Friday 1 November 2002

Press Briefing Notes
Friday 1 November 2002
Spokesperson: Niurka Piñeiro

TIMOR LESTE - West Timor Refugee Returns May End in 2003
THAILAND - Improved Conditions for Migrant Detainees
MOLDOVA - EU Funding Boosts IOM Counter Trafficking Effort
ETHIOPIA - Labour Migration and Trafficking Workshop Adopts a Plan of Action
EL SALVADOR - Agreement for the Prompt Return of Vulnerable Salvadoran Migrants


TIMOR LESTE - West Timor Refugee Returns May End in 2003 - IOM is launching what may be a final attempt to encourage East Timorese refugees living
in West Timor to return home by the end of the year.

In a final bid to persuade the remaining camp population to return home, Timor-Leste President Xanana Gusmao is scheduled to begin a 4-day visit to West Timor today. IOM is providing logistical support for the visit, including transport for 50 members of his delegation on both sides of the border.

It is also providing transport for refugees from camps in Betun and other areas not included in the president's his itinerary to allow them to meet with him and hear his message of reconciliation.

There are now strong incentives for the remaining refugees to return home before year-end. The Indonesian authorities have agreed to provide Rp.1.5 million (US$162) per family as a Christmas Bonus" and the UN has threatened to revoke their status as refugees in need of international protection.

Many of the refugees remaining in the camps opposed Timor-Leste's decision to opt for independence from Indonesia and still fear reprisals from neighbours and the authorities for atrocities committed before and during the September 1999 ballot.

Since October 1999, IOM has helped some 170,000 East Timorese refugees to return home to Timor-Leste. Another 50,000 have returned spontaneously, but an estimated 30,000 remain in West Timor refugee camps, mainly in Kupang and the Belu border district.

IOM currently works closely with the Indonesian East Timorese Refugee Taskforce (SATLAK) to facilitate refugee returns from West Timor. Its assistance includes the hire of trucks to take returnees to the border. At the border, IOM Timor-Leste trucks pick up the returnees and take them back to their home villages. Returnees are also given a UN repatriation package comprising a one-month supply of food, a kitchen set, plastic sheeting, soap, a bucket, blankets, jerry cans and plastic mats.

THAILAND - Improved Conditions for Migrant Detainees - IOM Bangkok and UNICEF will today open a child day care room at the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center (IDC). Staffed by two specialists, the facility will provide regular day care for up to 30 children daily whose parents have been detained as irregular migrants by the Thai authorities.

The day care room will give children the opportunity to participate in activities, games, and arts and crafts during the two or three days that they typically stay in the IDC.

The Bangkok detention center houses an estimated daily population of 800 detainees. About half of them are migrant workers and their dependants from Myanmar, Cambodia and the Lao PDR. The remainder come from a wide variety of other countries.

IOM's previous work in the IDC has included training immigration police working at the center and migrant detainees in TB and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.

To date, 87 immigration police and over 1,000 migrant detainees have received the training. Wherever possible, it was conducted in the detainees' native language, with training materials prepared in English, Thai, Burmese, Khmer and Arabic. IOM hopes to extend similar programmes to all 10 of Thailand's Immigration Detention Centers.

MOLDOVA - EU Funding Boosts IOM Counter Trafficking Effort - EU funding is to extend IOM's counter trafficking activities in Moldova, where IOM has assisted almost 1,000 victims of trafficking over the past two years.

The Euro 600,000 EU grant will allow IOM to expand its work with the Moldovan authorities over the next 16 months in the areas of prevention, prosecution of traffickers and protection of victims.

The programme, which is designed to target the traffickers and strengthen the capacity of the authorities and civil society to combat the problem, is a response to Moldova's National Workplan for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and the EU's Framework Decision on Trafficking in Human Beings.

IOM's counter trafficking activities in Moldova, one of Eastern Europe's worst trafficking black spots, include awareness-raising efforts to warn potential victims and the general public of the dangers posed by traffickers.

