date:2007-04-10T05:44:00
source:Embassy Wellington
origin:07WELLINGTON285
destination:VZCZCXYZ0001 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHWL #0285/01 1000544 ZNY
CCCCC ZZH R 100544Z APR 07 FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON TO RUEHC/SECSTATE
WASHDC 4124 INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 1659 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY
BRASILIA 0121 RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 4808 RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA
LUMPUR 0167 RUEHPG/AMEMBASSY PRAGUE 0042 RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG
0123

C O N F I D E N T I A L WELLINGTON 000285

SIPDIS
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EAP/ANP, EAP/RSP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2017
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, KWMN, SMIG, KFRD, ASEC, PREF, ELAB, NZ
SUBJECT: GNZ SHARES DRAFT OF ITS ACTION PLAN AGAINST HUMAN
TRAFFICKING

REF: WELLINGTON 191

Classified By: DCM David Keegan,
for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)

1. (SBU) Summary: On March 29, GNZ shared with DCM and
Poloff a draft of its national action plan against human
trafficking. From an operational standpoint, NZ government
agencies already have an effective program in place to
prevent trafficking. The "Action Plan" seeks to further
improve interagency coordination, increase outreach to
non-government stakeholders with existing or potential
anti-trafficking roles, and raise public awareness of the
dangers of trafficking. The Plan will be formally
implemented by December 2007 following ministerial approval
this April and subsequent public consultation. Data from
GNZ's present enforcement and monitoring efforts, as well as
from NZ programs that monitor all suspicious travel, suggest
that New Zealand has little or no trafficking problem. By
increasing its engagement with civil society, GNZ will reduce
further New Zealand's risk of becoming a destination country
by complementing existing government programs with joint
private-public efforts to identify potential cases and assist
victims. End summary.

"National Action Plan": (aka National Outreach Plan)
----------------------- ----------------------------
2. (C) On March 29, GNZ officials delivered to DCM and Poloff
a draft of New Zealand's long-anticipated national plan of
action against human trafficking. Building on GNZ's existing
competencies to detect and prevent human trafficking, the GNZ
began developing the plan in December 2004 and implemented
much of it at the same time the formal drafting was taking
place. Through the planning process, GNZ has sought to
enhance linkages between government agencies and improve
engagement between government and civil society. The
planning process followed extensive consultations with
Embassy Wellington on trafficking issues in the wake of GNZ's
first listing in the TIP Report in 2004. The Department of
Labour took the lead in developing the plan, in consultation
with the Ministries of Justice (MoJ) and Foreign Affairs and
Trade (MFAT). On April 4, the draft plan will be sent to the
Foreign, Immigration, and Justice Ministers for their
approval. It will then be the focus of a series of public
consultations, including a national workshop of
non-governmental organizations. GNZ officials have invited
Emboffs and G/TIP to attend the workshop, with the date to be
determined. GNZ expects the plan will be formally in place
by December 2007.

3. (C) In handing over the plan, head of the IWG Arron Baker,
National Manager - Border Security & Compliance Operations,
Department of Labour, told us that the drafting of the action
plan was "a process of developing awareness, of linking
private and public interests, and of developing better
intelligence from civil society." Indeed, the title of the
plan, the National Plan of Action to Prevent People
Trafficking (NPA), is something of a misnomer as it really is
an outreach plan to improve coordination between Government
and non-government stakeholders (such as NGOs, the travel
industry, and academics) who have or could play an
anti-trafficking role. The Plan also seeks to raise public
awareness of the dangers of trafficking.

Monitoring for Trafficking: Part of a Surveillance Spectrum
--------------------------- -------------------------------
4. (C) To place the national plan of action in context, Arron
Baker outlined GNZ's priorities with regard to illegal
migration. First and foremost, GNZ places priority on
national security. Second priority is the issue of smuggling
and trafficking; third is to identify and punish individual
immigration violations. Baker reminded us that NZ's
successful counter-terrorism programs also position the GNZ
to detect smuggling and trafficking cases.

