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Tajikistan Expresses Concerns over Violations of its Citizens’ Rights in CIS Countries

The most recent meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was hosted by Moscow on October 7. During the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, expressed his concern about the violation of the rights of the republic's citizens on the territory of some CIS countries. Emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to solving migration issues in the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, he called for consideration of all parties' interests: host countries, migrant-sending countries, foreign citizens, and the local population. The Minister also addressed urgent security issues and stressed the need to strengthen the fight against terrorism, extremism, illegal drug trafficking, and transnational crimes. He invited the CIS states to participate in the international conference on counterterrorism, scheduled for early November in Kuwait City as part of the Dushanbe process.

Migrant Workers Migrants Human rights Legislation Russia

Russia Wants to Ban Migrants’ Families

Russia is considering a bill that could restrict the right of migrant workers to bring their families into the country. The initiative from LDPR deputies, led by Leonid Slutsky, has already sparked active discussions among politicians and society. The main goal of the proposed law is to reduce the inflow of uncontrolled migration and the ensuing public tension. Particular reference is made to the many migrant families living in Russia who accumulate debts for public utilities and create enclaves where local laws and customs are often ignored. The bill suggests that with the exception of highly qualified specialists, the presence of a work contract or a patent, should no longer be a reason for migrants to move their families to Russia. This bill is not the only measure aimed at tightening the migration policy in Russia. In 2022, a “controlled stay” system was introduced, strengthening control over migrants on the country's territory. In recent years, Russia has also introduced labor migration quotas limiting the number of jobs available to foreign nationals, especially in construction, trade, and other low-skilled sectors. These quotas were further tightened, resulting in fewer migrants entering the country. Another measure was the introduction of compulsory health insurance for migrants, adding a financial burden to those coming to work in Russia. In addition, strict language and cultural integration requirements have been introduced, including mandatory Russian language training and exams on the country's history and culture. Such actions have drawn criticism from human rights activists, who believe that the restrictions could increase social tensions and make life difficult for migrants already living in Russia.

Russia Migration Migrant Workers

Central Asians Beaten and Deported from Russia

The punishment for many Central Asians in Russia whose work or residency documents are not in order is pain and humiliation, and then possibly deportation. Xenophobia targeting Central Asians in Russia has been on the rise since the March 22 terrorist attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall that left more than 140 people dead. Russian authorities apprehended a group of ethnic Tajiks who allegedly carried out the attack and after that the level of prejudice against Central Asians in Russia, which has always existed, dramatically worsened. The treatment of Central Asians at the Sakharovo migration center on the outskirts of Moscow is an example. Moscow courts are likely to send Central Asians caught with document problems to the Sakharovo center. Radio Free Europe’s Kyrgyz Service interviewed several people who passed through the Sakharovo center. Their descriptions shed light on the conditions inside. One man who spent 18 days in the center said, “The day we entered there, they intimidated us, forced us to walk in single file, run fast… then they examined us and beat us with a stun gun.” That jibes with another man’s description. “They call your last name, then you go out into the corridor and run. There they hit you on the back of the head and tell you to ‘run.’” Then, the man continued, “They made me face the wall, forced me to raise my arms up, spread my legs, and started hitting me with a stun gun.” There is an anti-Islamic element to the treatment of detainees at Sakharovo. A different person remembered this about his detention. “They fed us food with pork. Since we were hungry, we removed the meat and ate what was left.” He said there were some people who recited their daily prayers in their rooms. “When one guy was saying namaz, the guards entered. Then one of them (the guards) hit him in the face twice.” When the person continued saying his prayers, the guards said, “Let him go to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and read his prayer there.” Some of the detainees with beards were forcibly shaved. Batygul Moldobayeva is from Kyrgyzstan. She was detained in Moscow this summer with an expired work permit and sent to Sakharovo. Moldobayeva said the guards yelled at women detainees and were rude to them. She added that sometimes the guards “asked them to be their ‘temporary wives.’” Moldobayeva said there were pregnant women in the center, some as far along as six months, and the guards did not pay any attention to their condition. According to Moldobayeva, there were some Kyrgyz citizens at Sakharovo who had been there for three or four months. Askar Uskenbayev is another Kyrgyz citizen who was detained in Moscow in mid-June and sent to Sakharovo. He said he met fellow Kyrgyz citizens who had been there six months. After being deported back to Kyrgyzstan, Moldobayeva posted about her experience on social media and warned Kyrgyz citizens to be sure all their documents were in order if they...

