OSCE promotes awareness among Kyrgyzstan’s national media on combating trafficking in persons
On July 26, 2022 in anticipation of World Day against Trafficking in Persons, a press café was held in Bishkek for media representatives and leading bloggers of the country to inform the society about issues related to the combat against trafficking in persons in Kyrgyzstan.
At present, according to national experts in the field, this industry ranks as the first most profitable in the world, already leaving behind trafficking in arms and drugs. The human trafficking problem is extensive and includes sexual slavery, illegal organ transplants, forced marriages abroad, begging, and more.
International Labor Organization data demonstrates that 11,4 million women and girls and 9,5 million men and boys are victims of forced labor annually; 5,5 million of them are children.
During the press café, experts from law enforcement and civil society discussed statistics on trafficking, cases and human stories from Kyrgyzstan, the National Referral Mechanism and various methods to better identify and help victims of trafficking, as well as on-going efforts to counter human trafficking.
The real-life stories of victims of trafficking from Kyrgyzstan illustrate that Kyrgyzstan is both a source and a transit country for human trafficking.
Notably, according to the national law enforcement experts, the number of victims of human trafficking is far higher in Kyrgyzstan as compared to the official statistics. The secrecy of this type of crime complicates the work of state agencies in combating this phenomenon, yet a joint and coordinated work of law enforcement agencies, social workers, and civil society organizations makes the fight against this problem more effective.
For many years, the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek has been providing assistance to national stakeholders in capacity building, conducting seminars and training courses for law enforcement, social workers, and religious leaders, as well as information campaigns for the population.
In addition, first national trafficking simulation exercise had been conducted for the first time in Kyrgyzstan in 2021, which helped test the National Referral Mechanism in practice.