OSCE supports training seminar on labour migration management in Kazakhstan

ASTANA, 3 October 2016 – An OSCE-supported two-day training seminar on labour migration management for some 25 central and regional migration and employment authorities began today in Astana.

The event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in co-operation with the Labour, Social Security and Migration Committee under the Healthcare and Social Development Ministry, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights with the aim to build the capacities of government employees and to develop common national approach for labour migration management.

International experts examined methods for foreign labour needs assessment, evaluated options for developing labour admission policies and identified measures to reduce irregular labour flows. The participants also discussed ways to protect migrants’ rights by focusing on the legal and operational framework regulating the migrants’ access to the host country’s labour market.

“The Labour, Social Security and Migration Committee estimates that over 200,000 illegal migrants are employed in Kazakhstan,” said Aslan Karzhubayev, Deputy Chairperson of the Labour, Social Protection and Migration Committee under the Healthcare and Social Development Ministry. To regulate illegal migration flows it is important to develop a new migration concept paper and we plan to produce it by the end of the year.”

Rati Japaridze, Economic and Environmental Officer of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana said that treating labour migrants in a civil manner is an integral element of a just and democratic society.d. “The OSCE Programme Office in Astana stands ready to assist Kazakhstan in developing the legislation in line with international best practices in the sphere of labour migration.”

The event is part of the OSCE Programme Office’s activities supporting the host country in promoting good governance in labour migration through capacity building and sharing of best practices.