Media Room - News at January, 2006

Turkish Daily News - January 31, 2006

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

    Campaign to Reveal Impact of Human Trafficking on Children

    The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is launching a public information campaign today that is hoped will raise awareness on the impact that human trafficking has on children, a move inspired by the disquieting fact that one out of three women trafficked into Turkey are mothers.

    "Trafficking takes an enormous toll, not just on the women and girls who have been trafficked to Turkey but on the children and families they are forced to leave behind," said Marielle Sander-Lindstrom, the IOM's chief of mission in Turkey. "Families and communities are paying an enormous price."

    The campaign, which is for the most part made up of a television advertisement to be broadcast on channels throughout Turkey, is part of an anti-trafficking project coordinated by the Turkish government, sponsored by the U.S. government and implemented by the IOM. The advertisement focuses on four children from the former Soviet Union, where most of the victims of human trafficking come from, and their search for their mothers who left for jobs in Turkey.

    "One-third of the women trafficked to Turkey are mothers, which means this is not only about individual victims," Allan Freedman of the IOM told the Turkish Daily News. The campaign, which is to be announced to the public at a press conference at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, is aimed at "creating a conversation on what trafficking is about."

    Turkey has been a major transit and destination country for human trafficking in recent years, attracting many women from the former Soviet republics aspiring for jobs and better living standards, many of whom end up enslaved at the hands of human trafficking gangs that force them into sex or servitude.

    According to IOM figures 469 were identified as having been trafficked into Turkey last year, although authorities estimate this could be as little as 10 percent of the real figure.

    Media sponsors of the IOM campaign include Kanal D and Star television as well as film distributor FIDA FILM and the cinema company Sinefekt. Airport authorities in Istanbul, Trabzon and Antalya as well as municipalities in Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, İzmir and Trabzon are also providing sponsorship by setting aside billboards for campaign posters.

The New Anatolian Newspaper - January 31, 2006

Senem ÇAĞLAYAN - The New Anatolian

    IOM to save mothers who are victims of human trafficking

    The International Organization for Migration(IOM) will launch a nationwide public information campaign starting from today to raise awareness of human trafficking's impact on children and families.

    The IOM decided to initiate the program when it discovered that one out of three women trafficked to Turkey are mothers with children.

    The aim of this Turkey-coordinated and IOM-implemented campaign is to combat human trafficking, to increase public awareness activities, stepping up training for law enforcement and medical, psychological and direct assistance to trafficked individuals.

    'Trafficking takes an enormous toll not just on the women and girls who have been trafficked to Turkey, but on the children and families they're forced to leave behind,' said Marielle Sander Lindstrom, IOM-Turkey chief of mission, while she was explaining the target of the campaign.

    The centerpiece of the campaign is a TV advertisement to be broadcast on channels throughout Turkey. The advertisement entitled 'Have You Seen My Mother?' is focused on four children from the former Soviet Union in search of mothers who were tarffickied to Turkey.

    Besides the TV advertisement, a nationwide press campaign is also being launched. Media sponsors of the campaign include Turkish broadcaster Kanal D, Star TV, film distributor Fida Film, and the cinema company Sinefekt. Other official campaign sponsors include airports in Istanbul, Trabzon and Antalya, IETT in Istanbul and local administrations in Ankara, Antalya, Izmir and Trabzon.

    IOM to launch nationwide public information campaign to raise awareness of human trafficking's impact on children and families as report finds 1 out of 3 women trafficked to Turkey are mothers with children Centerpiece of campaign is TV ads on channels throughout Turkey and nationwide press campaign

    How did the idea emerge?

    The idea to save 'mother' victims from human trafficking emerged based on the results of a report that found that more than one third of the women trafficked to Turkey are mothers with children and that illegal profits from trafficking top more than $1 billion annually.

    The report will be released today by the IOM and is entitled '2005: Turkey, Trafficking and Trends'.

    The other major findings included that 469 individuals were identified as trafficked to Turkey in 2005, a statistic that also helped push to start this campaign. 'But this number is believed to be just a fraction of the overall number of women trafficked to Turkey in 2005, or as little as 10 percent of the overall caseload', according to the report.

    The report states that the vast majority of women and girls trafficked to Turkey come from the former Soviet Union, with 60 percent of all cases from two countries, Moldova and Ukraine.

Sabah Newspaper - January 31, 2006

Ceren AKDAĞ - Sabah Newspaper

    Natasha Report from the UN

    Human traffickers annually earn 765 thousand dollars from one prostitute

    UN's 2005 prostitution report indicated that human traffickers annually earn 765 thousand dollars from one woman whom they sell to 15 men a day for 150 dollars.

