MIGRATIONIN THE AMERICAS

International Organization for Migration July 2008

Inside...

Survey of Temporary Labor Migration, Guatemala - Canada

MERCOSUR Congress on HumanTrafficking & Child Pornography

Organic Fertilizer Plant Employs30 Demobilized Colombians

International Border StrategyOffers On-Site Training

Returning Home from the UK

Providing Tools to Fight HumanTrafficking in Trinidad & Tobago

Singing While You Work...

AND MORE!

IOM is committed to the principle thathumane and orderly migration benefitsmigrants and society. IOM is an intergovern-mental organization composed of 125Member States and 16 Observer States.

Rodine St.JeanIOM Haiti

As a young painter in Les Cayes, Haiti,Joubert Alerte would have given up every-thing to pursue his passion - painting - hadhe known what he knows today, that histalent has made him one of the most fa-mous painters of Les Cayes.

Ever since Joubert’s paintings were fea-tured in the Avenir Community Center, re-furbished as part of IOM’s PREPEPprogram, which focuses on communitystabilization in Haiti, he has been in highdemand by the business and entertainmentcommunity of Les Cayes.

Joubert began to learn painting at a com-munity school near his hometown of Jere-mie in southwest Haiti. But due to hisfamily’s precarious economic situation, he

had to abandon art school and moved toLes Cayes where he started working as aprofessional painter and jewelry-maker.He also set up the “JPC Art Gallery andSchool,” where he teaches art to the youthof Les Cayes.

Concentrating on his work and trying tomake a living did not leave Joubert muchtime to participate in community activities.

When he was approached by IOM staff toprovide his services as a volunteer to paintthe wall of the Avenir Community Center,he immediately rejected the idea. IOMthen turned to two of his art students, whoaccepted but said that they needed Joubert,their teacher, to work with them. Theysaid that the complexity of such a projectrequired a higher technical capacity thatthey did not possess. Joubert finallyagreed to join them and together they

Painting the Future of Les Cayes ©

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painted a scene of women dancing on thestreet.

Working on the project as a volunteermeant that he was only provided withsupplies and some food while he painted.As the painting progressed, many peoplein the community and those passingthrough started to express great appreci-ation for his work. Several people whojust happened to be walking by gave himmoney to express their thanks.

Joubert has received two awards for hispainting, from IOM and from the HaitianMinistry of Youth and Sports.

Following the accolades he received forthe mural, Joubert has received many re-quests for paintings from businessmen.

He is doing his best to keep up with allthe new demands.

More students have approached him totake classes, but he says he can’t takethem all because he does not haveenough materials.

And when other artists ask to meet withhim, Joubert says, “I never thought thatother artists would want to meet me.”

One of the expressions Joubert has beenusing lately is: “kote m pran tan, pou mappedi tan.” By saying, “I have no time tolose,” he means that he is so busy withhis newfound notoriety that he has notime to waste on other activities. And headds, “This is all thanks to my participa-tion in the IOM project.”

Though at first he did not want to partic-ipate, Joubert now thanks IOM for giv-ing him a chance to make his talents andskills known to the community. Hisachievements have inspired greater self-confidence, courage, and determinationto continue using his talents to improvehis life and his community. This experi-ence has also taught him the importanceof seizing any and all opportunities totransform his community.

His painting at the Avenir CommunityCenter will be a lasting legacy for himand a constant reminder to everyone ofthe importance of community involve-ment.

IOM’s PREPEP program (Programme de

Revitalisation et de Promotion de l’En-tente et de la Paix) is a continuation ofIOM’s Haiti Transition Initiative, whichbegan in 2004.

PREPEP works closely with the Govern-ment of Haiti in the pursuit of its four ob-jectives: to enhance citizen confidenceand participation in a peaceful politicaltransition; to empower citizens and theHaitian government to address prioritycommunity needs; to build cooperativeframeworks between citizens and gov-ernment entities at all levels; and to pro-mote peaceful interaction amongconflicted populations.

IOM staff work with vulnerable commu-nities and the Haitian national and mu-nicipal government bodies in an effort toassist with the stabilization of volatileneighborhoods through the rehabilitationof key infrastructure, such as roads, mar-kets, schools, and social/cultural activi-ties.

To date, the program, funded by theUnited States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID), has approvedmore than 1,400 grants with a total valueof US$ 30 million.

For more information on IOM’s work inHaiti, please visit:http://www.iomhaiti.org/

Joubert Alerte at the JPC Art Gallery and School

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Survey of Temporary Labor Migration from Guatemala to Canada

The second evaluation carried out byIOM Guatemala on temporary labor mi-gration to Canada highlights the strengthsand shortcomings of the program as wellas the impact on the migrant workers andtheir families.

The labor migration program fromGuatemala, managed by IOM, began fiveyears ago with 215 participants. In 2007,2,255 migrants participated in the pro-gram; 46% traveled to Canada for thesecond time and 30.6% had participated

in the program at least three times.

The IOM survey confirms that the par-ticipants hail from the poorest munici-palities in Guatemala; 27.6 percent ofthem live in municipalities with a povertyrate greater than 71 percent.

