The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says it is working with authorities in the Dominican Republic to assist a group of 52 Haitian children recently rescued from a ring of traffickers.
According to the agency, the unaccompanied children were being forced by the traffickers to beg on the street corners in the capital, Santo Domingo.
IOM spokesperson, Jumbe Omari Jumbe says the children were rescued by the Dominican authorities on 16 May, when the police conducted raids to break up the ring of traffickers. "The raids identified 109 irregular migrants, of whom 54 were the above-mentioned children and the whole group were taken into temporary custody while investigators conduct initial interviews and the authorities find appropriate shelters for the unaccompanied minors. IOM is providing food, clothing, and non-food items and will carry out family tracing and family reunification if necessary." (28")
Jumbe Omari Jumbe says IOM's assistance to victims of trafficking in the Dominican Republic is funded by the US State Department and the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
He adds that a recent survey by the Dominican National Office of Statistics indicates there are some 458,000 Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic.
Donn Bobb, United Nations Duration: 1'17"