IOM, the United States Department of Justice and the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are this week hosting a
conference on combating human trafficking and protecting
trafficking victims in Djibouti.

The conference, from 7 to 10 February, seeks to promote national
counter-trafficking strategies which take a victim-centred approach
to investigation and enforcement efforts and is part of an IOM
counter-trafficking programme in Djibouti that focuses on
protection.

Djibouti and neighbouring countries face unique migration
challenges due to their location at the crossroads between Europe,
Asia and Africa. Djibouti is increasingly becoming a source and
transit country for irregular migration across the Gulf of Aden and
beyond.

The event is partly supported by the US Department of State,
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP), and
will bring together counter-trafficking experts from the United
States, representatives from the government of Djibouti as well as
from non-governmental organizations involved in counter-trafficking
efforts in the region.

The meeting seeks to reinforce regional cooperation and uniform
approaches to combating human trafficking through the involvement
of Ethiopian authorities in the four-day event. Following the
Djibouti meeting, counter-trafficking experts will travel to Addis
Ababa for a condensed one-day presentation of conference materials,
to Ethiopian law enforcement officials there.

The conference follows recent IOM training of border patrol
officers and a December meeting of high level government officials
in Djibouti and surrounding countries to address the needs of
irregular migrants in the region.

For more information, please contact:

Alem Brook

IOM Djibouti

Tel: +253 352 459

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