DEVELOPMENTS   

The fledgling government of Timor-Leste has made significant improvements to its interagency coordination of anti-human trafficking activities assisted by the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT).  In January 2008, UNMIT and civilian Timorese police successfully raided a sex trafficking ring and arrested 13 people who operated a sex trade in bars.  In response to this bust and other significant cases, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Alola Foundation hosted a two-day seminar in March 2008 on the challenges of countering human trafficking and best practices to mobilize local actors on the ground.  Though the United Nations Department of Peace Keeping Operations (UNDPKO) has instituted strict policies regarding UN staff patronizing such establishments, reports of sexual exploitation by UN staff continue to surface in Timor-Leste. 

BACKGROUND

Formerly a Portuguese colony, Timor-Leste

 became an independent country in 2002 after a short battle for independence from Indonesia and a period of administration under the United Nations. Under Indonesian occupation, the Timorese people suffered attacks, rapes and disappearances.  Currently, Timor-Leste is one of the poorest countries in the world and continues sinking into poverty.  Literacy among adults is approximately 50 percent, and the labor pool is generally unskilled.  By adopting Portuguese as the official language, political elites have used their power to maintain control of the masses, of which less than 10 percent is proficient in Portuguese.   

Timor-Leste is both a destination and origin country for human trafficking.  Women from Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and China are trafficked as sex slaves, and Burmese men are forced into labor.  Domestically, both Timorese women and men have been trafficked to the capital city of East Timor, Dili, for forced labor.  According to the State Department, the government of Timor-Leste has drafted a new penal code creating a definition for human trafficking and delineating the terms of punishment for human trafficking offenders.  However, it has yet to enact the code.  The government has recognized the need for assistance to victims established some services, such as shelters, in response; but the government does not encourage victims to participate in investigations, nor are counseling services or other support offered on a regular basis.   Although there is a biannual intergovernmental task force which focuses on human trafficking, the task force has had little impact on human trafficking so far.

Though 30 percent of sex workers in Dili are trafficked from a foreign country, many sex workers are Timorese women who have voluntarily entered the sex trade because of a serious economic need or to escape a violent episode earlier in life, such as rape, which may have eroded their self-esteem and marriage prospects.  Many Timorese women are trafficked out of the country to serve in sex trades in places like Syria where they have little hope of escaping their captors.  Male sex workers, who account for approximately 30 percent of the trade, enter primarily for economic reasons.   However, more than 700 men from other Asian nations have been trafficked into Timor-Leste as construction workers, making little or no money.   

In most regions of the world, the penalty for human trafficking is less severe than that of trafficking drugs or small arms.  However, such light punishments belie the reality that human trafficking is a pervasive criminal activity that paves social channels for other serious crimes.  In the Balkans, human trafficking is a precursor for increasing transnational crime.  Law enforcement officials may turn a blind eye to trafficking or become complicit in the trade themselves.  Smuggling routes, money laundering and other criminal infrastructure become more professionalized, and transnational networks are established and expanded.  Sometimes, these established criminal networks can be even more professional and better resourced than the government.

Long-term health and human rights are greatly impacted by trafficking in persons.  A government weakened by criminal activity is unlikely to possess the political will or capacity to enact measures to protect the rights of children, women or laborers; nor will it develop its education system, strengthen wages or invest in a strong civil society.  Furthermore, these problems will spread to neighboring regions, causing further instability in Indonesia and increasing the security burden in Australia and beyond. 

ANALYSIS

As seen in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (among other conflict zones), many of the women trafficked into Timor-Leste for sexual exploitation were intended to service the international security and humanitarian workers that arrived in the country post-conflict, while men trafficked into the country have served war entrepreneurs who take advantage of the need for quick construction of buildings and other infrastructure.   

The Department of State and the International Organization for Migration have been pushing the Government of Timor-Leste to accelerate the enactment of the penal code and prosecution of traffickers.  If the penal code is enacted, it would include penalties of five to twelve years for trafficking; so far, it has had no impact on prosecutions.  Still, there are other statutes which allow authorities to pursue charges against perpetrators such as document fraud or bribery.  Furthermore, the Government should ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, which is a complementary protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Crime. 

Finally, it is key that international organizations focus on encouraging better governance and increasing professionalization of Timor-Leste’s military and police, as well as increasing capacity to take over civilian policing from UNMIT.  Recruitment of female police and military would help boost the confidence of victims, as well as elevate the awareness of trafficking and aid in the elevation of women’s rights in Timorese society.  UNMIT must also provide swift punishment of any mission members involved in any aspect of trafficking, including the patronage of brothels or hiring of contracting firms that use forced labor.  

Jennifer Nikolaeff is a development and security professional with experience in capacity development for post-conflict societies, livelihoods development for children emerging from armed conflict, and nuclear security policy.  She is currently pursuing her master's in Peace Operations Policy from George Mason University.

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