OREANDA-NEWS. October 3, 2011. 10% of Ukrainians have experience in working abroad. Another 9% are planning or looking for a possibility to leave the country for work, of which the majority would agree to work in another country irregularly, a newly published survey suggests.

The results of the survey, conducted by GfK Ukraine for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Ukraine, were presented today at a press briefing in Kyiv. The research was aimed to measure the awareness of the Ukrainian population of risks linked to labour migration and human trafficking.

According to the survey the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians (92%) are aware of the occurrence of sexual exploitation and 82% have heard of Ukrainians being forced into labour slavery. However, 70% of the population fully exclude that they personally might ever be at risk of being trafficked. At the same time, Ukrainians are inclined to accept mistreatment and even rights violations in order to keep their jobs, with a fourth of respondents willing to tolerate penalties from their employer for making mistakes at work.

"According to an earlier conducted research, over 110,000 Ukrainians became victims of human trafficking since 1991, and Ukraine remains one of the largest countries of origin of slave labour in Europe”, emphasized IOM’s Chief of Mission Manfred Profazi during the poll presentation, "The problem is not decreasing, therefore we need to keep the awareness of Ukrainians high on the dangers, while at the same time explaining them their rights as migrants.”

Since the start of its Counter-Trafficking activities in Ukraine in 1998, IOM assisted over 7, 700 victims of trafficking.

Trends in human trafficking have changed in recent years, with every second victim identified and assisted by IOM today having suffered from labour exploitation, mainly in the Russian Federation and Poland. Men are also increasingly at risk of being exploited, whereby they are less inclined to seek help.

According to the poll results, having had previous experience of labour migration raises the awareness of potential risks of human trafficking and exploitation, however it also increases inclination to risky behaviour.

"Labour migration experience should have taught people to be careful, but in practice we see the opposite trend: if migrants were not involved in trafficking and successfully returned home with earnings, they tend to a more risky behavior in future and draw other people into risky practices”, says Senior Researcher of GfK Ukraine Ms. Inna Volosevych.

IOM Ukraine promotes safe and regular migration. "Those being aware of the risks and opportunities and those migrating on regular terms are better protected and in general also profit more from their stay abroad”, says Manfred. Profazi.

The research on awareness of Ukrainian citizens’ on different forms of human trafficking was carried out in May-June 2011 via personal interviews. Research sample makes up 1000 respondents, representing Ukrainian population aged 14-65. Sampling error is 3.1%

The year 2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the IOM and the 15th for IOM’s presence in Ukraine. Amidst an unprecedented era of human mobility, the IOM continues to assist migrants and foster dialogue among nations to ensure orderly and humane responses to the challenges and opportunities presented by increased movements. Since 1951, IOM has steadfastly served a world in motion and is committed to drawing attention to the significance and the inherent potential of migration, as evidenced by IOM’s membership growth from 16 to 132 States. The 60th Anniversary slogan of "Migration for the Benefit of All” underscores the positive contribution of migrants to the social and economic wealth of nations.