Central Asian workers who migrate for good paying jobs are navigating a rapidly changing environment due to shifts in economic options and political instability. At the same time, a growing number of women and young migrant workers, who face particular vulnerabilities, are increasingly seeking to migrate. Safeguarding worker rights amid changing migration flows is a challenge best addressed when stakeholders from the region join together to develop and coordinate safe migration strategies, according to panelists at a Solidarity Center webinar this week.
Migrant workers in Central Asia seek good jobs to support themselves and their families. Credit: Solidarity Center
“We really feel the need of cooperation with destination countries to find more systematic ways of organizing these workers,” said Edwin Atema, leader of the Road Transport Due Diligence Foundation. “Because, on a daily basis, our staff is saving the lives of workers.” Atema was among eight participants and Solidarity Center partners in the webinar, moderated by Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau and including Kelly Faye Rodriguez, U.S. Department of State special representative for international labor affairs.
“Regional government dialogue is a key and it’s very important since now not only Kazakhstan, but Kyrgyzstan also become the only country of origin, but also country of destination,” said Evgeniya Li, Solidarity Center program coordinator. “The main steps that should be taken in the future are facilitating cooperation, addressing labor market needs, and improving migrants’ rights.”
Workers Migrate for Decent Jobs
Based on a research sample of 1,031 migrant workers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, research by the Solidarity Center found that Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are primarily origin countries, with Kazakhstan becoming an increasingly popular destination country. Overall, 58 percent of those interviewed say they migrated because of low wages in home countries, and 31 percent because of the lack of jobs and unemployment.
While Russia long was a destination country for migrant workers from Central Asia, the number of workers migrating there has decreased following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the country’s decreased economic opportunities. The survey found migrant workers are now choosing Kazakhstan (28 percent), Türkiye (27 percent), Germany (21 percent) and South Korea (16 percent).
As in many countries, Central Asian migrant workers are found in a variety of jobs, including construction, agriculture, trade, transportation, public catering and much more.
Low Pay, Poor Conditions and Growing Numbers of Women, Young People
“Overtime was not paid; we were paid just the regular salary. If I got sick, it was my problem; the employer didn’t cover it. You had to pay for treatment yourself,” said one worker from Uzbekistan who was surveyed in the report. The 30-year-old cook had spent seven years as a migrant worker and describes a common experience, in which migrant workers receive no overtime payment or sick leave and often endure discrimination and gender-based harassment and violence, said Lola Abdukadyrova, Solidarity Center regional director in Kyrgyzstan.
“Twenty-nine percent of respondents’ households are on the verge of poverty, they do not always have enough money for food,” she said of Kyrgyzstan. For migrants from Uzbekistan, “45 percent of respondents’ households are on the verge of poverty,” said Nodira Karimova, director of the Republican Social Information Center Istiqbolli Avlod.
“They have enough money only for food. Salary is not paid regularly,” said Abdukadyrova. “The workload increases without a salary increase. And they’re working irregular hours. Employers do not provide a safe workplace.”
Gulnara Derbisheva, director of Insan-Leilek, an NGO advocating for migrant worker rights, discussed how women are especially at risk, facing gender-based violence and harassment, an increase that Li said necessitates “targeted policies and programs to support women’s formal employment and provide access to legal aid.”
Panelists saw a video describing efforts by the Solidarity Center in Kyrgyzstan to support pre-migration training and labor rights training,
In a video describing efforts by the Solidarity Center in Kyrgyzstan to support pre-migration training and labor rights training, some 10,000 applicants sought visas for South Korea and the United Kingdom. Showing the video to participants, “you can see the portrait of the Kyrgyz labor migrant right now that is still very young,” said Abdukadyrova. When workers line up to apply for migration, “registration closes in five minutes. Increasingly, young people are looking for jobs outside the country.”
“Ensuring migrant workers are protected by contracts and knowing they have labor rights is essential,” says Derbisheva, “especially as workers in informal economy jobs such as domestic work and taxi driving increase.” The survey shows most migrants from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (76 percent) do not have labor contracts, “making them even more vulnerable to labor rights violations,” said Abdukadyrova.
“The share of informal migrants is very high. There is a low level of awareness for labor rights and few have contracts,” said Derbisheva, whose organization campaigns to aid workers in forced labor and provide free legal assistance, such as recovering fees and unpaid salaries. “They are major stakeholders and we have to involve them.”
