Ecuador - The IOM Mission in Ecuador, working with partners, has launched an information campaign in Quito’s international airport aimed at combating and raising public awareness of human trafficking and smuggling.

IOM’s Development Fund provided funding for the billboards, which will be displayed at the Mariscal Sucre International Airport for a year, with support from the Ministry of Interior and the National Police, as well as the Municipality of Quito.   The airport’s concessionaire company, QUIPORT, waived the fees for the use of the spaces.

“Human trafficking is a violation of a person’s human rights.  We want the public to know this, but also to know that it is an illegal and very lucrative activity run by international criminal networks,” said Rogelio Bernal, IOM Chief of Mission in Ecuador.

Posters alerting travelers to migrant smuggling are also planned for Quito’s airport, as well as airports in the cities of Guayaquil and Cuenca.  The posters will also be displayed at land entry points on the borders with Colombia and Peru.

Ecuador is a country of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking. According to the Ministry of Interior, in 2013 the authorities received 72 reports of human trafficking and migrant smuggling, which resulted in 19 arrests (16 men and 3 women) and 28 victims rescued.

Since 2006, IOM has provided technical support to the Government of Ecuador in the implementation of its National Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, as well as direct support to victims wishing to return home to their countries of origin.  

The majority of migrants smuggled to Ecuador who are on their way to the United States come from Cuba, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.  Haitian migrants are smuggled through Ecuador on their way to Chile and Brazil.

For more information please contact

Lorena Mora
IOM Ecuador
Tel: + 93 939 238692
Email: lmmora@iom.int