Clearing the air surrounding proposed Safe Haven regulations

By ATTY. STEPHEN NUTTING
Special to the Saipan Tribune

A great deal of misinformation has been spread about the United States International Mission and its efforts to establish a safe haven for children victimized by the sex-slave industry in Southeast Asia. Numerous “concerns” have been raised over the project and USIM would like to answer a number of the questions, which have been raised as follows:

What is United States International Mission and what is it that your organization plans to do with the refugees you hope to bring to the CNMI?

At the outset it should be made very clear that the children USIM hopes to rescue from the slave traders of Southeast Asia are not “refugees.” They are not fleeing oppressive governments to avoid political repression. They are victimized children who have been forced to suffer horrible indignities by evil and unscrupulous pimps and procurers who have forced them to commit unspeakable acts with the most deviant and often abusive pedophiles.

USIM Saipan is the local affiliate of a California non-profit corporation which was organized to support efforts to rescue children between the ages of 8 and 16, who have been the victims of human trafficking and the child sex slave industry in Southeast Asia. In pursuit of its humanitarian goals, USIM hopes to bring small groups of 20 to 30 children who will be housed in a residential structure, which is presently being renovated for that purpose. Through its broad-based fundraising efforts, USIM will provide for all of the needs of the children. Counselors, medical doctors, nurses, teachers, and other volunteers will be employed locally and from the U.S. to assist in USIM’s efforts to rehabilitate the children through counseling and education.

Will these children be a burden on the Public School System?

The children rescued by USIM will be enrolled in a private school to be established by USIM and will not be placed in PSS or mainstreamed into any existing private school. USIM will establish its own safe haven school, not only to provide these children with certain basic skills, but to also provide a sense of normalcy and purpose. USIM will work with PSS and the Northern Marianas Board of Regents to ensure that the school and its curriculum are properly accredited.

How will USIM fund the program and what will be the cost to the CNMI?

Funds will be generated from contributions from a network of Vietnamese-Americans living in the United States, and other ethnic Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese humanitarians around the world, who are sympathetic to the plight of these children. Contributions to relatives in Vietnam from Veietnamese living outside of Vietnam are officially estimated at $5 billion annually. Unofficially, that figure is closer to $15 billion. The generosity of these people and others sympathetic to the plight of these children will provide ample funds for USIM’s humanitarian efforts.

USIM does not intend to seek any funding from the CNMI government. Nor should the CNMI’s human resources and infrastructure be adversely affected. The children will be privately educated by USIM. While concerns have been raised of the possible impact on the Commonwealth Health Center and local health care providers, all of the children will undergo a complete health examination, before they will be allowed to come to the CNMI. If medical care is required at CHC, USIM will pay for all medical care either through its own funding programs or via a medical insurance program.

The regulations call for a 90-day “reflection period” followed by a possible transfer to a student visa for up to one year which may be renewed. How do you expect to rehabilitate these children in such a short period of time?

Admittedly, it may take years for a number of these children to regain their self-esteem, and to gain an understanding that they were not born to serve those who have forced them into sexual slavery for their own monetary gain. USIM does not know if it can “rehabilitate” these children in the short period of time it will have with them. Nevertheless, USIM feels obligated to try.

In order to increase the chance of success, USIM will conduct a pre-screening process in Southeast Asia. Candidates will be limited to those who were either kidnapped, or deceived into their situation in the first place. Candidates must also show a strong desire to improve their lives, and to either return to their families, or to live with relatives outside of Vietnam. Candidates must not be drug-dependent; and must not exhibit extreme psychological or emotional disorders.

Once on Saipan, the “reflection period” will give the children the opportunity to be children. It will also give counselor’s and staff members the opportunity to determine if further “rehabilitative” efforts will be productive and beneficial to the children. If so, they will be allowed to continue in USIM’s school. Thereafter, USIM will develop a plan to either repatriate the child back to their families in Vietnam, or to pursue a placement with relatives living outside of Vietnam or with foster or adoptive families. If a child shows promise for rehabilitation and cannot be placed in a family situation, she will be allowed to continue in the program. USIM is considering a scholarship program, which will allow a child to continue to pursue her education after leaving the program.

In the unhappy event that a child shows no inclination to improve her situation, or attempts to leave the program while on Saipan, or otherwise violates a CNMI law, the child will be returned to a USIM safe house in Thailand, where she will be allowed to remain as long as necessary. Unfortunately, if that child chooses to leave the program in Thailand, there will be little more that USIM can do. But at least, USIM will have given that child a chance for a better and more productive life, which was something she did not have before entering the program. .

If you have to return a child to Thailand, Cambodia, or Vietnam, how will they be able to travel without appropriate travel documents?

Arrangements have been made for children who will travel to Saipan to receive special passports and identification documents. Arrangements will be made to ensure that those countries will allow the children to transit and re-enter, if necessary before they will be allowed entry into the CNMI.

What’s in it for the CNMI, how does the CNMI stand to benefit?

