|
INFORMATION CENTERS
Official opening of the St. Petersburg Information and Consultation Center
on prevention of human trafficking.
The Bureau of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Moscow and St. Petersburg Red Cross International Cooperation Centre would like to announce the beginning of the work of the Information and Consultation Center in the framework of the project “Information campaign on Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings in the Russian Federation with a Special Focus on St. Petersburg region”, funded by the Government of Belgium.
The project is implemented by the Bureau of IOM in Moscow and St. Petersburg Red Cross International Cooperation Centre from 9 April 2009 until 31 October 2009. This project is the continuation of the work of similar centers in Moscow, Petrozavodsk and Astrakhan.
Address of the Information and Consultative Center: 19D, Goncharnaya St., St. Petersburg.
Toll free national anonymous hotline: 8 800 333 00 16
( 8:30 A.M. - 6:30 P.M. weekdays).
Free of charge calls from all RF regions.
The objective of the Center’s work is to increase the preventive counter-trafficking efforts in the Russian Federation with a special focus on St. Petersburg through raising the awareness on the issue of human trafficking among risk groups and the general public. Such assistance will allow beneficiaries to make thoughtful decisions and avoid situations that threaten their security.
Skilled specialists – hotline operators-consultants and lawyers – are working in the Center. A toll-free national hotline for all regions of Russia for the purposes of consultation is 8 800 333-00-16. All persons interested may visit the Center and apply for a personal consultation.
The location of Saint Petersburg, the city of origin, transit and destination for many migrants determines the social importance of the project to the city. Apart from the work of the Information and Consultation Center the project foresees the comprehensive raising awareness campaign including development and dissemination of thematic guides on issues of migration, labour, criminal and civil legislation, social issues and the existing organizations that are working in the field of counter-trafficking, human rights protection and social work as well as the information campaign and trainings for the personnel of the ICC, Russian and foreign diplomats on issues of human trafficking and human rights protection.
* * *
The main purpose of the Information Centers is implementation of a proactive prevention measures against forced labour and other human trafficking related situations through organization of consultations on legal and other relevant topics for different groups of population including at-risk groups and migrants from many regions of Russia as well as foreign nationals coming to Russia for work.
A special attention is attributed to the labour migrants to/from the pilot regions as well as to the at-risk groups, including the most vulnerable social groups that mainly become trafficking victims, i.e. women-migrants, unemployed youth, teenagers from troubled families, orphans, irregular labour migrants, former convicts, etc.
The counselling and information services provide these categories of people with an access to professional counselling and empower them to take well thought decisions in the situations endangering their safety.
Information Center in St. Petersburg
anonymous hot line: 8 800 333 00 16
(toll free calls from all Russian regions)
operating during workdays from 8:30 AM until 6:30 PM.
Information about the availability of assistance provided by Information Centers is widely disseminated within the framework of the information campaign aimed at both specific at-risk groups and general public.
Information campaign launched by IOM included development of specialized materials (among them - outdoor advertizing: advertizing billboard, posters, shields, cross-street banners, leaflets in Russian, Uzbek and Tajik, specialized reference materials, radio and TV spots, info cards etc.) In Moscow the information about the work of the project "hot line" is placed on up to 30 street billboards monthly as a social advertizing. Advertizing materials were distributed in Moscow metro carriages, in public transport in project regions: autobuses, trolleys, at bus stops, shuttle taxis, suburban trains; radio spots were broadcasted on the radio in Moscow (“Militseyskaya Volna”), in Astrakhan (radio LOTOS, Chanson, Russian Radio), in the Republic of Karelia (Europa Plus); counter-trafficking PSA were broadcasted on several federal and regional TV Channels (such as NTV, TNT, MTV Astrakhan, MTV and Muz TV Rostov-on-Don); advertisings were published in newspapers and magazines, in Internet. Advertizing materials were also distributed at market places, railway stations, near hostels, industrial enterprises, in schools, through NGOs and Diaspora unions.
