An article written by Bulgarian research analyst Maya Ivanova exclusively for CABAR.asia, in particular, notes that trafficking in persons (TIP) cases in Central Asia are still a relevant issue to be tackled.
According to her, reports show that Uzbekistan has increased its protection efforts. Authorities formally identified 150 victims of trafficking in 2020, compared with 95 in 2019, which marked the first increase in annual victim identification figures since 2012. However, it should be noted that the government does not report on victims of foreign origin, which makes it more difficult to determine the extent to which Uzbekistan is a transit/destination country.
Unlike Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan reportedly does report on trafficking of foreign nationals — the government referred at least six forced labor victims, all Uzbekistani nationals.
The analyst notes that in Tajikistan, in the absence of standardized and promulgated victim identification procedures, roles and responsibilities among key stakeholder ministries still remain unclear. Authorities reportedly identified 24 trafficking victims, compared with 53 in 2019. However, the government does not provide any additional information on the victims like nationality, according to her.
In Turkmenistan, the government reportedly maintained negligible protection efforts and failed to adopt or implement standard operating procedures for victim identification and for the second consecutive year, authorities did not identify any trafficking victims. The absence of any reported cases or the absence of desegregated data, which also includes foreign nationals further highlight the severity of the problem as proper reporting is at the core of combating TIP.
For the purpose of examining how recent events have impacted and could potentially continue to impact TIP, this analysis focused on three major events: the COVID-19 pandemic; the war in Ukraine; and the rise to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
All three events reportedly share two major aspects — they all had a devastating, far- reaching impact and were all impossible to predict with certainty or were rather considered as low probability. All three events are also major push factors that perpetuate migration and therefore directly contribute to TIP in Central Asia.
The article notes that the COVID-19 pandemic which affected everyone’s lives globally had and still has lingering unprecedented repercussions on TIP. Studies on the impact of COVID-19 on combatting TIP efforts globally reportedly show that the pandemic not only increased the number of people who experienced vulnerabilities to human trafficking, but also interrupted existing and planned anti-trafficking interventions. Many Central Asian labor migrants who had a job and housing abroad were left in an even more precarious position- without a salary and facing the risk of deportation, because of all the COVID-19 restrictions and enforced quarantine measures. Moreover, another consequence of the pandemic is that traffickers started to recruit victims heavily online and exploit them in new locations, for example, in private apartments.
The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan is not only the event affecting TIP in Central Asia, it reportedly also poses a threat to affecting Central Asian countries by making them origin/transit/recipient countries of TIP.
The article says that despite the recent Russian aggression in Ukraine, the monocenters where vocational, language and basic legal training are provided with the aim of seeking employment in Russia are still operational and free, so they still attract prospective labor migrants across Central Asia. However, considering the sanctions towards Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine, and in particular the numerous foreign businesses who exited the Russian market and left local staff unemployed, it is to be expected that it would be more difficult for migrant workers from CA to seek employment even if the Kremlin does not impose further administrative or legal restrictions on them. In addition, using re-entry bans as a measure of reducing irregular migration were noted in Russian legislation for a long time, with the majority of persons affected being Uzbek citizens, followed by Kyrgyz, Tajik and Moldova nationals.
