Government of Belarus demonstrates strong political will to fight trafficking
MINSK (Belarus) – The Government of Belarus has demonstrated strong political will to fight trafficking, states Country Report on Situation on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, first presented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on 5 March 2007 at the International Conference “Trafficking in Women and Girls: Meeting the Challenge Together” at the United Nations in New York.
In 2006 on request of the Ministry of Interior international experts visited Belarus to assess the achievements of the Belarusian government in fighting human trafficking. The experts analyzed counter-trafficking legislation as well as statistical data and gave their assessment to government’s efforts in this sphere.
The report is based on the information received from the government officials, representatives of public associations of the Republic and international organizations involved in fighting human trafficking.
It is estimated that the number of assisted victims of trafficking has grown progressively over the time as the network of public associations is being developed and national referral mechanism is being strengthened. Nevertheless, the full scale of trafficking in persons remains unknown not only because of the nature of the crime but also because of the fact that victims are too afraid to report to the authorities about the facts of exploitation.
IOM experts highlighted the fact that the government’s anti-trafficking efforts had been concentrated on criminalization and prosecution of traffickers, as well as imroving of legislation. Belarus has also been extremely active in the area of raising public awareness about the phenomenon of trafficking. According to the IOM survey, 95 % of the Belarus population have a good understanding of the issue.
It is also noted that at the political level there is a strong commitment by the Office of the President to combat trafficking in human beings, which proved to be an important factor in a country’s success in addressing migration issues.
For additional information contact IOM Minsk Office. Contact person: Ms. Tatyana Bugaeva, tel.: +375 17 284 46 02; e-mail:
Combating trafficking in human beings is one of the most important spheres of IOM’s activities in Belarus. This programme has been implemented by IOM since 2002 and includes three interrelated components: prevention; prosecution and criminalization of traffickers; rehabilitation assistance to victims of trafficking. In the framework of the programme the IOM has conducted a range of seminars and international conferences, organized networking trips for law-enforcement officers to countries of transit and destination of the “live commodity”, provided reintegration assistance to 1330 victims. Preventive and reintegration activities are conducted by IOM in all regions of Belarus in close cooperation with the government and public associations – IOM partners.
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