De: Research-SexWorkMigr@googlegroups.com [mailto:Research-SexWorkMigr@googlegroups.com] En nombre de AFESIP Laos
Enviado el: jueves, 17 de enero de 2008 8:26
Para: Research-SexWorkMigr@googlegroups.com
Asunto: [ResearchSexWorkMig] Fw: News Release 17 January, Lao PDR
17st January 2008
Latest News
· Lao PDR
§ Regional meeting seeks to strengthen women's rights 15 January 2008,Vientiane times
§ Police start training in human trafficking investigation 15 January 2008,Vientiane times
§ A major achievement for Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare 04 January 2008,Vientiane times
§ Labour unions to increase rights protection 02 January 2008,Vientiane times
§ More information needed to combat human trafficking 01 January 2008,Vientiane times
§ Ministry develops labour force and provides jobs for all 01 January 2008,Vientiane times
· International
§ Southern cops bust people trafficking ring 14January 2008,Thanh Nien News
§ Vietnam man arrested for trafficking 23 females to China Jan 5 (AFP) Jan 05, 2008
Latest News
· Lao PDR
· Regional meeting seeks to strengthen women's rights
Women from Asean member countries and Timor Leste met in Vientiane yesterday to discuss how best to report on activities undertaken to comply with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The two-day meeting, titled 'The First Asean High-Level Meeting on Good Practices in CEDAW Reporting and Follow-Up' was attended by the Standing Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Lao National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Mr Somsavat Lengsavad.
Also attending were the President of the Lao Women's Union, Ms Sisay Leudedmounsone, the Regional Programme Director of the UNIFEM East and Southeast Asia Regional Office, Dr Jean D'Cunha, the Deputy Secretary-General of Asean, Dr Soeung Rathchavy, representatives from NGOs, embassies to Laos and women member representatives from Asean countries.
Mr Somsavat said during his opening remarks that the meeting was taking place at a time when the global political and economic environment is undergoing rapid and complex changes, creating both opportunities and challenges.
He said that the situation of pandemic diseases, poverty, global warming, energy, sustainable development and other issues required a greater role by women in addressing this common cause.
He also said the Lao government was gratified to note that since the international community adopted the convention in 1976, the role and contribution of women in society as well as in the maintenance of peace, stability and cooperation had continuously increased.
The United Nations and regional and national organisations have all attached importance to this undertaking and worked actively according to their respective mandates.
Mr Somsavat pointed out that they also outlined policies, legislation and measures to ensure the implementation of relevant conventions, treaties and important documents such as the Beijing declaration and its platform for action in 1995, the UN millennium summit in 2000, and the Millennium Development Goals.
"Laos has always attached a great deal of importance and consideration to the policy on gender equality and elimination of discrimination against women as one of its national priorities," he said.
He explained that past experience had shown that implementation of the policy on women had gained gradual and satisfactory results. One example of this was the increase in the number of women members of the National Assembly, and in public administrative institutions and the business sector.
Mr Somsavat requested participants to share their views and adopt necessary and appropriate solutions according to the prevailing reality.
He said the meeting was important, not only as a platform for consultancy and the sharing of views on best practices in CEDAW reporting and follow-up, but also enabled participants to exchange views on Asean community building from now until 2015.
Ms Sisay pointed out that the number of women in decision-making capacities had increased, and Laos now had five women ministers and equivalent ministers, and nine vice ministers and equivalent ministers.
The literacy rate for women had risen from 48 percent in 1995 to 63 percent in 2005 for women above 15 years of age, and primary school enrolment rates for girls had also increased from 68 percent in 1995 to 81 percent in 2006.
Dr Jean D'Cunha pointed out that it was important for Asean countries to have a national action plan relevant to the regional situation and its relation to the convention.
She said that those involved in promoting CEDAW should not work in isolation, but should cooperate with all levels of government bodies to enhance the roles of women in society.
By Soulivan Vongmany
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· Police start training in human trafficking investigation
More than 20 police officers from 10 provincial Anti-Trafficking Units are learning how to conduct investigation processes in a 10-day training course that started yesterday in Vientiane.
The course is part of Phase II of the Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project funded by the Australian government from 2006-2011, with the first phase having been completed in 2006.
According to a Regional Police Advisor with the project, Mr Gerard Smith, who is also the course lecturer, the course will provide participants with the knowledge and capacity to conduct investigations into criminal offences relating to human trafficking.
"The course will focus heavily on Lao national legal frameworks and also give knowledge and understanding of international law and standards relating to these criminal investigations," he said.
During the course, attendees are also scheduled to learn about the legal requirements for investigations, crime scene protection and examination, procedures for identification of the correct offence, hints for the investigation of specific crimes, interviewing victims and witnesses, interviewing suspects, and detention search-and-seizure procedures.
