US embassy cable - 04RANGOON1422

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001422 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL, INL, G/TIP, STATE PASS LABOR FOR 
ILAB, COMMERCE FOR ITA JEAN KELLY, TREASURY FOR OASIA, 
USPACOM FOR FPA, BANGKOK FOR USAID/RDM ASIA (FRIEDMAN) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2014 
TAGS: PHUM, ELAB, PGOV, EAID, BM, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: MAINLAND SE ASIA AND CHINA PLEDGE TIP COOPERATION 
 
REF: A. RANGOON 1370 
     B. RANGOON 1357 
 
Classified By: COM CARMEN MARTINEZ for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial 
Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) moved forward in 
Rangoon, October 27-29.  All of the participating governments 
seemed to find a comfortable confluence of political, 
strategic, and operational elements in the MOU they signed 
and the supporting action plan they endorsed.  In the 
process, the Burmese junta got the international endorsement 
it seeks, and the reshuffled SPDC leadership accordingly 
joined the activities with seeming enthusiasm.  There appears 
to be genuine political momentum behind this regional effort 
which, whether it morphs into operational effectiveness 
against trafficking in persons or not, is a reality that will 
have to be considered in planning anti-trafficking assistance 
programs in this region.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U)  Cabinet-level and other officials from the six 
governments that form the COMMIT met in Rangoon on October 
27-29 (ref b) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 
pledging mutual cooperation against trafficking in persons 
(TIPs).  They also developed and approved--subject to review 
in capitals--a related action plan to support the precepts 
outlined in the MOU and to further previously approved 
bilateral agreements.  The operational plan, which will 
require foreign assistance to implement, will be up for 
approval at the COMMIT's next Senior Officers Meeting, 
tentatively scheduled for late March 2005 in Hanoi. 
 
3.  (U)  Cambodia, Laos, and Burma sent Cabinet-level 
officials to sign the MOU (Minister of Social Affairs, 
Minister of Labor, and Minister of Home Affairs, 
respectively); Vietnam was represented by its Vice-Minister 
of Public Security; the Chinese Vice Chairman of the State 
Council's National Working Committee for Children and Women 
signed on behalf of the PRC; and the Permanent Secretary in 
Thailand's Ministry of Social Development and Human Security 
initialed the document on behalf of the RTG (note: Thai 
Minister Sora-at Klinpratoom was a last minute no-show 
because of "urgent duties" in Bangkok). 
 
4.  (SBU)  Several Rangoon and Bangkok-based United Nations 
officials also attended, as did representatives from the 
Australian and UK (DFID) aid programs; and INGOs (World 
Vision and Save the Children).  PolEconoffs attended as 
observers.  Bangkok-based staff in the United Nations 
Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater 
Mekong Sub-Region (UNIAP) served as the conference 
secretariat and also played an active supporting role in 
 
SIPDIS 
preparing substantive documents, guiding the process, and 
holding it together through the after-shocks from the recent 
political shuffle in Rangoon (ref a). 
 
New Burmese Prime Minister Opens Ministerial Conference 
 
5.  (SBU)  Giving his first public speech following his 
promotion on October 20, Prime Minister Lt. General Soe 
Win--resplendent in a crisply pressed army uniform--opened 
the ministerial portion of the conference on October 29 by 
advocating for regional cooperation.  He took a subtle swipe 
at Thailand ("encouraging to see that ownership of the 
problem and responsibility are recognized as issues that need 
to be recognized by countries of destination"), but he also 
commended the RTG for its efforts to register illegal migrant 
workers.  The Thai Permanent Secretary said in his statement 
prior to the MOU signing and later in a post-session press 
conference that the RTG had registered 1.2 million migrants 
in Bangkok--80 percent of whom were Burmese--during a 2003 
campaign to formalize the presence of such workers. 
 
Comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 
 
6.  (SBU)  As approved on October 29, the MOU lays out 
methods and areas of cooperation to combat all aspects of 
human trafficking.  The approved document addresses 
trafficking from a comprehensive perspective, including areas 
of policy and cooperation at the national and international 
levels; legal frameworks, law enforcement and criminal 
justice; protection, recovery and reintegration of victims; 
as well as preventive measures.  Embassy sent full texts of 
the MOU and the Plan of Action to EAP/BCLTV and G/TIP on 
October 29 for further circulation as desired. 
 
Action Plan Linked to MOU 
 
7.  (SBU)  Meeting October 27-28 following an opening speech 
by the Burmese Minister of Home Affairs, some 30 senior 
officials from the participating governments divided the 
supporting activities into five general areas:  policy and 
cooperation (e.g., mechanisms and systems for exchanging 
information, assessments of training needs); legal 
frameworks, law enforcement and justice (e.g., cooperation 
and investigation, as well as prosecution, of traffickers, 
including joint training and cross-border networking); 
protection, recovery, and reintegration (e.g., regional 
workshop on procedures for repatriation of victims, including 
development of common guidelines); preventive measures (e.g., 
collection and sharing of information on job, marriage and 
adoption brokers and agencies); and mechanisms for monitoring 
and evaluating implementation of the MOU (e.g., maintain 
existing COMMIT task forces in each country and work with 
UNIAP to develop a schedule for implementation of the Plan of 
Action). 
 
Atmospherics:  Chinese and Thai are Most Important Players 
 
8.  (C)  In a private conversation with poloff after the 
meeting, UNIAP's program director, Phil Robertson (Amcit), 
said the Thai and Chinese have taken pivotal roles in 
bringing regional cooperation on TIPs to this point.   Thai 
Prime Minister Thaksin, he said, aims to show that his 
government has not lost control of its borders and related 
social problems.  The Chinese, on the other hand, want to be 
part of a recognized international forum dealing with the 
international aspects of their southern and western flanks. 
Robertson also credited Dr. Saisaree Chutikul, a Thai social 
activist involved with the Commission for the Rights of the 
Child, for playing an important role in bringing the October 
27-29 conference to fruition and keeping related developments 
on track. 
 
Comment:  And the Burmese Government Also Benefits 
 
9.  (C)  Prime Minister Soe Win stated in his October 29 
address to the conference that regional cooperation on TIPs 
in this area is a "win-win" situation for all directly 
concerned (Note: most especially for the Burmese, since the 
COMMIT was launched in Rangoon. End note).  The new GOB 
leaders got a hearty international endorsement without 
exposing themselves to embarrassing questions, pressure about 
their human rights policies, or their own record on TIPs. 
 
10.  (C)  More importantly, however, there appears to be 
genuine momentum behind this regional effort.  The logical 
end to the exercise that took place in Rangoon last week 
could put recipient countries in the driver's seat with 
foreign assistance programs on TIPs.  If the process now set 
in motion plays out as the planners aim to have it develop, 
this could be beneficial, over the longer term, for both 
recipient and donor governments.  However, further evolution 
of intra-regional cooperation on TIPs with Burmese 
participation--with the generals continuing their abhorrent 
policies on human rights--could be a significant obstacle to 
USG assistance and engagement on a region-wide basis on TIPs' 
issues.  End comment. 
Martinez