IOM COUNTER-TRAFFICKING PROGRAM IN CENTRAL ASIA

Transcription

1 June 2011 IOM COUNTER-TRAFFICKING PROGRAM IN CENTRAL ASIA IOM AND GENERAL PROSECUTOR S OFFICE OF KAZAKHSTAN ENHANCES COUNTER- TRAFFICKING COOPERATION IN CENTRAL ASIA THROUGH A REGIONAL DIALOGUE In this edition: Kazakhstan: Joint Trainings for Labor Inspectorate and Migration Police Kyrgyzstan: 189 Counter Trafficking Hotline Launched in Kochkor Village of Naryn Tajikistan: Round Table with Religious Leaders, Law Enforcements and NGO Partners Turkmenistan: Building 3 Capacity of CT NGOs Network for Effective Assistance to Victims of Trafficking IOM, together with the General Prosecutor s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan hosted a regional dialogue Enhancing Partnership of Central Asian Countries in Combating Trafficking in Persons as a Consequence of Irregular Migration on May 27, 2011 in Astana (Kazakhstan). The aim of the event was to streamline and standardize countertrafficking approaches in the region. The regional dialogue was financed by the USAID, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US State Department s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP). Next regional dialogue will take place in Almaty in 2012 and will allow monitoring implementation of recommendations developed by representatives of law en- Uzbekistan: 10 Years Together. «Istikbolly Avlod s Anniversary 4 strengthen regional cooperation among the Central Asian law enforcement bodies and NGOs engaged in combating human trafficking and protecting the victims of trafficking. This dialogue provided a platform for sharing experiences, discussing relevant issues, and developing recommendations. It was the first regional counter-trafficking dialogue organized in the framework of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Counter Trafficking Project in Central Asia designed to forcement, General Prosecutor s Office, migration services and CT public organizations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan during the first regional dialogue in Astana. Recommendations of the Regional Dialogue can be found at

2 Page 2 Kazakhstan: Joint Trainings for Labor Inspectorate and Migration Police in Aktobe, Petropavlovsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk During the period of November May 2011, IOM Kazakhstan provided three twoday intensive trainings on Migration Management and Combating Trafficking in Persons for labour inspectors and migration police officers from West, North and East Kazakhstan regions. The training programme was developed to promote policies and institutional procedures to respect, protect and fulfill labour migrants rights throughout the migration cycle as well as to increase awareness of human trafficking, specifically labor exploitation, and to improve skills to identify victims of trafficking, in particular foreign victims of labor trafficking. Three trainings were organized in close cooperation with the partner NGOs Women Support Center in Aktobe and Petropavlovsk and NGO Phoenix in Ust- Kamenogorsk, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Kazakhstan. During the training sessions, the participants discussed Migration Trends in Kazakhstan, Migration and Anti- Trafficking Legislation, Irregular Migration issues. The participants were trained on identification of trafficking victims and cooperation between anti-trafficking governmental and non-governmental actors. Next two trainings will be conducted in Shymkent and Almaty in June Kyrgyzstan : 189 Anti-Trafficking Hotline Launched in Kochkor village of Naryn Oblast Today the Kyrgyz Republic has already gained a substantial experience of successful functioning of 189 counter trafficking hotline. The work of the hotline in Naryn Oblast run by Nurjolber Public Organization (PO) deserves a special mention. In the period from 18 to 26 April 2011 the staff of PO running the hotline together with Mayors Office of Naryn and the City Department of Education have conducted a series of workshops Prevention of Human Trafficking for teachers and students of high schools and vocational schools. During the workshops the anti trafficking movie Umutko Sapar done by Nurjolber PO in the framework of Counter Trafficking Information Campaign was demonstrated to the participants. Since January 2011 the operators of hotline have identified 8 victims of trafficking who have got direct assistance in terms of reissuance of documents, vocational trainings, purchase of equipment to arrange business and make profit, medical assistance etc. The launch of Kochkor Counter Trafficking Hotline was advertised in local newspaper; leaflets have been distributed in the center of the district and in densely populated areas, in particular in the central bazaar (market) and in supermarkets. In addition to direct consultations on the hotline the staff of Nurjolber PO has found a possibility to open the branch of hotline service in the neighboring Kochkor district. The State District Center of Employment and Migration has provided a substantial aid to make this happen. It provided the space and one of its land lines to have a fully fledged anti trafficking hotline service on migration and counter trafficking issues in the Center. Especially for this brunch and State Centers of Employment and Migration in Atbashi and Djumgal districts the Nurjolber PO has produced banners with counter trafficking information and 189 counter trafficking hotline number. The work of the branch of 189 Counter Trafficking hotline in Kochkor is gathering pace; the number of people calling to get consultancy is increasing; and that would inevitably ensure that potential migrants are more informed on risks of irregular migration and human trafficking. IOM Kyrgyzstan

