Transcript
Remarks to the Press by
Ambassador John R. Miller, Director, U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Ninoy Aquino International Airport - Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Thank you and thank you all for turning out today on what is emerging as one of the primary human rights issues of the 21 st century. It is also a public health issue. It is a national security issue because of the link to organized crime, and it is an issue that confronts and faces every country in the world, and I include the United States and the Philippines when I say every country in the world.
I have been appointed by the President of the United States to represent the United States abroad and at home on the issue of what we call Trafficking in Persons, but it is really modern-day slavery. It comes in many forms. Factory slavery, farm slavery, child soldier slavery, domestic servitude slavery, and probably the biggest category of slavery in the world today, sex slavery, which involves children in prostitution or adults that are forced into prostitution.
We estimate that up to 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders into slavery every year, and that is just across international borders. That does not count the number of victims held internally in countries like the United States or the Philippines.
This challenge that we face requires the best efforts of everyone. It requires the efforts of law enforcement; it requires the efforts of governments and NGOs on victim protection. It requires the education of potential victims, education of the public at large. I speak in general terms but this is about individuals.
Two days ago, I was down at the port of Manila meeting with the Visayan Foundation and some of the law enforcement people, and meeting with young women. Some of them were children that had been victims. We believe that 80% of the victims in the world today are women, and perhaps as many as 50% are children. Our women, our children. The young women and children that I met with at the Visayan Foundation shelter, their stories were similar: The misleading advertisements, the recruiter or friend of the family offering a job, but the job turned out not to be a job. The job -- after coming from a far-off province to Manila or going to another country like Malaysia -- turned out to be prostitution. That kind of forced prostitution involves kidnapping, assault, violence, and rape after rape, after rape, after rape. So, this is one serious matter, and I think that governments in the world are increasingly aware of this. The United States and the Philippines have joined in supporting resolutions in international bodies on this. We have joined in ratifying the U.N. Protocol.
My visit here gave me the chance to meet with many government officials, committees working on this both in Zamboanga and in Manila, NGOs, and religious leaders involved in this issue, and I will make a few comments on what I saw. Like every country in the world, there is always more to do. I could say this about the United States, and I can certainly say this about the Philippines.
On the positive side, the Philippines has a very good anti-trafficking in persons law, and you have had that since May 26, 2003. There is a very good structure in place of IACAT committees involving law enforcement and NGOs to deal with the issue. But laws and structure have to lead to results. Results when it comes to protection of the victims, results when it comes to education, results when it comes to law enforcement. And the biggest challenge facing the Philippines and the area most in need of improvement has been in the law enforcement area. The NGOs that I met with have despaired over delays and frustrations in corruption in the law enforcement process which have resulted, until yesterday, in no convictions under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons law, meaning no trafficker until yesterday had been sent to jail and punished. Of course there must be a message to the traffickers if we are to stop this scourge. There is a sign of hope. Yesterday when we were in Zamboanga, we were informed that the first conviction under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons law was obtained. Two traffickers convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a significant fine, and they were just arrested four months before, which showed that the law enforcement in Zamboanga, and the prosecutor and judge were able to move quickly and expeditiously on that case. And I certainly am hopeful for the sake of the victims that that case is a precursor of things to come: that more convictions will follow that will send a message to the traffickers.
Part of the challenge is victim protection – sheltering the victims, and this means protecting the victims. And of course when prosecutions are delayed two and three years, this means it is harder to have trials, and it is harder to protect the victims. And this is why it is important for victims to get the justice and protection that they are given under the law. There is something else that I think I should mention on the positive side. We talk about trafficking in persons or slavery within the Philippines, but of course there is outside the Philippines, and we know that millions – I was told 8.2 million -- of Filipino migrants go abroad to work. And economic migration can be a good thing for the world, for the destination country and certainly to the Philippines. It has increased with globalization, but the dark side of this is when victims fall into slavery. I have visited Middle Eastern countries that have hundreds of thousands of Filipino workers, and some do very well. And some in domestic servitude have fallen into slave-like conditions, and this is a problem these countries need to address. The United States will do its part. I think the Philippines consulates around the world -- the ones that I have met with -- are very conscious of this issue. I certainly am supportive of their efforts, and I hope that the efforts they make on behalf of Filipino workers abroad can be duplicated and replicated on behalf of the Filipino victims here at home.
Let me stop with that and throw it open to any questions that you have.
Q: Good morning. This is Mike Desenio from Today. The complaint that we had before is that most slavery goes on in Third World countries abetted by multinationals who take advantage of the cheap cost of labor to employ children to manufacture shoes, or whatever, basketballs. What would you like to say about this?
