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IOM launches new anti-trafficking campaign

International Organization for Migration - IOM logo. IOM
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), told IRIN the Kyrgyz Republic was an increasingly attractive prospect for traffickers.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday launched a new public information campaign in Turkey aimed at raising awareness of the impact of human trafficking on children and families. One out of three women trafficked to Turkey - one of the major destination points for trafficking women from Central Asia for sexual exploitation - are mothers with children, according to the IOM. The centrepiece of the campaign is a television advertisement to be broadcast on national channels throughout the country, which straddles both Europe and Asia. The advertisement, entitled ‘Have You Seen My Mother?’, is focused on four children from the former Soviet Union in search of mothers trafficked to Turkey. A nationwide print campaign is also being launched. "Trafficking takes an enormous toll, not just on the women and girls who have been trafficked to Turkey, but on the children and families they are forced to leave behind," Marielle Sander Lindstrom, head of the IOM mission in Turkey, said in a statement. "Families and communities are paying an enormous price." The launch of the campaign coincided with the release of a new report on major trafficking trends in Turkey. Among the key findings of the report, entitled ‘2005: Turkey, Trafficking & Trends’, are that more than one-third of women trafficked to Turkey are mothers with children and that illegal profits from trafficking top more than US $1 billion annually. According to the report, some 470 individuals were identified as trafficked to Turkey in 2005. Of the 220 victims assisted by the IOM for repatriation, 17 percent were from Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. But this number is believed to be just a tip of the iceberg, or as little as 10 percent of the total. Experts note that Central Asia is a growing region of origin for human trafficking. "There is trafficking of women, mainly to the Gulf states, but also to South Korea, Turkey, Greece, western Europe, and countries in southeast Asia, such as Thailand and Malaysia. The main country of origin at this stage is Uzbekistan. This is [not surprising] as it has the largest population, followed by Tajikistan and Kygyzstan, and then Kazakhstan," Katerina Badikova, IOM trafficking officer in Almaty, told IRIN earlier. However, estimating numbers of those trafficked out of Central Asia is extremely difficult as no reliable statistics exist. Some observers say that every year up to 10,000 people, mainly young women destined for the sex trade, are taken from the region against their will, or under false pretences. Research on human trafficking is also thin on the ground, making assessments of the extent of the problem difficult. Every year, more than 4 million people globally become victims of human trafficking in what has become a business generating between $8 billion and $10 billion to criminal syndicates. The IOM’s new anti-trafficking campaign, coordinated by the Turkish government, includes increased public awareness activities, stepped up training for law enforcement and medical, psychological and direct assistance to trafficked individuals. The US government is funding the project to the tune of $600,000 with $100,000 worth of co-funding from the Turkish government. The Italian and Swedish governments also provide major support for IOM counter-trafficking programmes.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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