Counter trafficking information is disseminated through print and electronic media, counter-trafficking ads in the local press, leaflets through local NGOs, and theater productions.

IOM also funds a telephone hotline for anonymous counseling and information services to potential and actual victims of trafficking, and their families. The same hotline also helps job seekers unsure of the validity of job offers abroad.

The EU funding will allow IOM to expand its work with the Ministry of the Interior's counter-trafficking units and the General Prosecutor's office to help the Moldovan authorities in their efforts to criminalize trafficking, prosecute the perpetrators and develop transnational cooperation with counter trafficking agencies abroad.

It will also provide additional training for prosecutors, judges and the police on how to deal with trafficking cases and the victims of trafficking. This will include study and networking visits to European Union countries.

Finally, the funding will contribute to the maintenance of IOM's Chisinau rehabilitation center, which provides shelter, medical care, psychological counseling, legal advice and vocational training to repatriated victims.

For more information, please contact IOM Moldova. Tel: +373. 223 29 40 iomchisinau@iom.int

ETHIOPIA - Labour Migration and Trafficking Workshop Adopts a Plan of Action - The IOM-sponsored National Capacity Building Workshop on Labour Migration and Trafficking held in Addis Ababa finished with the adoption of a plan of action

The workshop was aimed at providing assistance to the Ethiopian Government to review and improve its national policies, legal framework and migration management capacity.

The four-day event brought together representatives from the Philippines, Nigeria, India, Turkey, South Africa, Lebanon and the United States, who shared their experiences in regular and irregular migration as countries of origin, transit and destination. Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ethiopian Consulate in Beirut, the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, NGOs and the Ethiopian media were also present.

The participants adopted a Plan of Action, which calls for:
· the Government to strengthen the existing inter-ministerial committee led by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and establish dialogue with destination countries with the aim of signing bilateral agreements; and

· NGOs to assist in the return, rehabilitation and reintegration processes of the victims, and the media to raise public awareness about the risks of irregular migration.

At the same time, the private sector is expected to develop a partnership with the government and other stakeholders in order to improve the legality and security of the migration process and international organizations; and donors were asked to prioritize the mobilization of financial resources.

The Chief of the IOM Mission in Ethiopia, Meera Sethi, reminded participants of the need to share information and coordinate actions in order to combat traffickers. "There are many facets that must be taken into account when attempting to combat the trafficking of human beings. Trafficking involves gross violations of human rights, the need for better border management and law enforcement, special attention to the issues of minors, mental and physical health, labour and public information systems. All of these require comprehensive and coordinated attention from a range of partners. There is no single body that can effectively deal with all of these issues."

Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told participants of their government's efforts to provide timely and accurate information to the Ethiopian diaspora. Ethiopia's Consul General in Lebanon, Taye Tesfaye, recognized that Ethiopian migrant workers are a vulnerable group in that country, and that provisions must be made to protect their rights.

The IOM research, conducted in preparation for the information campaign "Innawaq!" (Be informed!), revealed that 78% of the migrants interviewed are unemployed, making the lack of income a major reason for Ethiopians to leave their home country in search of work. The results also indicated that the majority of the agents used by the respondents (60.6%) are not licensed.

For more information, please contact IOM in Addis Ababa Tel: 251-1 51 16 73 iom@telecom.net.et

EL SALVADOR - Agreement for the Prompt Return of Vulnerable Salvadoran Migrants - The IOM regional office in Costa Rica has signed an agreement with the Government of El Salvador and the CARECEN International (Centro de Recursos Centroamericanos) to assist migrants in desperate need of assistance to return home.

The agreement allows for the creation of a fund in order to expedite the return those who have been injured, are seriously ill, in a vulnerable situation, or migrants deceased abroad whose families do not have the funds necessary to return their bodies. IOM has provided an initial funding of US$62,000 to start the programme. For more information, contact IOM San José, Mr. Roberto Kozak Tel: 506.253.72.61 sanjose@iom.int