Within the scope of European Union and Council of Europe Joint Action on “Strengthening the Human Rights Protection of Migrants and Victims of Human Trafficking in Turkey”, 120 provincial and central level staff from Ministry of Family and Social Services and 12 personnel from Presidency of Migration Management received training on strengthening the identification, referral and protection of child trafficking victims. The training took place in three provinces, in Antalya on 4-7 July 2022, in Bursa on 9-11 August and in Gaziantep on 16-18 August 2022.
In Antalya, the training was opened by the speeches delivered by Social Services Expert Gülbahar Bayrak from the Ministry of Family and Social Services and Project Assistant Arif Can Yıldırım from the Council of Europe Ankara Programme Office.
The training in Bursa was launched with the opening speeches, delivered by Acting Head of Office Pınar Başpınar from the Council of Europe Ankara Programme Office and Deputy General Manager of Child Services Şeref Kazancı from the Ministry of Family and Social Services
In Gaziantep, the General Director of Child Services Dr. Musa Şahin from the Ministry of Family and Social Services, Head of Department of Protection for the Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings Osman Koramaz from the Presidency of Migration Management, and Senior Project Officer Ebru Seylan from the Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara delivered speeches at the opening session of the training.
Public Prosecutor Rıfat Sagut from Turkish Court of Cassation, Lawyer Seda Akço Bilen, and Psychologist Şevkat Gökçen İşbilen delivered trainings to a total of 132 participants. The fruitful and interactive training sessions included topics such as identification of child trafficking, referral and protection of the victims of child trafficking, legal and institutional framework, national assistance pathways available, interviewing techniques with vulnerable groups and victims of child trafficking in Türkiye. Case studies were also utilised to stimulate the discussions.
Representatives from project stakeholders provided significant contributions during the trainings. They focused on identification, assistance available and institutional workflow for the victims of child trafficking.
The trainings were highly interactive and valuable inputs were received from participants on the issues encountered in the field. Participants reported that the training significantly increased their knowledge on the identification, referral and protection of victims of child trafficking. Enhanced institutional cooperation in the area of child trafficking is highlighted at all training activities.
These capacity building initiatives were organised within the framework of the Action “Strengthening the human rights protection of migrants and victims of human trafficking in Turkey”, part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.