    360 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR

    According to the report, more than half of the victims of human trafficking are women from Ukraine and Moldova. The revenues of the mafia just from prostitution make up 360 million dollars a year.

    Shocking prostitution report from the UN

    According to the UN report, the human trafficking mafia earns 360 million dollars a year. Last year, 469 women were kidnapped to Turkey

    United Nations included striking information on human trafficking in Turkey in its "Human Trafficking Report" to be released today.

    According to the report, the total amount of revenues for the mafia is annually 360 million dollars. The US government sponsored the report "Turkey, Human Trafficking and Trends" prepared for the new campaign of the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).

    The report showed that more than half of victims of human trafficking are women from Ukraine and Moldova, and the rest are from the Balkans and the Eastern neighbors. Among the most important points about UN's work are the striking details provided on women trafficking and prostitution. The report, analyzing human trafficking in terms of social and economic aspects, underlined that the mafia is earning millions of dollars through women.

    THEY ARE DECEIVED BY PROMISES

    The women coming from abroad earn around 150 dollars per client and they have sex with 15 men a day. With this calculation, the women earn 2250 dollars a day and 765 thousand dollars a year, and a significant portion of this money goes to the mafia. The report shows that the total number of victims is 4690, and at least 10 per cent of these are victims of women trafficking. Consequently, 360 million dollars are earned in a year. According to the statistics in UN's report, last year, 469 women were brought to Turkey by false job promises. The report, including information from 220 women who have been returned to their countries through IOM's assistance, also states that the kidnapped women are coming to Turkey to provide for their children. Majority of the women, who say that they earn less than 2 dollars a day in their countries, are deceived by human traffickers with the promise that they can work as 'nannies' in Turkey.

    36 % of the women have contagious diseases

• Coming to Turkey mostly from Moldova, Ukraine and Russia, the women enter the country from İstanbul and Antalya.
• 40 per cent of the women who are kidnapped and forced into prostitution are mothers, and when they want to escape, traffickers threaten to kill their children.
• In its research done with 117 Moldovan women, UN points out that the victims suffer mental and physical problems. Accordingly; 36 per cent of the women have sexually transmitted diseases, and 31 per cent of them have damages in their reproductive organs.

Radikal Newspaper - January 31, 2006

Hilal KÖYLÜ - Radikal Newspaper

    Let’s save the mothers in this difficult situation

    Setting up the 157 Helpline in May 2005 for the fight against trafficking in women, UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) is now releasing the spot film ‘Have you seen my mother?’ to raise interests.

    IOM, having rescued 52 women from human traffickers through the 157 Helpline, identified that one third of these women are mothers. Planning to increase attention to the helpline by emphasizing the ‘mother’ factor, IOM also started a new campaign through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Four Moldovan Children

    In this framework, initially a commercial named "Have you seen my mother" was shot, and four Moldovan children took part in it. In the commercial, four children whose mothers are victims of human trafficking convey the audience the following messages: "I miss her too much", "I don't know where she is", "We needed food", "One of us had to work and my mother left”, "Have you seen my mother?"

    To broadcast the commercial on 26 TV channels, an agreement was reached with RTUK. The commercial will also be shown at the advertisements in the movie-theatres. Posters of the commercial will be put on municipality buses in Ankara, İstanbul, Trabzon and Antalya, and will be exhibited on the clipboards at the airports. IOM Media Outreach Coordinator Selin Arslan gave the following information on the campaign launching today: "The number of victims of human trafficking in Turkey reach 3 thousand. 40 per cent of foreign women trafficked to Turkey for prostitution are forced to work in İstanbul, 16 per cent of them in Antalya and Ankara. Mostly, it is the Ukranian, Moldovan and Russian women trafficked to Turkey calling the helpline. 26 per cent of the people who make calls to the help line are the victims while 74 per cent of them are the friends or clients of the victims. We also expect help also from the public.

    The women forced into prostitution are so intimidated that they hesitate to call us. For the rescued women, a shelter will also be established in Ankara after İstanbul.

Milliyet Newspaper - January 31, 2006

Utku ÇAKIRÖZER - ANKARA

    A Profit of 1 billion dollars from human trafficking

    The amount of money, earned from those who are brought from the former Eastern Bloc to Turkey and forced to work, is disclosed in the report.

    It was stated in the "2005: Turkey, Trafficking and Trends" titled report of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that, the amount of illegal money earned from the trafficking of people from the former Eastern Bloc to Turkey tops more than 1 billion dollars annually. According to the information taken from the IOM officials, last year 469 women were trafficked to Turkey and forced to work in the sex industry. It was told that this number constitutes approximately 10 per cent of the foreign women who are trafficked to Turkey and that "The illegal money earned from these women, who are forced to have sex with approximately 15 people every day of the year, is much higher than 1 billion dollars".

