OSCE Centre promotes migration management in Kazakhstan

SHYMKENT, Kazakhstan, 14 May 2013 - An OSCE-supported regional workshop, comprised of a seminar  on improving the regulation of migration policies at the local level, and a training event on best practices in the integration of migrants, started in Shymkent in south Kazakhstan today.

The  event was co-organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana in co-operation with the Administration of the Southern Kazakhstan Region, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population of Kazakhstan, the UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty and UN Women.  It was also supported by the Office of the Co-ordinator of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE field operations in the region.

Some 70 local and central governmental officials, Parliamentarians, and civil society representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan took part in the event.

“The management of migration, particularly labour migration, to a great extent remains a challenge in the region.  In spite of the steps taken by authorities to get these labour migrants out of the shadow economy and legalized according to existing norms, more needs to be done.  Both the economy and the society will benefit from it," said Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana.

Gulshara Abdykalikova, Advisor to the President and Chair of the National Commission for Women Affairs, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan, said: “An increasing percentage of women among migrants is a dominant feature of present-day migration in the world and in Kazakhstan. Events like this one are important for the implementation of our international commitments to improving the status of the family, women and children and introducing a gender perspective in our national migration policy.”

“In accordance with the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on migration, centres for rehabilitation, adaptation and integration of repatriates and migrants have been established in this country, where they can be assisted any time,” said Shalatay Myrzakhmetov, Deputy of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, adding that the workshop would serve to promote good practices of dealing with migrants.

The workshop participants are to develop a set of recommendations on improving approaches for migration policy management at the regional level for local and central authorities in the region. 

The event is part of the OSCE and Centre in Astana’s activities aimed at promoting labour migration policies and practices in Kazakhstan and the neighbouring countries.