A: Yes. Let me just repeat the question. It was about multinationals in Third World countries. Two comments. First, forced slavery in factories is a problem. There’s no question about it, and it is something that we must be vigilant on. But around the world, and in the Philippines, and in the Middle East with Filipinos, I do not find that most Filipino victims of slavery are working for multinational corporations. I find that most of them are involved in forced prostitution, the sex slavery or domestic servitude slavery. But the second comment you mentioned about Third World countries: I want to make this very clear, this is not just a challenge of Third World countries. The wealthiest countries in the world have a slavery challenge. Japan has a challenge, and some of that involves young Filipino women who in the past were given so-called entertainer visas. Western Europe has a challenge. Australia has a challenge. The United States has a challenge. I have not found a single country that is exempt from this challenge. We in the United States estimate that 17.5 thousand men, women and children are trafficked across our borders into slavery every year. That’s just across the borders.
Destination countries have an obligation to do their part, and our President has asked this office, has asked me this year to focus on destination countries and look at the demand in wealthier countries. Because this is not only a problem of so-called poor countries -- it is not just supply, it is not just source -- there is demand. There has to be demand in order for this to happen, whether it is demand in the Philippines, the United States, or Japan.
Q: I’m Celerina del Mundo from Daily Manila Shimbun. The Philippines right now is on the Tier 2 watch list of the United States on human trafficking. May we know will there be any improvement in next year’s rating or will it be included in the black list? And another thing is that Japan is now implementing stringent measures against Filipino entertainers there, and how does it impact on the campaign of Japan and the Philippines?
A: Let me take your second question first and then get back to your first question. We’ve had a lot of engagement with the government of Japan starting two years ago. Japan was on the Tier 2 watch list, and one of the reasons was when I visited Japan – I am trying to remember if it is two years ago or a year and a half ago -- I learned that the preceding year 80,000 young women from the Philippines had been admitted on entertainer visas to Japan. Now, if you believe that Japan needs 80,000 young Filipino women for entertainment -- well it is not believable, and when I questioned Japanese officials they had to admit it was not believable. Many of these women, not all but many of these women were victims of the Japanese sex trade. Some didn’t know what they were getting into; some maybe had an inkling and then discovered it was a lot worse than they thought. Now Japan changed their regulations and I will be quite up front saying the United States Government encouraged the change of regulations, and encouraged the Philippines government to support such a change in regulations. I read the comments of the Archbishops several months ago in the Filipino press, and I agree with it completely. The essence of it was yes, Filipino women should be able to migrate abroad for jobs, legitimate jobs – but these were not legitimate jobs. This was a disservice to Filipino women, and it was an obligation of both the Japanese government and at this end the Filipino government to see that the system was changed.
Now, I will get to your first question about the U.S. report and whether the Philippines will end up on the Tier 2 watch list again. I hope not. I hope the Philippines will do good things and will rise above the Tier 2 watch list. I hope that the conviction in Zamboanga is a sign of good things to come. I hope that the statements I heard from many Filipino officials are a sign of good things to come. I hope that the skepticism that I heard from NGOs will be answered by positive action. We’re interested around the world in throwing traffickers in jail and freeing the victims.
But let me just step back for a moment. The report that you referred to, it is a tool. It is a tool to put a spotlight on this issue, and it not only evaluates countries, it describes the issue, it has victims’ stories, it has best practices, it has anti-trafficking heroes. By the way, we put out a report on the United States too, in case anybody is interested -- a separate, much fuller report on what we’re doing and where we need to improve. But those reports are just tools. The most important thing is the will of national governments, whether it be the United States or the Philippines, to throw the traffickers in jail. The will to address government complicity and corruption to make sure that organized crime does not use this to augment their income. According to Interpol, the three largest sources of revenue for organized crime are the drug trade, the arms trade and the people trade. So the most important means of addressing this issue is not this report, but in the hands of the people and NGOs and individual governments. I understand that the evaluations that we give on this report are of interest to people, and I am happy about that. But the reason to do good things on this issue is not because of the United States’s report, it is for the Filipino people and the victims who are Filipino. There are American victims in the United States, but the victims we are talking about here are Filipino victims. That is the reason to have more prosecutions, successful prosecutions. That is the reason to have victim protection, that is the reason to continue the education program that has started with the church, the radio dramas, the public service announcements. The reason to do that is because it is right and it is good, and it is for the people here.
Q: Sir, I’m Tess Cerojano from the Associated Press. I understand it is not your area, but if you would just care to comment on the threat received by the Embassy, and if you have received details about it.
A: I have been running around today meeting with NGOs and government officials and I know nothing about the threat to the Embassy. I think my colleague here from the Embassy afterwards is going to say a few words. I have been focusing on trafficking in persons, so I am sorry I cannot help you on that.
Q: I’m Edgardo Dytiangco, Radyo ng Bayan. You said that the Philippine government should do its part in facing the challenge just as the U.S. is doing its part. Now, aside from discussing the problem with Philippine government officials, what else is the U.S. doing?
