Friday 19 September 2003

Press Briefing Notes
Friday 19 September 2003
Spokesperson: Niurka Piñeiro

1. SPAIN - Assisted Voluntary Return Programme
2. ALBANIA - A Migration Management System
3. KOSOVO - Psychological Support and Services for Victims of Trafficking
4. PHILIPPINES - Theatre Information Campaign by Returnee Entertainers

SPAIN - Assisted Voluntary Return Programme - The IOM office in Madrid has launched a six-month pilot programme to assist migrants currently in Spain to return to their countries of origin.

This programme aims to assist those who, given the reality of their condition in Spain, have expressed their desire to return home but generally lack the means to do so. During the pilot phase, IOM expects to assist some 150 migrants.

Official government figures report that at 31 December 2002 there were 1.3 million foreigners residing legally in Spain. For the same period, the number of foreigners registered at the municipal level reached almost two million (1,977,946) - 287,840 from Africa and 322,604 from the Americas. This number would include irregular migrants who are able to register at the local level to avail themselves of basic social services.

A number of these newly arrived migrants have not obtained the results they had hoped for when they decided to migrate and are living in conditions of social exclusion and destitution. The failure to achieve economic and social integration in Spain has pushed a significant number of foreign nationals to survive mostly on assistance from the government and/or charity programmes managed or funded by local administrations.

The migrants wishing to return home should address themselves to the Social Services Departments of the municipalities in which they are registered, or to NGOs in order to apply for return assistance. The application forms submitted together with comprehensive social reports will be examined by a special commission, composed of IOM, the Ministries of Interior and Labour and Social Affairs (IMSERSO).

Returnees will be provided with airline tickets and small travel grants, and may receive reintegration grants in the countries of origin as may be established by the commission. These reintegration grants may be eventually linked to more comprehensive reintegration initiatives in the countries of origin.

IOM is working in close cooperation with the Spanish Ministry of Interior and IMSERSO, which has provided funding.

For more information contact: IOM Madrid, Tel: +34.91 594 3670 iommadrid@iom.int

ALBANIA - A Migration Management System - A one million Euro grant from the European Commission to IOM Albania will support the implementation of a project to develop a migration management system in the country. The system will provide support for the drafting of the National Strategy on Migration.

The aim of the project is to address the urgent need for reform in the field of migration management through the creation of a National Strategy on Migration that will include reform in the fields of immigration and emigration. The two main objectives are to create the necessary legal and institutional mechanisms for the drafting of a national strategy and to create the necessary structures and administrative capacities for the implementation of the strategy.

The Stabilization and Association Agreement, negotiated between the EU and Albania, encompasses a range of measures and actions that Albania must undertake in order to be considered for assistance to become a candidate to the EU. The EU Aquis Communitaires contains the norms and practices that define the EU policy in several field, in particular on Justice and Home affairs. Both of these require that any gap in legislation, as well as the institutional structures implementing these policies be reviewed and enhanced. The result of this project will be the creation of a sound National Strategy Action Plan, as well as the relevant structures in order to implement the strategy over the coming years.

For further information, please contact: Albi Greva, IOM Tirana Tel: 355.42.578.36 or 578.37

KOSOVO - Psychological Support and Services for Victims of Trafficking - A study released by the IOM office in Pristina analyzes the interviews conducted with victims of trafficking that were assisted by IOM in Kosovo over the past three years.

The author, a trained psychologist specialized in violence against women and children, was part of the team that provided counselling to the 105 victims whose experiences this report is based on.

The study includes analysis and documentation of the psychological impact of their experience, including a detailed review of the traumas and the counselling services provided by IOM that are designed to give trafficking victims the tools to cope with their experiences and prepare them for a lasting and successful reintegration into society.

In the past three years IOM-Kosovo has assisted 390 victims of trafficking. The victims received safe shelter, psychosocial assistance, medical care, legal counselling, and long term reintegration assistance after returning to their country of origin.

The author of the study believes that both the physical and the psychological needs of the victims must be addressed throughout the process, from initial crisis intervention to long-term support services. The IOM counter trafficking programme in Kosovo has evolved to include components that focus on the mental health of the victims. Counselling and psychological services are an integral part of the assistance provided to victims from the beginning and continue after the victim has returned to her country of origin.

The study is one of the few focusing on the psychological dimension of the phenomenon, which is a component that is too often overlooked or under-emphasized in research that considers the legal, economic, or political aspects of the crime of trafficking.

The publication of the study was possible through the support of the Swedish International Development Agency and Co-operazione Italiana. The study can be found on the IOM Website www.iom.int

For further information, contact: IOM Pristina, Tel 38 54 90 42 info@iom.ipko.org

PHILIPPINES - Theatre Information Campaign by Returnee Entertainers - The IOM office in Manila, working with the local NGO BATIS, have developed and are hosting a play based on the experiences of female migrant workers from the Philippines.

The play was developed as part of the activities of the Theatre Information Campaign by Returnee Entertainers (TICRE). Working with Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Embassy of Japan, IOM and BATIS participated in the development of the script to reflect the entertainers' actual experiences.

The 10 ladies who performed in the play had all travelled to Japan as entertainers, some legally others illegally. The script brings together the story of three women during all the stages of their migration to Japan - pre-departure, arrival and return. They experience difficulties in all of these stages, such as illegal recruitment, sex trafficking, contract violation, forced prostitution, poor working conditions, and failure to reintegrate, amongst others. The stories are based on the real life experiences of the ladies.

TICRE aims to raise awareness of the risks of migration amongst Philippine nationals, as well as to provide them with practical tips on how to minimize potential risks and handle difficult situations once working abroad and to provide factual information about rights, duties, contracts, health, and laws and culture of the country where they migrants will travel.

Japan is the third most popular destination for Philippine nationals who travel abroad for work. Many are entertainers, trainees, and skilled workers, who may fall victim to human trafficking and are vulnerable due to the lack of information on Japanese laws, social services, and health care. The majority of these women travel legally to Japan as entertainers, but in reality, end up working as hostesses in bars and nightclubs, an activity that is not within the scope of their entertainers visas. This type of work may cause them to become vulnerable to prostitution and violence.

According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), 891,908 Philippine nationals left the country for overseas work in 2002 - 69% of these were females. In 2001, 70,552 Filipinos migrated to Japan, with 70,244 (99.4%) working as entertainers (96.4% of these were female).

In the first quarter of 2002, the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo (this does not include the Consulate in Osaka) received 819 complaints from its nationals working in Japan. The complaints ranged from ill-treatment, delay/non payment of salary, contract violation, poor working conditions, to sexual abuse.

Data from POEA confirms that in 2002 the total amount of remittances from Philippine nationals working abroad reached US$7,189,243,000.