An IOM regional project which provides vital assistance to victims
of trafficking in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and
Paraguay, will in a second phase also aim to strengthen
counter-trafficking networks in this hot spot notorious for diverse
criminal activities.

New funding will allow IOM and its partners to continue
providing medical, psychological, legal, and job placement
assistance to the victims while strengthening the existing
counter-trafficking network based in the three border cities:
Ciudad del Este, Paraguay; Foz do Iguacu, Brazil; and Puerto
Iguazu, Argentina. Staffing and communication mechanisms for
increased coordination between key judicial actors in the three
countries will also be enhanced.

"The counter-trafficking tri-national network was created in
2006 during the first phase of the IOM programme. Although it is
still operational, it needs a lot of strengthening.  Its work
is critical for inter-institutional and regional
counter-trafficking efforts," explains Cynthia Bendlin, manager of
the IOM project.

Human trafficking in the tri-border area primarily involves
women, children and adolescents.  According to IOM studies,
young women are trafficked for short stays across borders (for
hours, one day or a weekend), for sexual exploitation.  The
IOM studies are available at href="http://www.oimconosur.org" target="_blank" title=
"">www.oimconosur.org.

Recent research carried out by local organizations and
volunteers, titled Profiles of Children and Adolescents Who Access
Paraguay by Foot through the International Friendship Bridge,
estimates that the number of children and adolescents who annually
cross the bridge between Brazil and Paraguay alone, by foot or
using other means of transport, is approximately 6,000.  Many
are potential victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Most victims hail from poor families and live in extreme
poverty, primarily in rural areas.  Many are illiterate and
flee abuse and violence within their families, and are pushed to
the border area in search of work not available in their
communities. 

Sentinela, a Brazilian organization in Foz do Iguacu, reports
that between 2002 and 2007 they assisted 489 children and their
families; 410 of them (90 per cent of them girls aged between 7 and
18), were victims of sexual exploitation.

From 2004 to 2007, Argentinean immigration officials assisted
more than 60 girls and young women victims of trafficking in Puerto
Iguazu; 99 per cent were Paraguayan girls being transported to
brothels and night clubs in the Argentine cities of Buenos Aires,
Entre Rios, Corrientes and Cordoba.

The shared tri-border area is known for its regular and
irregular movements through the porous borders, including the
smuggling and trafficking of human beings.  Also, a
considerable number of trucks transit though the tri-border area
daily.

The first and second phases of the project are funded by the US
Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in
Persons (G/TIP).

For more information, please contact:

Barbara Cardoso

IOM Buenos Aires

Tel: +54 1 14 815 51 94

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

or

Cynthia Bendlin

E-mail: "mailto:cynthiabendlin@sinergica.com.py">cynthiabendlin@sinergica.com.py