Human trafficking on the rise

Officials of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have expressed concern over human trafficking in Kyrgyzstan, which is said to be on the rise due to poverty, high unemployment and inadequate legal regulation. "The risk of being trafficked remains high and there have been numerous victims applying for assistance," Damira Smanalieva, the IOM project director in the capital, Bishkek, told IRIN on Wednesday. She said there could be countless other victims who are scared of the law-enforcement authorities or afraid to come forward for other reasons. Smanalieva cited poverty and unemployment as the main causes of the problem. The potentially vulnerable groups were young people who saw no prospects for their future, women who had experienced domestic violence, poverty-stricken families, and those involved in low-paid physical work, she explained. Moreover, the country's legislation on human trafficking was outdated, and there was no law prescribing punishment for trafficking, she said. Aida Tynystanova, an IOM programme manager in Bishkek, also expressed concern over the rise of human trafficking in the country. "Kyrgyzstan is a destination, source and transit country in terms of human trafficking. According to a new survey still being conducted, the number of victims of human trafficking is on the rise," she told IRIN. Tynystanova said the destination countries varied from Kazakhstan and Russia to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Korea, China, Turkey and, to a lesser extent, Western Europe. In the case of the UAE and South Korea, victims of human trafficking were mostly women, while in Kazakhstan and Russia there were mostly cases of labour exploitation of males, especially in agriculture. She said one of IOM's surveys indicated that boys under 18 used to be trafficked, for example, to the UAE or further afield, mostly for sexual exploitation. Kyrgyzstan was on the US State Department's list of countries taking inadequate measures to combat human trafficking in 2002. This year, however, Kyrgyzstan has been removed from the list, and Smanalieva noted that this showed the government's efforts were being rewarded. In April 2002, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev had signed a decree on human trafficking and the establishment of a national council to coordinate government efforts to combat it, she added. A group of legal experts have begun work on amendments to the country's legislation to tackle the problem. Last Friday, this amendment package was approved by the upper body of the Kyrgyz parliament, and now goes on to be ratified by the lower body, and finally signed by the president. Smanalieva said that when the law was passed it would be a major step in combating human trafficking with proper legislation. However, she accepted that there could be many trafficked people who might not want to come forward due to intimidation, blackmail or threats, and she called for a clear and comprehensive system to protect victims and witnesses. Meanwhile, a nationwide anti-trafficking campaign is under way in Kyrgyzstan, with the close cooperation of the government, IOM and NGOs, aimed primarily at informing the population about its risks and dangers. Smanalieva stressed the need for further campaigns to inform university and high-school students who could fall prey to traffickers.