Going Forward
Credit: Solidarity Center
The first recommendation to address migration should involve “strengthening work prior to leaving their countries,” says Derbisheva. When workers choose to migrate, panelists emphasized the need for a fair recruitment process and departure training for both migrant workers and potential migrant workers that underlines core labor rights and government engagement with countries to establish mutual agreements.
“Kazakhstan has endorsed the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), and participates in various regional migration dialogues,” said Aleksandr Mukha, director of the Mangistau Regional Branch of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law. In another significant win for migrant worker rights organizations, Kyrgyzstan in August also issued the GCM with the goal of improving conditions for Kyrgyz citizens who travel abroad to earn their livelihoods.
The compact is the result of work by the Solidarity Center with its partners in Central Asia with the Migrant Workers Union, a network of nongovernmental organizations focused on migration, and relevant Kyrgyzstan state bodies.
“Migration long has been a critical issue for the Solidarity Center,” said Shawna Bader-Blau, panel moderator.
“In Central Asia, the Solidarity Center has been active since independence in helping to build democratic, worker-led organizations and to help ensure respect for fundamental worker rights. We operate programs in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from our field office located in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek,” she said. “Our long-time focus on migration in the region brought about real successes including the organization of a Migrant Workers Union that brings together more than 10,000 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for mutual protection of their rights.”
“We recognize that workers are all deserving of full respect of international labor standards without exception, including the freedom to form unions and collectively bargain regardless of immigration status, nationality, race, gender or sector of the economy,” she said.
“With Solidarity Center’s already deep contacts, all of our partners mentioned that in Central Asia we need to have this wide informational campaign, provide legal assistance, develop policies targeted to women migrants, mandatory pre-migration trainings, encourage migrant organization development and promote union membership and collective organization among migrant workers,” said Li
Presentations from the webinar, “Exploring Migration Trends in Central Asia: A Comprehensive Analysis of Changing Migration Flows and New Labor Markets in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan,” along with an executive summary and infographic of the research conducted, are available on the Solidarity Center website. The full reports—one for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan—will be available on the Solidarity Center website next month.
Nearly two dozen participants from three countries joined in a recent leadership seminar in Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan, to discuss strategies for labor relations in inspectorates, unions and NGOs to fight labor corruption.
The seminar provided a deep understanding of basic labor rights and enabled participants to apply valuable lessons. Credit: Solidarity Center
“I didn’t know that this was such a relevant topic,” said Eshmurodova Sevara, a participant from Uzbekistan. “Corruption exists in our everyday life. As a student, I would like less of it in my life.”
The seminar provided a deep understanding of fundamental labor rights and also enabled participants to apply valuable lessons by utilizing effective tools to combat such corruption in labor as misappropriated funds, or personal gain at the expense of workers.
The regional seminar, part of a Solidarity Center school that facilitator Mukha Kazakhstan described as “very high,” builds on the success of the Annual School of Young Leaders in Kyrgyzstan, a country-wide program launched in 2019. The first Regional Youth School involved civil society and union members and leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Combining practical learning, including simulation exercises and gamification, the hands-on activities enabled participants to better understand the role of key institutions in addressing corruption in labor relations. (A video captures some of interactivity.)
Aliya Narbai, a participant from Kazakhstan, said he not only gained valuable insights, but practical tools he can apply. “After returning to Kazakhstan, I plan to initiate a campaign to raise public awareness about labor rights and corruption,” he said.
Equipped to Go Forward
“The school showed us how similar our challenges are. Now, we understand that we must act together, combining our efforts,” said Umar Zhaliev, a representative of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan.
The program’s primary goal—to equip young leaders with the knowledge and tools to take action—developed through sessions in which participants created action plans to implement after returning to their countries. Through an emerging youth activist network, participants can develop mutual support and collaboration to advance labor rights and combat corruption throughout the region.
“Organizing the youth school on labor rights was vital because it empowered young people with essential knowledge and fostered community engagement,” says Solidarity Center country program director Lola Abdukadyrova. “By equipping them with this knowledge, we’re nurturing informed advocates who can effectively engage in labor rights discussions and drive positive change in their communities.”
