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30 September 2015

2nd Senior Officials Meeting of the Almaty Process, Astana, 22 September 2015

Labour Migration Opportunities and Challenges in Central Asia,

Addressing Solutions for Migrants and Refugees 

Astana, 22 September 2015. The 2nd Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the Almaty Process took place in Astana, Kazakhstan on 22 September 2015. The meeting was organized by the Chair of the Almaty Process, the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Vice Minister, Birzhan Nurymbetov, Ministry of Health Care and Social Development, emphasized that the purpose of the SOM is to enhance Government’s capacities for finding solutions regarding issues of labor migration and refugee’s access to employment. Labor migration is a trans-national process, and therefore inter-state dialogue and cooperation is essential for managing migration and most importantly identifying successful experiences on regulating migration.

Participants of the one day meeting were National Coordinators and Senior Officials from Almaty Process Member States: the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkey and Turkmenistan; Observer States: the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; and Guest States: People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America;  as well as representatives from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in its capacity of the Secretariat of the Prague Process and the Budapest Process.

The 2nd Senior Officials Meeting has been organized within the framework of the project “Addressing Mixed Migration Flows through Capacity Building in Central Asia” funded by the US Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Government of the United States (PRM USA) and the Government of Kazakhstan. 

The theme of the meeting was Labour Migration Opportunities and Challenges in Central Asia, Addressing Solutions for Migrants and Refugees and covered the following thematic areas:

The impact of labour migration on economies, societies and the environment in Central Asia and the broader region

Labour migration has had a mixed impact on the countries of origin in Central Asia and the broader region. On the one hand, it has provided a stimulus to local development and served as an instrument of balancing labour needs, addressing such issues as youth unemployment, low wages and limited job supply. However, in the long term, large-scale emigration has at times produced negative consequences, putting strain on families, local communities and larger regions. Mitigating those is being recognized as a primary task for local authorities, employment and migration services as well as non-governmental organizations. New challenges have arisen with the fallout from the economic crisis affecting countries of destination, most notably through devaluation reducing the level of remittances and through the application of re-entry bans on irregular migrants. This may result in possible changes in the scale and direction of migrant flows as migrant workers seek alternative locations or seek to re-enter the labour markets back home.

Factors and consequences of labour migration out of and within Central Asia: key findings from IOM field assessments in Central Asia

The IOM report “Mapping of Irregular Migration in Central Asia 2014” and a field assessment on re-entry banned migrants (conducted during August 2015) were presented to the participating governments addressing the scale and characteristics of regular and irregular migratory flows, effects of Eurasian Economic Union enlargement and of imposition of re-entry bans, possibilities of re-integration of returning migrants into the local labour markets and communities, and other crisis triggers in Central Asia.

Good practices on migration governance (administrative, legislative and operational) recognizing the linkages between migration and development

If properly managed in an orderly manner, labour migration may serve the interests of all parties involved: migrant workers, countries of origin and destination, and contribute to overall socioeconomic development in the broader region. Lasting solutions are needed to address the issue of irregular employment so as to provide work security, protect migrant workers’ rights and meet the current demand for labour. Migration and development are highly interdependent processes. International migration in the development context relates both to people who have chosen to move of their own accord, and forced migrants who can ultimately end up contributing to both their country of resettlement and possibly their country of origin if it is ever safe to return. Development, meanwhile, is a dynamic process implying growth, advancement, empowerment and progress, with the goal of increasing human capabilities, enlarging the scope of human choices, and creating a safe and secure environment where citizens can live with dignity and equality. In the development process, it is important that people’s productivity, creativity and choices are broadened, and that opportunities are created. In this context, it is worth considering some legislative and administrative instruments that have been recently elaborated in the region for regularizing current foreign work and for attracting migrant workers with skills and expertise in high demand. Government participants had the opportunity to share national perspectives on the best ways to respond to issues arising in connection with migrant flows into, through and out of the region. In particular, a review of existing solutions (patents, quotas, work permit procedures) for managing foreign employment served to identify opportunities for sharing information and exchanging good practices through bilateral and regional schemes.

