Lebanon - The International Organization for Migration and Lebanese General Security Department (GSD) hosted an information session on Lebanon’s efforts to combat trafficking in persons last week (27th June). These efforts have been partly supported by IOM through its Regional Project on Action to Protect and Assist Vulnerable and Exploited Migrant Workers in the Middle East and North Africa – PAVE, funded by the European Union.

The event came after three training sessions on victim identification and protection, conducted by IOM and GSD for 36 General Security front line officers. The majority of participants in the training sessions work at Lebanon’s detention center, at which IOM had conducted an assessment in September 2013. Building on the findings of that assessment, these workshops focused on the need to conduct proper screening interviews among detainees to identify cases of human trafficking and onward referral to assistance services.

Friday’s event was attended by Brigadier General Jamal Fadlallah, Chief of Office of the Citizenship, Passports, and Foreign Affairs division of GSD, Alexis Loeber, Head of Cooperation Section of the Delegation of the European Union in Lebanon, and IOM’s Chief of Mission Fawzi Al-Zioud, as well as all the trainees and several representatives of the diplomatic community. PAVE project manager Fitriana Nur presented the results of IOM’s assessment of the detention center, highlighting the vulnerability of migrant workers prior to detention and the challenges of identifying potential victims of trafficking pre-, during and post-detention. Loeber alluded to the growing number of victims of trafficking in Lebanon. He commended recent developments in the government’s efforts to fight trafficking, including recent legislation, but said there must be “a purposeful, focused, continual effort to effectively implement [these] laws.” Brig. Gen. Fadlallah congratulated the GSD trainees, encouraging them to apply the skills they had learned.

The PAVE project aims to contribute to the broadest protection of migrant workers against exploitation and human trafficking in five countries: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. It includes six main activities: capacity building for frontline actors, regional dialogues, study visits, victim assistance, and awareness-raising. The European Union contributes 80 per cent of the total 1.7 million Euro project budget.

Al-Zioud said that events such as these “reflect the successful partnership between IOM and the Lebanese Government represented by GSD and open the way to discover additional opportunities within IOM’s and GSD’s expertise especially on programs related to humanitarian border management and counter-trafficking.”

For more information, please contact

Fitriana Nur
IOM Lebanon
Tel: +961 (7) 662 06 48
Email: fnur@iom.int