Friday 24 October 2003

Press Briefing Notes
Friday 24 October 2003
Spokesperson: Niurka Piñeiro

IRAQ - Madrid Donor Conference
TAJIKISTAN - New Study on Labour Migration
ROMANIA - Counter Trafficking
ITALY - Balkan NGOs study visit on HIV/AIDS


IRAQ - Madrid Donor Conference - The IOM Director General, Brunson McKinley is in Madrid today attending the donor
conference on Iraq.

IOM's current and future activities focused on the restoration of civil order and public safety through greater population stabilization are being carried out and planned in close coordination with the newly appointed Iraqi Governing Council, as well as its Inter-Agency partners, under the aegis of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq.

In Iraq, IOM has offices in Baghdad, Basrah, Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, and Hillah. In the region, IOM has offices in Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. IOM has recently established an IOM Baghdad support office in Amman, Jordan. This office provides a base of operations for international staff relocated from Iraq in September 2003, and facilitates close coordination with many of IOM's UN and NGO partners.

IOM funding requirements for Iraq: Overall requirements US$91.1 million; funding available US$22.9 million; a shortfall of US$68.2 million.

IRAQ - CURRENT IOM ACTIVITIES

Third Country Nationals Fleeing Iraq to Neighbouring Countries

At the outset of the Iraq crisis, IOM focused on helping Third Country Nationals (TCNs) fleeing Iraq into Jordan, Syria and Iran, to return home to their countries of origin. To date, IOM has assisted some 5,200 to return home, mostly to Sudan and Egypt. IOM has also moved more than 1,000 mainly Iraqi and Palestinian asylum seekers from the Iraqi border to the Ruweished refugee camp in Jordan and the El Hol camp in Syria.

Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Southern & Central Iraq

At the request of the UN and under the overall responsibility of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, IOM is coordinating the efforts of NGOs and others in registering IDPs, managing camps, distributing non-food items, and eventually helping people to return to their homes. Its network of 15 governorate focal point (GFP) NGOs use a standardized, IOM-designed framework, database and reporting structure to target assistance at the most vulnerable IDPs. IOM also provides limited funding to GFP NGOs to support their activities. To date, various sources have reported the existence of some 265,000 IDPs in the area.

Community Development

IOM's Iraq Transition Initiative (ITI) addresses post-conflict community needs. The programme funded by USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives identifies and finances quick impact community improvement projects in Iraq. The projects include the rehabilitation of schools and health facilities and focuses on the ability of local institutions to improve community infrastructure for the whole population, including returnees, and depends on Iraqi participation, at the local and national level. So far, 71 projects have been implemented throughout the country.

Medical Evacuation and Rehabilitation

IOM's Medical Evacuation and Health Reconstruction Programme for Iraq (MEHRPI), has now helped to evacuate 110 patients selected by an international panel of doctors to 11 countries for medical treatment unavailable in Iraq. The programme is a dual initiative combining selective medical evacuations with help to re-build the country's dilapidated specialist health care system. It provides patients who cannot be treated inside Iraq with free hospital beds and treatment offered by foreign donor countries. To date, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Bahrain, Qatar, Greece, Italy, Austria and the United States have all participated in the programme, which plans to evacuate up to 300 cases. As part of the programme, IOM has completed the reconstruction of the Burns Unit in Basra General Hospital.

Assisted Voluntary Return

IOM is helping small numbers of Iraqis, particularly those with special humanitarian reasons, to return home from abroad via Jordan. Returnees have included a terminally ill cancer patient who wanted to return home to be with his family. To date, 288 Iraqi migrants around the world have asked IOM for such help to return home.

TAJIKISTAN - New Study on Labour Migration - A new IOM study titled "Labour Migration from Tajikistan", was presented yesterday in Dushanbe to coincide with an IOM-organized regional labour migration workshop.

Representatives of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan are participating in the three-day workshop. The event aims at enhancing the knowledge and competencies in labor migration management through a practical workshop on emerging good practices in labor migration administration both from a labor sending and receiving perspective.

The participants will discuss the issues of regulation of activities of recruitment agencies, pre-departure training and orientation, standard employment contracts, establishment of welfare funds and the role of labor attaches, needs in foreign labor and forms of recruitment, status of labor migrants, bilateral labor agreements and other related issues.

The new IOM study includes profiles of the different types of migrants, their motives for going abroad, their living conditions, the problems they face and the networks they establish, and the legislative framework for their integration in the host country, as well as the economic and social ramifications of labour migration.

Over the past decade Tajikistan has seen a rapid rise in cross-border seasonal migration. More than 620,000 persons are labour migrants, with one in every four households in Tajikistan reporting a member of the family involved in labour migration.

