DUSHANBE, September 17, 2014, Asia-Plus – A regional forum to discuss issues related to protection of Central Asian labor migrants’ rights will take place in Dushanbe from September 18-19.
According to the Dushanbe-based Human Rights Center, the Fifth Regional Migration Forum entitled “Efficiency of Facilities of Legal Protection of Labor Migrants from Central Asia and Their Families in Countries of Destination” is held under the program, Central Asia on the Move.
Through this program, 25 organizations across 4 countries are working to capitalize on the past years’ achievements. Together, they want to ensure the rights of internal migrants in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as well as the hundreds of thousands of men and women who each year seek better employment opportunities outside their own country, in Kazakhstan and Russia. Central Asia on the Move — Partner Platform is a coalition of 25 Central Asian civil society actors who share a commitment to promote the rights and dignity of all people of Central Asia. The platform was formally initiated in September 2011.
The main objective of the regional migration forum that will take place in Dushanbe is in providing technical assistance to the governments of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in enhancing protection of their labor migrants in Russia and Kazakhstan through working out recommendations on improving the situation and determining specific mechanisms of cooperation between the authorized bodies and public organizations on protection of migrant workers’ rights.
The forum will discuss issues related to protection of rights of labor migrants from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the countries of destination through diplomatic missions and migrations service agencies of the countries of origin, protection of rights of Tajik and Kyrgyz labor migrants’ rights in the countries of destination through other mechanisms – ombudsmen, public and international organizations, employment agencies, media.
The agenda also includes the issues of cooperation between civil society and state-run migrations service agencies.
The forum is expected to create a platform for discussion of efficient facilities of protection of Tajik and Kyrgyz labor migrants’ rights in Russia and Kazakhstan provided by the countries of origin.
The forum is held by the Dushanbe-based Human Rights Center in the framework of the project, Migrant Workers and Their Families: Empowered Institutions-Protected Rights, which is implemented by DanChurchAid (DCA) Central Asia in partnership with Tajik public organizations under financial support of the European Union.
We will recall that Tajik Ambassador to Russia Imomuddin Sattorov said in an interview with Russian news agency Itar-Tass on September 15 that the flow of workers from Tajikistan to Russia has decreased considerably as compared to last year, first of all because of their violations of Russian regulations.
The of migrants from Tajikistan has decreased in Russia as compared to last year due to administrative offenses – 128,000 are on the list of persons banned from entering Russia, and the number may rise to 300,000, the ambassador said. The situation causes concern, he said. “We have talks with Russian law-enforcement authorities to settle issues related to any violations of the Russian legislation.”
The Tajik ambassador said that an intergovernmental commission would meet in December 2014 to sign a number of documents regulating labor activities of Tajik migrants in Russia. Tajikistan is doing everything possible to lift the ban for some categories of citizens, including students and those who have relatives in Russia. If a law on licenses for legal entities is passed in Russia, the problem of quotas will be removed, and it will be easier to enter Russia”s territory, the diplomat said.
