Cablegate: Singapore's Submission for the Fifth Annual Tip

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SINGAPORE 000743

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE PASS AID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC KFRD PREF SN
SUBJECT: SINGAPORE'S SUBMISSION FOR THE FIFTH ANNUAL TIP
REPORT PART III

REF: A. SINGAPORE 742

B. SINGAPORE 657
C. 04 STATE 273089

1. (U) This is the third of four messages relaying Embassy
Singapore's 2005 TIP submission. It details all the sources
Emboffs used in compiling the submission.

--------------------------
Diplomatic Representatives
--------------------------

2. (SBU/NF) Embassy maintains contact with consular, labor
and other officials of embassies that represent the major
source countries for foreign laborers and sex workers. Note:
Foreign domestic workers come almost exclusively from
Indonesia, the Philippines, or Sri Lanka.

-- Bangladesh

Mokammel Hossain, First Secretary, Labor Attache

-- China

He Xiaoming, First Secretary (economic and commercial)

Liu Minqiang, Third Secretary, (economic and commercial)

Xiang Shan, First Secretary (consular)

Wei Ning, Consular Section Chief

-- India

Sanjiv Kumar, First Secretary (consular)

-- Indonesia

Fachry Sulaiman, Second Secretary (consular and protocol)

-- Malaysia

Westmoreland Palon, Second Secretary (political)

-- Philippines

Crescente Relacion, First Secretary (consular)

Maria Lumen B. Isleta, First Secretary (consular)

Merriam Cuasay, Labor Attache

-- Sri Lanka

M R Gunaratna, Minister-Counselor

-- Thailand

Somthawee Kopatthanasilp, Minister Counselor (labor)

Kesanee Palanuwongse (consular/political)

-- Vietnam

Nguyen Van Quyen, First Secretary (consular)

--------------------------------------------- -------
NGOs, Civil Society, and International Organizations
--------------------------------------------- -------

3. (SBU/NF) Emboffs also met routinely with NGO
representatives that deal with foreign worker and
trafficking-related issues.

-- Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2, formerly The Working
Committee 2) is a civil society group formed in 2002 and
registered as a society in 2004 to lobby for improved working
conditions for Singapore's roughly 150,000 foreign domestic
workers (FDWs).

Braema Mathi, Chairperson

Constance Singam, Member

-- Archdiocesan Commission for Pastoral Care of Migrants and
Itinerant People (CMI) runs a shelter to assist TIP victims
and other foreign laborers (including FDWs) in need. CMI
provides frequent assistance to foreign workers with labor
disputes, e.g., over back wages, interceding with employers
and/or the Ministry of Manpower.
-- Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME)
is run by a former employee of CMI, it runs two shelters for
migrant workers, and frequently provides assistance in the
form of support or advocacy in labor disputes. Occasionally
accepts TIP victims referred by the police for shelter.

Bridget Lew, Chairperson

-- Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) is
not focused on trafficking as an organization, but some of
its individual members and participating organizations deal
with TIP issues.

Braema Mathi, founder

Tisa Ng, President

Sara Dean, Chairperson, Sub-committee on Safety

-- Action For Aids (AFA), an NGO devoted to advocacy and
patient care, has been given a grant through the Department
of STD Control to interact with streetwalkers. AFA
volunteers build relationships with street-based prostitutes,
distribute materials about condoms and sexually transmitted
diseases in a variety of languages, and distribute condoms.

Benedict Jacob-Thambiah, Executive Director

Brenton Wong, Vice President

-- One Hope Center, a new NGO devoted to assisting women who
wish to escape prostitution, provides shelter, counseling,
liaises with law enforcement and helps women return to their
country of origin. It hopes to open its own shelter and
service center in the near future with the assistance of the
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

Reverend Dr. Edward Job, President

-- UNIFEM does not deal with trafficking victims in
Singapore, but does work with victims and NGOs in Batam,
Indonesia, a destination for Singaporeans traveling
independently for sex tourism. It is also involved in public
outreach programs in Singapore calling attention to the
plight of victims, particularly children, of sex tourism.

Saleemah Ismail, Anti-Trafficking Coordinator

Melissa Kwee, President

-- The Good Shepherd Center is one of the shelters to which
the Ministry for Community Development, Youth, and Sports
(MCYS) refers victims in need of assistance.

Sister Agnes, Director

-------------------------
Researchers and Observers
-------------------------

4. (SBU/NF) Singapore's "authorized" brothel industry is
well-researched by the government officials, academics and
observers with whom we met; the same persons also study the
other parts of the industry (streetwalkers, lounge hostesses,
etc.), although with less comprehensive information.