3 Tajikistan: Round Table with Religious Leaders, Law Enforcements and NGO Partners Page 3 A Round Table has been organized in the framework of counter-trafficking program in Central Asia, funded by IOM through USAID, which brought together the key representatives of the power structures, law enforcement officials, religious leaders, and Government. The particular success of the Round Table was the participation of the Chairman of the Ulamo Council in Sogd oblast and Imam- Khatibs of the major and biggest mosques in Khujand - Sheikh Muslihitditdin and Noori Islam mosques, whose speech and presentations impressed the audience with the constructive dialogue and profound knowledge of the problem. Big attention was paid to the trend of the internal trafficking that has been confirmed by the impressive examples and stories from the life of our citizens. The participants confirmed that despite the considerable experience in combating human trafficking obtained within the years, much of the information provided has been new for them and is the real cause for alarm. Actually, taking into account the growing tendency of the internal human trafficking, the measures and actions to prevent and combat trafficking in persons in the internal market should be enhanced. Within the discussions, strong examples were given out of the basis of the religion of Islam and Prophet Muhammad, confirming the condemnation of slavery in Islam. Religious figures and Imam-Hatibs expressed their readiness to fruitful cooperation. They suggested initiation of the regular TV and radio programs with experts, professionals and religious leaders on the issue of human trafficking. Show of the video trailers had a strong impression on the participants who valued the job of the creative group and suggested to broadcast them widely through local TV channels. Participants were encouraged to suggest organization of the outside training courses and study tours and visits to study good practices in combating human trafficking and application of gained knowledge and skills in their work. It was decided to establish a working group responsible to arrange the activities of the anti-trafficking coordinating structure. This event was a successful indicator of the high motivation of the officials in cooperation and strengthening the effectiveness of the fight against human trafficking. It was the first event, conducted on the oblast level with a wide range of the key representatives who pledged to consolidate their capacities, knowledge, experience and re- Turkmenistan: Building Capacity of CT NGOs Network for Effective Assistance to Victims of Trafficking On rd of April, 2011 the Mission of International Organization for Migration (IOM) conducted training in Ashgabat on Rehabilitation and Reintegration Programs for Victims of Trafficking. The training was organized for members of CT NGO Network, which represents NGOs and public organizations of Turkmenistan involved in raising public awareness on TIP issues as well as providing rehabilitation and reintegration assistances to victims of trafficking (VOTs). The two experienced trainers and leading experts on providing direct assistance to victims of trafficking were invited to conduct the training: Elena Morgun from Ukraine and Nazifa Kamalova from Uzbekistan. Trainers familiarized participants with the methods of identifying potential victims of trafficking and shared their experiences on assessing reintegration needs of VOTs, conditions and peculiarities of providing direct assistance to victims of trafficking. The training participants were introduced into the National Referral System (NRS) for VOTs and continued by developing NRS plan in small working groups based on a real trafficking case. Trainers introduced participants with the existing best practices of NGOs cooperation with law enforcement agencies to identify the victims of trafficking and to protect their rights, as well as cooperation with the many other organizations and state agencies in the process of victims rehabilitation and reintegration. During the training, representatives of the NGOs network had the opportunity to learn Uzbek experience of VOTs reintegration and assistance in ensuring the economic stability of victims of traff ic king though providing financial credits for organizing small business. The NGOs network discussion took place at the final part of the training, where participants had an opportunity to raise and discuss the issues from their practice and receive trainers recommendations on the direct assistance to victims of trafficking. At the end of the training participants emphasized that provided knowledge, information and handout materials are very useful for them, particularly in providing effective rehabilitation and reintegration assistance to trafficked victims as well as for raising public awareness on IOM s assistance programs to victims of trafficking.

