IOM Trains Salvadoran Medical Staff on Migrant Protection

San Salvador – How do you recognize a victim of human trafficking? What medical and psychological first aid should a victim of this crime or a vulnerable migrant receive? To which authorities should you report cases of violation of migrants' human rights?

These are some of the learnings of 100 doctors and other health workers who participated this week (29/05) in a workshop organized by IOM in El Salvador.

The workshop Healthcare of Migrant Populations and Victims of Trafficking in Persons was organized by the UN Migration Agency (IOM), the Ministry of Health (MINSAL), the National Civil Police (PNC) and Crime Stoppers from El Salvador to raise awareness about the vulnerabilities faced by migrants and victims of trafficking. The workshop also offered tools to identify adequately and promptly the types of human rights violations against migrants.

Basic concepts of migration, introduction to healthy migration, health care for trafficking victims and MINSAL guidelines for dealing with victims of trafficking were other topics addressed in the workshop.

"After this workshop, health providers at all care levels will be able to detect possible cases of human trafficking and how to refer them to authorities," explained Jorge Peraza, IOM Mission for El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. "We hope that attendees will replicate this knowledge in the different spaces in which they work, such as hospitals and health centres. The themes will also be linked to existing MINSAL programmes such as home visits. "

During 2017, the Salvadoran National Council Against Trafficking in Persons registered 72 victims of this crime in the form of forced marriage, 52 victims of sexual exploitation and 14 fraudulent adoptions.

The workshops were held under the IOM Mesoamerica Program, funded by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the US State Department.

The purpose of the Mesoamerica Program is to contribute to the development and implementation of strategies on regular, orderly and safe migration, which will allow adequate protection of the most vulnerable migrants in Mesoamerica.

For more information, please contact José Miguel Gómez at IOM El Salvador, Email: miggomez@iom.int, or  Alba Miriam Amaya at IOM El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Email: aamaya@iom.int, Tel: +503 2521 0511