The experts assess this initiative differently: some believe that citizens will have more opportunities and their rights will be better protected, while others believe that the Uzbek authorities’ attempts will not have impact on the established migration flows.
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Recently, the representatives of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations of Uzbekistan held meetings with the Ambassadors of Uzbekistan to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Poland on simplifying the labour migration processes for Uzbek migrants in these countries.
The meetings were held within the framework of the Decree of the President of Uzbekistan on measures to introduce a system of safe, orderly and legal labour migration, which was adopted on September 15 last year.
In particular, the Ambassador of Uzbekistan in Riyadh Ulugbek Maksudov was suggested to achieve the intergovernmental agreement between the two countries on cooperation in the field of labour migration. The Ambassador of Uzbekistan in Warsaw was suggested to begin the work “on providing simplified access for Uzbekistan to the Polish labour market” and on the preparation of the intergovernmental agreement on the organised recruitment and attraction of Uzbek citizens wishing to leave for labour migration to Poland.
The Ambassadors of the Republic of Uzbekistan proposed to open the Representative Offices of the Agency for External Labour Migration under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations of Uzbekistan in these countries.
According to the authorities, about 2.5 million Uzbek citizens are in labour migration, of whom about 2 million work in Russia. Annually, the migrants transfer about $4 billion to Uzbekistan. According to the official statistics, the GDP of Uzbekistan is about $58 billion now, that is, migrants’ remittances make up 7% of GDP.
Political analyst Farkhod Tolipov assumed that one of the goals of these measures could be the labour migration diversification.
“In this sphere, there should not be much dependence on one recipient country. Under interstate agreements, hundreds of thousands of labour migrants are already working in South Korea, Europe, UAE, Russia, etc.,” Tolipov said in CABAR.asia interview.
The political scientist states that tens of thousands of jobs are created in Uzbekistan every year.
“Of course, this is not enough when about half a million new people enter the labour market every year. Now, new state programs are being developed to solve the unemployment problem,” Tolipov said.
He also believes the fears that the Uzbek migrants’ rights could be violated in the UAE or Saudi Arabia are exaggerated.
“Such violations happen at every recipient country for labour migrants. However, I do not think this happens to all migrants in these countries. Otherwise, they would not travel there,” Tolipov believes.
Temur Umarov, consultant at the Carnegie Moscow Center, believes that the authorities’ attempts to ease the living conditions of citizens should be “welcomed” in other countries.
Umarov states that Uzbekistan is the most populated country in Central Asia; therefore, the employment situation here is more complicated. However, there are also issues that do not allow solving the unemployment problem.
“In my opinion, the first thing that has to be done is organising the statistics collection. To increase employment level, at least, it is necessary to understand the scale of unemployment, understand the demography, understand what specialists are present or absent in the country, who can find jobs, and who needs new jobs to be created. So far, this is unknown,” says Umarov.
He believes that after receiving the necessary statistics, the country’s authorities will easier decide on many other reforms: from simplifying the business processes to reforming higher education system.
“At the same time, it is necessary to remember that Uzbekistan, despite the softening in recent years, is still a hybrid autocracy that seeks to maintain security within its borders. The main threat to this cherished social security is unemployed young men,” says Umarov. “For obvious reasons, they are also are the largest segment of migrant workers. It is beneficial for the regime to keep the dangerous elements away and divided.”
Umarov doubts that these agreements will redirect migration flows from Uzbekistan.
“Even without these agreements, people go to the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere searching for a better life, without thinking about the quality of their life there,” he continues. “Russia will still remain the most important country for the Uzbek labour force. It is due to many factors: a certain cultural affinity, a common history, language, experience of millions of other fellow citizens, etc. No other country will be able to replace Russia in the near future. Moscow actively uses this situation, putting pressure on Tashkent, if necessary.”
This article was prepared as part of the Giving Voice, Driving Change – from the Borderland to the Steppes Project. The opinions expressed in the article do not reflect the position of the editorial or donor.