Contributed by: Larissa Ponarina, Russian Federation National VAW Monitor

Posted on Tuesday, 17-10-2006

Russian Federation - The IOM office in Moscow is launching a new programme to provide reintegration assistance and shelter services to victims of trafficking.

The new initiative is part of the on-going IOM project “Prevention of Human Trafficking in the Russian Federation” that is financed by the European Commission Delegation in Russia with co-funding from the governments of Switzerland and the United States.

The IOM project focuses on combating human trafficking in the Russian Federation, a country of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking, and on providing protection and assistance to all victims regardless of age and gender.

The programme, which places special emphasis on the medical and psychological care of the victims, will include a newly-refurbished medical rehabilitation centre in Moscow.

Once the new centre opens its doors in December, it will provide essential services to 350 trafficking victims a year in their rehabilitation and reintegration into the home communities.

The centre will offer the victims:

• Airport reception
• Temporary accommodation
• High-quality medical services and psychological counseling
• Social and legal counseling
• Transportation to the final destination within the country for Russian nationals
• Transportation to the country of origin for non-Russian nationals
• Medical escorts for those requiring professional assistance during transportation
• Provision of reinstallation and reintegration grants
• Referrals to local NGOs for follow-up counseling and medical-psychological assistance as applicable and
• Provision of counseling/training on reintegration opportunities.

IOM Moscow is establishing a victim referral system for government authorities, law enforcement agencies, public health officials and social support institutions, NGOs, and international organizations.

According to the US Department of State 2006 Trafficking in Persons report, Russia is a major source of women trafficked globally for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Russia is also a significant destination and transit country for persons trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation from regional and neighbouring countries into Russia, and then onto Gulf states, Europe, Asia and North America.

For more information contact:

Sergey Brestovitskii
IOM Moscow
E-mail: sbrestovit@iom.int 

Nana Ararktsian
Tel: +7.495.797.8722
E-mail: narar@iom.int

Published in: Press Briefing Notes, Reintegration Assistance for Victims of Trafficking, International Organization for Migration, 17 October 2006.