Moldovan consular officials based in the 10
main destination countries for Moldovan victims of trafficking have
received training from IOM on identifying and helping victims of
trafficking.

As one of the poorest countries in Europe,
Moldova is witnessing significant emigration. At least 600,000
Moldovans – more than 10 per cent of the population - are
estimated to be working abroad, many of them undocumented and
unprotected. Moldova is also a major source country for victims of
trafficking, with victims often being trafficked to Austria,
Bulgaria, Belgium, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, the Russian
Federation, Turkey and the UK.

Through the training, the officials learnt
about how to work with non-governmental organizations dealing with
human trafficking in the countries in which they worked and
strategies to promote regular migration. They also learnt how to
identify victims of trafficking and what assistance they need as
well as information on repatriation issues.

"Recently I had a case who I suspected to be a
trafficked victim but I didn't have the skills to deal with it. I
just did my consular job. I now feel I can deal with such cases
more appropriately," said Gheorghe Saghin, the Consul of Republic
of Moldova in Great Britain and one of the trainees.

The training, funded by the Norwegian Foreign
Ministry and organized in cooperation with the Moldovan Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and European Integration, is part of government
efforts to establish closer contacts with its citizens abroad in
order to be able to respond to their needs more effectively.

At a future point, consular staff will also be
assisted in helping to support the development of Moldovan migrant
community networks in main destination countries in a bid to engage
the nascent diaspora in a dialogue on return and investment
opportunities back home.

Moldova has the second highest economic
dependence on remittances in the world with the money its migrant
workers send home accounting for 27 per cent of its GDP in 2004.
More than 80 per cent of Moldovans abroad send money home, with
nearly three quarters of these remitting more than half of their
earnings.

For further information, please contact:

Iraida Margineanu

IOM Moldova

Tel: +373 22 232940 (ext.123)

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