    The Commercials

    IOM’s commercial "Have You Seen My Mother?" aims to raise awareness of the Turkish public on human trafficking. Starting from today the commercial, sponsored by Kanal D and Star TV, will be broadcasted free of charge in 26 television channels.

    Having prepared the commercial in which 4 children look for their Moldovan mothers trafficked to Turkey, IOM Turkey’s Chief of Mission Marielle Sander Lindstrom said that "Human trafficking not only affects the women who are subjected to trafficking, but also the children and the families they had to leave behind. Families pay an enormous cost".

Sabah Newspaper - January 17, 2006

Ceren Akdağ - ANKARA

    Listen to this Child!

    Her name is unknown... She is from Moldova... She is looking for her mother who is forced into prostitution in Turkey... She is the central figure of the advert 'Have You Seen My Mother?'... UN is aiming to stop human trafficking by this advert that will be broadcasted in 4 cities...

    "Have you seen my mother?"

    UN's prostitution report in Turkey showed that one out of every three women is a mother. Having prepared an advert with the slogan "Have you seen my mother?", UN will now draw attention to this drama.

    United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), displayed the sad case of women trafficking with a report. Finding out that one of every three women is mother, UN started the campaign "Have you seen my mother?" Having prepared a short advert, UN will draw attention, in movie theatres and on television channels, to the dramas of the mothers and the children.

    1 of every 3 women is a mother

    In the campaign launched to prevent human trafficking, IOM has found out that one out of every 3 foreign women forced into prostitution is a mother. Taking up the subject in its report "Trends in Human Trafficking 2005", the organization talks about the dramas of children whose mothers are kidnapped, in the campaign to be launched in February. The report also includes life stories of women kidnapped from Northern countries to be brought to Turkey and of their children who are left behind. While the report points out that traffickers especially recruit women who cannot take care of their children due to poverty, it also emphasizes that the women are deceived by false job offers such as being a nanny. In the report, it was stated that "The mafia threatens to kill the children of those women whose passports are taken away and who are forced into prostitution."

    Campaign

    Against the sad reality, IOM took action to broadcast the short advert on television channels and in movie theatres in order to increase social awareness. In the advert sponsored by the US government and by various film companies, 4 Moldovan children took the up the leading roles. Hence the slogan was based on the theme "Have you seen my mother".

    Advert on TV, posters on billboards...

    In the advert shot in Moldova, the dramas of children who are left behind due to human trafficking were emphasized. The advert, which will first be broadcasted in Turkey and then in countries with high rates of human trafficking like Moldova, lasts for 30 seconds. The municipalities in Trabzon, İzmir and Antalya -the cities where women are forced to work intensely- also support the campaign to be launched with the advert. The Ankara Büyükşehir Municipality will put up 700 posters of the campaign on the buses while the İstanbul Municipality will put up 500 posters. The campaign will also be supported by the billboards. The advert was shot in a Moldovan village which was the birthplace of a woman who was kidnapped and forced into prostitution. IOM Turkey crew shot the advert financed by the US government. The crew first chose the children to take part in the advert by going to the village. 4 Moldovan children were taught Turkish. In the advert shot in the poor village, 3 boys between the ages 10 and 16 and a 4-year-old girl played the leading roles.

    The Children Were Taught Turkish...

    4 Moldovan children were chosen for the advert shot in the village of women forced into prostitution. The children became the leading actors for the big drama.

Tempo Journal - January 06, 2006

Tempo Journal

    It is not easy to understand the Turkish man!

    International Organization for Migration (IOM), under the United Nations, opens a free of charge telephone line with the aim of rescuing women forced to prostitution in Turkey. Marielle Lindstrom is the chief in Turkey. She is very surprised because she has never seen a case like this in anywhere else in Europe. Just as the English independent Newspaper...

    What they do not get is this:

    When a Turkish man goes to a brothel, if he understands that the woman is not doing this voluntarily but actually she does not want to do it… His pride is hurt and he calls the free of charge helpline with a knightly nobleness.

    74% of all calls were made like this.

    According to the information Lindstrom gave, in the past six months, approximately 100 women coming mostly from Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Russia were saved from sex slavery this way. The Independent Newspaper and Marielle Lindstrom say that they like this old-fashioned approach and the knightly attitude of the Turkish men, but at the same time they do not understand why Turkish men, whom they can tell that are not really polite in reality, would behave this way...

    Not much, they will understand if we make them watch ten Turkish Films the most!