2019 USA Trafficking in Persons Report -- Palau
PALAU: TIER 2
The Government of Palau does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting
period; therefore Palau remained on Tier 2. These efforts
included the president’s approval of the national action plan,
funding an assessment of the trafficking situation in Palau
and the government’s anti-trafficking infrastructure, creating
a temporary shelter for victims, and establishing a trafficking
hotline. Courts sentenced the government’s lone convicted
trafficker to 25 years’ imprisonment, a departure from previous
cases where courts had fully suspended sentences. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several key
areas. The government remained without standard operating
procedures for victim identification and referral to services.
Protection services were insufficient; the government did not
provide basic services such as medical and psychological care,
and the government did not investigate indicators of trafficking
in labor recruitment and contract violations experienced by
many foreign workers.
PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:
Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including complicit officials, under trafficking laws, and sentence
traffickers to adequate penalties, which should involve significant
prison terms. • Develop, disseminate, and train officials on
standard operating procedures for the proactive identification
of trafficking victims and their referral to protection services.
• Increase resources for and develop victim protection and
rehabilitation services, including long-term shelter options,
interpretation services, and medical and psychological care. •
Amend anti-trafficking laws to remove sentencing provisions
that allow fines in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking
offenses and do not prosecute or penalize victims for unlawful
acts traffickers compelled the victim to commit. • Create and
implement a system to proactively offer foreign trafficking
victims job placements and work visa extensions. • Establish
and implement witness confidentiality procedures. • Enforce
the anti-trafficking laws punishing recruiters, employment
agents, and labor officials for illegal practices that facilitate
trafficking. • Increase anti-trafficking awareness among
vulnerable populations, including foreign migrant worker
communities. • Establish a mechanism for the systematic
monitoring of government anti-trafficking efforts. • Accede to
the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.
PROSECUTION
The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Sections
2106-2108 of the criminal code criminalized sex trafficking and
labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of up to 25 years’
imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, or both if the victim
was an adult and up to 50 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up
to $500,000, or both if the victim was under age 18. These
penalties were sufficiently stringent, but by allowing for a
fine in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking crimes, these
penalties were not commensurate with penalties prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. The Ministry of Justice’s
anti-human trafficking office (AHTO) investigated 11 potential
cases of labor trafficking and exploiting a trafficked person,
one of which was investigated for soliciting sex acts from a sex
trafficking victim, compared with 14 potential trafficking case
investigations in 2017 and none in 2016. The AHTO referred
five of the cases to the attorney general’s office (AGO), which
all remained under review at the end of the reporting period.
370 PALAUThe AGO initiated the prosecution of one alleged trafficker
during the reporting period, compared with three prosecutions
in 2017 and two in 2016. In the prosecution initiated during the
reporting period, the court found the alleged offender not guilty
of labor trafficking and people trafficking but found her guilty
of prostitution and promoting prostitution; sentencing had not
taken place by the end of the reporting period. Separately, the
courts convicted one Bangladeshi national of labor trafficking
and sentenced him to 25 years’ imprisonment; the defendant
began to serve his sentence while awaiting the outcome of his
appeal. This is compared with three traffickers convicted in
2017, two of whom received suspended sentences and were
deported within 30 days and one who received probation and
was deported one year after sentencing.
Observers noted official complicity played a significant role
in facilitating trafficking. The AGO continued to investigate
allegations of official complicity but did not report the details
of the allegations or the number of officials involved. The
AGO did not initiate prosecutions or secure convictions of
complicit officials during the year. The government provided
in-kind support for five trainings on trafficking hosted by
foreign governments or international organizations. The AHTO
trained 24 police cadets for one week on trafficking and victim
identification. Despite these trainings, observers stated officials
generally continued to lack an understanding of trafficking.
