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. The OSCE Office in Baku is co-organizing the event with UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) missions in Azerbaijan. The training course will focus on the identification of victims of trafficking and forced labour among asylum seekers.
"States need to strengthen their commitment and investment for protecting potential victims, particularly asylum seekers and migrants, from becoming commodities in the hands of traffickers," said Melissa Stone, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Baku, in her opening speech.
"Like any form of organized crime, trafficking in humans and forced labour affects not only a country's reputation, but undermines a country's social, political and economic security. In addition, trafficking and forced labour are violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms."
The course will also provide information on the right to asylum as a principle of non-refoulement and will cover issues related to labour 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 labour, and indicators for identifying victims. -0-
Politics
-
On November 14, the House of Commons of the UK Parliament held a hearing on "Academic Freedom and Corruption in Azerbaijan's Energy Sector," focusing on the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. The event, organized in collaboration with Global Witness and the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, was moderated by Joe Powell, head of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption.
-
Head of the External Relations and Security Service of the EU Josep Borrel rejected the accusations against him and European countries made by the head of Azerbaijan at the COP29 conference the previous day.
-
On Thursday, President Ilham Aliyev received the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, who arrived to participate in the COP29 climate conference.
-
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) today issued five rulings on applications from Azerbaijan. The case of "Afgan Mammadov v. Azerbaijan" concerned the complainant's exclusion from the Bar Association. Mammadov was expelled based on a complaint filed by a colleague, which he considered unjust. The ECHR ruled that Mammadov's rights had been violated and ordered Azerbaijan to pay him €5,000 in compensation for moral damage and €1,000 to cover legal costs.
Leave a review