*EPF501 08/18/00
Excerpts: Seven Women Rescued from Trafficking Scheme in Cambodia
(IOM assistance funded by United States) (1210)
Seven women who were trafficked for sexual exploitation to Cambodia headed home to Central Europe August 17 with assistance from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). According to an August 18 news release from the organization, Cambodian police found the victims -- five Romanians and two Moldovans aged 18 to 24 -- during a hotel raid days earlier.
The women told the Cambodian municipal court that a Romanian company had promised them jobs as dancers and models. But upon arrival in Cambodia, their passports were confiscated by a hotel manager and they were forced to work as prostitutes, the release states.
IOM's assistance efforts in this case were the first to make use of a U.S. Government fund of $280,000 to help trafficked women and children stranded outside their countries. As many as 700,000 women and children are trafficked yearly across borders, the U.S. Department of Justice estimates.
The IOM is an international, intergovernmental organization focused exclusively on migration issues. Seventy-six nations are member states.
News and information on IOM's programs are available at:
http://www.iom.int
Following is the text of the news release and excerpted IOM background information:
(begin text of the news release)
International Organization for Migration
Geneva, Switzerland
August 18, 2000
Cambodia - Trafficking
IOM has returned home seven women (five Romanians and two Moldovans) who were trafficked for sexual exploitation to Cambodia. The women were flown home yesterday escorted by an IOM staff member and were met in Bucharest by IOM and IOM's partner NGOs (non-government organization) Salvati Copiii and Reaching Out. The two Moldovan women were put on a flight to Chisinau late Thursday afternoon.
The women, aged between 18 and 24, told the Cambodian municipal court that a Romanian company had promised them jobs as dancers and models. But upon arrival in Cambodia, their passports were confiscated by a hotel manager and they were forced to work as prostitutes.
Last Sunday, Cambodian police raided Phnom Penh's Best Western Cangi Hotel where they found these women. The women claimed to have arrived in Phnom Penh on 26 July after transiting through Istanbul and Bangkok, where they were met by the owner of the Best Western Hotel. The Cambodian police arrested the man, but released him after questioning. Court officials indicated there was no evidence to prosecute him, although he admitted holding their passports "but only as collateral until they paid back travel expenses".
IOM would like to see the Cambodian authorities identify and prosecute those responsible. Police in Cambodia are searching for a Romanian woman who has been charged "in absentia" with trafficking in humans.
These victims of trafficking are the first to be assisted using IOM's new fund designed to help women and children victims of trafficking in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, (excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand). This US$280,000 fund has been made available to IOM by the US Government to provide immediate assistance to trafficked women and children stranded outside their countries.
As part of IOM's global effort to combat trafficking, IOM Cambodia runs a programme of return and reintegration for Cambodian and Vietnamese women and children who have been trafficked in the Mekong Region. In Phnom Penh, IOM is running a mass information campaign aimed at raising awareness amongst potential victims and the public at large.
(end text of the IOM news release)
(begin excerpted background text from IOM)
Background
. . . .IOM's Counter-Trafficking Service provides assistance and protection to victims and guidance to IOM field missions and member states for the prevention of trafficking in human beings. . . .
Migrant trafficking and smuggling has become a global business generating huge profits for traffickers and organized crime syndicates. A recent IOM study revealed that at any one time there are an estimated 15 to 30 million irregular migrants worldwide. Of this total, the United States Department of Justice estimates that 700,000 women and children are trafficked yearly across borders. Because of their clandestine nature, irregular migration and trafficking are likely to remain significantly underreported crimes. Reliable statistics are kept on apprehensions of unauthorized migrants at borders and on arrests of traffickers, amongst other things, but these figures account for a small fraction of the overall problem.
Trafficking exposes migrants to exploitation and violation of their fundamental human rights. Trafficked migrants are often dependent on their agents and employers, and are therefore extremely vulnerable. Because they have to pay back a debt to traffickers, migrants frequently find themselves confined to sweatshops, factories, or are forced into prostitution or begging, often controlled by criminal networks. In addition, migrants who lack valid travel documents are primarily regarded as irregular migrants, and are therefore subject to deportation in many countries. Because of their irregular status, they do not have access to legal assistance and medical care.
In many parts of the world possibilities for legal migration have decreased whilst demand for foreign labour has remained constant. This, together with poverty, lack of opportunities, political and social violence in the countries of origin, may force potential migrants to turn to criminal networks. As a consequence, new trafficking routes are regularly established and the market for fraudulent travel documents, clandestine transportation and border crossing has developed worldwide.
For IOM, trafficking occurs when: a) A migrant is illicitly engaged (recruited, kidnapped, sold, etc.) and moved, either within national or across international borders; or b) Intermediaries (traffickers) obtain economic or other profit by means of deception, coercion and other forms of exploitation under conditions that violate the fundamental rights of migrants. A distinction should be made between trafficking and smuggling of migrants. The term smuggling defines the service provided by intermediaries who organize illegal crossing of international borders. . . .
IOM Assistance Services
Protection -- In coordination with NGOs, international organizations and government agencies, IOM provides shelter and assistance for victims of trafficking.
Counselling -- IOM provides legal and medical counselling and assistance to trafficked migrants in transit and receiving countries. In cooperation with NGOs and/or ministries of health and other concerned parties, IOM seeks to address the health care needs of trafficked migrants.
Return/Reintegration -- IOM offers voluntary return and reintegration assistance to trafficked migrants. Return travel and reintegration assistance is tailored to the individual situation of the migrant.
Information dissemination programmes -- IOM organizes mass information campaigns in countries of origin in an effort to make potential migrants aware of the risks of irregular migration and trafficking.
Capacity building -- IOM provides training to increase the capacity of governmental and other institutions to counteract trafficking in migrants.
Research -- IOM undertakes research to focus attention on the problem of trafficking, raise general awareness, and provide governments and other actors with essential information for developing various forms of intervention.
Seminars and policy -- IOM organizes seminars and forum activities in order to raise general awareness on trafficking, share experience amongst the various partners, disseminate results from research, coordinate/harmonize polices and measures, and create formal and informal networks dealing with the issue.
(end excerpted background text from IOM)
News and information on IOM's programs can be viewed at http://www.iom.int
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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