Organised within the scope of the joint European Union - Council of Europe action “Strengthening the Human Rights Protection of Migrants and Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings in Turkey” and through its grant scheme “Awareness-raising on Child Trafficking and/or Trafficking For the Purpose of Labour Exploitation In Turkey”, the Municipality of Arsuz, in collaboration with ECPAT-Turkey, held the opening ceremony of their project.
The event was organised on 26 October 2021 and received a wide interest, gathering 200 participants. The District Governor of Arsuz Mr Hacı Hasan Gökpınar, the deputy Mayor of Hatay Mr Adnan Özkaya, the District Governor of İskenderun Mr İskender Yönden, the District Gendarmerie Commander of Arsuz Mr Barkın Eryılmaz, the President of the City Council of Arsuz Dr İskender Sayek, the Arsuz Chief of Police Mr Hasan Gün, as well as the representatives of civil society organisations attended the opening ceremony
With the aim of raising awareness on child trafficking in Turkey, detailed presentations were delivered on the Court of Cassation cases concerning the matter of unaccompanied children, child interviewing methods, legal aspects of sexual exploitation and the psychological impact of child trafficking.
The ceremony was concluded by the awarding of a plaquette by the Municipality of Arsuz to the Council of Europe.
The Action “Strengthening the Human Rights Protection of Migrants and Victims of Trafficking In Human Beings in Turkey” is implemented in the framework of the Joint European Union/Council of Europe Programme, “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.
