IOM in India

In 2001, when the north-west state of Gujarat was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, over 20,000 people died and 1.2 million homes were damaged or destroyed. Some 16 million people were affected, among them Gujarat’s 200,000 migrant workers. IOM was one of the international agencies that immediately responded to this disaster during the emergency relief phase that followed.

IOM initiated projects for the earthquake affected migrant salt workers to enable them to re-establish their lives after the disaster. Semi-permanent shelters, community centres were set up and water storage facilities were ensured in the project villages during the first phase of IOM’s interventions.

During the second phase, IOM focused on restoring the livelihoods of the migrant salt workers and their families. This project which was aimed at supplementing the livelihoods of one of the most vulnerable communities affected by the earthquake was implemented with the co-operation and association of the beneficiaries, local Non Governmental Agencies (NGOs), the various agencies engaged in the salt industry, the Government and regional and national technical agencies.

When IOM was implementing its project in Gujarat and was planning to expand its operations in India, it decided to work on the Counter Trafficking issue, which was one of its mandated service areas. A closer look at the Post Rescue scenario of the survivors of trafficking revealed that the NGOs working on this issue were providing most of the requisite services but were lacking the expertise and the resources required to facilitate their process of return especially in terms of appropriate economic rehabilitation and re-integration into the mainstream society. In most of the cases, lack of economic opportunities and options or lure of better prospects of livelihood were the pretexts under which these individuals were trafficked. IOM felt that any attempt to restore them back into their families and societies would prove to be a farce and would only lead to their re-trafficking unless efforts are put in place to change the circumstances, which have led to their trafficking.

IOM realized the latent potential and the survival instinct of most of these women and young girls who have been trafficked and forced into prostitution – it felt that the women’s exposure to the stark realities, their ability to handle a wide range of people (from their clients to brothel madams, pimps, police officers) could be capitalized in a positive manner. On the basis of these learnings, IOM conceptualized and implemented the Economic Rehabilitation of Trafficked Victims (ERTV) in India project (2003) and subsequently the Economic Rehabilitation of Survivors of Trafficking (ERST) project (2005). The basic objective of these two projects has been to ensure direct economic benefit and facilitate the successful social reintegration of individuals rescued from trafficking by creating avenues for their economic development.

Starting January 2007, IOM would be implementing Prevention and provision of Assistance to Survivors of Trafficking (PAST) project across the country.