Günther Müssig, IOM Chief of Missionin Guatemala, says the project has be-come a successful model for temporarylabor migration. “The past five yearshave proven that it is possible to carry out

a safe, dignified and orderly flow of mi-grant workers, thereby contributing tobetter management of migration flows.The project provides benefits all around –to the countries of origin and destinationand to the migrants and their families.The success of the programme is evident:93.2 percent of the participants fulfilledtheir contracts.”

An important aspect of the program, andas a service to the migrants and their fam-ilies, IOM Guatemala has added a

health care component. Working with itspartners, IOM has put in place a healthcare plan for family members inGuatemala who do not have access tohealth care. The plan has different levelsand costs which range from basic med-ical care to surgery and hospitalization.The health care component is also avail-able for Guatemalan migrants in theUnited States.

The project “Temporary AgriculturalWorkers to Canada” was created by IOMand the Guatemalan Ministries of For-eign Affairs and of Labor and Social Af-fairs, following the signing of aMemorandum of Understanding betweenIOM and the Fondation des entreprisesen recrutement de main-d’œuvre agricoleétrangère, or FERME, a Canadian Foun-dation based in Quebec that deals withthe recruitment of foreign agriculturallabor. FERME represents more than 350employers and coordinates the seasonal

hiring of some 4,000 temporary migrantworkers.

The workers perform seasonal agricul-tural work planting and/or harvesting let-tuce, tomato, broccoli, strawberries, andother fruits and vegetables.

Seventy-four per cent of those surveyedsaid they had acquired new skills whichrange from new planting and harvestingtechniques to classifying and packing theproduce, which they would apply whenharvesting their land in Guatemala.

The wages received by temporary mi-grant workers are higher than the mini-mum salary in Canada and are coveredby Canadian labor laws. The participantsconfirmed to IOM that wages earned inCanada are spent on health, education,housing, clothing and other basic items,but they are also able to make major im-provements to their homes and buy land.

The 2005 survey showed that 45.3 % ofthe earnings were spent on buildinghomes, whereas in 2007, 31.9% was setaside in savings accounts.

IOM provides technical assistance to theGuatemalan Government, participates inthe selection of workers, advises thoseselected on travel documents and otherrequirements for travel to Canada, andarranges their flights. The Guatemalanconsulate in Canada verifies the workingconditions and provides support, asneeded, in conflict resolution.

The agreement stipulates that all migrantsmust return to their country of origin atthe end of their contracts, which rangebetween four and eight months.

A copy of the report is available at:http://www.oim.org.gt/Cuaderno%20de%20Trabajo%20No.%2025.pdf

First International MERCOSUR Congress on

Human Trafficking and Child Pornography

Elena Solari and Sabrina RothIOM Buenos Aires

International and regional experts, offi-cials of MERCOSUR countries, law-makers, and representatives ofinternational organizations recently gath-ered in Buenos Aires for the First Inter-national MERCOSUR and Partner StatesCongress on Human Trafficking andChild Pornography.

The event, organized by the Ministry ofJustice, Security, and Human Rights ofArgentina, included experts from Ar-gentina, Brazil, France and the UnitedStates who shared their experiences andpresented best practices on national pro-grams and strategies to combat humantrafficking and child pornography and toassist and protect its victims.

The participants attended several work-shops on: prevention of human traffick-ing and sexual exploitation, investigationand prosecution, protection and assis-

tance to victims, and the use of the Inter-net for human trafficking and childpornography.

Trafficking cases in Latin Americamainly affect vulnerable groups, includ-ing women and children from rural andpoor backgrounds. Although quantitativeestimates are difficult to produce, ac-cording to estimates provided by differ-ent governments, inter-governmental andnon-governmental bodies, at least 2.4million persons were victims of internaland international human traffickingworldwide between 1995 and 2004;some, 250,000 of those victims hailedfrom Latin America and the Caribbean.

The aim of the organizers is for the re-gion to work together to combat humantrafficking and child pornography from asecurity perspective, while incorporatinghuman rights, gender, and protection forvictims; to make headway on cooperationmechanisms concerning research anddata sharing; encourage meetings of min-isters of Justice and Interior of MERCO-

SUR nations; and to foster links betweenMERCOSUR and the European Union tocombat trafficking.

IOM Regional Representative, EugenioAmbrosi told the participants, “We mustdeal with the social, economic, cultural,educational and institutional weaknessthat create the perfect climate for traf-fickers to operate in. But the fact thatMERCOSUR and its ministers of justicehave come together for two days to dis-cuss the issue of human trafficking andto find ways to effectively combat it saysa lot about the commitment of this re-gion.”

The IOM regional office in Buenos Airesworks with governments in the region tostrengthen institutional capacity includ-ing training officials, creating inter-insti-tutional networks, designing massinformation campaigns, and providingprotection and assistance to victims oftrafficking. All of these activities arefunded by the United States Gov-ernment.

Organic Fertilizer Plant Employs 30 Colombian Menand Women Demobilized from Illegal Armed Groups

Adriana Correa IOM Colombia

The second of 10 planned organic fertil-izer plants, which will provide employ-ment to 300 men and womendemobilized from illegal armed groups,recently opened in the city of Medellin.

The plants raise earthworms to producesolid and liquid humus, an organic sub-stance consisting of partially or whollydecayed vegetable or animal matter thatprovides nutrients for plants and in-creases the ability of soil to retain water.

