OSCE Special Representative travels to eastern Ukraine to raise awareness of human trafficking in crisis situations
DNEPROPETROVSK, Ukraine 22 May 2015 – The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Ambassador Madina Jarbussynova, highlighted the risks of modern day slavery in crisis situations during a week-long visit to eastern Ukraine.
The United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR recently reported that 1.28 million people have been displaced as a result of the crisis in and around Ukraine. Families and individuals that lose their homes and jobs can easily be exploited by human traffickers.
The Special Representative met with displaced persons at Dnepropetrovsk’s Dopomoha Dnipra shelter and at a humanitarian aid distribution centre in Kharkiv operated by UNHCR and the Station Kharkiv non-governmental organization (NGO).
“The critical help provided by these organizations must be stressed,” she said. “The people I met have undergone great hardship, but now they are being given the opportunity to rebuild their lives.”
During her visit, Ambassador Jarbussynova also held anti-trafficking information sessions for members of the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) in Kharkiv and Dnepropetrovsk.
“With close to 500 monitors on the ground, the OSCE is ideally placed to report on human trafficking and raise awareness about this threat,” the Special Representative said. “Our briefings here play a key role in providing the monitors with the information they need to spot potential trafficking cases and identify high-risk scenarios.”
Ambassador Jarbussynova praised the commitment of the local authorities in the region during her meetings with Vitaliy Lytvyn, Counselor to the Head of Dnepropetrovsk Regional State Administration , Olena Lozenko, Deputy Mayor of Dnepropetrovsk city, as well as Vadym Glushko, Acting Governor of the Kharkiv region.
Ambassador Jarbussynova travels regularly to Ukraine in order to raise awareness about human trafficking, engage with high-level authorities and prevent an increase in human trafficking. She holds frequent training sessions for the Organization’s monitors together with the SMM and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.