More than 300 Georgian soldiers, both commissioned and
non-commissioned officers, have completed an IOM training on
combating human trafficking in the country.

The training, which provided practical tools including a
checklist of indicators for identifying victims of trafficking, is
part of a wider initiative to train Georgian soldiers headed to
post-conflict zones on countering human trafficking and to ensure
the military is aware of its responsibilities on fighting the crime
while on peace-keeping missions abroad.

"The ultimate goal of the training is to give Georgian soldiers
the knowledge and tools necessary to recognize and report incidents
of human trafficking in accordance with the mandate and
international obligations of the Georgian government which has
enacted comprehensive laws to criminalize trafficking in people,"
says IOM's Marc Hulst in Tbilisi.

The training, funded by the US State Department's Bureau of
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, follows the
provision of training materials including a video and pocket size
"how to" cards by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for soldiers to be
deployed overseas.

In the coming weeks, IOM and the Georgian MoD will train
instructors at military academies on the issue as a next step.

For further information, please contact:

Marc Hulst

IOM Tbilisi

Tel: +995 32 29 38 94

E-mail: "mailto:marc@iom.ge" target="_blank" title="">marc@iom.ge

or

Kristin Dadey

E-mail: "mailto:kdadey@iom.ge" target="_blank" title=
"">kdadey@iom.ge