The 2,500 square meter plant treats up to3.5 tonnes of organic waste per day,which translates into a monthly produc-tion of 40 tons of solid humus and 3,000liters of liquid humus; all of which willpurchased by Biprocol Company.

Biprocol Company is implementing theproject under the coordination of Colom-bia’s High Commission for Reintegration(ACR), with technical support from IOM,and funding from the United StatesAgency for International Development(USAID) and the Mayor’s Office ofMedellín.

The employees receive government as-

sistance for educa-tion, health care andpsychosocial sup-port, while they aretraining to becometechnicians in earth-worm raising.

At the plant’s open-ing ceremony, An-drés Gonzalez,General Manager ofBiprocol, said he isproud that the privatesector, the govern-ment and interna-tional organizationshave a chance towork together to cre-ate employment for Colombians who be-lieve in contributing to a peacefulcountry.

The Presidential High Commissioner forReintegration, Frank Pearl, added thatthese joint endeavours lead to the suc-cessful economic reintegration of demo-bilized persons who need support in orderto fully reintegrate and become au-tonomous citizens.

From November 2003 to August 2006,more than 31,000 members of the illegalself-defense groups had demobilized as a

result of a peace process with the Colom-bian government. IOM provides its sup-port to the government of Colombia forthe reintegration process of these menand women as they transition into civilianlife.

The other plants are planned for the citiesof Montería, Sincelejo, Valledupar, Carta-gena and Pereira.

For more information visit:www.oim.org.co

Estrategia Interfronteras contra la trata de personas en

cuatro puntos fronterizos del Perú

Juan Pablo Casapia OIM Lima

La OIM, con el apoyo del Instituto de Es-tudios por la Infancia y la Familia(IDEIF), ha organizado los “EncuentrosInterfronteras”, actividades de informa-ción, capacitación y prevención contra latrata de personas en cuatro puntos fron-terizos de riesgo que son atravesados, co-tidianamente y de manera irregular, porcientos de ciudadanos, muchos de los

cuáles son víctimas de este delito.

Esta iniciativa surge con el objetivo decontribuir al fortalecimiento de los con-troles fronterizos a partir de la capac-itación normativa de operadores de la leyy autoridades, así como sensibilizar e in-formar a los periodistas, funcionarios ypoblación en general sobre el tema y laexistencia de una legislación relativa quecondena hasta con 25 años de prisión aquienes cometan este crimen.

Cuatro ciudades ubicadas en las fronterasdel Perú han sido escenario de los en-cuentros: Puno (Bolivia), Tacna (Chile),Tumbes (Ecuador) y Puerto Maldonado eIñapari (Brasil - Bolivia). En cada lugarse llevá a cabo una conferencia de prensacon periodistas de los países involucra-dos, un taller de capacitación para per-sonal de Migraciones y Policía, y unamesa de trabajo con autoridades de cadapaís con la finalidad de fortalecer alian-zas y lograr acuerdos bilaterales para tra-bajar contra la trata de personas.

© IOM Colombia 2008

De esta manera, alrededor de 80 peri-odistas, 80 oficiales de migraciones ypolicías y 120 autoridades y miembrosde organizaciones sociales de Perú, Bo-livia, Ecuador, Chile y Brasil fueroncapacitados y compartieron experien-cias e información para enriquecer elconocimiento en materia de la luchacontra la trata y mejorar la gestión delas fronteras con el objetivo de preveniry reducir la acción de las mafias detratantes.

Cientos de personas cruzan diariamente las fronteras que separan al Perú de suspaíses vecinos. Lo inaccesible de granparte de este territorio, los limitados re-cursos de los gobiernos, las numerosastransacciones comerciales, la pobreza yel elevado flujo de trabajadores sesuman al desconocimiento normativo,facilitando la trata de personas y el trá-fico ilícito de migrantes en esos puntos.

El 16 de enero de 2007 se promulgó laLey Nº 28950 contra la trata de per-sonas y el tráfico ilícito de migrantes.Sin embargo, ésta es aún poco conocidaentre quienes tienen a su cargo la se-guridad de las fronteras.

La OIM viene trabajando desde 2003en la lucha contra la trata de personas,

a través de campañas de difusión y pre-vención, capacitaciones y cooperacióntécnica con el Estado peruano. A solic-itud de éste, diseñó el documento téc-nico del primer Plan Nacional deAcción contra la Trata de Personas, quefue validado en julio de 2007.

Además, creó la Línea de Asistencia eInformación 0800-2-3232 en marzo de2006, la cual ha recibido, hasta el mo-mento, alrededor de 10,000 llamadas yderivado 90 casos para su investi-gación. A la par, ha capacitado a un es-timado de 3,000 personas entreperiodistas, autoridades y actores de lasociedad civil, en 12 diferentes puntosdel país.

International Borders Strategy Offers

On-Site Training

IOM’s Regional Office in Peru conducteda series of on-site trainings at four inter-national borders used by thousands ofpersons on a daily basis; including irreg-ular migrants, many of whom could bepotential victims of trafficking.