The project is now working in five countries - Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand – and aims to strengthen the capacity of the criminal justice system in Asian countries in combating human trafficking.
"The Lao Ministry of Public Security has so far established a specialist police investigation unit in 10 provinces, and the project is in a good position to provide appropriate training courses on investigating human trafficking," said Mr Smith.
The project also works closely with its partners, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, and a meeting of the heads of the specialist units on human trafficking is held every three months to exchange and update information on cases and the trend of trafficking and victim numbers, said a Regional Police Advisor with the project, Ms Irinel Cocos.
She said that doing this has "enhanced cooperation among countries in the region to tackle human trafficking issues".
"If you discuss the matter with the heads of anti-human trafficking units here, they will be able to tell you exactly who the person i s to contact in other countries in the region to get information and support in conducting human trafficking investigations," Ms Cocos said.
T he second phase, Mr Smith said, is working on developing the capacity of prosecutors and judges to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate human trafficking cases, while the first phase focused on developing the way the police investigate such cases.
By Souksakhone Vaenkeo
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· A major achievement for Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
Although Laos and Thailand first signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on labour employment cooperation in 2002, a move paving the way for both nations to legally welcome with open arms the other's labour force, there still remain many challenges to putting the agreement into effective, everyday practice.
One of the challenges officials needed to overcome is that there were hundreds of thousands of Lao people already working illegally in Thailand - people who did not have a passport nor any work permits. To encourage Lao people to obtain work in Thailand legally, all these migrant workers had to gain legal status first to provide proper models for others to follow.
Another challenge faced in implementing the MoU was that the Thai government did not have any legal policies and regulations in place that allowed for the importation of unskilled workers into the country, positions that Lao people already occupied.
But due to the hard work and dedication of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare in negotiating with their Thai counterparts, the two nations have addressed these and other barriers, and the legal movement of a Lao labour force across the border is now one of the major achievements of the Lao ministry for 2007.
After several meetings by senior labour officials from Laos and Thailand, the two nations have also reached an agreement to together verify the nationality of all migrant labourers crossing the border to work in Thailand, to ensure that those who claim to be Lao citizens are in fact from the country, thereby guaranteeing that only Lao nationals benefit from the terms of the MoU.
Deputy Director General of the Labour Department, Mr Thongdeng Singthilath, a member of the committee responsible for implementing the MoU, said the Lao government agreed in 2006 that officials must check any prospective Lao worker's background thoroughly before granting a Lao passport to an applicant, to ensure that only Lao citizens receive a passport.
He explained that there were people of many nationalities, including workers from Cambodia and Myanmar, working illegally in Thailand. If any of these people were able to obtain a Lao passport and work permit, and were to get into trouble with the authorities, this would create a negative image of Laos and its migrant workforce.
He added that without a secure process of national identification, some unscrupulous persons could also use passports to enter into Laos and undertake illegal activities in the country. This can directly threaten the security of the nation.
In early 2007, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare sent its first team, consisting of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, to corroborate the nationality of labourers working in Bangkok, the city where most Lao labourers find employment.
Mr Thongdeng said that the national identification team interviewed those labourers claiming Lao descent. Workers were asked where in the country they came from, and whether they held any Lao national ID cards. Officials then sent the information gathered back to Laos, to check if these people did, in fact, exist.
After the status of the Lao labourers was approved, they received temporary passports and work permits, allowing them to continue to work in Thailand legally.
According to a report released in 2006 by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the legal work status of over 96,000 Lao labourers was verified by the new national identification process; most of these workers were in Bangkok, while another 43,000 labourers received a temporary passport and work permit.
Holding a Lao passport and valid work permit, Lao labourers can now travel across the border to Thailand without fear of being arrested.
Migrant workers are now also protected by Thai law, and are able to travel back and forwards to their home country via international immigration checkpoints, located along the border between Laos and Thailand. With such a passport, Lao labourers gain the respect and travel facilitation offered by both countries' authorities.
One of the major benefits of having a valid work permit is that Lao labourers in Thailand are entitled to the social and welfare benefits offered all Thai citizens. Lao labourers also receive equivalent salaries to their Thai counterparts.
Workers can freely access Thai health care, insurance and justice. Of great importance to many is the fact that Lao workers can now lay complaints against their Thai employers if they feel they have been treated inappropriately. In the past, workers were too afraid to go to the police if they were forced to work long hours with little or no payment, or even beaten and forced to endure extremely harsh conditions because they did not have the documentation allowing them the legal status to be in the country.
Many feared that instead of being helped by the Thai police and authorities, they would instead be arrested and put in jail, said Mr Thongdeng.
Once Lao people gain legal work status, they will no longer fall so easily into the trap of human trafficking, he continued.