Regional and national perspectives on regulating migration: recent reforms and areas of need

Migration management has become an increasingly important policy area as it has been featured in national development strategies and in regional cooperation schemes, of which the Almaty Process is a recent example. Legislative and institutional reforms have in many instances led to a closer inter-agency coordination in such areas as: facilitating immigration of priority groups, regularizing seasonal and local cross-border movement, addressing trafficking in persons and tackling security threats. Regulating emigration remains a top priority in most countries of the region, calling for innovative approaches, such as maintaining ties with the diaspora, countering fraud and abuse of migrant workers’ rights and informing own nationals of the risks and opportunities related to work abroad. At the same time, elaborating a set of instruments for promoting well-managed labour immigration, which would help fill the local and national needs, has been on the agenda of some of the states. Participating states acknowledge that proper regulation of migratory flows requires further improvement of mechanisms for collecting, processing and analyzing migration statistics.

Human development implications of labour migration and remittance flows among the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan should be at the centre of national development policies and programming, and the Sustainable Development Agenda. Providing social protection measures to improve the welfare of migrants can benefit both source and destination countries. Thus, increased cooperation on cross-border movement of people, goods and services should be further explored and promoted. Many opportunities exist to support labour migrants and their families, for example, through providing quality health and social services, and building skills of migrants through vocational education training. For example, in Kazakhstan, UNDP and the Government of Kazakhstan supported integration of oralmans (Kazakh ethnic returnees) by providing legal aid and business consultations promoting their inclusion into society by eliminating various social and economic barriers.

IOM possess extensive experience on regional consultative processes (Puebla Process, Bali Process etc), working closely with government, non-government stakeholders and other international organizations in addressing the many challenges of complex migratory movements. The good practices of the “Puebla Process” was shared with all government participants of the Almaty Process. 

Solutions for refugees: labour mobility and international protection – the opportunities, challenges, international practices and the Central Asian perspective

Introduction to the nexus between refugee protection and labour mobility: how labour mobility can lead to solutions for refugees and to the economic development of the countries of destination, of asylum, and of their origin by exploring international practices and their potential application in Central Asia, was introduced by UNHCR. Refugees have enjoyed labour opportunities as an effective way to promote solutions to their problems in numerous occasions in the past. The promotion of labour opportunities and rights has been tested by governments in an effective manner since the beginning of the 20th Century.  There are close countries such as Iran, and to a different degree Pakistan that have explored these solutions in an attempt to benefit both, their own labour markets and refugees themselves.  There are opportunities in Central Asia that make this Region an excellent candidate for the promotion of these type of measures and become a leading model on solutions for refugees.

Migrants' rights was a cross-cutting issue particularly emphasized throughout all sessions of the event.  The Commission on Human Rights under the President of Republic of Kazakhstan, presented the Special report on Migrants' Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan, supported by IOM Development Fund, mentioning that recommendations of the report have already been implemented while a new law on the inclusion of NGOs within policy making will be passed by January 2016 by the Government of Kazakhstan. 

Participating States emphasized the need of measures and revisions of current national legislation so that immigration of priority groups, such as high-skilled migrants and workers with skills in demand, can be facilitated by addressing the costs, duration and complexity of the procedures. They also highlighted the importance of providing pathways to regularization of residence and employment of selected groups of immigrants as well as concluding bilateral and multilateral agreements on protection of migrant workers’ rights as well as on combating negative phenomena related to irregular migration by implementing measures through regional co-operation and coordinated actions in the fight against trafficking and exploitation as well as smuggling of migrants.

The Chair of the Almaty Process emphasized the need for increased cooperation in addressing migration challenges in Central Asia with the involvement of relevant governments and in close cooperation with IOM and UNHCR and other international stakeholders and reaffirmed the importance of the Almaty Process as a regional consultative process for further dialogue and regional cooperation on mixed migration flows in Central Asia.

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Video (the main national TV channel “Khabar”) - http://khabar.kz/ru/news/obshchestvo/item/33922-voprosy-trudovoj-migrat…;

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