Approach to prevention

New Zealand does not have any known history of people trafficking; therefore the main focus of this Plan of Action is on prevention. Providing a strong and proactive response to dealing with people trafficking may offer greater deterrence to people traffickers from targeting New Zealand as a potential destination country.

Training to identify trafficking activity

Further training of government officials in anti-trafficking measures will ensure that staff can employ a common approach to dealing with suspected trafficking activity. In order to detect and provide the first response to people trafficking activity, frontline government officials from the main enforcement agencies need to know how to identify possible trafficking activity and what procedures to follow.

The New Zealand Police have implemented a new training module on people trafficking crimes for inclusion in the detective training syllabus. The Department of Labour trains compliance staff on indicators of people trafficking prior to every compliance operation in the sex industry and whenever there is a possibility the operation may expose staff to trafficking activity.

The Department of Labour is undertaking to extend training to more staff.  Some of this training will be specifically targeted to offshore officers who process visas.  This will increase New Zealand's capacity to detect trafficking before it reaches the border.  This will also ensure traffickers do not succeed in obtaining any New Zealand visas for their potential victims.  Another training initiative is to train border compliance staff, including Customs officers, on how to detect suspected trafficking activity at the border.  Department of Labour Health and Safety officers and Labour Inspectors will also be trained on how to detect trafficking activity during their visits to workplaces.

Key
Orange	Action item
Green	Business as usual

 

No.	Objective	Action	Timetable	Agency responsible	Measure
1	Government officials in operational roles are better equipped to identify and manage suspected people trafficking activity	Train operational staff on people trafficking indicators and appropriate responses	Short: Develop training Medium: Implement training	Police, DoL and Customs	Evaluation of the effectiveness of training materials and provision

Targeted awareness-raising

People trafficking is clandestine by nature and difficult to detect.  Greater awareness about what people trafficking entails will make it more likely that people trafficking can be detected.  It is vital that government officials, including those outside operational roles, know how to identify the indicators of people trafficking crimes and refer cases appropriately.  Similarly, individuals and communities may recognise and report signs of suspicious activity if they are more aware of people trafficking crimes.  

International experience has shown that the most prominent form of people trafficking is of women for commercial sex services.  Clients of sex services that exploit victims of trafficking may be unaware that they are engaging the services of a person in these circumstances.  Awareness needs to be raised within the sex industry so that workers and clients are encouraged to report any concerns.

No.	Objective	Action	Timetable	Agency responsible	Measure
2	Raise government officials'  awareness of people trafficking indicators	Develop information materials for government officials	Short: Produce intranet web-pages and information materials	Police and DoL	Survey of awareness
3	Raise public awareness of people trafficking crimes	Develop a targeted awareness campaign using a variety of media	Short: Develop and implement a public awareness campaign	DoL	Evaluation of awareness-raising campaign

Research on people trafficking

Further research on people trafficking would assist the New Zealand government to understand the risk people trafficking poses to New Zealand.  Research on people trafficking trends is particularly difficult because New Zealand has not experienced any verified cases of people trafficking from which to draw information.  The Department of Labour is currently identifying research priorities to address knowledge gaps relating to adverse impacts of migration. Research on people trafficking issues (in particular, best practice for victim assistance) has been included in the proposed work. 

No.	Objective	Action	Timetable	Agency responsible	Measure
4	Improve  understanding of the nature of people trafficking	Scope research on trafficking issues of relevance to New Zealand	Short: Scope research Medium: Ongoing research	DoL	Peer review of research undertaken

Intelligence-gathering

Investigations into suspected people trafficking activity must be intelligence-driven. It is essential that the various government agencies that gather information from a wide range of sources, including other governments, are able to share this information in an effective and lawful way to assist prevention strategies and investigations.  To further this aim, the Department of Labour has committed to undertaking an inter-agency Collection Plan of all people trafficking intelligence and the New Zealand Customs Service is redrafting a profile on people trafficking indicators for staff information. 

Due to the transnational nature of people trafficking crimes it is essential that enforcement agencies share information with other governments within the parameters of privacy and legislative obligations.  The New Zealand Police have established a National Intelligence Centre to be based in Wellington. The National Intelligence Centre will further enable both the Police and other agencies to share intelligence on many criminal matters, including information about suspected trafficking activity.

No.	Objective	Action	Timetable	Agency responsible	Measure
5	People trafficking intelligence is collated and shared appropriately	Collect information related to people trafficking activity on an ongoing basis	Short: Undertake  Collection Plan (DoL) Redraft Targeting Profile (Customs)	DoL, Customs and Police	Use of intelligence related to people trafficking
6	International intelligence related to people trafficking is shared lawfully and appropriately	Engage with countries in the region  for intelligence-sharing related to people trafficking	Ongoing engagement with the international community about regional trafficking trends	DoL, Customs and Police	Engagement increases the flow of valuable intelligence related to people trafficking

International engagement on people trafficking issues

People trafficking is a transnational crime.  New Zealand must, therefore, build relationships with other governments in the region to prevent and combat trafficking activity.  New Zealand participates in international efforts against people trafficking in a variety of ways. For example, New Zealand engages in bilateral, multilateral and regional fora where people trafficking issues are discussed. 

