IOM conducted a three-day intercultural communication training for the staff of the Service of Coordinators of Witnesses and Victims of Hate Crimes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The seminar, which took place in Kachreti on 12-15 October, was conducted by Mr. Calin Rus, international expert and facilitated by Mr. Giorgi Chkheidze, national expert.  

The Service of Coordinators of Witnesses and Victims of Hate Crimes was established under the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2011 and its main responsibility is to provide support to victims and witnesses of hate crimes to contribute to effective investigation of such crimes which violate human rights. Considering that in many cases, foreign migrants can be victims or witnesses of hate crimes, the training was particularly useful.

The training gathered 16 Coordinators from Tbilisi, Batumi, Zugdidi, Ozurgeti, Kutaisi, Akhaltsikhe, Gori and Telavi and offered background information on migration and the challenges that migrants may face, tools for successful communication with vulnerable foreign migrants, conflict management techniques, trust-building approaches and useful tips on cooperation with law enforcement.

In addition to the IOM experts, UNOHCHR and UNHRC representatives, Mr. Besarion Bokhashvili and Mr. Tornike Tsagareishvili, joined the seminar and spoke about the rights-based approach criteria for hate-motivated crimes and shared key international law instruments and principles to support asylum seekers, refugees, and victims of human trafficking.

In preparation for the training, Mr. Calin Rus and the national expert conducted a series of consultations online with the representatives of Ministry of Internal Affairs, Prosecutors Office, the Prime Minister’s Advisor on Human Rights and Gender Equality, State Commission for Migration Issues, representatives of judiciary, LEPL Agency For State Care And Assistance For the (Statutory) Victims of Human trafficking, Council of Europe, relevant UN and non-governmental organizations. Group discussions were organized with the seminar participants in advance in order to ensure that the seminar would address gaps and be tailored to their needs.

The training was implemented with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, under IOM’s EMERGE project.