As Sevara said, when I return “to my home city, I will try to study it even more deeply in order to eradicate it, at least in small parts.”
To focus attention on protecting workers from Central Asian countries who are migrating abroad to earn their livelihoods, the Solidarity Center was part of a broad coalition that organized a high-level conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to coincide with UN World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The two-day conference, which took place July 30 to 31, provided a forum for sharing best practices and strategies to combat forced labor, included representatives from regional and global representatives of civil society organizations, state institutions and organizations, trafficking experts and the U.S. government.
“Collaboration on labor protections can potentially ensure safer and fairer working conditions for everyone in the region,” says Solidarity Center Europe and Central Asia Regional Program Director Rudy Porter.
As a percentage of population, forced labor in Central Asia and Europe is the second highestin the world–estimated at more than 4 millionpeople. The U.S. Department of State’s 2023 Trafficking in Persons reportdetails forced labor across Central Asia, including in Kazakhstan, where debt-based coercion of migrant workers is reportedlyincreasing. Globally, there were almost 8 million international migrants from Central Asian countries by mid-year 2020, more than 60 percent of whom were in Russia. A Solidarity Center-supported survey of hundreds of Kyrgyz women migrant workers across 19 Russian cities in 2021 documented brutal conditions on the job for these women, including sexual violence.
The conference, “Strengthening National and International Partnerships in Combating Trafficking in Persons,” was co-organized with the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Kyrgyz Republic’s Parliament, the EU Mission, the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan and global funder Winrock International. Also participating were Solidarity Center partner worker rights organizations Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights (KIBHR), Kyrgyzstan’s Insan-Leilek and Migrant Workers Union, and Uzbekistan’s Istiqbolli Avlod. The European Union, OSCE, UNODC and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) cosponsored.
The Solidarity Center participated on a panel on countering forced labor through promotion of fundamental labor rights in the region and highlighted a finding from recently completed research that almost 60 percent of Central Asian migrant workers surveyed do not know what forced labor is—which increases their vulnerability to unscrupulous employers or recruiters. Solidarity Center staff also used the panel as an opportunity to present recommendations emphasizing the role of labor inspectorates, unions and private and state recruitment agencies in combating forced labor.
The conference builds from a milestone convening the Solidarity Center organized in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, last year, where a joint regional action plan on combating forced labor and advancing worker rights was adopted by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan stakeholders, including government ministries and agencies, non-governmental and civil society sectors, and international organizations.
Forced labor is found increasingly in the private economy, in labor-intensive and under-regulated sectors such as construction, agriculture, fisheries, domestic work and mining, reports the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Worldwide, 28 million people were trapped in forced labor in 2021, a number that represents an increase of more than one-third in only five years. Globally, forced labor in the private economy is estimated to generate $236 billion in illegal profits per year, an increase of more than $64 billion since 2014.
The UN’s 2018 Global Compact on migration, which sets out a cooperative framework for achieving safe migration within a rights-based framework, includes a process for implementation andreviewof UN member states’ progress on the issue.
* Currently available in Russian; English translation forthcoming.
In Central Asia, the Solidarity Center partners with disability rights groups to promote inclusive employment, including through inclusive education. Zakhira Begalieva and Gulmira Kazakunova, disability rights activists who head Kazakhstan’s I Teach Me and Kyrgyzstan’s Ravenstvo, respectively, last month joined more than 1,000 people from 100 countries in Vienna for the UN’s 2024 Project Zero Conference to learn more about Inclusive education and information and communication technology (ICT), and to explore regional and global alliance-building opportunities.
“Here you feel some kind of freedom and you feel that opportunities are not limited,” said Kazakunova.
In Kazakhstan, I Teach Me provides online training for youth with disabilities to prepare them for future employment and, in Kyrgyzstan, Ravenstvo educates women with disabilities to help them secure jobs and advocates for inclusive education to help increase job market participation for women with disabilities.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which aims to create conditions for persons with disabilities to participate in society on an equal basis with others and free from discrimination, was ratified by Kazakhstan in 2015 and Kyrgyzstan in 2019. However, discrimination against people with disabilities has persisted.