With support from Peru’s Institute for theStudy of Childhood and the Family(IDEIF by its Spanish acronym), the“Cross-border Strategy,” provided infor-mation and training on human traffickingand migrant smuggling, and the toolsneeded to combat and prevent thesecrimes, including the recently passed lawwhich provides for up to 25 year sen-tences for convicted traffickers, to borderauthorities and officials on the frontlines.

The sessions were held in the Peruvianborders towns of Puno (Bolivia), Tacna

(Chile), Tumbes (Ecuador) and PuertoMaldonado and Iñapari (Brazil - Bolivia),to raise awareness amongst journalists,practitioners and the general public.

Some 80 journalists, 80 immigration of-ficials and police and 120 local authori-ties and NGO staff from Peru, Bolivia,Ecuador, Chile y Brazil participated andare shared their experiences and lessonslearned in order to strengthen theirknowledge on the issues and improveborder management.

Thousands of persons cross Peru’s bor-ders on a daily basis. But in remote bor-der crossings, the lack of resources, thevolume of commercial transactions, thelarge numbers of migrant workers, andbasic ignorance of the law, create a cli-mate that is ripe for human traffickingand migrant smuggling.

Law number 28950, aimed at combatinghuman trafficking and migrant smugglingwent into effect in January of 2007, butthe law remains largely unknown bythose in charge of border security.

Peru is a country of origin, transit and

destination for human trafficking with apredominance of internal trafficking ofwomen for sexual exploitation. Childrenand men are trafficked to work in themining and timber industries, and agri-culture. There are also high rates ofhuman trafficking for domestic labor. Atthe international level, there have beencases of Peruvian women taken to Ar-gentina, Japan, Spain and other countriesfor sexual exploitation.

IOM Peru has been working since 2003to combat human trafficking through in-formation campaigns, training and tech-nical cooperation. At the request of thePeruvian government, IOM produced thetechnical draft for the National Plan ofAction on Human Trafficking, which wasapproved in July 2007.

IOM also created a human trafficking in-formation and assistance hot-line inMarch 2006, which has received some10,000 calls, including 90 cases that arebeing investigated by the authorities.IOM has also provided training to morethan 3,000 persons.

Returning Home

Juliana QuinteroIOM Colombia

Juan* says he will never forget the dayhe woke up knowing that hours later hewould be sitting on a plane making thelong trip back to his birthplace of Risar-alda in Colombia. After living in Londonfor four years and trying desperately tostart a new life, who can blame him.

Those four years of his life had beenfilled with new experiences in a countrywith a different culture and language, andgetting to know people from all over theworld, who like him, arrive in the UnitedKingdom daily in search of new oppor-tunities.

For this 29 year old man, it will be hardto forget the endless hours of work thatbegan at 5 every morning. Juan workedfor a cleaning company in London andmany times he felt exhausted, but hecould not afford to stop, an hour withoutwork meant 5₤ less to live on.

The hard work and long hours were notthe biggest issue for Juan; being an irreg-ular migrant in the United Kingdom washis main concern. He did not have a visa,so every week he changed his identityusing false documents. Juan recalls,“One week I was Pedro from Spain andthe following week I was Luis from Italy.I was changing my identity in order toavoid being detected by the authorities.”

But this hide and seek life came at a highprice for Juan; he was always on the run.When he was on the metro, on the street,on his way to work; he was always fear-ful and overwhelmed with anxiety that hewould be caught and maybe deported.And one day it happened; he was de-tained. It felt like his world was collaps-ing, he thought that he would beimmediately deported to Colombia. Heexplained to the authorities the reasonwhy he had left his country, and he foundout that based on his circumstances it waspossible to apply for asylum.

Luciano, a 35 year old Ecuadorian had adifferent experience in the United King-dom. He arrived in 2002 with his wifeand daughter and filed for asylum. Whilethe case was being decided, he did nothave the right to work.

Both cases were denied and so Lucianoand his family and Juan would have toreturn to their countries.

They were given the option to return in asafe and dignified way with IOM’sVARRP program. The VARRP programprovides assistance for return (necessarydocumentation for travel, air ticket, anda cash allowance), and facilitates reinte-gration in the countries of origin.

Return and Reintegration

And so Juan and Luciano returned totheir countries and decided to set up theirown businesses.

Once back home, the returnees contactthe local IOM mission to begin workingon their economic plan in order to investthe second part of the monetary assis-tance offered by the program. They canchoose between opening their own busi-nesses or pay for their own or their chil-dren’s education.

Since 2007, the return program includesan excess luggage allowance, temporaryaccommodation upon arrival, vocationaltraining courses and assistance with em-ployment search.Juan, with advice from IOM Colombia,

decided to invest part of the allowance inhis father’s business, and with the rest heset up an internet café, that just a fewmonths later provided enough earnings tobuy a small farm where is he growingcoffee. All his businesses are booming.

For his part, Luciano, bought a taxi and istransporting passengers to other citiesinside Ecuador.

However, for Juan and Luciano, as it isfor the majority of returnees, things werenot easy in the beginning.

“To be able to manage a business and itsearnings was not easy, but I stayed fo-cused on making the business grow. I be-lieve it has been a very good experience,”confirms Juan.

And Luciano says, “The most difficultthing was to gain the trust of my clients inthis transport business.”

Since the VARRP began in 2002, IOMhas assisted more than 560 migrants fromLatin America that have decided to returnto their countries voluntarily.

