Invisible in Plain Sight in Tbilisi

30 July is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. To mark this day, IOM Georgia presented its art installation "Invisible in Plain Sight" in Mziuri park in the capital Tbilisi for the whole day. This year we focus on children living and working in the streets, which is why IOM decided to partner with Gagosh, a Tbilisi-based street artist, whose work raises awareness on social issues, including forced begging and lack of access to education for children. The painting will be transformed into murals and will be displaced in the cities of Tbilisi, Batumi and Kutaisi, where child begging is particularly visible in the summer season. According to child-care workers and NGOs interviewed by IOM for its situation analysis in May 2019, families with children travel from all over Georgia and even from abroad to the seaside region of Ajara and other touristic places to engage in begging. Unlike most local children begging on the street, children coming from other provinces and countries often have no place to spend the night and sleep on the street.

IOM is working together with the Government of Georgia and partners in the field of counter trafficking to address the issue of forced begging and other forms of labour exploitation of children through multidisciplinary, well-coordinated action. With the support of international donors, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the U.S. Embassy and the European Union, IOM continues to raise public awareness and encourage efficient responses to the crime of human trafficking and forced begging of children. This year's event was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway.