A two-day international conference on best practices in providing
assistance to victims of trafficking in Latin America was held this
week in Bogotá.

The conference, hosted by IOM, the Colombian Government and the
UN High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR), and with financial
support from the Dutch Embassy, brought together experts from
Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela, as well
as governmental institutions and NGOs from all over Colombia to
exchange ideas on improving assistance to victims of trafficking
from a human rights perspective.

Countries participating in the conference recognized as a
priority the need to provide assistance to trafficking victims and
their obligation to improve the conviction rates of traffickers.
Participants also called for a national plan for each country
setting clear responsibilities amongst all actors and the
investment of financial resources to provide protection and
assistance to victims. 

During the conference, IOM Colombia, in cooperation with the
Colombian government and the Dutch Embassy, launched a new
publication focusing on what procedures to follow in Colombia when
providing assistance to trafficking victims.

The publication: "A Guide to Assisting Victims of Trafficking in
Colombia" was produced by 14 State institutions, civil society and
international organizations.  It will be available on the IOM
Colombia Website: "http://www.oim.org.co/modulos/contenido/default.asp?idmodulo=7"
target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.oim.org.co/modulos/contenido/default.asp?idmodulo=7

Participating government authorities indicated that awareness
had increased on the issue of human trafficking for sexual
exploitation but remained low on trafficking for labour
exploitation.

Maria Isabel Nieto, Deputy Minister of Interior, stressed that a
new Colombian law in 2005 had been a step forward in defining human
trafficking as a crime, establishing prevention measures, and
providing assistance to the victims, including their right to
privacy, security, protection and return.

IOM Colombia has assisted more than 300 victims since its
counter-trafficking programme began in 2001. But, "this figure is
just the tip of the iceberg because most Colombian victims do not
report their cases either because they do not trust Colombian law
enforcement authorities, or they are ill-informed on how to
proceed, or are afraid of the traffickers or simply because they
are not aware that they are indeed victims," said Diego Beltrand,
IOM Chief of Mission in Colombia.

According to estimates provided by DAS/Interpol in Colombia,
there could be up to 50,000 Colombian women victims of trafficking
for sexual exploitation currently outside the country.

For more information, please contact:

IOM Colombia

Rocio Sanz

Tel: 57.311 5619495 or 57.1.594 6410 ext. 142

E-mail: "mailto:rsanz@oim.org.co">rsanz@oim.org.co