And now, as they have come full circle,Juan and Luciano have something incommon: they are living new lives intheir countries of origin.

* Names have been changed

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Luciano with his taxi

Volver a casa

El día que Juan* despertó sabiendo quehoras más tarde emprendería el viaje deregreso a su natal Risaralda en Colombiadespués de haber vivido en Londres nopodrá olvidarlo.

Y no es para menos. Fueron cuatro añosviviendo nuevas experiencias en un paíscon cultura e idioma diferentes, cono-ciendo gente de todas partes del mundoque como él llega todos los días al ReinoUnido en busca de nuevas oportunidades.

Pero para este joven de 29 años es in-evitable también no recordar las inter-minables horas de trabajo quecomenzaban a las 5:00am en un barrio alnorte de Londres.

Juan desempeñaba labores de limpieza.Muchas veces se sentía cansado pero nopodía pensar en parar, pues una hora sintrabajar le significaban cinco libras ester-linas menos para vivir.

Juan era un migrante irregular en elReino Unido. No contaba con ningúntipo de visa. Cada semana cambiaba deidentificación para no ser reconocido porlas autoridades. Juan recuerda: “una se-mana me llamaba Pedro y era de na-cionalidad española y a la semanasiguiente mi nombre era Luis, de na-cionalidad italiana”.

Esto tenía para él un costo muy alto. Es-taba siempre huyendo. Cuando estaba enel metro, cuando estaba en la calle,cuando iba a sus lugares de trabajo siem-pre estaba agobiado. Siempre estabapensando en el momento en que pudieraser descubierto y tal vez deportado a supaís.

Un poco diferente a lo que vivió Lu-ciano*, un ecuatoriano de 35 años quellegó al Reino Unido en el 2002 con sufamilia y solicitó asilo. Mientras esper-aba que su caso fuera resuelto, ni él ni sufamilia tenían derecho a trabajar.

Mientras tanto Juan seguía cambiando deidentidad tratando de escapar la detección

y deportación. Pero un día, tal comotemía, fue detenido con sus documentosfalsos. Sintió como su mundo se le der-rumbaba, pensó en que sería deportadoinmediatamente a Colombia. Sin em-bargo, tuvo la opción de contar a las au-toridades sus motivos de salida deColombia y fue así como se enteró quecon su caso también podía solicitar asilo.

Después de un tiempo ambos casosfueron negados. Luciano con sufamilia y Juan debían regresara sus países.

La opción para regresar digna-mente la recibieron del pro-grama VARRP de la OIM enLondres, que además de un re-torno digno, les ofreció la posi-bilidad de empezar sus vidascon nuevos proyectos.

La Reintegración

Cuando Juan y Luciano regresaron a susciudades natales decidieron montar suspropios negocios. Esto, gracias a que laOIM en Londres a través del VARRP,además de ofrecer a los migrantes en elproceso de retorno la ayuda logística delviaje (documentación necesaria para elviaje, pago de billetes aéreos, dinero enefectivo como una primera parte deayuda económica), les facilita su reinte-gración en los países de origen.

Al llegar a sus países, los retornados con-tactan a la misión de la OIM para accedera la segunda parte de la ayuda económicaque les ofrece el Programa. Con esaayuda, pueden elegir entre montar suspropios negocios o pagar la educación deellos o sus hijos.

Además, gracias a un nuevo enfoque ini-ciado en el 2007, el Programa ofrece laposibilidad de que el retornado lleveequipaje extra, reciba acomodación tem-poral desde el momento de su llegada,cursos de capacitación técnica y un em-pleo que podría ser conseguido por laOIM o por el individuo.

Juan, por ejemplo, con el asesoramientode la OIM Colombia, invirtió parte de laayuda en el negocio de su padre y con laotra parte montó un café Internet, quemeses más tarde le dio ganancias paracomprar una pequeña finca donde sem-bró café.

Luciano, por su parte compró un vehiculopara prestar el servicio de transporte aotras ciudades en Ecuador.

Sin embargo para Juan y Luciano, asícomo para la mayoría de retornados, lascosas no fueron fáciles al principio. “Serorganizado con la administración y lasganancias del negocio no fue fácil, perosiempre pensé en crecer y ampliar misnegocios y creo que ha sido una muybuena experiencia”, explica Juan.

Mientras que para Luciano “lo más difí-cil fue ganar la confianza de mis clientesen el medio del transporte”.

Así, desde la creación del ProgramaVARRP en 2002, la OIM ha beneficiadoa más de 560 latinoamericanos que handecidido regresar a sus países voluntaria-mente.

Hoy por hoy, Juan y Luciano a pesar dehaber vivido experiencias tan diferentesy difíciles en el Reino Unido tienen algoen común: están viviendo una nueva vidaen sus países de origen.

* Los nombres han sido cambiados

Juan en su café Internet

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Providing the Tools to Fight Human Trafficking

Amy MahoneyIOM Washington

As momentum to fight human traffickingin Trinidad and Tobago grows, IOM re-cently held two major counter-traffickingactivities to further strengthen the na-tion’s response capacity.

Trinidadian labor inspectors were pro-vided with new skills to identify andscreen potential victims of trafficking andrefer case-related information accord-ingly. The training, conducted at the re-quest of the Department of Labor, wasprompted by a recommendation from oneof its senior officials who had partici-pated in a previous IOM training seminar.