4 Page 4 Uzbekistan: 10 Years Together On May 16, 2011 NGO Istiqbolli Avlod Tashkent celebrated its 10-year anniversary. 10 Years Together - was the slogan chosen for the celebration. This slogan had been chosen for a reason for the whole period of its active work in the field of combating human trafficking in Uzbekistan, NGO Istiqbolli Avlod Tashkent has established an effective partnership with a multitude of state, nongovernmental, international organizations, and even with business structures, in order to implement a variety of projects in this field. It is especially necessary to note joint work with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the framework of the established cooperation with this ministry, joint action plans to prevent human trafficking and to provide direct assistance to those who have suffered from this crime are signed annually. Another old and crucial partner of the organization is the Women's Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, together with which a plethora of round tables and seminars on this problem have been conducted, as well as many women victims of human trafficking have been assisted. Together with the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and with embassies and consulates of Uzbekistan abroad many victims of human trafficking have been assisted in return to their motherland. Apart from state structures there is an impressive list of international organizations, with which NGO Istiqbolli Avlod Tashkent has been cooperating IOM, USAID, INL, OSCE, UN, US Embassy, World Bank, Mama Cash, VIVERE, Global Fund for Women, Fair Fund. A special place in this list belongs to the most significant strategic partner the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with which Istiqbolli Avlod has been collaborating since 2002, implementing the USAID funded project Combating Trafficking in Persons in Central Asia. During this time, over 3,000 people-survivors of human trafficking have been assisted. Over 100,000 people, who called the hotlines of NGO Istiqbolli Avlod Tashkent and its partner organizations in 8 regions of the country, received free of charge and confidential consultations on the issues of legal employment abroad and measures to prevent themselves of becoming a victim of human trafficking. A large number of information materials on this problem has been published and disseminated at all the events, conducted in the framework of this project. We wish NGO Istiqbolli Avlod Tashkent prosperity and success, and hope to celebrate its 20-year anniversary together. ГОРЯЧИЕ ЛИНИИ МОМ ПО ПРОТИВОДЕЙСТВИЮ ТОРГОВЛЕ IOM COUNTER-TRAFFICKING ЛЮДЬМИ В ЦЕНТРАЛЬНОЙ HOTLINES IN АЗИИ CENTRAL ASIA Казахстан Kazakhstan (landline) 15(с наземных линий) (mobile phones) (с мобильных телефонов) Kyrgyzstan 189 (inside the country) Кыргызстан Tajikistan 189 (внутри страны) Turkmenistan Таджикистан Uzbekistan Туркменистан

5 T H E I O M C O U N T E R - T R A F F I C K I N G P R O G R A M I N C E N T R A L A S I A Mr. Zlatko Zigic IOM Regional Coordinator for Central Asia Tel: zzigic@iom.int REGIONAL CT STAFF Ms. Bermet Moldobaeva tel: bmoldobaeva@iom.int KAZAKHSTAN Ms. Aliya Alikova tel: aalikova@iom.int KYRGYZSTAN Ms. Janna Salieva tel: jsalieva@iom.int TAJIKISTAN Mr. Bahrom Rahmatjonov tel: brahmatjonov@iom.int TURKMENISTAN Ms. Mahym Orazmuhamedova tel: morazmuhamedova@iom.int UZBEKISTAN Ms. Nodira Karimova tel: nkarimova@iom.int Charity and Creativity: IOM s Main Principles in Providing Rehabilitation Assistance to Victims of Trafficking In 2009 the mother of Alina applied to NGO Istiqbolli Avlod asking for assistance in repatriating her daughter from the UAE. But a few days later the mother came to the NGO office again and took all the application documents saying that her daughter had called her and said that she was fine, and if the mother applied anywhere Alina would have many problems. In April 2011 Alina s mother applied to NGO Istiqbolli Avlod again and informed that her daughter s health worsened badly, and she finally decided to escape from the woman who had been exploiting her all that time. Alina also informed that her trafficker s daughter would help her escape. The psychologist of NGO Istiqbolli Avlod contacted Alina directly on the phone (Alina had already been informed by her mother and was waiting for her call), Alina told her that they were planning to escape in 2-3 days and then to apply to the UAE police. The NGO psychologist suggested her to apply to the representatives of the Orthodox Church in the UAE providing assistance to Russian speaking girls victims of trafficking. At that moment Alina did not believe anybody and therefore firmly decided to apply to the police only. A few days later the NGO psychologist contacted Alina again. This time her trafficker s daughter answered her informing that Alina was already in one of the immigration prisons of the UAE. The information was immediately forwarded to the representatives of the Orthodox Church in the UAE, who in their turn visited the victim in that prison. In cooperation with NGO Istiqbolli Avlod the repatriation process started. Alina returned home in May At present, in the framework of the USAID funded Counter Trafficking Project in Central Asia she is receiving legal assistance the NGO lawyer is accompanying her to the local law enforcement bodies, for writing and submitting a statement against her trafficker. Alina is also receiving medical and psychological assistance in IOM shelter. IOM s counter-trafficking program in Central Asia is generously supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) and the U.S. State Department International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau (INL).