An IOM study in Turkey revealing the impact of human trafficking on
children and families is the backbone of a major IOM information
campaign getting underway today in Turkey to raise awareness of the
issue.

 

More than one third of women trafficked to Turkey are mothers,
according to the study “2005: Turkey, Trafficking and
Trends”. The report also found that illegal profits from
trafficking to Turkey top more than US$ 1 billion each year.

 

The centrepiece of the nationwide information campaign is a
television advertisement to be broadcast on channels through the
country. Entitled “Have You Seen My Mother?”, the
advert is focused on four children from the former Soviet Union in
search of mothers trafficked to Turkey. A nationwide print campaign
is also being launched.

 

“Trafficking takes an enormous toll not just on the women and
girls who have been trafficked to Turkey, but on the children and
families they are forced to leave behind,” said Marielle
Sander Lindstrom, IOM Turkey chief of mission. “Children are
becoming social orphans, more vulnerable to victimization in the
future and whole families are breaking up. This is a huge price for
communities to pay. But in a way, the greater tragedy is the
poverty that forces some women to be trafficked in order to provide
for their children, despite their desperation at not wanting to be
separated from them.”

 

Four hundred and sixty nine individuals were identified as being
trafficked to Turkey in 2005. But this number is believed to be
just a fraction of the overall number or as little as 10 percent of
the caseload. The vast majority of women and girls come from the
former Soviet Union, with 60 per cent of all cases coming from two
countries, Moldova and Ukraine.

 

Media sponsors include Turkish broadcaster Kanal D, film
distributor FIDA FILM, and the cinema company Sinefekt. Other
official campaign sponsors include airports authorities in
Istanbul, Trabzon and Antalya, Istanbul's municipal bus company and
local governments in Ankara, Antalya, Izmir and Trabzon.

 

Today’s announcement is in the framework of a
Turkish-government coordinated and IOM-implemented campaign to
combat human trafficking. The campaign includes increased public
awareness activities, stepped up training for law enforcement and
medical, psychological and direct assistance to trafficked
individuals. The project is funded by the US and Turkish
governments while major support for IOM counter-trafficking
programmes is also provided by the Italian and Swedish governments.


 

The report can be downloaded from the following site: "paragraph-link-underlined" href=
"http://www.countertrafficking.org/pdf/2005_turkey_trafficking_and_trends.pdf"
target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.countertrafficking.org/pdf/2005_turkey_trafficking_and_trends.pdf

Audio of Marielle Lindstrom can also be downloaded from
class="paragraph-link-underlined" href=
"http://www.countertrafficking.org" target="_blank" title=
"">www.countertrafficking.org

For further information, please contact:

Allan Freedman

Tel: + 90 533 482 2049

Email: "mailto:afreedman@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">afreedman@iom.int