IOM and UNDP join efforts to combat human trafficking in Armenia

IOM Mission in Armenia and UNDP Yerevan Office have joined efforts to combat human trafficking in Armenia. 

In an attempt to decrease trafficking in human beings and labour exploitation, labour migration opportunities will be promoted and a system of “safe travel”, including pre-migration registration and due diligence inquiry programme will be piloted.  For this purpose UNDP and the Migration Agency have established Labour Migrants Support Points (LMSP) in Yerevan (the capital of Armenia), Artashat (Ararat Region) and Giumri (Shirak Region).  The Migration Agency has allocated the space and staff, while the UNDP has provided appropriate furniture and hardware.  The LMSP-s are expected to register information about labour migrants (including the destination address, employer information, the employment procedure and conditions in the destination country, information about the nature and conditions of certain work and the existence of an employment contract, and potential places of residence) and to provide the latter with information about the credibility of the future employer and the job offer, thus reducing the likelihood of labour migrants becoming victims of trafficking, as well as to make inquiries about destination countries through information nodes in such countries.  There is already a preliminary agreement with the Russian Federal Migration Service, which will allow determining the bona fides of employers offering employment in Russia, to search for migrants that have gone missing for a long time with the help of respective agencies and to provide assistance to migrants facing different obstacles in destination countries.  Contacts are being established also with authorities in the United Arab Emirates, another destination for trafficked persons. 

IOM will be building the capacities of the newly established LMSP-s as well as organizing a large-scale information campaign.  Public's awareness about Support Points and their services, as well as the relationship between labour migration and trafficking will be raised.  The training will cover international and local legal frameworks for the protection of migrant workers in the countries of origin and destination; measures to prevent or reduce irregular labor migration, mechanisms for international cooperation in protection of labor migrants’ rights, as well as issues of pre-departure cultural orientation.  Special emphasis will be made on the Labour legislation in Russian Federation and United Arab Emirates.  IOM will use the Labour Migration Handbook on Establishing Effective Labour Migration Policies in Countries of Origin and Destination (developed by IOM, ILO and OSCE), which aims to assist States in their efforts to develop new policy approaches, solutions, and practical measures for better management of labour migration in countries of origin and of destination. 

IOM and UNDP already have a history of collaboration in counter-trafficking projects in Armenia.  In 2003 – 2005 IOM has implemented a public awareness project (Performance against Trafficking of Women from Armenia) within the framework of UNDP’s Anti-Trafficking Programme Phase I.  As part of it a play was written and its theatre performance toured Armenia.  In addition, IOM and UNDP co-chair (together with OSCE) the International Organizations’ Working Group on Counter-Trafficking.