PROTECTION
The government maintained efforts to protect victims. The
AHTO reported it began to develop a victim identification tool
but had not completed or approved the tool; consequently, the
government remained without standard operating procedures
for victim identification and referral to services during the
reporting period. The government reported identifying five
potential victims of labor trafficking and two potential sex
trafficking victims from the five cases referred to the AGO
for prosecution, compared with 10 foreign labor trafficking
victims and four minor victims of sex trafficking identified in
2017. All potential victims were adult foreign nationals and
the majority were male. An international organization stated
only the most egregious cases of trafficking were likely to come
to the attention of authorities because of the lack of proactive
identification procedures and foreign migrant worker reluctance
to complain to authorities out of fear that complaining would
result in job termination and deportation. At the beginning
of the reporting year, the AHTO created a temporary shelter
for trafficking victims with five cots; however, none of the
identified victims stayed there during the reporting period as
they requested to stay with friends or relatives. Investigators
employed local interpreters as needed in Bengali, Mandarin,
and Tagalog. The government did not fund or provide any other
emergency protective services to adult trafficking victims such
as medical or psychological care. The lack of support services
reportedly led some victims to leave the country rather than
pursue legal recourse.
The government contributed approximately $15,000, the same
amount as in 2017, to an NGO to assist trafficking victims
with legal counseling and representation before labor and
immigration hearings. The NGO filed five civil lawsuits to help
victims recover lost wages and seek protection from the courts
and settled two previously filed lawsuits during the reporting
period; each case represented multiple victims. The AGO did not
request restitution for trafficking victims, reportedly due to an
inability to submit admissible evidence. The government did not
report whether it assisted victims with work visa extensions and
job placements in 2018. The government offered only ad hoc
short-term legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims
to countries where they might face hardship or retribution; the
attorney general could designate victims as “vulnerable,” making
them eligible for alternate employment and accommodation
assistance. The judicial system did not keep victim identities
confidential and in the recent past, defendants in trafficking
cases threatened witnesses. While the 2005 Anti-Smuggling and
Trafficking Act granted victims immunity from prosecution for
the “act of people trafficking,” the vague language permitted
prosecution for unlawful acts the trafficker compelled the victim
to commit, such as prostitution or petty crime. Additionally,
authorities’ insufficient identification efforts made victims
vulnerable to law enforcement actions.
PREVENTION
The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. In
January 2019, the President approved the national action plan,
drafted in a previous reporting period. The government funded
an international organization in August 2018 to assess and report
on the scope of trafficking in Palau and the government’s antitrafficking infrastructure. The government conducted awareness
campaigns through radio broadcasts and television programs,
outreach missions to outlying states, and presentations at a
women’s conference and a program for teenagers. The AHTO
distributed pamphlets, posters, and information sheets to all
states to raise public awareness. It did not conduct educational
or public awareness campaigns for employers or labor recruiters.
During the reporting period, the AHTO instituted and staffed a
mobile phone number for trafficking tips with on-call AHTO
investigators who spoke Palauan and English and received an
average of one call a day, resulting in five investigations during
the reporting period. While the government revised the rules and
regulations of the labor division to add more protections for
foreign migrant workers, the government had not yet approved
the revisions, and the government did not report making efforts
to investigate as indicators of trafficking contract violations and
other issues in labor recruitment experienced by many foreign
workers during the reporting period. The government did not
make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or
forced labor. Palau is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.
TRAFFICKING PROFILE
As reported over the past five years, human trafficking of
foreign victims occurs in Palau. Palau’s foreign population,
about one-third of the country’s population of 21,400, is the
most vulnerable to trafficking. Filipino, Bangladeshi, Nepali,
Chinese, Thai, and Korean men and women pay thousands of
dollars in recruitment fees and willingly migrate to Palau for
jobs in domestic service, agriculture, restaurants, or construction;
upon arrival, traffickers exploit some in conditions substantially
different from what had been presented in contracts or
recruitment offers, and some become trafficking victims. Women
from the Philippines and China are recruited to work in Palau as
waitresses or clerks but traffickers exploit some in sex trafficking
in karaoke bars or massage parlors. Foreign workers on fishing
boats in Palauan waters also experience conditions indicative of
human trafficking. Official complicity plays a role in facilitating
trafficking. Authorities have investigated government officials-
including labor, immigration, law enforcement, and elected
officials-for complicity in trafficking crimes.
