IOM yesterday completed an interactive mass awareness raising
campaign with a theatre show in Tando Allah Yar town in Sindh,
exposing different forms of human trafficking.

The performance, the last in a series of 11 organized in
Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur, Multan and Cholistan, in Punjab; Turbat,
Gawadar and Mand in Balochistan; and Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Larkana
and Tando Allah Yar in Sindh, was organized with support from the
Lahore-based Interactive Resource Centre.

Designed to raise awareness of human trafficking, particularly
in vulnerable communities in rural areas and border towns, the
shows involved the active participation of the general public,
civil society stakeholders and government officials.

The campaign, which focused on high-profile trafficking cases,
such as child camel jockeys trafficked to the Gulf, trafficking
routes and bonded labour, was also designed to help government
agencies to identify victims and prosecute traffickers.

IOM will also soon launch an SMS campaign targeting 14 million
cell phone users in major towns in the Punjab, including
Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal and
Hafizabad.

The SMS, which has been prepared in coordination with the
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), is: "Say ‘NO' to human
trafficking/smuggling. It is a crime punishable by 7 years. Please
inform FIA on 111 345 786 about such criminals. Save family and
friends."

In addition to awareness raising, IOM has been working with the
FIA, the Ministry of the Interior and Provincial Home Departments
to combat human trafficking through building the capacity of
officials and providing equipment to improve their effectiveness in
preventing the crime, protecting the victims and prosecuting the
perpetrators.

"The greatest challenge was probably better communication and
reporting between the various anti-trafficking units and we are
delighted to see this happening," says IOM programme manager Yuko
Hamada.

IOM focused on building the capacity of FIA and its
anti-trafficking units (ATUs) through training and the provision of
state-of-the-art information technology, databases and
investigation support equipment, including computers, printers,
record-keeping cameras and investigation kits.

With the completion of the counter trafficking project this
month, IOM also handed over a shelter for trafficking victims in
Islamabad to the Ministry of Women Development (MOWD) last week The
US-funded shelter has provided psychosocial, medical and legal
support to victims since August 2005.

For more information please contact:

Yuko Hamada

IOM Islamabad

Tel: +92.51.111466472

E-mail: "mailto:yhamada@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">yhamada@iom.int