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Tajikistan: IOM welcomes new law to combat human trafficking
July 6, 2004
ANKARA - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday welcomed
a recent decision by the Tajik government to enact a law combating human
trafficking, the first such legislation in Central Asia.
"We are very optimistic about this law," Frederic Chenais, IOM acting chief of
mission, told IRIN from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, noting they were happy
with the government's collaboration over the past year and hoped that the law
would receive final approval.
"It's been a year since the government recognised the problem," Chenais said,
adding that in May IOM was provided with an office at the Ministry of the
Interior to address the issue of trafficking.
And while trafficking in the mountainous Central Asian state was not as big as
in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, it remains an important issue of concern requiring
greater attention.
The law, which received its initial approval on 2 July by the Tajik lower house
of parliament, aims at increasing support for counter trafficking initiatives
by providing the terminology needed to prosecute traffickers and assist
victims, while at the same time identifying responsibilities between various
government agencies such as prevention, assistance and the reintegration of
victims.
For its final approval, the law must be adopted by the upper house and signed
by President Emomali Rakhmonov before it becomes effective. According to the
IOM official, this will happen by September. "The legislation is one step. Now
we have to monitor it and follow up its implementation," Chenais said.
"In Tajikistan this is a very sensitive issue because of its cultural
background. Usually people who have been a victim of trafficking don't tell
their story," he explained, noting that IOM was preparing a new report in the
next two months to offer new data on the issue.
According to an earlier IOM report, however, over 700,000 women and children
are trafficked across borders each year worldwide. CIS countries are becoming
the most important geographical source of trafficking in women in Asia, with
the Central Asian states of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and
Turkmenistan being no exception.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, economic hardship and
widespread unemployment made the desire to emigrate abroad even stronger,
providing a more conducive environment for traffickers to recruit, cheat, abuse
and exploit their victims.
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