Moscow Attack Migrant Workers

Marginalized But Indispensable – What the Crocus City Hall Attack Means for Central Asian Migrants

As previously reported by TCA, in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow which left 144 dead and 551 injured, Central Asian migrants in Russia have been living in a climate of fear. “There is panic, many people want to leave [Russia],” Shakhnoza Nodiri from the Ministry of Labor of Tajikistan said of the outflow of labor migrants. “We are now monitoring the situation; we have more people coming [to Tajikistan] than leaving.” One of the most remittance-based economies in the world, in 2023 official figures released by the Ministry of Labor, Migration and Employment of Tajikistan - often underestimated - stated that 652,014 people left the country to work abroad, largely to Russia. According to the World Bank, in 2022 remittances made by migrants accounted for 51% of the country’s GDP. As anticipated, despite the U.S specifically warning the Russian authorities that the Crocus City Hall was a potential target, whilst seeking to lay the blame for the attack on Ukraine, the Russian Government is intensifying its control over migrants. On April 1, a Ministry of Internal Affairs' spokesperson announced that the regulations will include mandatory fingerprinting and photographing of all foreigners upon entry into Russia, a reduction in the legal duration of stay from 180 days to 90 days, and the registration of migrants and their employers. In addition, whereas in the past a migrant could only be deported following a court's decision, this will no longer be the case. Against this backdrop, on April 3, the Davis Center at Harvard University hosted a seminar entitled, “The Crocus City Hall Terror Attack and Its Repercussions for Central Asians and Central Asia.” Opening the discussion, Yan Matusevich, a Ph.D. Candidate in Cultural Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, highlighted the fact that the “migration system has been in place for a very long time [and] the Central Asian migrant community in Russia has lived through crisis after crisis. But there are not a lot of alternatives out there,” he started, “so it's really hard to disentangle oneself from that. It’s been difficult for migrants for a long time, but they also know how to navigate the system, as violent and oppressive as it is. “Migrants are also under a lot of pressure to join the war effort, because a lot of Russians have left fleeing mobilization. Migrants are very resilient, though, and paradoxically, because there is such a major labor deficit in Russia, there are a lot of employment opportunities. Bringing in brigades of migrants in uniforms who are completely segregated and work in slave-like conditions would be the Russian ideal, but the problem is the reality doesn't match up given the dependence on migratory labor.” Malika Bahovadinova, a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Amsterdam, addressed the “ambiguity” migrants face over whether their “status is legal or illegal.” Criminalization of migration laws has been a trend since 2013, she argued, with increased tracking...

Migrant Workers mahalla platform Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan to Support Migrant Workers

At a government meeting on April 2nd, following his previous order to facilitate access to the external labour market, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was presented with proposals to streamline labour migration and support Uzbek migrant workers abroad. Over the past two years, the Uzbek Agency for External Labour Migration has assisted 70 thousand people in securing work in developed countries. Many unskilled laborers, however, still opt to work abroad independently and as a result, struggle. To resolve problems encountered by Uzbek citizens working abroad, Uzbekistan is to introduce round-the-clock call centres and labour migration attachés in its embassies and consulates in the UK, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Japan. A mahalla is a traditional Uzbek community centred in a residential neighbourhood. Under the new initiative, based on the principle “work abroad begins with the mahalla,” local authorities and youth leaders will identify anyone wishing to work abroad and enter their data in a designated “Online Mahalla” platform. Candidates will then be invited to compete for employment abroad. Training will be provided by vocational education institutions for citizens lacking professional skills. In addition, a centre for teaching foreign languages will be opened at the Agency for External Labour Migration to help prepare candidates. The state has announced that it will also reimburse part of the costs of work visas and tickets, as well as the assessment of labour migrants’ knowledge of foreign languages and professional qualifications. Earlier on, the head of state instigated measures to ensure employment for people returning from labour migration.

Living standards Migrant Workers

Doctors, Teachers Among Lowest-Paid Trained Professions in Uzbekistan

The Bdex.ru website, which publishes open-source statistics on salaries in various countries and cities, has provided data on average salaries in the Central Asian republics. According to their reporting, citizens of Kazakhstan earn the most at $775 per month. Wages in Uzbekistan ($346) and Kyrgyzstan ($360) are almost identical, whilst workers in Tajikistan are paid significantly less at $193. As in many fields, there is no data available for Turkmenistan. According to the Uzbek Statistics Agency, average monthly wages rose 17.2% last year. The highest wages are still found in the capital at $600, and the lowest in the Namangan Oblast ($267). Last year, the highest salaries were for those who work in finance and insurance ($1,077), with the lowest salaries going to healthcare ($242) and education workers ($252). At the same time, real per capita income in Uzbekistan grew by only 2.4% in 2023 - the lowest figure in at least five years. In neighboring Tajikistan, the average monthly nominal wage in 2023 increased by 14.3% on the previous year according to the Minister of Labor, Employment and Migration of the Republic of Tajikistan, Gulnora Hasanzoda. Agricultural and forestry workers earn the least in the country at $74, whilst the highest salaries go to miners at $333, followed by energy workers ($332), and construction workers ($275). According to official statistics, there are about two million migrant workers from Central Asia currently in Russia. Low wages and unemployment are increasingly forcing citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to look for work abroad. As a rule, these are low-skilled, low-paid jobs that locals are reluctant to take. Due to the war in Ukraine and fear of being forced into the Russian military, migrants have recently started to look elsewhere. According to Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), Uzbekistan was among the leaders in sending seasonal migrant workers to the U.K. in 2022. "We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of seasonal workers coming to the U.K. from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan," the director of the Gangmasters and Labor Abuse Authority (GLAA), Darryl Dixon observed in the SIA report.