‘Being safe haven will not burden NMI’

The Commonwealth would bear no burden from becoming a safe haven for Vietnamese victims of human trafficking, according to the Attorney General’s Office and a non-profit organization that presented the concept to the CNMI.

The AGO and the United States International Mission Saipan held a joint press conference Friday afternoon to answer the concerns raised by Sen. Pete Reyes regarding the proposed safe haven regulations and their possible fiscal and social impact on the CNMI.

Attorney General Pamela S. Brown maintained that the proposed regulations only provide the framework to be used when the AGO negotiates a memorandum of agreement with a non-profit organization interested in establishing a safe haven in the CNMI.

The MOA, she said, would spell out more requirements for the entry of Vietnamese human trafficking victims currently living in Cambodia.

The children will never be allowed to go into the CNMI Public School System; they will be required to stay within the school system that will be negotiated in the MOA.

Furthermore, victims who are not eligible for Vietnamese passports will be issued United Nations passports to enable them to depart the CNMI when they need to. The sponsoring safe haven organization will also be required to secure letters from the Vietnam and Thailand governments that the victims will be allowed to return if and when they need to return, Brown said. USIM president David Sablan Jr. also stressed that his group would not bring in just any human trafficking victim, but only those who are found healthy and who exhibit a positive attitude toward rehabilitation during a strict screening process in Cambodia.

“We are looking at children who have a desire to improve their lives, who have been deceived in terms of where they ended up by these human traffickers, and who show a tremendous desire to be reunited with their families. These are the ones who can be rehabilitated quickly,” Sablan said.

USIM has made a self-imposed policy not to bring in any victims with medical problems, as the group does not have the resources for anything beyond rehabilitation, he added.

Sablan also reported that USIM had volunteer doctors, nurses, religious people, teachers, counselors, and psychiatrists who would take care of the children once they were brought into the CNMI.

“There will be no burden on the CNMI government; it’s completely privately funded,” he added.

Brown noted that, in southern California alone, there are 500,000 Vietnamese-Americans who are willing to help the children.

Vietnamese-Americans in the entire United States reportedly total about 1.4 million.

The project also has the backing of the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and foundations of singer Ricky Martin and actress Daryl Hannah.

Once in the CNMI, the victims will undergo a 90-day reflection period to help them adjust to their new life.

They will be housed in some sort of a boarding school to be established by the safe haven organization. They will be taught Vietnamese language, culture and history, sciences, and English.

They will also receive training on some usable skills that could help them assimilate to the Vietnamese-American population in the United States, for adoption, or to return to Vietnam and become self-supportive in their home country.

“A lot of people tend to think that [the victims] are ‘adults.’ These are children 8 to 16 years old. They’re not going to be running around Saipan doing whatever they want. They will be under supervision, they are minors,” Sablan stressed. “We have responsibility to ensure that they do not become a burden to the CNMI and get involved in any criminal activity. The concept is we’re going to rehabilitate these children.”

Sablan also said that, while adoption is one of the eventual options for the children, USIM would also try to reunite some of them with their family; specifically, those who were not in a situation where their families actually sold them.

The AGO is currently promulgating regulations to make the CNMI a safe haven for international victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution, particularly ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia.

“The Attorney General finds that the proximity of the CNMI to Southeast Asia and its plenary power over immigration provides a useful tool in fighting the global problem of human trafficking and forced labor,” the AGO states in a public notice.

“This regulation is intended to allow approved non-profit charitable corporations to establish a safe, healthy environment for victims while carefully continuing to monitor the entry of aliens into the Commonwealth,” the agency added.

According to the proposed regulations, the Safe Haven Entry Permit will be limited to children aged 8 to 16, who will be sponsored by a non-profit entity dedicated to rescuing victims of human trafficking and sexual slavery.

Initial permits would be issued for a 90-day period, but they may be renewed indefinitely at the attorney general’s discretion. A holder of such permit may eventually transfer to foreign student immigration status if he or she meets requirements.

The AGO will accept public comments on the proposed regulations until Dec. 25.