End of mission statement of the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, on her visit to Lao People’s Democratic Republic

  Laotian

(8-16 November 2017)

Vientiane, 16 November 2017
Sabaidee

I would like to thank the Government of Lao PDR for the invitation extended to me to undertake a visit to the country from the 8th to the 16th of November 2017. This is the first visit in eight years of an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, and the second of my mandate to the country. Based on the positive experience of my visit, I hope that it will open the door for other UN independent experts to follow, which could be based on a standing invitation to the UN special procedures system, to enhance the promotion and protection of all human rights through sharing of good practices and effective strategies, and a dialogue with all stakeholders.

The objective of my visit was to assess the scope of sale and sexual exploitation of children in the country, and the measures adopted by the authorities to prevent and combat it, and provide care and recovery for child victims.

During my nine day visit I have met with multiple stakeholders in the capital and in the provinces of Oudomxay, Saravanh, Champasak and Vientiane. I met with the Deputy Prime Minister and President of the National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Mothers and Children, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Vice Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, the Vice Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, the Vice Minister of Post, Telecommunication and Communication, representatives of the Ministry of Public Security and of the Ministry of Justice, and the Head of the Secretariat to the National Committee on Human Rights. I also met with judges of the People’s Supreme Court (the Heads of the Juvenile Court and Family Court Chambers), representatives of the Office of the People’s Supreme Prosecutor, members of the National Assembly and of mass organizations (Lao Women’s Union and Lao Youth Union). In addition, I met with representatives of the diplomatic community, the UN, Non-Profit Associations (NPAs) and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), and the business sector (e.g. the main internet service provider in the country).

At the provincial level, I met with the Governor of Oudomxay and the Vice Governor of Champasak, members of the Provincial Commission for the Advancement of Women, Mothers and Children of Oudomxay, and the provincial prosecutor and judges of the provincial juvenile court of Champasak.

I also met with children from ethnic groups, child victims of exploitation and children in vulnerable situations. I visited a shelter for victims of violence and trafficking in Pakse, a multi-ethnic boarding school in Oudomxay, and a vocational training centre for victims of trafficking in Saravanh. In Vientiane, I visited a centre for children living and/or working on the street, a centre for counselling and protection of women and children, and Somsanga drug rehabilitation.

I am grateful to the Government for the collaboration before and during the visit. To everyone who met with me, I want to express my gratitude for their readiness to engage in a dialogue on the issue of sale and sexual exploitation of children in Lao PDR, and for their willingness to find solutions to end this scourge and provide assistance to child victims. I also wish to express my gratitude to the UN Country Team, in particular the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator and UNICEF, for their support and assistance.

Positive steps and developments

In the past years, Lao PDR has made considerable progress in incorporating international human rights treaties, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, into its national laws, policies and regulations. It has deployed enormous efforts to raise knowledge and awareness among different stakeholders, including police, judges and prosecutors, of international norms and standards contained in these treaties. All stakeholders have expressed an openness to learn how to improve compliance with Lao PDR’s international obligations through implementation. In the last years Lao PDR has also been active in complying with its reporting obligations to the UN treaty body monitoring mechanisms such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and my visit to the country is another example of this engagement through a constructive dialogue.

The adoption of the Law against trafficking in persons of 2016, bilateral agreements (e.g. with Thailand and China) and regional cooperation in the context of ASEAN to discuss laws and practices are promising examples of the efforts of the country to better address the transnational character of trafficking. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, through its cooperation with NPAs, has also opened four shelters for victims of trafficking and other forms of exploitation and violence to provide them with support.

Since 2012, Lao PDR has also adopted a moratorium on intercountry adoptions as an effective means to prevent the sale and trafficking of children. In addition, it has passed a decree on adoptions, which incorporates most of the relevant provisions of the 1993 Hague Conference on Intercountry Adoption. Lao PDR also promotes the adoption of family-based solutions for neglected and abandoned children, leaving adoption and placement in institutions as a last resort.