Information materials were developed in cooperation with the relevant governmental structures, which took active part in the distribution of materials. Such cooperation has contributed to success of informational work with at-risk groups and general public.
From May 2007 till May 2009 Astrakhan, Moscow and Petrozavodsk Information Centers have provided more then 11000 consultations. The overwhelming number of queries were processed by Moscow Center (more then 6000).
A large number of queries were made regarding the issuance of work permits (19% of the total number of queries), migration registration of residence (13%), migration registration of stay (8%), employment abroad for Russian citizens (19%), naturalization (8%), labor and migration legislation infringements in Russia and human trafficking issues (6%).
There were also calls with requests for help and psychological support for victims of trafficking. In August a statement made to the Moscow hot-line number (information was referred from the Trans-Dniester counter-trafficking hot-line number) triggered the police rescue operation by the RF MoI Counter Organized Crime Dept. carried out in order to release a person from the forced illegal custody in Moscow. As of today, as a result of the statements made to the Centers in the three regions, over 40 persons were rescued from the slavery situation; 27 victims of trafficking who applied to the centers (17 Uzbek, 1 Russian and 9 Tajik nationals) received the required psychological and medical assistance in the Rehabilitation Center in Moscow. Any information received during the counseling in relation to the dishonest organizations, agencies and employers, violating the rights of migrants, is relayed to the law-enforcement bodies for their follow-up verifications. It should be noted that the Centers also received requests for assistance in the search of missing persons who on reasonable grounds were believed to become victims of human trafficking. As result, seven persons were found both in Russia and abroad. 
On average, Russian and foreign nationals address their queries to the Information Centers in equal proportion. The callers’ average age is 20 to 40 years. The nationals from more than 25 countries called the Information Centers in connection with their queries. The biggest number of calls originated from the CIS Member-States nationals, mostly from the nationals of Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan.
In order to provide the Centers with informational and methodological materials, IOM specialists, proceeding from the baseline study findings and cooperating with the pilot regions, will develop two Information Guides - the Guide on legal and social protection issues and the Guide containing information on issues pertaining to (re)integration (including employment and education-related issues) for at-risk groups and victims. It is foreseen to use modern techniques for regular data updates in the Guides. Throughout the Guide development process, query type statistics accumulated by the Information Centers will be used. The Guides will be issued in early 2009 and disseminated in the three pilot regions as well as among experts (both governmental and nongovernmental organizations) dealing with counter-human trafficking and victim assistance issues.
At present, IOM is working on gathering materials for the development of a media-based training curriculum targeted at Information Center staff. Not only will it include general subjects concerning migration and IOM activities, but also specific subjects, such as prevention of human trafficking, labor migration, raising awareness and data management.
Work of IC in Astrakhan. The InfoCenter in Astrakhan completed its activities within the project on 31 March 2009.
 In June 2007 IOM Moscow signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Informational Exchange with the State Institution “Interregional Information and Business Center” under the Moscow City Committee for Interregional Relations and National Policy (MITS). The MOU foresees the cooperation in the area of information, advertising (including the Information and Counseling Centers), joint researches in the field of migration and counter-human trafficking, exchange of ideas on best practices, joint activities and training sessions, development and publication of
analytical and other materials and also participation in the development of proposals on improvement of the referral mechanism for providing assistance to victims of human trafficking and slave labor. The MOU also provides for the posting of EC-IOM CT Project information on the MITS website.
In the end of 2007 CT project in coopeartion with MITS has developed and published "Booklet for labour migrants in Russia and Russian Citizens going Abroad", covering the issues of legal entry and employment in Russia and recommendations for people, who travel abroad for work. One of the Chapters of the Booklet is devoted to the aspects of trafficking in human beings. It also includes samples of latest form and documents, lists of official institutions providing consultative, legal and methodological assistance to foreign nationals in the RF and other useful information. The Booklet is available for free in IOM Moscow office (in Russian).
|