He explained that in the past both the Lao and Thai governments did not allow their labour force to seek legal employment in the other's country, forcing those Lao individuals who wished to work in Thailand to ask for assistance from illegal work brokers, some of whom sold the individual to factories, 'sweat shops' and prostitution houses, where they had little chance of escape and freedom.
He said that as more and more Lao labourers obtain legal status, the opportunities and cracks in which human traffickers are able to work narrows, because they can no longer so easily find their desperate victims.
Although only an estimated half of all Lao labourers in Thailand have received legal work status, the success so far serves as a good model for other labourers in Thailand and Laos, and is perhaps the best achievement of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare during 2007.
By EKAPHONE PHOUTHONESY
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· Labour unions to increase rights protection
LABOUR representatives will have to register all Lao workers nationwide to help tackle any wrongdoings of both employers and their workers in the near future.
Head of the Lao Federation of Trade Unions Office, Draporyiya Anabrong, told Vientiane Times on Monday that the unions will register labourers as soon as the President of the Lao PDR issues the decree to initiate the union law, which was approved by the National Assembly last month.
Without the law, the union had no rights to register labourers in many workplaces, especially in hotels and restaurants where workers were hired and laid off unfairly.
This will help address various issues between businesspeople and workers by resorting to the rule of law, Mr Draporyiya said.
According to the new law, each workplace with ten employees or more will have an elected union representative who will be required to look into labourers' rights and protect their benefits.
Previously, employers did not cooperate with the union representatives in their workplace because they believed that they would bring a negative aspect to the workplace.
"Our job is also to encourage labourers to work properly in accordance with the agreement," Head of Labour Protection Division of the union, Mr Samanesay Khanthanouxay.
The long-running issue currently between employers and labourers relates to minimum salary payments that a Prime Ministerial decree fixed at 290,000 kip per month for unskilled workers, excluding overtime or bonuses, but some employers still misunderstood this, he claimed.
Also, unregulated pay rates based on retail prices remains an issue for many workers, he said, especially when payment doesn't go up inline with market demands.
The new law, Mr Draporyiya added, would empower the union to inspect any workplace when there is a request from concerned workers.
It would also allow the union to follow up and seek a higher authority to help resolve disputes, instead of simply mediating in workplaces as indicated in the labour law.
Mr Draporyiya highlighted many previous cases where requests were made to the union that officials concerned failed to investigate properly because they sometimes just consider the employers point of view.
"Doing this causes a loss of morale in the workplace, so the new law was established to protect workers' rights, but we prefer to mediate issues through negotiation rather than the judicial process," Mr Draporyiya said.
By SOUKSAKHONE VAENKEO
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· More information needed to combat human trafficking
Adequate information dissemination on human trafficking remains a challenge in Laos, according to officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare this week.
Officials said that people in rural areas still did not receive adequate information about the dangers of human trafficking, and were unaware of the fact that young girls continue to be lured to other countries, mainly Thailand.
This year, 280 victims of human trafficking have been returned to Laos, bringing the total number of victims repatriated to Laos from Thailand since 2001, to more than 1,000.
Approximately 100 other victims are currently residing in rehabilitation centres inside Thailand, 20 of whom will be returned to Laos by the middle of this month, according to details provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
A ministry official working within the sector, Mr Vongkham Phanthanouvong, said this week that authorities have been working on distributing accurate information on the dangers of human trafficking in five target provinces, through the use of posters and stage dramas, since 2002.
This information is still not enough, however, to ensure the majority of rural villagers understand the problem of human trafficking, due to limited funding.
The five target areas include Vientiane and the provinces of Oudomxay, Vientiane, Savannakhet and Champassak.
In December last year, Oudomxay authorities arrested a Lao woman charged with human trafficking, when she lured two girls to another country.
"We are questioning the woman in order to obtain detailed information for the courts, and working to get the two girls back to their families," said Head of Oudomxay Anti-Human Trafficking Office, Mr Bounpheng Chanthalaphone.
Human trafficking is a serious issue for not only Laos but throughout the world. In Southeast Asia alone, between 200,000 and 250,000 women and children are trafficked each year, an International Labour Organisation report stated in 2002.
Mr Vongkham said the victims were mostly women and children, between the ages of 15 and 17.
Officials say the main cause of illegal migration is poverty, coupled with the language and cultural similarity and numerous locations at which Lao people can easily cross the border to Thailand to earn a better income.
Mr Vongkham said some migrants are lured into brothels to work as prostitutes, or become domestic servants or work for companies where they are forced to endure extremely harsh working conditions, can be beaten, or not receive their wages.
A 16-year-old who was returned to Laos in September last year, was rendered disabled after he was attacked from behind with a knife by a fellow crew member, while working on a fishing boat in Thailand.
The young man can no longer speak intelligibly, as a direct result of the brutal attack.
