Conference on Combating Trafficking

The protection of victims of trafficking was addressed at an international conference organized by the OSCE Baku office in the hotel Excelsior today.

The purpose of the two-day conference is the definition of the role of judges, prosecutors and lawyers in protecting the rights of victims of trafficking and forced labor, as well as to study the experience of different countries in this regard.

The forum was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Justice, OSCE Special Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, representatives of the International Organization for Migration, experts and judges from Uzbekistan, the UK, Turkey, the Netherlands, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries, as well as NGO activists.

As noted in his speech the head of the OSCE Office in Baku Koray Targay, a very important question is non-punishment and non-prosecution of trafficking victims who committed a crime under duress. According to him, victims of trafficking are mostly migrants who can not get a status as well as the poor and homeless children.

In the fight against human trafficking, Azerbaijan is one of the models in the region. It has adopted many laws and regulations in this area and has realized a national action plan. In 2012, Azerbaijan was excluded from the second checklist of the U.S. State Department into the "second group of countries", which is an indicator of progress in this area.

"If in previous years annually recorded were 80-85 crimes related to human trafficking and forced labor, in 2013 there were only 15 cases of trafficking in human beings and 4 facts on forced labor," said in his speech the Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Office to Combat Trafficking, Javad Shikhaliyev. According to him, Azerbaijan provides trafficking victims with lump assistance in the amount of 400 manats. There is a refuge, where 46 victims of human trafficking can be received at the same time. For child victims they have organized classes, in which they can study. All the victims are provided with clothing, food and legal services free of charge. He also said that the Cabinet has been submitted a draft of the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings for the period of 2014-2018. -03C04-