As part of it socio-economic development plan, Lao PDR is also investing in access to education for children, targeting in particular children from ethnic minorities and those living in remote areas. Huge efforts and investment, in particular by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, continue to be made for the removal of Unexploded Ordinances (UXOs), which maim and kill children every year.

However, despite these positive developments, the scope of sale, trafficking and sexual exploitation of children in Lao PDR is an issue of great concern which needs to be addressed urgently. Even though there are no comprehensive, updated and reliable disaggregated data on each specific form of exploitation, the anecdotal evidence and my interviews with child victims and protection stakeholders show that the problem is vast and real.

For the purpose of this press conference, I will highlight three areas of utmost concern and pressing need for action, namely the sale and trafficking of children for sexual and labour exploitation, the child and forced marriages, and the prostitution of children in Lao PDR.

Sale and trafficking of children for sexual and labour exploitation

The trafficking in human beings, including children, across the border with Thailand is a widely known phenomenon. Most of the victims of sale and trafficking across the border with Thailand are children, and many of the trafficked girls fall victims of prostitution. While the trafficking of girls to Thailand for the purpose of sexual exploitation seems to have decreased in the last years, the age of the trafficked girls has also lowered. At the same time, internal trafficking, though often overlooked, seems to be on the rise. Girls are trafficked within Lao for the purpose of sexual exploitation while boys are trafficked for the purpose of labour exploitation, including in mining areas and Special Economic Zones.

Despite the adoption of the Law on Trafficking and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Thailand, implementation of policies on protection, prosecution and punishment is poor. The main issues of concern in the operationalisation of these laws and policies concerning the cross-border trafficking with Thailand are, among others: (i) the lack of knowledge of migration requirements and difficulties in obtaining travel/identity documents to cross the border, which pushes people to turn to smugglers and traffickers, and thereafter renders reporting of abuses and exploitation difficult; (ii) loopholes in the repatriation of Lao victims of trafficking, including children, which affects their access to information, assistance and compensation, due partly to practices of corrupt officials; (iii) the complicity of some authorities in the trafficking rings; and (iv) the utter impunity of offenders and all those involved in the profitable business of sale and trafficking.

Child and forced marriage

Even though the national law prohibits child marriage with exceptions, according to available data more than a third of women were married before 18. The lack of birth registration and identity documents and the relative easiness with which these documents can be falsified, facilitates child marriage. This traditional harmful practice is more prominent among ethnic minorities.

During my visit I have gathered anecdotal data and heard numerous cases of girl children being married to adults, in particular Chinese nationals who travel to Lao PDR. I’ve learnt of cases of girls in the Northern provinces who have been lured by Chinese male to marry them and move to China, sometimes without the knowledge of their families. There are also instances in which the families force their daughters to marry Chinese men in exchange for money or a dowry. These practices amount to sale of children and are prohibited under international law. I have also learnt of instances in which local authorities are involved in the trafficking of girls for forced marriage to Chinese men.

After the girl victims leave their villages, their families hardly ever receive news about them. In some cases, the girls manage to escape and return to their communities, where there is no system in place to assess their needs and refer them to support services, which results in their re-victimization.

Prostitution of children

Another issue of concern is the prostitution of girls in Lao PDR by nationals and foreigners. Even though this is an issue that is hardly reported or addressed publicly, it is found in many parts of the country, including Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Savannaketh. I have learnt of cases of prostitution of girls in karaoke bars/brothels in in Vientiane, where they pretend to be adult servers (kumun girls) and are sexually exploited often with the complicity of authorities. Instances of sexual exploitation of girls in Special Economic Zones in the North have also been brought to my attention e.g. by Chinese travellers around casinos.

The lack of child-friendly reporting and complaint mechanisms renders difficult to determine the scope of this phenomenon, but there is an urgent need to conduct comprehensive research and map this phenomenon in order to inform effective prevention and protection policies.

Emerging forms of sale and sexual exploitation of children

There are other issues of concern that must be addressed by authorities such as online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, commercial surrogacy arrangements that can amount to sale of children, and the sexual and labour exploitation of children in travel and tourism. Even though the scope of these phenomena is unknown, they constitute risk factors for the sale and exploitation of children for which effective legislation and prevention strategies should be adopted.