There is concern that inspectors could beencountering exploitative labor situationsthat not only break national laws, but alsomay qualify as cases of trafficking. Thisconcern is also supported by IOM’s Ex-ploratory Assessment of Trafficking inPersons which identified forced labor, do-mestic servitude, and sexual exploitationas Caribbean regional trends.

In the past year, there have been severalarticles in Trinidad’s media related totrafficking cases for sexual exploitation.

Investigative journalism on human traf-ficking requires adherence to strict stan-dards in order to keep victims, assistanceproviders, and even journalists safe.

IOM held an awareness and sensitizationworkshop for Trinidad’s journalists,which focused on ways of reporting thesetypes of stories in a way that helps vic-tims without re-traumatizing them orcompromising their safety.

Trinidad and Tobago is in the early stagesof assisting victims of trafficking, withthe authorities having officially identifiedfour cases. Yet the sentiment is that, ifthe country has just one victim, a collab-orative and proactive response is re-quired.

“Even if only one of you manage in yourcareer to bring relief to a victim, the timeand effort for this course will be wellspent,” declared Anthony Le Gendre, Im-migration Officer, during the openingceremony of IOM’s training in Tobago.

IOM Washington will publish ex-ploratory research on human traffickingin Trinidad and Tobago and will assist inthe launching of a local counter-traffick-ing information campaign later this Sum-mer.

In partnership with the Government ofTrinidad and Tobago, the counter-traf-ficking activities are a part of IOM’slarger projects on Technical Cooperationand Migration Management and theCaribbean Counter-Trafficking Initiative,funded by the U.S. Department of State’sBureau of Population, Refugees, and Mi-gration (PRM) and the Bureau of West-ern Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) .

Combating human trafficking is a crosscutting theme within the government’smigration management strategy.Through IOM’s project for Strengthen-ing Technical Capacity, the governmenthas worked to bolster the capabilities ofimmigration and other law enforcementagencies by updating legal and regulatoryframeworks, improving migration secu-rity technology, building institutional ca-pacity, and fostering regionalcooperation.

“There is often a link between the use offraudulent documents and human traf-ficking,” remarked Mr. Le Gendre, whois also the administrator of the DocumentExamination Laboratory. “The Labora-tory, established by IOM, is an importantpart of the holistic response to organizedcrime.”

Caribbean Counter-Trafficking Model Legislation

Since January 2008, IOM has been working with Caribbean partners to develop model legisla-tion to counter trafficking in persons. During two working-group sessions, legal experts fromCARICOM and 10 Caribbean countries reviewed and commented on the provisions in IOM’scounter-trafficking model legislation. The group provided constructive feedback and insight tothe various legislative systems across the Caribbean. This will ensure that the final product andaccompanying guidelines will reflect the local and regional context. IOM anticipates these will

be available sometime during summer 2008. This project is supported by the U.S. Department ofState, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP).

A trabajar y a cantar

Juliana Quintero OIM Colombia

Hasta mayo de este año, Dairo, uncolombiano de la costa norte, se habíadedicado a cantar y a hacer presenta-ciones con el grupo de música vallenatadel que hace parte en el Cesar, la ciudaddonde nació.

Un día de mayo su vida cambió: mientrashacían una presentación en su pueblo, elgrupo recibió una propuesta laboral quepara ellos no solo era oportunidadeconómica, sino la de realizar el sueñoque siempre habían tenido como grupo:Ir a otro país a difundir su cultura val-lenata y presentarse en festivales en elex-tranjero.

Él y sus tres compañeros musicales sonmuy conocidos en su región por sumúsica y por animar los eventos espe-ciales de los Cesarenses, para quienes elvallenato, además de ser su música típica,simboliza su cultura y sus raícescosteñas.

El vallenato, dicen los artistas, representaculturalmente el mestizaje del quenacieron sus antepasados en la costanorte del país y los tres instru-mentos (acordeón, guacharacay caja vallenata) surgieron de lamezcla de tres culturas: la es-pañola, la africana y la indí-gena.

Dairo, de 27 años, interpreta elacordeón desde que era un niñoporque sus abuelos y tíos le en-señaron. Los otros tres músi-cos también se han dedicadodesde pequeños a la música,pero por razones económicas,han tenido que realizar parale-lamente labores en el campo yotros sectores para su manuten-ción y la de sus familias.

Dairo fue seleccionadojunto con su grupo val-

lenato y otras 300 personas de su regiónpara participar en el Programa de Mi-gración Laboral, Temporal y Circular(MLTC), implementado en Colombia porla OIM y la Unió de Pagesos / Agricul-tores Solidarios en España, con el finan-ciamiento del Programa Aeneas de laComisión Europea.

Como participante en este Programa,Dairo trabajará por un período de seismeses recolectando frutas en Cataluña,tiempo al cabo del cual regresará aColombia, con la opción de repetir elciclo el próximo año.

El grupo musical fue seleccionado por laFundación Carboandes de Valledupar nosólo porque tienen habilidades para el tra-bajo en el campo sino porque el pro-grama MLTC busca también promoveractividades culturales con el fin de ofre-cer no solo posibilidades laborales a losmigrantes, sino además entretenimientoy difusión de sus culturas.