In Kazakhstan, the UN Development Program (UNDP) reports that the country’s more than 750,000 people with disabilities every day, “face obstacles on the way to gaining equal access to education, health and employment.” The Solidarity Center in Kazakhstan is supporting partners who, after years of advocating for inclusivity, are now focused on implementation of new legislative measures and a legal framework adopted to ensure implementation of CRPD. Starting this year, more than 34,000 workers with disabilities were covered by measures to promote employment.
In Kyrgyzstan, the Solidarity Center is supporting a program focused on reducing discrimination in employment and promoting the labor rights of workers with disabilities—the first of its kind in the country. A 2022 Solidarity Center study revealed that only 20 percent of people with disabilities surveyed in Kyrgyzstan were employed, most in insecure seasonal or part-time jobs. Through a combination of legislative analysis, large-scale media campaigns, the development of a mobile application, individual legal support, educational trainings and collaboration with key organizations, the Solidarity Center is working to make real change for people with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan, including efforts to harmonize regulations and mechanisms in the country’s labor code to improve laws impacting people with disabilities.
Unions and other worker associations can be especially effective advocates for disability rights. The International Labor Organization (ILO) reports that unions are the strongest voices advocating for the rights of people with disabilities at work around the world. Public-sector unions, where survey data shows workers with disabilities experience higher levels of union representation, are natural organizers around rights issues because of their position at the nexus of governance and work.
Learn more about strategies that civil society allies in Kyrgyzstan, with Solidarity Center support, are using to advance and protect the rights of people with disabilities—including coalition-building and joint advocacy projects with national and local disability rights organizations, pro-bono legal support, data collection, legislative reform and trainings-of-trainers with disabilities. [Video in Russian]
A milestone convening in Tashkent last week brought together stakeholders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan government ministries and agencies, non-governmental and civil society sectors, and international organizations as a first step in developing a joint action plan to combat forced labor and advance worker rights in the region. Worldwide, 28 million people were reportedly trapped in forced labor in 2021.
The May 22 conference highlighted labor inspectorates’ role in protecting worker rights and combating forced labor in the region. Solidarity Center supported the event, which was organized in collaboration with “Partnership in Action,” an international NGO network of more than 30 Central Asian organizations, Kyrgyzstan’s Migrant Workers Union’s partner organization “Insan-Leylek” and Uzbekistan’s Istiqbolli Avlod.
“There is a crucial need for regional cooperation in labor inspections, because migration patterns are constantly changing,” says “Insan-Leylek” leader Gulnara Derbisheva.
Recognizing the importance of collective action, the conference hosts provided a forum for representatives of labor inspectorates from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to share their expertise and experiences within their respective countries. Government representatives from each of those countries reiterated their commitment to labor inspectorates working cooperatively with one another and with the region’s worker rights defenders to fight labor exploitation and promote safer working environments and dignified work for all.
Topics included international standards related to the work of inspectorates, issues surrounding forced labor in Central Asia and the importance of labor inspections given the region’s unique challenges. Participants identified a severe shortage of labor inspectors—Solidarity Center research finds that 250 labor inspectors oversee 280,000 legal entities employing 6.5 million people in Kazakhstan, 30 inspectors oversee thousands of enterprises in Kyrgyzstan and 315 inspectors oversee 578,000 registered entities in Uzbekistan—and discussed restrictions on inspectorates’ effectiveness. Although the International Labor Organization (ILO) standards specify that inspections be conducted without prior notification, all three countries require prior consent and advance notice for inspections and exclude small businesses from inspection mandates. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are currently considering legislative changes to rectify such loopholes.
“The outcomes of the conference have the potential to transform labor protection, ensuring safer and fairer working conditions for everyone in the region,” says Solidarity Center Europe and Central Asia Regional Program Director Rudy Porter.
According to ILO data, some 2.3 million women and men around the world succumb to work-related accidents or diseases every year, including 340 million victims of occupational accidents and 160 million victims of work-related illnesses. The ILO reports 11,0000 fatal occupational accidents annually in the 12-member states comprising the Commonwealth of Independent States—Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—but points to “gross underreporting” of occupational accidents and diseases in the region.
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Based on a research sample of 1,031 migrant workers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, research by the Solidarity Center found that Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are primarily origin countries, with Kazakhstan becoming an increasingly popular destination country. Overall, 58 percent of those interviewed say they migrated because of low wages in home countries, and 31 percent because of the lack of jobs and unemployment. 
