Working towards identification, protection of trafficked persons and exploited migrant workers in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon 26 March-Over the course of the past few years, a growing number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have adopted laws on combating human trafficking. Jordan and Saudi Arabia passed a law in 2009, Egypt in 2010, Lebanon in 2011, and Iraq in 2012. In addition to ratifying relevant international instruments, national legislation has laid the foundation for the creation of a whole of government approach to counter trafficking. Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt have formed national committees dedicated to combatting trafficking, while Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq have created specialized law enforcement units that deal specifically with trafficking cases. Despite these existing structures, identification of victims of trafficking remains a challenge and there are relatively few convictions of traffickers across the region. This suggests a need to reflect on current practices regarding identifying and protecting victims and convicting offenders. In order to address these difficulties, IOM has conducted three workshops for government officials in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan since the end of 2014 as part of the regional “Protect and Assist the Vulnerable and Exploited migrant workers in MENA” (PAVE) project. The workshops gathered counter-trafficking specialists, government officers, criminal justice agents, NGO actors, and representatives of labour-sending countries to create or strengthen the referral mechanism, which is a state and non-state actors’ cooperative framework through which victims of trafficking and exploited migrant workers are identified, protected, and provided
Participants at a PAVE workshop gather to build or strengthen frameworks, or referral mechanisms, to identify victims of trafficking. ©IOM 2015
with comprehensive assistance. As a result of the workshops, victim identification has improved in Iraq, and has enabled the identification of eighteen victims to date. In Lebanon, workshop participants noted the need for a formal referral mechanism. They plan to draw up internal guidelines that address the need for victim identification and protection, while also initiating coordination, trainings and roundtables for a wide range of stakeholders. In Jordan, progress is being made towards a policy proposal on national referral mechanism. Officials have drafted a working document and will take this forward through a short-term plan to gain more knowledge for an evidence-based national referral mechanism policy draft. Through the PAVE project thus far, 110 exploited and trafficked migrant workers in MENA have received comprehensive assistance—eighty-six per cent of individu-
For more on the evacuations please contact Fitriana Nur at fnur@iom.int, +96176620648
IOM MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: Flash Report Tel: +20 2 273 651 40/1 • Fax: +20 2 273 651 39 • iommenanews@iom.int • http://www.iom.int
als assisted were women, and the majority were employed as domestic workers. Direct assistance is provided by IOM in collaboration with government, civil society actors and private organizations. PAVE is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Interior, and aims to contribute to the protection of migrant workers against exploitation and trafficking in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. It includes six main activities: trainings, workshops, regional dialogues, study visits, victim assistance, awareness-raising, and research and analysis, implemented by engaging with civil society actors, government officials, migrants and the general public.