The IOM Regional Office for North America and the Caribbean is this
week bringing together government and non-governmental officials
from 19 Caribbean countries, along with representatives of regional
institutions and international agencies, including CARICOM, OAS and
UNHCR, to discuss human trafficking in the Caribbean region.

During the three-day event, beginning today in Miami, Florida,
the more than 75 participants will exchange information and best
practices about awareness raising, institutional strengthening,
legal frameworks and prosecution, protection through
identification, immediate care, and reintegration.

IOM's 2005 Exploratory Assessment on Trafficking in Persons
found the primary trafficking trends to be males from within and
outside of the Caribbean trafficked mostly for forced labour and
females from within and outside of the region trafficked mostly for
sexual exploitation or domestic servitude.

Factors fueling the trade across the Caribbean include poverty,
socioeconomic status, and inequality-often based on gender and/or
ethnicity.  These vulnerabilities are preyed upon by
recruiters with lures ranging from the guise of "romantic"
relationships to deceptive information advertised in newspapers, on
Internet sites, and through text messaging.

Since 2003, the region has made tremendous inroads in combating
human trafficking. With its Caribbean partners, IOM has trained
more than 1,200 governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in
10 countries, has an on-going regional information campaign, and
has helped stakeholders establish referral processes that work to
identify and assist victims.  To date, IOM has been contacted
by its Caribbean partners to help provide assistance for 54
victims.

IOM's Caribbean Counter-Trafficking Conference aims to stimulate
national and regional cooperation, exchange of information and
sharing of best practices in the areas of prevention, protection,
and prosecution, by bringing together key government and NGO
stakeholders from across the region. This week's conference is
organized by IOM with support from the U.S. Department of State,
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), as part of
IOM's Caribbean Regional Programme.

For more information please contact:

Chissey Mueller

Tel: +1.202.862.1826, Ext. 236

E-mail: "mailto:cmueller@iom.int">cmueller@iom.int

or

Niurka Piñeiro

Tel: +1.202.862.1826, Ext. 225

E-mail: "mailto:npineiro@iom.int">npineiro@iom.int

Mobile: +1.410.487.4950