OSCE meeting promotes co-operation on dealing with labor migration in Central Asia

ISSYK-KUL, Kyrgyzstan, 24 June 2003 - Government representatives and high-ranking officials from four Central Asian states and the Russian Federation are meeting in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, today in an effort to improve co-operation in dealing with the increasing flow of migrant workers in the region.

The three-day meeting is organized by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Bishkek-based Regional Centre for Migration and Refugee Issues, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"The region has been faced with a steadily increasing flow of migrant workers over the past years", said Vladimir Shkolnikov, the ODIHR's Migration Adviser. "This meeting will discuss how to ensure protection of the rights of those migrant workers and to increase the benefits of labor migration to both sending as well as receiving countries."

As participating States of the OSCE, the countries represented at the meeting - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - have agreed to implement a the large body of commitments related to labor migration and the rights of migrant workers.

The ODIHR assists the countries of the region with improving co-operation and exchange of information related to cross-border migration.

Representatives of the OSCE Centres in Almaty and Dushanbe, and of the ILO also participated in the meeting.