OSCE Project Co-ordinator trains Ukrainian local police on combating human trafficking

POLTAVA, Ukraine, 11 June 2010 - The final in a series of eight training sessions for local police chief inspectors on combating human trafficking concluded in Poltava today.

Around 200 chief police inspectors from the regions of Chernihiv, Cherkassy, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy regions and the capital learned how local police can raise awareness of human trafficking and how they can identify victims of human trafficking and help them by referring them to the appropriate bodies. The role of local police in criminal investigations was also covered in the one-day course.

"Precinct police inspectors could play a key role in national referral mechanism: they are positioned within local communities and are in constant and immediate contact with potential and possible victims of trafficking," said Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

"Through their co-operation with public authorities, other law enforcement units and civil society, they can identify trafficking victims and inform specialized police units about trafficking cases in the community."

Some 1,200 rank-and-file police officers will also receive training on fighting human trafficking in 48 training courses to be held in the same eight regions of Ukraine by the end of the year.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry initiated the courses in 2007 as part of the country's programme to combat human trafficking. The courses are also in line with the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, adopted in 2003.