Government of Belarus shows political will and determination to counter human trafficking

The government of Belarus has showed political will and determination to counter human trafficking and has achieved great results in this area, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Brunson McKinley said during a ceremony to inaugurate the international centre for training and retraining specialists in combating human trafficking and illegal migration today in Minsk.

“The idea to open the centre attests to the desire of the Belarusian government to share its rich experience and best practices in the fight against trade in people and illegal migration with specialists from all countries,” Mr. Brunson McKinley said.

“In turn, the International Organization for Migration is confident that the exchange of experience is one of the main components in counteracting illegal migration and human trafficking. The IOM carries out the programmes to fight trade in people in partnership with the governments of many countries including all CIS member states,” he added.

Mr. Brunson McKinley said that a seminar on the fight against the trade in people organized jointly by the government of Belarus and the IOM took place several months ago at the Interior Ministry Academy. Experimental educational programmes were tested during the seminar which was attended by more than 20 specialists from Belarus. Now the programmes serve as a basis of educational programmes of the international centre in Minsk inaugurated on July 19. Many specialists from the CIS member states, the countries of Central, Western and South-Eastern Europe, Persian Gulf and many other regions will brush up their knowledge in the centre, the IOM chief is sure.

According to the press service of the Belarusian President, the IOM Office in Belarus intends to finance the training courses of seven groups of specialists from the CIS member states in the international educational centre. The IOM is ready to cover the expenses connected with the organization of the educational process within the framework of the joint project of international technical aid “The fight against trafficking in people: the Republic of Belarus” and to allocate $40 thousand to purchase the equipment for the Interior Ministry Academy in 2008.