IOM is participating in the second Latin American Congress on
Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking, taking place this week in
Puebla, Mexico.

The four-day event co-organized by IOM which ends today, brings
together hundreds of government officials, experts from
international organizations, researchers, civil society and
students, as well as the general public, to discuss issues of
common concern related to migrant smuggling and human trafficking
in Latin-America.

More than 250 international experts are presenting their
counter-trafficking work and shared experiences, with the more than
350 participants from every country in the hemisphere.

The main objective of the Congress is to promote active
discussion amongst key actors combating human trafficking in Latin
America, in order to encourage the development of public policies
and legislation against trafficking in the region.

IOM Mexico, as a member of the Latin-American Committee of the
Congress, has been coordinating as well as organizing the event.
IOM experts from Mexico, Costa Rica and Nicaragua have participated
in different panels, presenting IOM activities in the region as
well as discussing the link between migration and human trafficking
and the need for protection of the human rights of all
migrants.

In Latin America, human trafficking for sexual and labour
exploitation has reached alarming proportions in recent years.
Since 2000, when the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons was approved, many Latin American countries
have updated or drafted anti human trafficking laws and have put in
place public policies aimed at combating the crime and providing
vital protection to the victims.

Organized criminal networks earn billions of dollars each year
from the traffic and exploitation of persons who suffer severe
violations of their human rights. Common abuses experienced by
trafficking victims include rape, torture, debt bondage, unlawful
confinement, and threats against their family or other persons
close to them, as well as other forms of physical, sexual and
psychological violence.

According to Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission
(CNDH by its Spanish acronym), with whom IOM Mexico has recently
signed a cooperation agreement, each year more than 20,000 persons
fall victim to human trafficking in Mexico, mainly in border areas
and in tourist destinations.

"Data on human trafficking in Mexico is rare and there are only
estimations on this serious problem," said Thomas Lothar Weiss, IOM
Chief of Mission in Mexico.

"What we know is that Chiapas and Chihuahua, where IOM has
sub-offices, are two of the main states of origin and destination
of trafficking in Mexico. One of the worst forms of trafficking
detected recently in Mexico is linked with the kidnapping of people
for recruitment in the organized criminal groups," Weiss added.

IOM Mexico recently launched an information campaign No
más Trata de Personas, or No More Human Trafficking, which
is providing information to populations vulnerable to human
trafficking along the northern and southern borders. The campaign
was initially launched in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and will
get underway in Tapachula, Chiapas, along the border with
Guatemala, next week.

Since 2005 IOM Mexico has provided direct assistance to more
than 170 victims of trafficking. Some 60 per cent of them were
trafficked for labour exploitation, being used especially for
begging. The majority of victims are Central American women and
girls (some 85 per cent), although assistance has been provided to
people of 13 different nationalities, including Colombia, Costa
Rica and Congo.

For further information, please contact:

Hélène Le Goff

IOM México

Tel: +52 55 55 36 39 22

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