A: Well, we have many programs here in the Philippines funded through the State Department and through USAID -- programs such as the one I visited, the Visayan Foundation shelter; programs such as the public service messages I described; and programs such as education efforts being undertaken by ACPAT and CATW. We’re trying to the extent possible to put our money where our mouth is, but we also are of course talking with Filipino officials about how to get more convictions. We have sponsored judicial and prosecutorial training programs. But there is much more to do. There is much more to do in the United States, too. Everybody has things to do.
Q: This is just a follow-up to the report of the U.S. State Department on Trafficking in Persons. Would you recommend, what would you recommend as far as the ranking of the Philippines (inaudible words)?
A: You are asking what I’d recommend. Fortunately, my office does not have to make a recommendation till next spring. This was a visit to see what was going on, to encourage action, and to answer questions, and next spring we will look at the situation because the report does not come out till June 1. So, I cannot answer at this time what will happen, but if the actions are taken that have been talked about and promised, then there should be a good outcome, but that remains to be seen.
Q: Based on your statement against the human trafficking issue in Japan, the companies (inaudible words) affected by (inaudible words) because some of our dollar earners are legitimate entertainers from the Philippines. Do you have any plans on those people who are affected by your statement saying that Japan is the number one client of human traffickers?
A: Japan is putting in place regulations to allow legitimate entertainers who have entertainment jobs in Japan to go to Japan. I do not see anything wrong with that, and I know that the Philippines and Japan are negotiating on other potential workers and jobs. But I will tell you that when I was in Japan, and I met with people at the Filipino Embassy -- that was a year and a half ago, so I hope the situation has changed -- but when I met with your officials and they told me of the women calling up day and night, escaping from their slave masters and calling in the middle of the night and asking for help, I knew something was wrong.
Q: Considering that you have interviewed everybody that you could possibly interview with regards to this problem, and considering that this problem has been long-term. This has been going on for years, I think from the start that when the Overseas Filipino Workers started going abroad this has started. You claim there has been only one conviction and sentencing of one trafficker, and that yet you are still optimistic and hopeful that the government will actually be able to answer this kind of a problem that has not been solved or resolved at all?
A: You put the question very well. The reason the Philippines was in Tier 2 watch list was the failure to have successful prosecutions and convictions. That will be a crucial factor in the rating that comes out next spring. However, I came here saying there has not been one conviction, and I found when I got to Zamboanga that the prosecutor brought home a conviction – two traffickers convicted, and he has several more cases that he believes are near conviction. I would not disagree with the premise of your question. But we must hold out hope. I hold out hope that this situation can be improved. I have to. If we have no hope, then we cannot act. Hundreds of years ago we had slavery in our country. You know of the terrible stain of slavery that we had – it took decades for the United States to end that slavery, decades. And in England it took decades. Those were early abolitionists, and they worked 30, 40, and 50 years. They did not give up hope. We cannot give up hope because we owe it to the victims, we owe it to our women and children, and I just want to say in closing thank you for covering this issue because when the news media writes about this issue and covers this issue then good things start to happen. People start talking about it, they talk to their local police, they talk to their public officials, they go to their churches. People are appalled when they find out that this is going on in the 21 st century. They do want to do something about it.
Q: Joyce Pañares from Manila Standard. I wonder if you consider the illegal entry of Filipinos into Iraq as human trafficking because the company that has been recruiting Filipinos is of course a subcontractor of Kellogg, Brown & Root, an American company (inaudible words). Is that considered human trafficking under U.S. law?
A: I’d be happy to get any information you have on that. Illegal immigration into the United States, into the Philippines, into Japan, into Iraq by itself is not trafficking. Some people go voluntarily, work voluntarily, and can shift jobs voluntarily when they get there. However, in many cases, people that travel illegally are slave victims because they have no will, they have no choice. In the United States, there are illegal aliens that are not slaves, they have freedom to move in jobs, but some of them are slave victims. Similarly in the United States we have victims that come in legally. The people we talked about in Japan went in legally. I would have to know more about the facts of that case to know whether those people were not getting paid, were threatened, were beaten, or had no will to leave their job -- that would be the determining factor.
Q: Do you have any (inaudible words) toward people who are affected by the Japan statement when you made (inaudible words). Do you have a program on (inaudible words), any program to help them? The statement came from the U.S. and now it is the Filipinos who are suffering so do we have any help that would come from the U.S. because the statement came from the U.S.?
A: The statement came also from the Filipinos, from your NGOs and your archbishop, and said that jobs do not mean sacrificing our women into forced prostitution. There should be job-training programs and they asked for job-training programs, and through USAID we will help promote these programs. But never, never will we say that the answer to work or jobs is to force women and children into slavery. Thank you.