Dr. Wong Mee Lian (protect) is a professor in the Department
of Occupational Health and Family Medicine at the National
University of Singapore. Since the early 1990s, she has
instructed Singapore's sex workers on negotiating condom use
and other safe sex practices. She has conducted scholarly
studies based on hundreds of interviews with both sex workers
and clients, to whom she has good access. Dr. Wong manages a
database in which all registered sex workers dating back to
1990 are listed with pertinent identifying information such
as age.

Dr. Roy Chan (protect) is the Director of Singapore's
Department of STD Control and (in his off time) head of the
NGO Action for AIDS. His clinic conducts the medical exams
and tests on brothel employees. Action for AIDS promotes
safe sex among the workers both in the tolerated and
freelance brothels.

Dr. Ganapathy Narayanan (protect) is a professor of sociology
at the National University of Singapore specializing in
deviance and social control. He is very familiar with the
history of prostitution in Singapore and how the trade is
regulated in other countries.

Sharon Wee is a former student of Dr. Wong who wrote her
Masters thesis on the clients of sex workers. She
participated in numerous programs with Dr. Wong and worked
directly with both sex workers and their clients in the
course of her research.

Daniel Tung (protect) is a researcher and project coordinator
at the Department of STD Control, who has worked the past
three years on a project monitoring trends among
streetwalkers in Singapore and encouraging women to use
condoms and get regular health checks.

Salma Khalik (protect) is a health correspondent at the
Straits Times who was involved in writing a recent series of
articles that highlighted the rising rates of AIDs and other
sexually transmitted diseases and the link to both
prostitution and sex tourism.

--------------------
Government Officials
--------------------

5. (SBU) The Embassy interacts with several government
agencies on trafficking-related issues.

Ministry of Home Affairs
------------------------

-- MHA includes all Singapore's law enforcement agencies,
including the police and immigration officials. The MHA
provided details of anti-vice operations, information on the
detained sex workers, and other statistics relevant to
anti-vice operations. The Ministry also has information on
specific cases, including charges against vice abettors and
pimps.

Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs

Tony Soh, Director, Policy and Operations

Lim Chin Tiak, Assistant Director, Criminal Investigation
Division

Pauline Sim, Assistant Director, Security Section, Policy and
Operations

Tan Pang Tong, Head, Anti-Vice Branch, Criminal Investigation
Division

Ministry of Manpower
--------------------

-- MOM handles all issues relevant to foreign workers in
Singapore, including maid abuse cases, wage claims, and
complaints about working conditions. The Foreign Manpower
Management Division was established in August 2003,
concentrating and expanding the staff dealing with foreign
worker issues; one mandate is to consider and implement new
policy initiatives aimed at safeguarding foreign workers.

Ho Siong Hin, Director, Foreign Manpower Management Division

Ng Cher Pong, Director, Foreign Manpower Management Division
(Policy)

Kenneth Yap, Head, International Relations Unit

Toh Swee Chien, Manager, International Relations Unit

Attorney General's Chambers
---------------------------

-- AGC officials can provide information on specific
prosecutions, i.e. the statutes under which traffickers and
vice abettors are charged. They can also address the state
of inter-agency deliberations on international agreements
Singapore is considering signing. The AGC also provide
centralized legal support for Singapore's government, from
drafting of new laws to negotiation and adherence to
international agreements.

Jaswant Singh, Deputy Public Prosecutor and Directorate
Leader, Trial Litigation 1B Directorate
Marcus Song, State Counsel, International Affairs Division
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
--------------------------------------------

-- MCYS handles all aspects of victims, assistance. The
Ministry places victims either in Government-run facilities,
in shelters run by foreign embassies, or in shelters run by
NGOs and church groups.

Ang Bee Lian, Director, Rehabilitation and Protection Division

Corinne Koh, Deputy Director, Family and Child Protection and
Welfare Branch

Marie Yeo, Assistant Director, Programmes Development
Section, Family and Child Protection and Welfare Branch

Grace Cheong, Senior Policy Officer, Policy and Development
Branch

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
---------------------------
-- Though the MFA does not itself possess information needed
to compile the TIP report, we channel requests for such
information through Directorate II. MFA also is involved in
Singapore's participation in international meetings and
relevant international agreements.

Mr. Chin Hock Seng, Director, Policy, Planning and Analysis,
Directorate II (Chaired the Singapore Government roundtable
with Mark Taylor.)

Mr. Alvin Lim, Deputy Director, North America, Policy,
Planning and Analysis, Directorate II

Ms. Vanessa Chan, Assistant Director, Specialized Agencies
and Multilateral Issues Section, International Organization
Directorate

Mr. Lee Chong Hock, Country Officer, North America, Policy,
Planning and Analysis, Directorate II

LAVIN

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