Trafficking in Human Beings From 4-7 February, the OiB, as part of the project “Countering Human Trafficking and Forced Labour in Azerbaijan: Improvement Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Mechanisms”, organized a study visit to Berlin for high ranking Governmental officials and civil society organizations operating in the country’s counter-trafficking area. During the visit, the delegates had meetings in the Federal Ministry of Interior, Federal Foreign Office, Federal Ministry of Justice, Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Berlin State Police, Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and “KOK” a German nationwide co-ordination body against trafficking in women and violence against women in the process of migration. The visit aimed to study Germany’s practice in identifying and prosecuting human trafficking and forced labour, and assistance available to trafficked victims. From 27-28 February, the OiB, in co-operation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), organized a two-day workshop in Baku for labour inspectors, migration officers and illegal migration police officers on asylum and human trafficking. Participants, including four representatives from the MIA, discussed issues related to asylum and labour exploitation, including the role of civil society in the protection of asylum seekers, stateless and trafficked persons, victim control methods and the applicable international and national legal frameworks. On 27 May, the OiB participated in a roundtable discussion organized by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative and the Anti-Trafficking Department of the MIA. The roundtable focused on the international support to the development of a new National Action Plan (NAP) for the fight against THB in Azerbaijan. The OiB recommended a set of structural and contextual amendments to the NAP, which included the reinforcement of the role of civil society, and the development of mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the country’s measures against THB. The OiB was invited to submit its written recommendations to the Government of Azerbaijan. Thus, upon the request of the host Government, the Office developed a set of recommendations to the draft of the new National Action Plan to Fight Human Trafficking and draft Rules on Repatriation of Trafficked Persons. The draft of the third new NAP to fight THB includes the recommendations from the project on capacity building activities for migration and border officers on safe and voluntary return/repatriation of trafficked victims; as well as recommendations for the development of a plan for vocational training for children graduating from child institutions, such as child houses, boarding schools and shelters. In an effort to improve the co-ordination of referral and return processes, the OiB, in cooperation with IOM and the UNHCR, conducted a workshop for police, border and immigration officers in Baku on 18 April. Participants discussed various forms of THB, the identification and protection of trafficked persons among asylum seekers, irregular migrants and refugees as well as the principles of voluntary return and re-integration after return. The OiB continued conducting similar events in Guba and Lankaran. On 1-2 August, the OiB, in co-operation with IOM and the UNHCR, conducted another joint training on the co-ordination, referral and return processes of trafficked persons, asylum seekers and irregular migrants. These training activities provided participants, including more than 30 police, immigration and border officials as well as representatives from local executive committees, with information on the domestic and international legal frameworks to counter trafficking, as well as on the rights of asylum seekers and the States’ obligation of “non-refoulement”. From 10-11 June, the OiB facilitated the participation of Azerbaijani Government representatives from the MIA, State Migration Service, General Prosecutor’s Office, State Border Service, as well as civil society representatives in the international conference on “Strengthening the OSCE Response to Trafficking in Human Beings” held in Kyiv. The Conference brought together high-level representatives from all 57 OSCE participating States to review the existing OSCE mechanisms to counter THB and to further enhance the 117