LIBYA - IOM and UNHCR Jointly Address the Needs of Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers - The UNHCR and IOM offices in Libya have signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement to address the many pressing needs of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers who are currently in reception and detention centres in Libya.
Under the agreement signed on 27 July in Tripoli, IOM and UNHCR will work with the relevant Libyan authorities and civil society to provide humanitarian assistance to concerned persons in reception and detention centres.
Joint UNHCR and IOM teams will be set up to conduct interviews in the centres to identify refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, as well as vulnerable persons with specific needs, such as victims of trafficking and gender-based violence, unaccompanied minors and/or single women.
Refugees and asylum seekers identified through the screening process will be referred to UNHCR for refugee status determination processing.
IOM and UNHCR will jointly determine those among migrants and rejected asylum seekers who are willing to return home and will assist them to return in safety and dignity.
Both agencies will also work together to secure funding to ensure the voluntary return of migrants and failed asylum seekers is sustainable.
The agreement further specifies that IOM and UNHCR will work as a team in the resettlement of refugees from Libya to third countries.
UNHCR and IOM will develop, coordinate and participate in joint trainings, workshops and seminars for government offices, NGOs, civil society, among others.
For more information, please contact Laurence Hart at IOM Tripoli Tel: +218 91 383 25 96. E-mail: lhart@iom.int
MEXICO - New Centre for Unaccompanied Minors Opens on Mexico's Southern Border - IOM and its partners - UNDP, UNICEF and the government of the State of Chiapas - have this opened in the border town of Tapachula a centre to provide a safe haven and care for an increasing number of unaccompanied minors from Central America who enter Mexico through its southern border.
The centre, which is funded by the governments of Australia, Canada and New Zealand and managed by the local authorities, provides basic health care and psychosocial support, telephone access to reach out to family members, recreational activities, and vocational training opportunities.
Most unaccompanied minors, aged between 10 and 17, are making the journey alone to join one or both parents who are already in the United States, or are migrating under pressure from families to find work and send money home. Estimates indicate there could be some 20,000 per year
"All unaccompanied minors, regardless of their age are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, but their numbers are not clearly reflected in studies or current statistics," says Juan Artola, IOM's Chief of Mission in Mexico.
According to local immigration and law enforcement officers, 5,200 boys and girls from Central America were intercepted on the southern Mexican border in 2008. But many more are making the journey alone and are not are intercepted by the authorities.
Local NGOs estimate that some 3,000 minors, mainly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are currently in the border area scratching a living as street peddlers, hauling goods on and off trucks, collecting garbage, working in bars and restaurants, as sex workers and domestic helpers, or begging.
This number does not include many Guatemalan girls who work as domestic servants in Mexico, but because of the proximity to their villages of origin, often cross the border.
Artola says there is a lot of work ahead to ensure that the rights of these youngsters are protected. "Most of the unaccompanied minors are 14 to 17 years old. Often, there are no guidelines and local governments do not have the infrastructure, training and resources to assist this age group."
Mexico's Under Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with IOM, established an inter-institutional working group to promote synergies and concrete actions to protect these children. IOM is also working with the government of the State of Chiapas to develop guidelines and build capacity amongst all institutions that come in contact with the minors.
Since 2005, IOM has been assisting unaccompanied minors to return home through the Reserve Fund for the Return of Highly Vulnerable Migrants created by the Regional Conference on Migration; a regional forum on international migration which includes Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and the United States.
For more information, please contact Fernanda Ezeta, IOM Mexico, Tel: +525 5 55 36 39 54; Email: fezeta@iom.int
CHILE - Research Sheds New Light on Human Trafficking - An IOM study on human trafficking in Chile launched this week in Santiago, confirms that 87.7 per cent of victims of trafficking identified by authorities were foreigners brought to the country for labour or sexual exploitation.
The research, carried out in areas that account for more than 63 per cent of the country's population (Arica y Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Valparaíso, Los Lagos, Aysen, Magallanes y Antártica Chilena and the Santiago Metropolitan area), reveals 36 cases of human trafficking, with a total of 147 foreign and local persons that had been victims of labour and sexual exploitation.
The Valparaiso area, located in the centre of the country and the third most populated area with 1.7 million inhabitants, ranked first in the number of trafficking victims. The vast majority were Chinese nationals victims of labour exploitation.
The Santiago metropolitan area, where more than 40 per cent of the population is concentrated, ranked second with adult victims transported to the city and forced to work in the sex trade.
Thirty per cent of persons interviewed said they had been duped by false job ads in newspapers. Others told IOM that they had face to face contact with the recruiter.
The Chinese victims of labour exploitation, almost all of them male, said they had answered employment ads that appeared in local newspapers in cities in Sichuan province, which was devastated by the deadly earthquake of 2008.
The men entered the country legally, with transportation provided by their employers, and were later forced to work in mines and in restaurants. The Chinese female victims also entered the country legally and were forced to work as prostitutes in massage parlours in the capital Santiago.
Other women brought to Chile for sexual exploitation were from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru. All victims of sexual exploitation had been forced to work in nightclubs and illegal brothels
The underage victims identified in the IOM study were Chileans who travelled inside the country and were put to work in brothels and nightclubs. The adolescents told IOM that when they worked the streets they were always closely watched by the traffickers; when they were working in brothels they were always left in the care of an adult sex worker.
"We are distributing the study to all government and non governmental partners in the region working on human trafficking," explains Gabriela Rodriguez, IOM Chief of Mission in Chile. "The aim is to raise awareness and create or strengthen networks that are committed to combating human trafficking."
For a copy of the study or for more information, please contact Fernando Alarcón, IOM Chile, Tel: +56. 02 2746713, Email: falarcon@iom.int
