Ukrainian government announces program to combat trafficking in humans (11/13/05)

Ukrainian government announces program to combat trafficking in humans

Ukrinform

KYIV - Family, Youth and Sports Minister Yurii Pavlenko on October 24 presented a report to a session of the Interagency Coordinating Committee for combating human trafficking in which he summarized Ukrainian law enforcement bodies' activities to root out this social evil.

According to Mr. Pavlenko, during the first seven months of 2005 more than 260 facts of trafficking in humans were established, which resulted in the institution of legal proceedings against the criminals; 28 criminal rings were tracked down and liquidated; the illegal transportation of over 2,000 children from Ukraine without their parents' consent was prevented; and over 300 persons, illegally kept abroad, were brought back to Ukraine.

Minister Pavlenko told the session that these steps, which are being taken within the framework of the government's comprehensive program to combat human trafficking, are starting to bear fruit.

Mr. Pavlenko also reported that educational work also is being stepped up. In particular, relevant pamphlets, notes and reference booklets are being disseminated among the younger generation, with the aim of alerting them to the risks and perils involved in the recruitment of personnel by shady agencies offering work abroad.

The Ukrainian government has launched a special telephone hotline to advise those about to travel abroad. The line's institution has been supported by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The hotline employs consultants from the La Strada Ukraine international human rights center, and calls can be made from Kyiv and six regional centers.

Minister Pavlenko said he believes it is very important to create and offer lucrative economic alternatives to employment abroad. To this end, government agencies have launched refresher and training courses for young adults.

According to Mr. Pavlenko, in the first half of 2005 more than 1 million young females approached the State Employment Service, and 284,000 women were given jobs. Efforts continue to create new jobs, in particular, through subventions to employers. In this way 6,700 women were employed, especially those with children under age 6 or disabled children.

According to Mr. Pavlenko, within the framework of the comprehensive program, much attention is being paid to matters of societal reintegration. Most notably, a network of reintegration and rehabilitation centers has been created to organize professional training and also render practical aid in securing employment and housing.

The minister pointed to the importance of the Verkhovna Rada's step to ratify the United Nations convention on combating transnational organized crime and its supplementary protocols.

The interagency session also considered the Concept of the National Target-Specific Program to counter trafficking in humans in 2006 -2010. The participants also discussed a plan to set up a National Coordinator's Bureau for combating human trafficking.

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