The Legal Center for Women's Initiatives "Sana Sezim", with the financial support of the OSCE/ODIHR began the project "Informational campaign and legal assistance to migrant workers, potential victims of human trafficking, in the border regions of Kazakhstan".

   Project partners: NGO "Istikbolli avlod".

   At this point human trafficking is a very difficult problem, and constitutes a form of slavery. The number of people, who are illegally exported from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan, for labor and sexual exploitation, is increasing. The number of cases in the border areas of the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan to the South Kazakhstan region has increased two-fold over the last year. There has also been an increase in relatives of victims of human trafficking who request assistance in retrieving their family members from Kazakhstan.

   The majority of migrant workers from Uzbekistan are involved in illegal labor activities. As a result, they find themselves unable to secure legal protection in the territories of other states. Their illegal status means that these migrant workers are deprived of social guarantees. They easily fall into conditions of forced labor, characterized by harsh condition of work and life.

   Since 2006, there has been a close cooperation between The Legal Center for Women's Initiatives "Sana Sezim" and the NGO "Istikbolli Avlod" in Uzbekistan. Thanks to their joint actions during 2008 they were able to rescue and recover 30 victims of human trafficking who had been experiencing sexual or labor exploitation. Unfortunately, many victims are afraid and do not know who to ask for help following their experience because they have no information about the services that are provided to victims of human trafficking.

   The aim of this project - to prevent human trafficking by providing legal aid and by attracting attention to the protection of the rights of migrant workers, who are potential victims of trafficking.

   The project entails the following activities:

• Informational campaign - 12000 leaflets entitled "Labor migrants and their rights" will be disseminated to women and men between the ages of 18 and 50 years old;
• Legal services - Six mobile consultants will provide services for migrant workers, who are potential victims of trafficking;
• Telephone and mobile phone hotline - Will include a pre-advertisement and then will be available from 24 hours a day in Russian and Uzbek languages.