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-TIP-Report-Narratives-N-S.pdf, pp 369-70.
http://islandtimes.us/palau-remains-tier-two-in-trafficking-in-persons-report/
The Government of Palau does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting
period; therefore Palau remained on Tier 2. These efforts
included the president’s approval of the national action plan,
funding an assessment of the trafficking situation in Palau
and the government’s anti-trafficking infrastructure, creating
a temporary shelter for victims, and establishing a trafficking
hotline. Courts sentenced the government’s lone convicted
trafficker to 25 years’ imprisonment, a departure from previous
cases where courts had fully suspended sentences. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several key
areas. The government remained without standard operating
procedures for victim identification and referral to services.
Protection services were insufficient; the government did not
provide basic services such as medical and psychological care,
and the government did not investigate indicators of trafficking
in labor recruitment and contract violations experienced by
many foreign workers.
PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:
Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including complicit officials, under trafficking laws, and sentence
traffickers to adequate penalties, which should involve significant
prison terms. • Develop, disseminate, and train officials on
standard operating procedures for the proactive identification
of trafficking victims and their referral to protection services.
• Increase resources for and develop victim protection and
rehabilitation services, including long-term shelter options,
interpretation services, and medical and psychological care. •
Amend anti-trafficking laws to remove sentencing provisions
that allow fines in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking
offenses and do not prosecute or penalize victims for unlawful
acts traffickers compelled the victim to commit. • Create and
implement a system to proactively offer foreign trafficking
victims job placements and work visa extensions. • Establish
and implement witness confidentiality procedures. • Enforce
the anti-trafficking laws punishing recruiters, employment
agents, and labor officials for illegal practices that facilitate
trafficking. • Increase anti-trafficking awareness among
vulnerable populations, including foreign migrant worker
communities. • Establish a mechanism for the systematic
monitoring of government anti-trafficking efforts. • Accede to
the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.
PROSECUTION
The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Sections
2106-2108 of the criminal code criminalized sex trafficking and
labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of up to 25 years’
imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, or both if the victim
was an adult and up to 50 years’ imprisonment, a fine of up
to $500,000, or both if the victim was under age 18. These
penalties were sufficiently stringent, but by allowing for a
fine in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking crimes, these
penalties were not commensurate with penalties prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. The Ministry of Justice’s
anti-human trafficking office (AHTO) investigated 11 potential
cases of labor trafficking and exploiting a trafficked person,
one of which was investigated for soliciting sex acts from a sex
trafficking victim, compared with 14 potential trafficking case
investigations in 2017 and none in 2016. The AHTO referred
five of the cases to the attorney general’s office (AGO), which
all remained under review at the end of the reporting period.
370 PALAUThe AGO initiated the prosecution of one alleged trafficker
during the reporting period, compared with three prosecutions
in 2017 and two in 2016. In the prosecution initiated during the
reporting period, the court found the alleged offender not guilty
of labor trafficking and people trafficking but found her guilty
of prostitution and promoting prostitution; sentencing had not
taken place by the end of the reporting period. Separately, the
courts convicted one Bangladeshi national of labor trafficking
and sentenced him to 25 years’ imprisonment; the defendant
began to serve his sentence while awaiting the outcome of his
appeal. This is compared with three traffickers convicted in
2017, two of whom received suspended sentences and were
deported within 30 days and one who received probation and
was deported one year after sentencing.
Observers noted official complicity played a significant role
in facilitating trafficking. The AGO continued to investigate
allegations of official complicity but did not report the details
of the allegations or the number of officials involved. The
AGO did not initiate prosecutions or secure convictions of
complicit officials during the year. The government provided
in-kind support for five trainings on trafficking hosted by
foreign governments or international organizations. The AHTO
trained 24 police cadets for one week on trafficking and victim
identification. Despite these trainings, observers stated officials
generally continued to lack an understanding of trafficking.
