A national referral system that will identify, refer, protect and
provide follow-up services to victims of human trafficking in
Liberia is to be set up by the government with support from IOM
through a new one-year programme.

The referral system will also offer voluntary return and
reintegration options for both Liberian and internationals
trafficked to the country assisted partly through the setting up of
a pilot Return and Reintegration Fund. The fund will be able to
assist 35 victims.

The programme, funded by IOM's 1035 Facility, a tool designed to
respond rapidly and flexibly to important migration challenges
faced by IOM's developing Member States and Member States with an
economy in transition, will allow IOM to provide vital training to
government officials. In partnership with the Ministry of Labour
and the National Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce, Liberian
government officials in charge of social protection and law
enforcement as well as community leaders and religious personnel
and civil society, will be trained on the phenomenon of human
trafficking, techniques on identifying victims, victim protection
and on the implementation of the national referral mechanism.

Specifically, this will include sessions on safe migration,
human rights, legal support, rescue, rehabilitation and
integration, the health and psychological impacts of trafficking,
counseling and communication techniques as well as tackling stigma
and discrimination of victims.

Although little is know regarding trends and patterns of
trafficking in Liberia, what research has been carried out shows
that Liberia is a source, transit and destination country for
internal and international human trafficking. Children and women
are trafficked mainly for forced labour and sexual exploitation.
According to the US State Department's 2009 Trafficking in Persons
Report, internal trafficking in the West African country is mainly
from rural to urban areas for domestic servitude, forced petty
trade and begging by religious instructors as well as sexual
exploitation.

The IOM programme will support the government in its efforts to
enact a 2005 law to ban trafficking, and the National Human
Trafficking Task Force, created by President Johnson-Sirleaf to
spearhead the fight trafficking, to strengthen its capacity to
tackle human trafficking.

For more information please contact:

Ferdinand Paredes

Tel: +231-666 5950

E-mail: "mailto:fparedes@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">fparedes@iom.int