With some 100,000 visitors expected and millions of fans following
the 2007 Cricket World Cup (CWC), "/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/media/photos/pbn/us20070410_01.pdf"
target="_blank">
src=
"/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/media/photos/pbn/us20070410_01.gif"
style="padding:10px 10px 10px 0;">currently underway in nine
Caribbean countries, IOM and its Caribbean partners are taking the
opportunity to raise awareness on the issue of human trafficking.

IOM has developed new counter-trafficking material for
television, radio, and airlines' in-flight magazines in cooperation
with its Caribbean partners. Spreading the counter-trafficking
message to the general public is pivotal, as evidence suggests that
potential victims are often identified by anyone in the general
public (a taxi driver, a client, shopkeeper, or a neighbour).

During the CWC, The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, the
Netherlands Antilles, and St. Lucia are broadcasting a series of
public service announcements (PSAs) on TV and radio. The PSAs
address the three primary forms of trafficking prevalent in the
Caribbean—sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced
labour—and refer the audience to call the local
counter-trafficking hotline for inquires or help.

These forms of trafficking were identified in IOM's seven
country study, Exploratory Assessment on Trafficking in Persons in
the Caribbean Region (2005), which also found victims in the
Caribbean to be men, women, boys, and girls who were trafficked
through the region's established regular and irregular migration
routes, such as airports and other official ports of entry.

On 19 April, a special closed door session will be convened for
IOM's Caribbean partner embassies in Washington, D.C., as the
diplomatic community can serve multiple roles in a comprehensive
response to the crime. As consular officials move from post to
post, they may be called upon to assist a national who has been
trafficked. In addition to providing a programme update, the
session aims to strengthen the link between embassies, partners
in-country, and IOM.

From May through August, IOM's newest counter-trafficking poster
will be featured in the in-flight magazines of Caribbean Airlines
(formerly BWIA) and Air Jamaica, targeting travellers within the
region and internationally during the height of summer travel. The
poster refers the reader to IOM Washington's website and displays
the available hotline numbers in the Caribbean countries for more
information.

Expecting a sharp increase in calls, IOM is providing its
Caribbean partners with a guide to hotline management in a
trafficking context. The guide offers technical advice on how to
assist callers and how to monitor and evaluate the hotline and will
serve as a tool for countries to develop a more thorough hotline
management system based on their own needs.

These activities, supported by the US Department of State,
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and the Ministry of
Justice of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, are a part of IOM's
Caribbean Counter-Trafficking Initiative, a regional programme
coordinated from IOM's office in Washington DC.

Since 2004, IOM has conducted trainings, research, and awareness
raising activities to build the capacity of Caribbean communities
to prevent human trafficking, protect victims through
identification and assistance, and fortify legal structures that
prosecute traffickers.

To view the PSAs visit
href="http://www.iom.int/unitedstates" target="_blank" title=
"">www.iom.int/unitedstates. A full version of the PDF is
available here

For more information contact:

IOM Washington

Chissey Mueller

Tel: +1 202 862 1826 x 236

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

Niurka Piñeiro

Tel: +1 202 862 1826 x.225

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