only 50 percent had "stabilized" 
and found jobs, but none had returned to the sex industry. 
Shelter officials, however, reported that two girls from the 
initial group had gone back to sex work.  One girl from the second 
group also dropped out of the program before completing the 
counseling and training.  The Women's Union representative stated 
that victims did not face much discrimination upon returning to 
their villages.  Neighbors looked on them with "sympathy" and saw 
them as "victims."  According to the Women's Union rep, 
discriminating against victims is not part of Vietnamese culture. 
 
4.  (SBU) Other provincial programs, funded by the GVN, IOM, and 
the German NGO Teres Dez Home, include micro-credit lending for 
victims or families of victims, vocational training and 
scholarships for the poor and other high-risk groups, community- 
based education, clubs to "advocate for the prevention of 
prostitution, drugs, and HIV/AIDS," and seminars to discuss 
trafficking issues. Many of these programs have been operational 
for one to three years. 
 
5.  (SBU) Dolisa officials repeatedly stated trafficking was a 
"police matter."  In 2003 only five "complaints" had been brought 
to the police, down from "tens of complaints" the year before. 
They cited this as evidence that community awareness programs were 
working.  All "complaints" lodged in 2003 were dropped for lack of 
evidence.  Little Rose Shelter officials reported, however, that 
after the first group of victims returned, the province claimed it 
had no more cases.  When two HCMC-based social workers visited 
communes recommended by participants in the first group, the 
social workers discovered many more cases that local/commune 
officials had been unwilling to report.  Shelter officials 
attributed this to a concern that, if small hamlets admitted to a 
trafficking problem, they would lose their status as "cultural 
villages."  (Post Note: This is an honorific that means, inter 
alia, the community has no "social evils.")  Shelter officials did 
not know if this tendency to hide cases was supported at the 
hamlet or commune level.  An Giang Dolisa officials gave vague 
statements about the number of returnees in the province overall, 
ultimately admitting they were not aware of, or could not control, 
most cases.  They only knew of victims who had returned through 
"diplomatic" channels.  Officials also reported that HIV/AIDS was 
"not a wide problem" with returnees, citing only "one or two" 
cases, none recent.  (Post Note: HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment 
does not fall under Dolisa's purview in this province.) 
 
6.  (SBU) Poloff's requests to meet with returnees in the province 
were denied.  Women's Union officials said they might be able to 
arrange something in the future, but needed advance notice to 
prepare and brief the returnees for meeting with a foreigner and 
to arrange a discreet meeting place.  According to the Women's 
Union, the presence of a foreigner in their villages would cause 
hardship and discrimination for the returnees.  Officials from An 
Giang province, IOM, and the Little Rose Shelter all stated this 
was "a very sensitive" issue to be sharing with foreigners.  (Post 
Note: It was unclear how much of this concern reflected a genuine 
effort to protect the victims from embarrassment/shunning, and how 
much reflected an effort to avoid unwanted negative attention for 
the villages and province as a whole.) 
 
7.  (SBU) Pol/Econ FSN assistant was able to interview two victims 
from neighboring hamlets in the second group at the Little Rose 
Shelter in Ho Chi Minh City.  They both said they were very happy 
to be in the program.  Nguyen Thi Anh Trang (protect), age 15, was 
recruited by a friend to go work as a babysitter and laundress in 
Cambodia to help pay off her family's debts.  She ultimately 
worked in a cafe owned by a friend of her first "lord."  Her 
friend was sold to another individua nd kled afew months 
later.  After nine months of mistreatment, Trang learned of her 
friend's death and decided to escape.  She walked across the 
border during the night and made her way to her aunt's house.  Her 
aunt referred her to the Women's Union.  Tran Thi Ngoc Nho 
(protect), also age 15 and from a poor family, was "lured" by 
another girl, 4-5 years older than she, to work in Cambodia as a 
babysitter and dishwasher.  The recruiter then left her and she 
wound up working in a cafe.  Because she was treated badly, she 
decided to return home.  Nho's mother then went to Cambodia to try 
to claim Nho's salary from the cafe owner, but he refused to pay. 
When the Pol/Econ FSN later returned to the shelter, she witnessed 
the arrival of the third group, who were brought there by a 
representative of the An Giang Women's Union, Miss Hiem.  The 
second group immediately ran over to Miss Hiem, surrounded her and 
cheered.  The Pol/Econ FSN noted the atmosphere overall was very 
warm and welcoming. 
 
8.  (SBU) COMMENT: Without additional information, ConGen cannot 
come to any general conclusion about the overall long-term success 
of the programs or the treatment of returnees in their villages. 
It was hard to pin down precise details about victims or programs, 
even though the first-hand anecdotal evidence seemed genuine. 
Some Vietnamese officials seemed in denial about the magnitude of 
the issue.  Whether this was because officials were unwilling to 
share information about this "very sensitive issue" with a foreign 
diplomat or because they do not have reliable statistics could not 
be determined.  The existence of a variety of programs focused on 
trafficking victims and public awareness suggests that An Giang 
province is taking some concrete steps to address trafficking, but 
the jury is still out on their effectiveness. 
 
YAMAUCHI