PROTECTION
The government maintained efforts to protect victims. The
AHTO reported it began to develop a victim identification tool
but had not completed or approved the tool; consequently, the
government remained without standard operating procedures
for victim identification and referral to services during the
reporting period. The government reported identifying five
potential victims of labor trafficking and two potential sex
trafficking victims from the five cases referred to the AGO
for prosecution, compared with 10 foreign labor trafficking
victims and four minor victims of sex trafficking identified in
2017. All potential victims were adult foreign nationals and
the majority were male. An international organization stated
only the most egregious cases of trafficking were likely to come
to the attention of authorities because of the lack of proactive
identification procedures and foreign migrant worker reluctance
to complain to authorities out of fear that complaining would
result in job termination and deportation. At the beginning
of the reporting year, the AHTO created a temporary shelter
for trafficking victims with five cots; however, none of the
identified victims stayed there during the reporting period as
they requested to stay with friends or relatives. Investigators
employed local interpreters as needed in Bengali, Mandarin,
and Tagalog. The government did not fund or provide any other
emergency protective services to adult trafficking victims such
as medical or psychological care. The lack of support services
reportedly led some victims to leave the country rather than
pursue legal recourse.
The government contributed approximately $15,000, the same
amount as in 2017, to an NGO to assist trafficking victims
with legal counseling and representation before labor and
immigration hearings. The NGO filed five civil lawsuits to help
victims recover lost wages and seek protection from the courts
and settled two previously filed lawsuits during the reporting
period; each case represented multiple victims. The AGO did not
request restitution for trafficking victims, reportedly due to an
inability to submit admissible evidence. The government did not
report whether it assisted victims with work visa extensions and
job placements in 2018. The government offered only ad hoc
short-term legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims
to countries where they might face hardship or retribution; the
attorney general could designate victims as “vulnerable,” making
them eligible for alternate employment and accommodation
assistance. The judicial system did not keep victim identities
confidential and in the recent past, defendants in trafficking
cases threatened witnesses. While the 2005 Anti-Smuggling and
Trafficking Act granted victims immunity from prosecution for
the “act of people trafficking,” the vague language permitted
prosecution for unlawful acts the trafficker compelled the victim
to commit, such as prostitution or petty crime. Additionally,
authorities’ insufficient identification efforts made victims
vulnerable to law enforcement actions.
PREVENTION
The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. In
January 2019, the President approved the national action plan,
drafted in a previous reporting period. The government funded
an international organization in August 2018 to assess and report
on the scope of trafficking in Palau and the government’s antitrafficking infrastructure. The government conducted awareness
campaigns through radio broadcasts and television programs,
outreach missions to outlying states, and presentations at a
women’s conference and a program for teenagers. The AHTO
distributed pamphlets, posters, and information sheets to all
states to raise public awareness. It did not conduct educational
or public awareness campaigns for employers or labor recruiters.
During the reporting period, the AHTO instituted and staffed a
mobile phone number for trafficking tips with on-call AHTO
investigators who spoke Palauan and English and received an
average of one call a day, resulting in five investigations during
the reporting period. While the government revised the rules and
regulations of the labor division to add more protections for
foreign migrant workers, the government had not yet approved
the revisions, and the government did not report making efforts
to investigate as indicators of trafficking contract violations and
other issues in labor recruitment experienced by many foreign
workers during the reporting period. The government did not
make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or
forced labor. Palau is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.
TRAFFICKING PROFILE
As reported over the past five years, human trafficking of
foreign victims occurs in Palau. Palau’s foreign population,
about one-third of the country’s population of 21,400, is the
most vulnerable to trafficking. Filipino, Bangladeshi, Nepali,
Chinese, Thai, and Korean men and women pay thousands of
dollars in recruitment fees and willingly migrate to Palau for
jobs in domestic service, agriculture, restaurants, or construction;
upon arrival, traffickers exploit some in conditions substantially
different from what had been presented in contracts or
recruitment offers, and some become trafficking victims. Women
from the Philippines and China are recruited to work in Palau as
waitresses or clerks but traffickers exploit some in sex trafficking
in karaoke bars or massage parlors. Foreign workers on fishing
boats in Palauan waters also experience conditions indicative of
human trafficking. Official complicity plays a role in facilitating
trafficking. Authorities have investigated government officials-
including labor, immigration, law enforcement, and elected
officials-for complicity in trafficking crimes.
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-TIP-Report-Narratives-N-S.pdf, pp 369-70.
http://islandtimes.us/palau-remains-tier-two-in-trafficking-in-persons-report/