New Zealand contributes to a wide range of international fora on people trafficking issues. These fora include, but are not limited to:

• the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime
• the Pacific Immigration Directors' Conference
• the International Organisation for Migration
• Inter-governmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum, and Refugees
• the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

New Zealand also reports periodically on New Zealand's anti-trafficking efforts to both the United Nations and the United States' State Department.

The Department of Labour's Border Security Group and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Pacific Division focus efforts to build capacity of nations in the region, and to meet goals of New Zealand government, such as increasing border security and managing labour mobility effectively.

No.	Objective	Action	Timetable	Agency responsible	Measure
7	New Zealand engages meaningfully with international fora on people trafficking issues	Continue to participate in international fora and engagement on people trafficking issues	Ongoing	MFAT and DoL	Reporting by agencies on regional meetings, technical assistance  and other engagement initiatives

International development assistance to combat the causes of people trafficking

Poverty and lack of opportunity are ‘push factors' that can increase a person's vulnerability to being trafficked.  New Zealand has made commitments to the international community to assist developing nations in the region to eliminate poverty.  Overseas aid and development projects are coordinated by the New Zealand Agency for International Development, which is administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  Each year the New Zealand government provides funds to organisations who undertake anti–trafficking work in known trafficking source countries around the globe.

The Department of Labour employs a Regional Liaison Officer based in Apia, Samoa.  The purpose of this role is to work with Pacific Island nations, regional organisations, and other New Zealand agencies with interests in the Pacific to build capacity and capability in border security.  The development of capacity building projects in the Pacific and establishment of a network of key stakeholders by the Regional Liaison Officer facilitates the flow of robust information and intelligence within the department, and enables immigration risks to New Zealand to be proactively mitigated.  

No.	Objective	Action	Timetable	Agency responsible	Measure
8	Assist developing countries to reduce push factors that lead to people trafficking	Continue to offer development assistance for anti-trafficking projects in developing countries	Ongoing	MFAT and DoL	Statements of accounts for projects/ organisations funded. Reporting by agencies on technical assistance, regional meetings and other engagement activities

Enhancing border security to prevent traffickers targeting New Zealand

A key method to preventing people trafficking into New Zealand is ensuring that illegal migration and fraud that may be associated with trafficking is kept offshore. The concept of the New Zealand border has taken on a new meaning in recent times. Offshore posts and overseas airports are now considered to be ‘the border' alongside our international airports and sea ports. Border security is extended to this ‘offshore border' with the aim to keep potential illegal migrants from embarking on their travel to New Zealand in the first place.

Visa caseload vetting

Traffickers may seek to gain entry for their victims by attaining a genuine visa for their victim's admission to New Zealand. These applications are likely to contain fraudulent information.  Offshore immigration officers need to be supported by a repertoire of profiles and alerts to help them remain abreast of the evolving nature of people trafficking trends and activity in the region.  This will increase the capacity for immigration officers to more closely vet visa applications for possible trafficking activity.

No.	Objective	Action	Timetable	Agency responsible	Measure
9	Traffickers are unable to fraudulently secure a New Zealand visa for their potential victims	Strengthen fraud detection in immigration applications to detect people  trafficking	Short: Develop and implement profiles and risk alerts	DoL	Periodic review

Increased border security

Due to New Zealand's geographical location it is likely people traffickers and their victims would enter New Zealand by air. This creates an opportunity for prevention initiatives to be targeted at international airports. It is important for border security staff to be aware of people trafficking indicators and to be provided with information about travellers in a timely manner to enable them to interdict where necessary.

No.	Objective	Action	Timetable	Agency responsible	Measure
10	Strengthen onshore border security to detect people trafficking activity at air and sea ports	Develop risk profiles and alerts	Short: Develop and implement profiles and risk alerts	DoL and Customs	Reports from border staff about suspected trafficking activity

Measures against identity fraud

Traffickers may provide a fraudulent or stolen passport to facilitate entry to New Zealand for their victims. New Zealand constantly works to ensure that only genuine passports are accepted for use.  Passport verification is undertaken by a range of agencies. For example the Department of Labour's checks passports when processing immigration applications, the New Zealand Customs Service matches passports with passengers at international airports and the Department of Internal Affairs verifies identity when re-issuing passports. 

The Department of Internal Affairs is also responsible for monitoring and improving the integrity of the use of New Zealand passports. To meet this aim the Department of Internal Affairs builds capacity for other government agencies to detect fraudulent use of New Zealand passports.

No.	Objective	Action	Timetable	Agency responsible	Measure
11	New Zealand passports and identity documents are difficult to use fraudulently	Enhance the integrity of travel documents onshore and offshore	Short: Implement projects including the New Zealand Passport book upgrade and the enhancement of information sharing about lost and stolen passports	DIA	Analysis of fraud occurrences and measurement of uptake of DIA services and standards by other agencies
12	Travel documents and identity documents are difficult to obtain fraudulently	Enhance the integrity of issuance processes for travel documents, and provide the guidance required to enhance the integrity of other sources of identity documentation	Short: Promote use of the Evidence of Identity Standard and implement the Identity Assurance Framework	DIA	Analysis of fraud occurrences and measurement of uptake of DIA services and standards by other agencies