Labour migrants to get advice before travelling

A special awareness raising campaign targeting Kyrgyz labour migrants heading for some Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries is kicking off this week. The project aims to distribute brochures explaining migrants' rights and duties in destination countries. "These leaflets will be given to Kyrgyz nationals leaving the country for the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. They outline the rules on how to be in compliance with the law and how to apply for a work permit, registration and other legal issues," Vasiliy Kravtsov of the Kyrgyz migration service told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. "It is a guideline which explains legal issues and advises how to act, where to seek help [if need be], along with contact details of the representative offices of diplomatic, consular and migration bodies," Kravtsov explained. An initial trial distribution of 5,000 brochures called "migrants’ passports", is expected to start from the second half of this month, with that figure set to increase later on. Migration department workers and some local NGOs will distribute them at railway stations, airports and border-crossing points. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) donated US $25,000 for the printing of the guidelines developed by the migration department. The distribution of these awareness raising booklets was another step in fighting irregular migration and it would help Kyrgyz nationals legalise their residence in the destination countries, Kakoli Ray, head of the IOM mission in the country, said. According to IOM, two distribution points have been opened in the south and north of the country. The brochures would mainly be distributed by the NGOs Golden Goal and the Bishkek Centre of Social Initiatives. There are almost half a million Kyrgyz labour migrants abroad. Up to 350,000 live and work in Russia and up to 120,000 seasonal labourers work in Kazakhstan. "It is a big number," Kravtsov said. The population of Kyrgyzstan is some five million. But estimates suggest that the majority of Kyrgyz labour migrants abroad are illegal, with most of them largely unaware of the laws and migration rules of the recipient country. "The majority of our labour migrants work there illegally. Moreover, some two thirds of them don't have any idea about the laws of the destination country," the Kyrgyz government official stressed. In order to raise awareness and get migrants acquainted with their rights and duties before leaving, the department decided to conduct the awareness raising campaign amongst them. "We tried this initiative and many labour migrants have said to us that this brochure contains a lot of useful information for them. For example, it helped some of them to legalise their status in Russia," Kravtsov noted. Information in the booklet could also help labour migrants protect themselves against abuses from some law-enforcement officials. There have been reports that Central Asian labour migrants in Russia have had to keep a low profile to avoid police officers, who often stop them and try to extract bribes. "If a [Russian] law-enforcement official stops our citizen and finds that leaflet where his rights and duties are clearly defined, he would rather not attempt to extract money from that citizen. He would know that that person is familiar with the rules and could take appropriate measures," Kravtsov said.