DUSHANBE, March 20, 2009, Asia-Plus — Issues related to cooperation in countering human trafficking and introducing biometric identity documentation in Tajikistan were discussed here yesterday at a meeting of the Minister of Interiors, Lieutenant-General Abdurahim Qahhorov, with the Head of the IOM Mission to Tajikistan, Mr. Zeynal Gadjiyev, according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI).
The chief of the MoI staff, Major-General Tohir Normatov, and the chief of the MoI department for combating organized crime, Lieutenant-General Sherali Sabzov, also attended the meeting.
The sides, in particular, considered main directions of cooperation in regulating labor migration. “As far as support to the country’s passport service is concerned, the meeting participants agreed to enlist the services of international experts to assess requirements of the migration service,” said the source at a MoI, “International experts are expected to conduct the assessment within the next three months and submit the assessment outcomes to the IOM for seeking donors.”
A close cooperation between the MoI and the IOM was established in 2002. In 2003, the sides singed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation. The establishment of the Center to Combat Human Trafficking in Dushanbe in 2008 under support of the IOM may be cited as an example of fruitful cooperation. The IOM Mission has worked in Tajikistan since 1993.
