International Organisation in Vienna Raises Awareness About Human Trafficking
Due to the acute danger of Ukrainian displaced persons becoming victims of human trafficking, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Austria is currently trying to generate more awareness of the problem that many people have to struggle with.
Many millions of people have to leave their homes every year due to war, conflicts and catastrophes. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Chabad Lubavitch, CC BY 2.0
The war in Ukraine, which has already been going on for 4 months due to the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine, is causing numerous problems. From economic crises such as high inflation and rising oil prices to humanitarian disasters such as the threat of famine and refugee movements around the globe.
There is no end in sight to war and the same is true of humanitarian crisis situations. No matter how these situations were triggered, be it by war, conflict, natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic. They invariably increase the vulnerability of affected populations to rights abuses, including human trafficking.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), as the largest intergovernmental organisation in the field of migration, has been fighting for justice for these same neglected groups for many years, trying to draw attention to their problems.
In response to the flight of many millions of Ukrainians from their homeland, IOM Austria has now adapted its Asylum Train II project to educate first responders in Austria about the risks of trafficking for people fleeing conflict and how best to assist and refer people who may have been trafficked.
This project has been providing training and networking activities for Austrian migration and asylum actors for several years and aims to improve asylum management in Austria. It tries to do this on the one hand by identifying, referring and protecting persons of concern in asylum procedures and improving the intercultural competences of Austrian migration actors.
The events around Asyl-Train II are organised in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Criminal Police Office, the LEFÖ Intervention Centre for Trafficked Women, MEN VIA Support for Trafficked Men and the Centre Drehscheibe of the City of Vienna.
In addition to basic information on trafficking and referrals to specialised support services, the event includes information on observations of trafficking and related risks as well as indicators of trafficking in the Ukraine crisis.