Tuesday 10 December 2002

Press Briefing Notes
Tuesday 10 December 2002
Spokesperson: Niurka Piñeiro

COTE D'IVOIRE - IOM Staff Flee to Liberia and Guinea
KOSOVO - Launch of New Information Campaign
ALBANIA - Investigative Journalism and Trafficking of Human Beings
USA - Participatory Elections Project (PEP) Website Launched





COTE D'IVOIRE - IOM Staff Flee to Liberia and Guinea - On Sunday, IOM re-established contact with four staff members who had fled the western town
of Danané, near the Liberian border ahead of a rebel offensive.

All four, who were working on IOM's US Resettlement Programme (USRP) are now safely in neighbouring Liberia and Guinea after having fled Danané on foot almost two weeks ago.

IOM's Operation Assistant, James Kennedy fled the besieged town in the early hours of 28 November with his wife, four children and three nephews and nieces. The group walked for two days before reaching the Gbinta border crossing on the Liberian border.

"There was fear in peoples' eyes. We were part of a mass exodus. It took us two days to cover the 40 kilometres between Danané and Gbinta. My children were exhausted and hungry. As we crossed the bridge over the Cavally River into Liberia, I realised my children were missing. It is only hours later I found them amongst the refugees." After having spent some time on the Liberian border, where hundreds of people are arriving on a daily basis, the family decided to try and reach the capital, Monrovia.

From the Liberian border, James Kennedy and his family continued to walk towards the town of Ganta. "Everyone was so exhausted after this ordeal. When night came, we slept in a small village. The following morning we resumed our journey. Later that day, I stopped a lorry, which was heading towards Kakata, on the Ngbarnga-Monrovia highway and paid the driver 30 000 CFA (some US$46) to take us to Kakata."

Once in Kakata, James and his family met up with refugees who had also fled Danané, fearing for their lives. "They say they fear reprisals should Danané falls back into governmental hands. They told me my house had been shelled just after we had fled."

Another IOM staff member, Ruthie Dolley, also fled Danané on 28 November. "When I left, helicopter gunships were bombing the town. I took refuge in a nearby town before walking towards the border. When I arrived in Gbinta, the rebels were telling people to return to Danané. Thousands of people were waiting to get across."

The IOM staff in Danané was working with a group of 1,900 refugees, mostly from Liberia, to prepare them for resettlement in the United States. Since the attempted coup on 19 September, IOM has managed to organize the resettlement of 26 Liberian refugees to the US.

Meanwhile, in the economic capital Abidjan, the IOM shelter in Deux Plateaux is currently providing shelter to 146 Liberian, Sierra Leonean, Congolese, Togolese and Sudanese nationals made homeless by arson attacks. All fear reprisals from the local population.

KOSOVO - Launch of New Information Campaign - Irregular migration = loneliness and lost identity. Is it worth it? With this slogan, the IOM office in Pristina is launching a six-month mass information campaign to inform potential migrants in Kosovo, Albania and the FYR of Macedonia of the risks and consequences of resorting to irregular migration.

The campaign also provides information on the legal possibilities available for persons wishing to emigrate, as well as the day-to-day realities of life abroad. The campaign includes leaflets, posters, billboards, TV and radio spots in Albanian and Macedonian.

The campaign also informs potential migrants on what to expect in case of prolonged illegal stays in Belgium, whose government is funding the campaign, and information on the Belgian asylum law.

The campaign tells potential migrants, "To move freely is a right, but, if you decide to visit or travel abroad without visa, even if you intend to return, this may lead to imprisonment and deportation." Irregular migrants have limited knowledge of the situation they will face abroad. Irregular migrants who manage to reach their final destination or find themselves stranded in a transit country face a clandestine and isolated life. "Only as a regular migrant can you have full access to social security, education and health care. Without these rights you will be only a shadow of who you were when you were still living in your home country."

The information provided is aimed at helping potential migrants make realistic decisions about their future and dissuade them from irregular means of migration, including being lured by traffickers.

In Kosovo, the information campaign includes the distribution of leaflets in association with Teuta Magazine and the daily newspaper Koha Ditore. All IOM offices throughout the province will provide posters and billboards; radio and TV spots to be broadcast by Radio Kosovo, Urban F.M and RTK, and Urban FM. A hotline number, operating from Monday to Friday, will provide information about the safe and legal travel procedures that should be followed for work, study or permanent residence abroad.

ALBANIA - Investigative Journalism and Human Trafficking - IOM Tirana hosted a two-day seminar on human trafficking for selected investigative journalists from Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Moldova and Ukraine.

The seminar, which included guest speakers from BBC World and TF1, addressed media coverage of human trafficking issues, investigative techniques and constraints in the various countries represented.

The seminar was funded by the EU's High Level Working Group and followed a similar regional workshop organized by IOM in Romania in October. Both events were designed to establish links between media in the region, to provide a forum for information exchange on a transnational phenomenon, and to open the way for possible cooperative projects in the future.

USA - Participatory Elections Project (PEP) Website Launched - IOM announces the launch of a new IOM Website http://www.iom.int/pep providing a global overview of the practices, standards, and policy issues surrounding election processes during periods of post-conflict or forced migration. The Website provides information on the level of access that refugees or displaced persons have to political processes in 28 countries.

In addition, it also provides links to national and regional election information, current status and updates on refugee and IDP groups, a global election calendar, and links to organizations involved in election issues. The PEP Website is meant to be an information tool for all persons interested in election issues surrounding forced migrants and post-conflict societies.

The overall objective of PEP is to research, develop, and facilitate the recognition of international standards for the political rights of conflict-forced migrants. In fulfilling this objective, PEP identifies and promotes those practices that will provide greater equity for migrants displaced by conflict to register, vote, and run as candidates, than is currently the case. Such standards would hopefully help assure that political rights are universally respected. It is expected that by adopting such standards, the credibility of the electoral process could be enhanced, connections with home issues facilitated, and the prospects for further conflict and out - migration reduced.

The program is funded by USAID's Office for Democracy and Governance and is ongoing through March 2003.