United Kingdom - A counter trafficking manual developed by IOM in collaboration with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and the Metropolitan Police Service will be presented in Rome on 9th through 10th April 2014 at the Vatican’s Second International Conference on Human Trafficking.

The manual follows a successful collaboration between IOM and the Catholic Church in England and Wales in the field of counter trafficking launched in 2013 that led to the development of an IOM training programme that has now been delivered to some 150 Catholic clergy and lay people in the United Kingdom. 

The training outlines how to recognize victims of trafficking, how to refer a victim once identified, and how to manage the process of return and reintegration, should a victim choose to return home to his or her country. 

The manual, which will be presented in Rome later this week by Bishop Patrick Lynch, Chairman of the Office for Migration Policy of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, targets frontline staff and other people in Catholic dioceses who may come into contact with victims or potential victims.

“It is very rewarding to be able to share this manual with all counterparts attending the (Vatican) conference.  We look forward to continuing our collaboration with IOM, to continue training our staff, as well as those of other faith groups in the UK, to raise awareness and combat this important human global issue that is trafficking,” said Bishop Lynch.

IOM is currently extending its training programme to the Anglican Church and to other faith groups, as part of its ongoing efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking in the UK. It provides similar training to other frontline practitioners, including the police, charities, London local council officials, social workers in London’s Westminster and Croydon Council and the UK Home Office.

Article 3 of the UN’s Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, defines trafficking in persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

To download a copy of the IOM manual, please go to: www.iomuk.org/doc/ct/IOM-CTManual.pdf

For more information please contact

Clarissa Azkoul
IOM London
Email: cazkoul@iom.int
Tel.  +44.7775428874