Three Action Phases; One Already Complete
-------------------- --------------------
5. (C) The NPA is divided into three phases. Phase One is
substantially complete and involved government agencies
establishing a common understanding of people trafficking and
developing the essential elements of a national plan. Phase
Two seeks to encourage civil society, particularly NGOs, to
address human trafficking issues by enhancing government
referral mechanisms and enhancing victim assistance,

reintegration and -- as appropriate -- return. Target NGOs
include the Help Foundation, NZ Prostitutes Collective,
Shakti Community Council, Amnesty International, Salvation
Army, Stop Demand and ECPAT. Under Phase Three, the GNZ will
complete the plan's implementation and develop bilateral and
multilateral agreements to prevent global trafficking.
(Note: GNZ officials already cooperate with Indonesia and Sri
Lanka on trafficking issues. End note.)

Phase One: Monitoring and Enforcement in Action
---------- ------------------------------------
6. (C) When GNZ began developing its action plan in December
2004, its monitoring and enforcement capabilities were
substantially in place. The planning process seeks to extend
and improve non-government stakeholder participation in
identifying potential cases of trafficking and assisting
victims. For example, New Zealand's continuing efforts to
identify potential victims of trafficking begin upstream in
potential source countries. New Zealand has an Advance
Passenger Processing (APP) system that requires airlines to
identify passengers who may be seeking to enter New Zealand
illegally before they board an overseas flight. Airline
representatives have received training from GNZ officials and
the government-funded NGO ECPAT New Zealand on techniques to
identify victims of trafficking and other illegal migration
victims as well as perpetrators. The GNZ also has an
Advanced Passenger Screening system (APS), through which GNZ
Airline Liaison Officers (ALO) at posts overseas and
officials in New Zealand screen flights prior to departure.
Data from these systems are joined with U.S. and Australia
data streams as part of the Regional movement Alert List
(RMAL) program. The Department of Labour has offered to have
Emboffs join GNZ officials in Auckland to observe screening
techniques as applied against arriving flights.

7. (SBU) Monitoring for potential trafficking victims
continues after passengers have arrived in New Zealand and
clear immigration and customs, primarily through field
investigations. Immigration, visa, border control and other
law enforcement officers have been trained to identify
potential trafficking victims using a common set of human
trafficking indictors, which have also been incorporated into
computer-based systems that help officials to spot potential
cases. (Note: The GNZ's human trafficking indicators have
been shared separately with EAP/ANP.)

8. (SBU) During the nine months from June 2006 to March 2007,
New Zealand law enforcement officials conducted 1,300
investigations to identify illegal migration, including
trafficking. The investigations included raids on
horticultural workers as well as ten targeted raids on eight
Auckland brothels suspected of employing foreign sex workers.
Not a single trafficking case was found in any of the 1,300
investigations, although 31 illegal migrants were identified.
Twenty-nine of the illegal migrants were found to have come
from Hong Kong (8), South Korea (1) and Malaysia (20), all of
which enjoy a visa free travel program with New Zealand.
Although the number of illegal migrants remains small
compared to the overall number of visa-free entrants, GNZ
recognizes the need to prevent more wide-spread abuses. In
the case of Malaysia, while migrants are circumventing border
control, New Zealand Immigration is effectively identifying
illegal migration cases through field compliance operations
in New Zealand, such as brothel raids. GNZ will continue to
monitor Malaysia's visa free travel status, and rescind it if
that proves the only way to more effectively manage illegal
migration from that country. In this regard, Thailand
provides a precedent. As a result of a half-dozen historic
trafficking cases involving Thai sex workers in 1999 and
2001, GNZ removed Thailand's visa free travel status. Recent
compliance operations have not identified Thai prostitutes
working illegally in New Zealand. Moreover, GNZ compliance
operations have not identified any illegal migrants from
Brazil or the Czech Republic working in the sex industry or
elsewhere in the economy, though both countries recently have
gained visa free status. (Note: There is some anecdotal
reporting, albeit unconfirmed, that Brazilian and Czech sex
workers are working illegally as prostitutes. End note.)

NZ's anti-trafficking program approaches maturity
--------------------------------------------- ----
9. (C) New Zealand has implemented an enforcement and victim
assistance regime that largely prevents illegal migrants from
working in the sex trade and has discouraged human

trafficking through an aggressive screening program overseas
and investigative follow-up in New Zealand. The government,
together with NGOs, now provides children at risk of underage
prostitution and illegal migrants a range of services to
prevent their exploitation or redress their exploitation when
it occurs. By upgrading interagency cooperation and
enhancing coordination with NGOs, GNZ will better position
itself to prevent New Zealand becoming a destination country
for human trafficking.
McCormick