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International Organization for Migration, here on Tuesday launched two documentary films on Human Trafficking and Smuggling in connection with International Migrants’ Day.

International Migrants’ Day is being observed on December 18, for eighth time worldwide.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Head of IOM country office, Charles Kwenin said migrants are often driven by the aspiration for a better life.

Migrants make a significant contribution to the social and economic development of the countries in which they live and work and are assets to their societies they live in. “Migration should be a matter of choice and people should not be compelled to take unnecessary risks and dangerous adventures in search of better lives”

‘Martyrs of the Gulf of Eden’ and ‘Unheard Voices’ are targeted to potential migrants, migrants, victims of trafficking, friends, and families of migrants.

Since the beginning of 2007, some 27,969 people are estimated to have crossed the Gulf of Eden to Yemen of which about 593 are estimated to have died with another 659 gone missing.

Switzerland ambassador to Ethiopia, Peter Reinhardt said “There are many unheard voices … which deserve to be heard, the film (Unheard voices) brings some of them" to be heard.

(Voiceover)

“Human trafficking is not just a matter of supply and demand in a commercial logic; it has to do with human dignity and is a serious, complex, and global problem.”

It doesn’t stop at borders, and goes far beyond Ethiopia, let’s tackle it together, he said.

‘The Martyrs of the Gulf of Eden’ recounts stories of migrants undertaking desperate journey to cross the Gulf of Eden to various destinations via Yemen as transit and/or a destination country while ‘Unheard Voices’ tells about survivors of child trafficking in Ethiopia.

The films are aimed to back efforts towards the prevention of irregular migration through raising awareness.

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