Online sexual abuse and exploitation of children

Access to ICTs, in particular through mobile phones, has increased enormously in Lao PDR in the past years. The internet penetration rate continues to grow rapidly, including among ethnic groups, with Youtube and Facebook as the most popular applications. While ICTs offer great opportunities to ensure the rights to information, education and participation, they can also facilitate the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. In Lao PDR there are peer-to-peer networks sharing child abuse material in the open net. Lao PDR is also a destination country for traveling sex offenders who operate in the dark web. I encourage authorities to put in place effective prevention and reporting mechanisms in order to avoid Lao PDR to become a safe haven for web predators. Fighting these global crimes effectively would also benefit from more effective international cooperation, including with INTERPOL.

Commercial surrogacy arrangements

In recent years there have been reports of surrogacy agencies and clinics targeting Lao PDR to operate their business, in particular, after the bans in neighbouring countries. Following reports of past abuses, Lao PDR has closed down a clinic, though specific regulation on this practice is still lacking. Therefore, I encourage the Government to adopt more specific regulation on the matter and to conduct effective inspections to prevent the sale of children and protect women from all forms of exploitation.

Sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism

The tourism industry is another rapidly growing sector in Lao PDR, and the Government has set 2018 as the Lao Visit Year. Based on lessons learnt from neighbouring countries, I highly encourage the Government, through its Ministry of Tourism, to include the protection of children and the prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation as part of its strategy on tourism. As the country is opening up further to tourism, strong partnerships between the public and private sector are extremely important in prevention efforts, and the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism is an important tool in this regard. Unfortunately no hotels in Lao PDR have signed the Code, hence I encourage the Government to promote it and the private sector, in particular hotels, to adhere to it as an effective mean to raise awareness, prevent and report sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism. These efforts should also apply to Special Economic Zones.

Measures to combat the sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation of children in Lao PDR

As mentioned in the introduction of my statement, Lao PDR has adopted numerous legislative and policy measures to protect children from sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Apart from the Law against trafficking in persons, it has adopted a Law on Cyber-crime, a Law on the Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women and Children, and a Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Children.

Implementation of these measures is hindered by limitations such as lack of capacity, limited funding, and insufficient data. More importantly, the measures adopted so far are having a very limited impact on the prevention of sale and sexual exploitation of children and the protection of child victims due mainly to two gaps, namely the lack of a robust child protection system and accountability of perpetrators of these crimes.

A CALL FOR A ROBUST CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM

All my interlocutors are devoting multiple efforts on prevention by conducting numerous awareness-raising activities. However, their impact is relatively low due to the fact that they are not part of a comprehensive child protection strategy. Knowledge, skills, capacities and resources are also missing. Awareness-raising is not about lecturing children but rather about consulting them about their needs, concerns and wishes, and actively encouraging their participation and empowerment in decision-making processes that affect them. In this regard, I highly commend the methodology and approach adopted by the National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Mothers and Children to involve and consult children in the preparation of Lao PDR’s report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is a good practice that should be replicated in the design and implementation of policies that affect children.

Most of the awareness-raising is done in Lao language while children who belong to ethnic groups, and who often do not speak Lao, are among the most vulnerable to sale and exploitation. Similarly, many of the awareness-raising activities are conducted at schools while children who are most at risk such as children in street situations, are not present in such facilities. These vulnerable children should also be informed about the risks and measures to protect them from sale and exploitation, and therefore awareness-raising efforts should be adapted to their needs and particular circumstances. In this respect, I welcome the efforts made by the provincial authorities in Oudomxay to reach out to children belonging to ethnic groups and living in remote areas by raising awareness in ethnic languages through community speakers.

Other means to reach out to children are social media, which are very popular among Lao children and adolescents, including children of ethnic groups. I strongly encourage the Government to develop partnerships with the ICT sector (e.g. internet service providers) to conduct awareness-raising campaigns on safe internet usage and to empower children on how to better protect themselves from online abuse and violence.