El 1 de julio Dairo y sus compañerossalieron rumbo a Cataluña. Mientras es-taban en el aeropuerto al lado de susmaletas, interpretaban algunas cancionesen ritmos de paseo, puya y son, típicas desu repertorio. Recordaban a sus familias,

a las que esperan ver pronto y a su gentedel Cesar quienes para Dairo “son másque el motivo de regreso, de volver a can-tarles y a contarles cómo es la vida alláal otro lado”.

Trabajarán de lunes a viernes en las gran-jas recogiendo frutas, y durante los finesde semana se dedicarán a ofrecer concier-tos en la región de Cataluña, explicandola historia de cada una de las canciones yacompañados de trajes típicos. Ademáslos cantantes asistirán al evento anual dela campaña agraria de Cataluña en el quese realizan muestras culturales de difer-entes países, y harán presencia en un fes-tival intercultural en Francia.

“Nunca imaginamos que pudiéramos ir aotro país a hacer lo que nos gusta y queademás nos ofrecieran la oportunidad detrabajar y aprender otras cosas”, cuentaHenry Pinto, el cantante del grupo.

En seis meses este grupo regresará mien-tras otros Colombianos de otras regionesdel país preparan sus maletas para irsebajo el mismo Modelo de migración, queha beneficiará en este año a 1800 per-sonas.

Los músicos de vallenato van a España

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Singing While You Work

Until recently, Dairo, a young man fromColombia’s northern coast, made his liv-ing singing the folkloric vallenatarhythms with his group at special eventsin his native city of Cesar.

But one day last May the group receivedan offer they couldn’t refuse: to travel toSpain as part of an IOM-managed tem-porary labor migration program, earnmoney and spread Colombia’s vallenatamusical culture. This was the group’sdream come true.

Dairo and the other three members of thegroup are well known in this part ofColombia where they are hired for spe-cial events where the vallenato is morethan just music, it symbolizes theircoastal roots.

According to the artists, the vallenatorepresents the mestizaje, or cultural mixof those who have shared for centuriesthe lush tropical land of Colombia’snorthern coast. The three instrumentsused to play vallenato, accordion,guacharaca and the vallenata box, cametogether as did the three cultures – the in-digenous, the Spanish, and the African.

Twenty-seven year old Dairo, who playsthe accordion, says he learnt the instru-ment and vallenato music from hisgrandparents and uncles. The othermembers of the group have also playedsince childhood, but were less fortunatebecause they could not devote them-selves 100 per cent to their music andhad to work the fields and do other jobsin order to provide for their families.

Dairo and his group were selected alongwith 300 other applicants to take part inthe Temporary and Circular Labour Mi-gration Programme (MLTC by its Span-ish acronym) implemented by IOMColombia and the Unió de Pagesos /Agricultores Solidarios of Spain, with fi-nancing from the Aeneas Program of theEuropean Commission.

The selected migrantswill work for sixmonth harvesting fruitsin the Catalonia regionof Spain, with the op-tion of participating inthe program next year.

IOM’s local partner,the Fundación Car-boandes de Valledupar,selected Dairo and hisfriends not only be-cause of their experi-ence in agriculturalwork, but becauseMLTC wants to pro-mote cultural activitiesas part of the program.

So on the 1st of July,Dairo and his friendstook off for Catalonia.But while waiting fortheir flight, and to thedelight of the public,they gave an im-promptu performanceat the airport. Theyplayed paseos, puyasand sons, typicalsounds of their exten-sive repertoire.

The music made them a bit melancholyand made them think of their familiesbeing left behind. Dairo said, “Our fam-ily is the reason we will return soon. Butalso because we want to continue to en-tertain our friends and neighbors inCesar, and to tell them how others liveon the other side of the ocean.”

The men will work in the fields Mondaythru Friday and the weekends will bespent playing their beloved vallenatos infull costume at music festivals and otherevents throughout Catalonia and inneighboring France.

“We never imagined that we wouldtravel to a foreign land to do what we

love best – playing vallenatos,” explainsHenry Pinto, the singer. “But also wewill be making money and learning newthings!”

In six months the group of 300 will re-turn home while other Colombian labormigrants pack their bags to take part inthe MLTC program, which aims to ben-efit 1,800 Colombians in 2008.

For more information, please visit theIOM Colombia website at:www.oim.org.co

Dairo, the vallenato musician heads off to Spain

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La OIM asiste al gobierno en la modificación del

código penal de Chile

La oficina de la OIM en Chile proveyóasistencia técnica jurídica a la Cámara deDiputados y al Senado de Chile en la for-mulación del proyecto de ley que se pro-pone a modificar el Código Penal, elCódigo de Proceso Penal, la Ley de Ex-tranjería (Decreto Ley nº 1094/ 95), laLey Orgánica de la Policía de Investiga-ciones de Chile (Decreto Ley 2470/ 79),la Ley que regla la libertad condicionalpara los penados (Decreto Ley nº 321/25)y la Ley que fija las normas generales deindultos en Chile (Ley nº 18050).

