The IOM office in Montevideo is today holding a one-day training
session in the border city of Rivera, to increase awareness and the
capacity of public officials to fight human trafficking, child
pornography and human smuggling.

IOM is partnering with the Uruguayan Institute for Children and
Adolescents (INAU by its Spanish acronym) to bring together
Uruguayan and Brazilian officials from the border cities of Rivera
and Santana Do Livramento.

Law enforcement officials, including border police and other
security personnel, as well as judicial authorities, health care
providers, educators, and local NGOs will be given the tools needed
to identify a potential victim of trafficking, to provide
assistance and to combat this practice in the border
area. 

"Children and adolescents in this border area are very
vulnerable to falling prey to human traffickers, especially for
sexual exploitation," explains Susana Leonardi, head of the IOM
office in Montevideo.

A series of interviews and a report carried out by psychologist
Luis Albernaz, on behalf of INAU, revealed that the population in
the border areas is not reporting potential abuses to the
authorities.  According to interviews conducted by Albernaz,
the phenomenon is not a priority for society at this time. 
The interviews revealed that because human trafficking, migrant
smuggling and child pornography are part of society's underground,
these are not seen in every day life and therefore, combating them
is all the more difficult.

In his report Albernaz recommends the following actions: "Mass
information campaigns in the border areas are needed to bring the
problem out of the shadows and into mainstream society. 
Training of all actors involved is crucial, as they do not know
that there are tools and support available to combat these
crimes.  Training on the special needs of children and
coordination between the different countries are also necessary,
because it is impacting on communities on both sides of the
border."

Today's training is the second being carried out in Uruguay as
part of the IOM program Punto.Sur, developed to strengthen the
local and regional capacities and to promote the creation of
networks trained to fight human trafficking and migrant
smuggling.  Punto Sur is financed by the US Department of
State Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking (G/TIP).

For more information, please contact:

Susana Leonardo

IOM Montevideo

Tel: (5982) 916-8043

E-mail: "mailto:iommontevideo@iom.int">iommontevideo@iom.int