IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
with the support of the Government of the United Kingdom, and in
collaboration with the Ministry of Interior and the Sudan Center
for Migration, Development and Population Studies, have this week
organized an intergovernmental forum in Khartoum to discuss human
trafficking in Sudan.

The event, which brought together senior government officials
from both the Government of Sudan and the Government of Southern
Sudan (GoSS), provided an opportunity for senior government
officials to discuss the international crime of trafficking in
persons, and to agree on how the issue can be effectively addressed
in Sudan in the future.

Participants discussed measures to prevent trafficking in
persons, protect victims of the trade, and prosecute its
perpetrators.

They agreed to establish an interagency task force to coordinate
efforts to combat human trafficking, to gather more information on
the specificities of trafficking in Sudan and to engage in public
awareness activities. Participants also agreed on the need to build
the capacity of government officials and the media and to promote
legislative amendments that will ensure the protection of victims,
including those who are not Sudanese nationals.  

There is considerable anecdotal evidence of Sudanese women and
girls being trafficked to Middle Eastern countries for domestic
servitude and to European countries for sexual exploitation, and of
Sudanese children being trafficked abroad for forced begging.
However, IOM's support to the preparation of the migration profile
will help get a clearer and more fact-based picture of the
trafficking situation in, from and to Sudan.

For more information, please contact:

Raluca Raduta

IOM Khartoum

Tel: +249 (0) 922 406 671

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