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OSCE Office in Baku holds training on human trafficking

21 June 2012 11:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementieva â€“ APA. A two-day training course on human trafficking and asylum seekers started today for border guards and officials from the State Migration Service and security service based at Baku International Airport. APA reports that the OSCE Office in Baku is co-organizing the event with UNHCR and the International Organization for Migrationâ€™s (IOM) missions in Azerbaijan. The training course will focus on the identification of victims of trafficking and forced labor among asylum seekers.

â€œStates need to strengthen their commitment and investment for protecting potential victims, particularly asylum seekers and migrants, from becoming commodities in the hands of traffickers,â€ delivered keynote speech Melissa Stone, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Baku.

â€œLike any form of organized crime, trafficking in humans and forced labor affects not only a country’s reputation, but undermines a country’s social, political and economic security. In addition, trafficking and forced labor are violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.â€

The course will also provide information on the right to asylum as a principle of non-refoulment and will cover issues related to labor migrants, irregular migrants and undocumented persons. National and international experts will deliver presentations on the process for determining refugee status and granting asylum, government systems and the role of civil society organizations in protecting victims of trafficking and forced labor, and indicators for identifying victims.