However, a robust child protection system requires more than prevention. Other elements such as child-friendly complaint and reporting mechanisms and victim referral systems are essential to detect cases, identify victims and provide support to them – and Lao PDR lacks these essential elements. There are no child-friendly free of charge 24/7 hotlines to report cases of abuse, violence and exploitation against children, but scattered hotlines instead. Structures at community level lack the skills and knowledge to detect, assess and refer child victims for support. Too often, victims feel shamed or are blamed for their situation, which prevents them from reporting abuse. Moreover, policies like awards for “crime-free villages” are not helping report cases but hide them.

A girl victim of sexual exploitation expressed to me, “I wish I had known where I could turn to for support.” These child victims need a single access point into the child protection system and information about how to get it. 

The few child protection initiatives are provided mainly through NPAs and INGOs. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has a limited budget and insufficient human resources. The number of social workers is scarce and professional psychologists are completely lacking. Hence, massive investment is required on specialised and professional human resources to build a child protection system which provides child-centred and gender-sensitive protection, to ensure confidentiality and avoid revictimization, among others.

Despite the limitations, there are some promising initiatives which are worth replicating, based on which an incipient integrated child protection system could be built. For instance, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, with the support of UNICEF, is developing a child protection network in a number of districts and villages. Even though they are composed of volunteers, they are being trained to identify vulnerable children and refer them to services. Another promising initiative is the Child Safe Movement launched by Friends-International/Peuan Mit to improve child protection by building networks and supportive structures within the programs run by the government, NPAs, businesses, communities and individuals.

Building a robust and effective child protection system requires investment in programs. In this respect, I have learnt about the readiness of civil society, NPAs and INGOs, to assist and support the Government in this daunting task. Civil actors and organisations are operating in an environment of lengthy, uncertain and restrictive procedures, which limit the opportunity for partnerships and often result in missed funding for child protection programs. Consequently, I encourage the Government to ensure an enabling environment and widen the civic space for NPAs and INGOs to operate in the promotion of the rights and protection of children. As one of these actors stated to me, “it is difficult for victims to access services if NPAs and INGOs cannot access the victims.”

ACCOUNTABILITY OF PERPETRATORS

The other major gap and challenge for Lao PDR to make progress in combatting the sale, trafficking and exploitation of children is to address the complete impunity of perpetrators, which fuels the commission of these crimes. There are no proactive investigations to ensure prosecution of offenders, exploiters and traffickers. Police and prosecutors only act upon the presentation of clear evidence by victims, which only adds to the burden of the latter. In addition, victims are often blamed for their situation.

Access to justice and remedies for victims is also hindered by the lack of knowledge of their rights, including to compensation. The formal justice system is inaccessible for victims with limited education and living in poverty, which is the case of the majority of child victims of sale and exploitation. Furthermore, child sexual abuse cases hardly ever make it to the formal justice system due to the lack of child-friendly complaint mechanisms and the role of the village mediation units (VMUs). While I commend the efforts of the Government to regulate and limit the role of VMUs to their traditional mediation on family disputes, I encourage authorities, in particular at the provincial level, to supervise and guide the work of VMUs to ensure that traditional systems do not hinder access to justice for victims of sexual crimes, including children.

Effective regional cooperation of law enforcement, prosecutors and judges is also essential to address the transnational dimension of organised crime involved in the sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation of children. While I commend efforts at the provincial and district level to participate in cross-border meetings, in particular with counterparts in Thailand, I encourage authorities to render such meetings more meaningful through effective information-sharing and cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases.

In conclusion, Lao PDR has taken positive steps to address the plight of sale and sexual exploitation of children in the country, in particular through specific legislation and incipient regional cooperation. However, if it wants to make real progress in combatting these phenomena and ensure remedies for child victims, it needs to tackle the problem of impunity for these crimes and develop an integrated formal national child protection system that provides care and recovery for child victims. By addressing these two main gaps, Lao PDR will be on the right path towards ensuring the implementation of its international obligations and political commitments regarding the SDGs.

Khop Chai - Thank you for your attention,

END