OSCE Office in Baku holds workshop on combating human trafficking

GANJA, Azerbaijan, 18 April 2011 – A two-day workshop organized by the OSCE Office in Baku for regional authorities on the national action plan to fight trafficking in human beings started in the western city of Ganja today.

The event is organized in co-operation with the International Organization for Migration and the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry. The purpose of the workshop is to sensitize regional law-enforcement agencies and other actors to anti-trafficking challenges and elaborate on the role of front-line officers in combating trafficking in human beings.

“Trafficking in human beings is an increasing problem and demands a more comprehensive and co-ordinated response, which includes prevention of trafficking, protection of victims, and prosecution of traffickers and their accomplices,” said John MacGregor, the Head of Politico-Military Unit of the OSCE Office in Baku. “We hope that the workshop will help improve the process of identifying victims and contribute to the Government’s efforts to effectively investigate and prosecute human trafficking and forced labour.”

The workshop will be led by police experts from the Strategic Police Matters Unit of the OSCE Secretariat and the Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation as well as representatives of the OSCE Office in Baku, the International Organization for Migration and the Anti-Trafficking Department of the Interior Ministry.

The Office will organize similar workshops in five more regions and in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.