By Vientiane Times
Back to top
· Ministry develops labour force and provides jobs for all
The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has pledged to continue to focus its attention on the development of the Lao labour force and provide even more people with jobs, in order to improve the lives of all families and reduce poverty across the country.
Over the next five years the ministry aims to provide vocational training for around 69,300 people, or on average about 13,860 people per year, and provide a further 544,000 people with employment, or on average about 108,000 people per year, according to the ministry's third meeting for the party chapter held on Saturday.
The ministry must continue to improve the political ideology and skill base amongst its party committee's members, in order to better guide the work of every sector within the ministry, in keeping with government policies, said the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Mrs Onchanh Thammavong.
Mrs Onchanh said that the ministry and the Lao Red Cross are crucial for encouraging all organisations to participate in socio-economic development in the country, and to contribute not only physical resources but also new thinking to the sector.
"By implementing suitable policies for veterans, retired officials, national heroes and the disabled, and by helping the victims of natural disasters, the disadvantaged, elderly or orphans, we can ensure everyone benefits from undertaking productive activities within our society," said Mrs Onchanh.
The ministry will make funds available to poorer families and to the families of government staff for the development of family businesses, in order to raise household incomes and reduce poverty.
"We will continue to improve the capabilities of the ministry's labour, social welfare and Red Cross sectors, and to strengthen our cooperation with international organisations in the development of the Lao labour force and provision of jobs," she said.
The ministry aims to support and develop the Lao labour force in all industries, to increase the manufacture of an even greater variety of products on a commercially viable basis, and to expand the technology industry in the near future.
"We have to implement suitable labour policies in both the city and rural areas, that not only provide actual jobs, but also support the development of the Lao labour force, for example by encouraging vocational training or working in a foreign country. We must also pay more attention to the ongoing management of Lao labour within the country," she said.
This, it is hoped, will lead to the clarification of existing labour laws, and the resolution of the problems of illegal Lao workers in other countries, and of foreign workers here in Laos.
In the past the ministry has successfully implemented many projects and plans, especially regarding the provision of jobs and enhancing the development of existing labour skills, said Mrs Onchanh.
The ministry has also provided better support for retired officials and persons with disabilities, resolved issues surrounding salary payments to its staff, and provided loans to families to assist in poverty reduction, she added.
The meeting also elected new party committee members, who will lead the ministry in continuing the successful implementation of its work over the next five years.
By KHAMPHONE SYVONGXAY
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· International
· Southern cops bust people trafficking ring
Police in the southern city of Can Tho busted a people-smuggling ring that allegedly sent more than 20 young girls from the Mekong Delta to brothels in Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore.
Police Thursday said they arrested three women who allegedly led the gang: Hua Thi Thuy Trang, 35, from Soc Trang Province in the Mekong Delta; Nguyen Thi Nua, 43, from An Giang Province; and Lu Hue Phuong, 43, from Can Tho.
Police said the three women admitted they had worked as prostitutes in Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore.
Trang returned to Vietnam in 2006 and developed a plan - with Nua, Phuong and others - to trick girls into working at foreign brothels, police said.
The family of each girl who agreed to go received US$800 and any girl who could convince a friend to accompany her would be paid a $400 bonus.
The investigation into the people smuggling ring began after authorities received complaints from girls who managed to flee the foreign brothels and return to their home-land, police said.
The victims said they were promised a comfortable and highly-paid life abroad, working as waitresses in local restaurants.
On arrival in the foreign countries, the girls were imprisoned in local bars and restaurants and forced to have sex many times a day.
If they resisted, they were beaten and starved.
Further investigations are continuing and police said they were searching for others involved in the gang.
Reported by Mai Tram
· Vietnam man arrested for trafficking 23 females to China
Vietnamese police have arrested a man who allegedly trafficked 23 females to China after authorities received a tip-off from one teenager who escaped back into Vietnam, a news report said Saturday.
The Hanoi man, identified as Nguyen Anh Tuan, allegedly befriended the women through Internet chatrooms, then enticed them to travel to northern border areas from where they were sent to China, the Than Nien daily said.
Since 2005, Tuan and his accomplices had trafficked 23 females, including seven teenagers, to China, before one of them, a 17-year-old girl from northern Ha Nam province, escaped and alerted police back home, the report said. Vietnamese and Chinese police were working to bring home the other females. The Nhan Dan daily, citing police and border guard figures, meanwhile reported that 323 human trafficking cases were discovered in Vietnam in 2007, an increase of more than 40 percent on the previous year. Most Vietnamese women and children who fall victim to trafficking are sent to neighbouring China or Cambodia for arranged marriages or prostitution.
If you have any human trafficking news/ advocacy/ events/ others that you would like to circulate via the UNIAP Lao PDR News Digest, please send your submissions and your contact details to phimmasone.thongphataysack@undp.org.
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