Admittedly, the direct monetary benefits to the CNMI government may not be great. USIM’s program will create a number of other indirect benefits for the CNMI. A significant amount of money will be necessary to provide support for the children, and USIM’s employees, staff and volunteers. All of these funds will come from private and commercial donors outside of the CNMI and will be circulated in the local economy. Paid staffers will also pay taxes on the wages and salaries they will earn while working for USIM. Additionally, the CNMI will be exposed to the broad base of wealthy supporters of USIM, who may well consider the CNMI as an opportune place to make other, more profitable business investments. While USIM cannot promise immediate monetary riches for the CNMI arising from its humanitarian rescue mission, it believes that the old adage “Out of good deeds, grow great returns,” is particularly applicable here.

Why did USIM and the Attorney General attempt to “sneak” the children into the CNMI?

Neither USIM nor the AG acted under any shroud of secrecy. USIM has been very open and has been involved in numerous discussions with a large number of senior government officials, church leaders and other influential business leaders over the past four months. In August of this year, members of USIM International began meeting with senior officials in the CNMI to discuss its plans of rescuing children from the Southeast Asian slave traders and bringing them to the CNMI. USIM first met with Gov. Juan N. Babauta and the Attorney General to discuss the proposal. USIM was advised that the existing regulations would not permit the child victims to enter the CNMI, but because the CNMI controlled its own immigration, it might be possible to create regulations which would allow the children to enter the CNMI under a special visa. It was made apparent, however, that USIM would have to garner support from other sectors of the government and certain due diligence in the form of an investigation of USIM would have to be accomplished before USIM’s requests could be acted upon. .

While the Attorney General’s Office conducted its investigation of USIM, USIM met with a number of senior officials in the Commonwealth government and community leaders, including the Lt. Gov. Diego T, Benavente, and senior support staff in the Governor’s Office, the Speaker, and now Gov.- elect, Ben Fitial, the Senate President; the Senate Floor Leader, and members of their respective staff. Meetings were also held with Bishop Thomas Camacho, and Archbishop Anthony Apuron of the Archdiocese of Agana in Guam; and numerous other community leaders.

USIM did not offer any press release, principally because it had not received any assurance from the government that its proposal would be accepted.

Won’t bringing in these children create a great risk for the CNMI in losing its own control over immigration?

The CNMI has had tens of thousands of Chinese garment workers on Saipan for years. It has publicly announced a goal of bringing in 50,000 Chinese tourists each year. It is ludicrous to suggest that U.S. lawmakers would seek to takeover the CNMI’s control of immigration, not because of the thousands of aliens allowed into the CNMI as tourists and under non-resident workers contracts, but because it had taken steps to assist a few victims of the child sex slave industry in Southeast Asia.

On July 16, 2005, President George W. Bush declared that “human trafficking is one of the worst offenses against human dignity” and pledged that the United States would combat this problem with strict enforcement and “compassionate outreach to the victims.” If the CNMI were to answer the President’s call, U.S. lawmakers would be far more likely to commend the CNMI for its efforts in assisting these unfortunate children, than to criticize it. Those same lawmakers would also be forced to recognize that a US takeover would only serve to undermine the humanitarian efforts undertaken in the CNMI. If anything, the establishment of a “safe haven” in the CNMI would serve to dissuade federal takeover.

Why the CNMI?

There are a number of reasons why the CNMI was chosen. First and foremost is the fact that the CNMI controls its own immigration. It has the ability to promulgate regulations which will allow these children to enter into the CNMI where they can be safe from those who seek to recover them and place them back into the black market of human trafficking for the child sex trade industry in Cambodia. Additionally for the same reasons that the CNMI can allow the children in, it can keep those who would seek to interfere with USIM’s rescue efforts out.

Second, the CNMI is logistically ideal and is readily accessible by air from USIM’s safe houses in Bangkok. No other countries within the Pacific Rim offer the security, safety, or stability that the CNMI can offer. Other countries that may otherwise be suitable and might offer the necessary security, such as Japan, have restrictive immigration policies which prevent the entry of aliens, particularly aliens from Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam without special entry visa’s.

Finally, because of the diversity of Saipan and the generosity of the people of the CNMI, and the fact that we are part of the United States, where freedom and human rights are of a higher order, the children will be able to experience a life without fear of exploitation and degradation, and where they can experience the joys of childhood and freedom and acquire a sense of self-worth.

But the real answer to the question of “WHY THE CNMI” is, “BECAUSE WE CAN.”

What does USIM want from the CNMI and its citizens?

USIM is not asking for the financial support from the CNMI. It is not asking to use public lands. It is not asking the citizens of the CNMI to assist in any way, except to show the type of caring, loving and open hearts, for which the local people are famous. USIM is essentially asking for only one thing, and it is the same thing that these children are asking. They are asking for the opportunity to make a better life. Because USIM is not asking for anything from the CNMI, except its permission, this opportunity can be given to USIM and to these unfortunate children, merely by not standing in the way.

USIM will look forward to answering all additional questions at the pubic hearing on Dec. 29, 2005 at the Multi Purpose Center.

Atty. Nutting is the legal counsel of the United States International Mission Saipan.