El proyecto de ley está actualmente entramitación en el Senado de Chile, a

través del boletín nº 3778-18. Al ser unamateria en que existe acuerdo y consensogeneral entre los senadores chilenos, laOIM Chile solicitó a la Presidencia delSenado la integración del proyecto en latabla de ”Fácil Despacho” de acuerdocon el Artículo 85º del Reglamento delSenado de Chile para rápida votación yaprobación.

Por unanimidad la Sala del Senadoaprobó el 4 junio del 2008 el proyectoque tipifica los delitos de tráfico ilícitode migrantes y trata de personas, yacordó remitir la iniciativa a la Comisiónde Derechos Humanos y luego a la de

Constitución, para su análisis en particu-lar.

Además, fijó como plazo, el lunes 16 dejunio 2008 para que los senadores haganllegar sus indicaciones. La OIM Chileparticipará activamente ofreciendo asis-tencia técnico jurídico a los senadoresparticipantes de ambas comisiones.

De acuerdo con el procedimiento leg-islativo chileno, después de las indica-ciones de ambas comisiones, el proyectovolverá a la Sala del Senado para lavotación y probación final.

Exploratory Study Looks at How Migration Impacts

Nicaraguan Women

Berta FernándezIOM Nicaragua

A new study by IOM and the UN’s Pop-ulation Fund (UNFPA) sheds light on theimpact that migration has on Nicaraguawomen who migrate to Costa Rica andencourages sound policies to uphold theirhuman rights.

The IOM /UNFPA exploratory study ex-amines the migratory patterns ofNicaraguan women who migrate to CostaRica, focusing on the problems they faceas women migrants, and provides recom-mendations to make their experiencemore positive.

Nicaraguan women interviewed for thisstudy overwhelmingly say they decidedto migrate to escape poverty and lack ofjobs at home and to find better paid jobsin Costa Rica. Other reasons for migrat-ing included fleeing domestic violenceand an idealistic perception of life inCosta Rica.

“Many women, like me, thought that

there were plenty of jobs in Costa Rica,and that we were going to be treated well.But when we arrived, we realized thiswas not the case at all,” confirms one in-terviewee.

Another migrant woman in Costa Ricarecalls her domestic nightmare: “He hadhis house and family, but he would notleave me in peace. One day he put a gunto my head and told me that I wouldnever leave him. That is why I had toleave Nicaragua.”

How does migration impact a woman’sdaily life? For the most part the experi-ence has had negative impacts, becausethe majority of the women interviewedare irregular migrants and therefore morevulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Thewomen confirmed they were exploited bytheir employers and felt more vulnerableas women. They also cited a difficulttime accessing health and reproductivehealth services, as well as housing orshelter programmes.

The women interviewed also felt they hadpaid a high emotional price because they

were forced to leave their children andextended families behind. Being awoman meant an increased sense of guilt,as they are expected to be there for theirchildren; many confirmed this causes de-pression and anxiety.

The authors recommend the creation of abi-national committee to create policies,including access to health and other so-cial services irrespective of a person’s mi-gratory status; the creation of jobs andinvestment opportunities in the countryof origin; sustainable and dignified returnto Nicaragua; the set up of a shelter inCosta Rica for migrant women in need;implementation of an information cam-paign, aimed at the Costa Rican public,on the positive aspects of migration; andstrengthening hometown associations,amongst others.

The full report, in Spanish can be foundon the IOM website at: www.iom.int

USAIMU. S. Association for International Migration

Rescued children at rehab center proudly show their bead work

The United States Association for In-ternational Migration (USAIM) isIOM’s private sector partner organiza-tion in the United States.

USAIM’s mission is to increase pub-lic awareness and mobilize privatesector resources in support of interna-tional programs that provide assistanceto migrants and refugees.

USAIM concentrates its efforts onhuman trafficking, health, emergencyrelief, and public information cam-paigns. It does so primarily by sup-porting and promoting the work ofIOM, as it is committed to the princi-ple that humane and orderly migrationbenefits migrants and society.

In 2007, USAIM’s status as a 501(c)3organization made it possible for thePeery Family Foundation to make atax-deductible contribution to an IOMproject in Argentina that enables im-

poverished migrant families living inthe slums of Buenos Aires to under-take income generating activities sothat their children can attend school in-stead of having to enter the labor force.

Most recently, USAIM has worked tosupport emergency relief efforts inpost-cyclone Myanmar by raisingfunds from individuals and corpora-tions in order to provide clean waterand shelter to disaster victims.

USAIM is committed to its mission ofraising public awareness of and sup-port for victims of trafficking, mi-grants and displaced populations.

Currently, USAIM is engaged in rais-ing funds to support IOM’s TraffickedChildren of Ghana project, which isworking to rescue, rehabilitate andreintegrate hundreds of trafficked chil-dren working in the fishing villagesalong Lake Volta in Ghana.

Additionally, USAIM has undertakenfundraising initiatives to garner sup-port for IOM’s project in Moldova,which aims to rescue young womenand children from sex trafficking, pro-vide them with a safe shelter, and givethem the tools necessary for social andeconomic reintegration into society.

As part of its partnership with IOM,USAIM hopes to bring more attentionto global humanitarian issues such ashuman trafficking and displacement ofpersons and to increase the resourcesavailable to IOM for fighting theseproblems.

For more information or to get in-volved please visit :

www.usaim.orgor write to USAIM at:

info@usaim.org

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