DUSHANBE, October 25, 2012, Asia-Plus — A conference formally titled “Effective Means of Legal Protection of Migrant Workers: Role of Ombudsmen of Central Asia and the Russian Federation” will take place in Dushanbe from October 30-31.
Organized by Tajik Ombudsman’s Office in cooperation with the Human rights Center NGO, the is held in the framework of the Central Asia regional Migration Program (CARMP).
CARMP is jointly implemented by IOM/UN Women and the World Bank under support of the Government of the United Kingdom and the project, Building Capacity of the Human Rights Ombudsman in Tajikistan to Protect the Rights of labor Migrant, which is financed by the Swiss Human Rights Program, Aziz Soliyev, a spokesman for Tajik Ombudsman’s Office said.
CARMP aims to contribute to poverty reduction in Central Asia through the improved livelihoods of migrant men, women, and their families. Specific Program purposes on the country level are protection of the rights of labor migrants to enhance economic & social opportunities of migrant men, women and their families and fostering legal employment channels for labor migrants.
The main objective of the conference is reportedly in promoting expansion of cooperation between ombudsmen of Central Asia and Russia and NGOs dealing with labor migration issues.
“Within the CIS area, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are the main suppliers of labor migrants to the Russian Federation and the main problems are lack of vocational skills and low education level of migrant workers,” said Soliyev. “The situation is aggravated by legal illiteracy of labor migrants.”
To tackle these problems the migrant’s countries of origin – Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan – and the country of destination – the Russian Federation – have established cooperation to work out mechanisms and determine measures to provide proper legal consultations for labor migrants, he added.
The Dushanbe conference is expected to bring together ombudsmen from Central’s Asia countries and representatives from the Tajik authorities, local NGOs and international organizations active in the country. Swiss Ambassador to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan with residence in Astana, representative of the Swiss Embassy in Moscow and representatives of the Swiss Office for Cooperation in Tajikistan will also attend the conference.
