IOM counter-trafficking experts are bringing together officials
from Argentina and Uruguay to share lessons learned, challenges and
strengths in prosecuting cases of human trafficking and providing
assistance to the victims.

The meeting, taking place today in the Uruguayan capital,
Montevideo, is part of a US State Department Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration (PRM) funded IOM regional project to combat
human trafficking in the Southern Cone.

"We have to understand that conditions for victims of
trafficking are precarious, to say the least," said a prosecutor
when sharing her experiences in preparing and executing police
raids following tip-offs on possible cases of human
trafficking. 

"Just because we do not know all of the details of what it is we
are investigating, does not mean we should not investigate," added
another prosecutor.

For IOM, these exchanges are vital in promoting increased
coordination amongst key government officials in both countries, as
well as between government and civil society.

"An organized crime requires an organized response, and that is
IOM's goal today.  By acting in an organized and coordinated
manner, these two countries will be more successful in combating
human trafficking and prosecuting the traffickers," said Susana
Leonardi, IOM Uruguay Officer in Charge.

In Uruguay, IOM has provided its expertise and technical support
for the creation and strengthening of the counter-trafficking
inter-institutional taskforce that now acts as the centralized
coordination unit to address cases of human trafficking.  With
the country both a point of origin and destination for human
trafficking, one of its most urgent tasks is the implementation of
the newly enacted counter-trafficking law.

The Organization also provides direct assistance to victims of
trafficking. Working with the National Institute for Women of the
Ministry of Social Development, IOM recently provided return and
reintegration assistance, including psychosocial support, to five
Uruguayan women who had been deceived and trafficked to Italy for
sexual exploitation.

For more information please contact:

Alba Goycoechea

IOM Uruguay

Tel: (5982) 916-8043

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