The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration Agency, in collaboration with the Consular Department of Mongolia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has organised pre-departure training on human trafficking for 31 Mongolian consular officers.

The training in Ulaanbaatar was designed to help the officers better understand the crime of trafficking in persons within a human rights framework – enabling them to identify victims and offer better protection to Mongolian nationals abroad. It will also help them to process suspect applications for Mongolian visas.

The US State Department’s 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report classifies Mongolia as a “Tier 2” country that is making significant efforts to eliminate human trafficking, but needs to do more. It notes that Mongolian victims of forced labour have been identified in Turkey, Kazakhstan and Israel. Victims of sex trafficking have been identified in the Republic of Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Germany, Sweden and the United States. It also cites cases of forced labour from China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea within Mongolia.