Igor Bosc, the IOM Chief of Mission in Dushanbe, says, "The vast majority of Tajik labour migrants work irregularly in Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, where they're vulnerable to exploitation and suffer considerable hardship. But at the same time there are substantial benefits; Tajik migrant workers acquire new experiences, skills and contacts, and their remittances are crucial to the survival of many households in Tajikistan."

Labour migration from Tajikistan includes: a) the exodus of unskilled or semi-skilled labour for a limited period of time; b) the emigration of highly skilled specialists; c) migration by commercial traders; and d) replacement migration, when migrants from Tajikistan replace Russians who migrate to the West.

According to the study, the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan attract the majority of labour migrants from Tajikistan. The factors for targeting these countries include: common recent history; lack of visa requirements; the role of Russian as the lingua franca across the former Soviet Union; and the presence in the receiving countries of relatives and friends.

According to official data, 86% of the population in Tajikistan lives below the poverty line. The study reveals that 43.8% of respondents cited the difficult economic situation and poverty as the main reason for their planned migration. The second reason given by 22.8% of those interviewed said it was unemployment.

Over the last five years, the official unemployment rate has risen from 1.7% to 3.2%. Only three-quarters of those registered as unemployed receive unemployment benefits, which amount to US$1.50 per month. Because most of the persons unemployed are not registered, World Bank estimates put the real scale of unemployment at about 30%.

The problem of unemployment is most critical for youth and women. More than 120,000 young people enter the labour market each year. Most of those seeking work at employment centres or are registered as unemployed are within the most active segment of the population: Nearly 52.5% of the total number of unemployed is aged between 18 and 29. Secondary school graduates make up the largest percentage (68.9%) of the unemployed.

This IOM report was independently conducted based on qualitative research on contemporary labour migration from Tajikistan headed by Dr. Saodat Olimova, a social scientist with the Sharq Scientific Research Centre. It is the first and so far only publication to comprehensively describe and analyze labour migration trends.

The study is available on the IOM Website www.iom.int For more information on the contents of the report, contact Igor Bosc, IOM Dushanbe, Tel: 992 372 21 03 02 IBOSC@iom.tajnet.com

ROMANIA - Counter Trafficking Documentary Launch - "About Me: Surviving Exploitation", a 10-minute documentary with the testimonials of two Romanian victims trafficked to Italy, will be launched on today in Bucharest.

The event follows the launch in June 2003 of a brochure entitled "Trafficking in Human Beings. Reform of the Legislative Framework in Italy". Both the film and the brochure contain relevant information for Romanian victims and representatives of national authorities on the recent Italian counter-trafficking legislation, as established under Art. 18 of the Italian Aliens Law no. 189/2003. The brochure details the special protection and integration measures, as well as return and reintegration provisions for victims of trafficking, and provides general information on legal migration channels to Italy.

"About Me: Surviving Exploitation" is to be distributed in VHS format to IOM partners in Romania and will be used as part of their information and education activities. Other important channels of information to be targeted by the end of 2003 are various local TV stations in Romania. IOM anticipates that TV stations will broadcast the film and organize debates with their local communities, focusing on the issue of trafficking in human beings.

In the past three year, IOM Bucharest has assisted over 700 women victims of trafficking. The assistance includes reception, safe shelter, medical assistance, psychological counselling and vocational training. For its part, IOM Rome has assisted 48 Romanian victims of trafficking to return to their country.

The IOM Prevention of Trafficking in Romania and Albania Project is financed by the Italian Ministry of Interior, and aims to promote the Italian best practices in the field of trafficked victims' assistance.

IOM Bucharest, Daniel Kozak, Tel: 40 21 231 31 79 Mobile 40 742 040 211 dani@iom.int

ITALY - Balkan NGOs study visit on HIV/AIDS - A group of NGOs from the Balkans involved in HIV/AIDS prevention and advocacy have completed a weeklong working visit in Italy.

Thes visit, organized by the IOM office in Rome, allowed eight health workers from the fYR of Macedonia and 12 from Kosovo to share experiences and information on HIV/AIDS prevention and protection strategies in the Balkans with their Italian counterparts.

The delegation met with various Italian NGOs and with representatives from the National Institute of Health, hospital staff providing care for immigrants, and personnel working in rehabilitation centres for drug users.

The workshop was organized with the support of the Italian NGO LILA -Italian League for the fight against AIDS and with the National Health Institute.

The initiative is organized in the framework of the project: "HIV/AIDS National capacity building and awareness raising activities in Macedonia and Kosovo" funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by IOM offices in Rome, Skopje and Pristina.