Migration conference opens in Almaty

A comprehensive conference on migration opened in the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty, on Tuesday, revealing a negative migration balance for Central Asia's largest state. "While most events have focused only on migration to and from Kazakhstan, this conference will show more aspects of migration," Elvira Pak, head of the office for the Fredrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES) Foundation in Almaty, which organized the event, told IRIN. In doing so, participants and the general public would learn to put individual migration aspects into a broader context, she said. That approach should prove useful in a country like Kazakhstan, providing the government and general public a stronger consciousness of migration issues, and how best to facilitate cooperation between governmental and non-governmental organisations. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, more people emigrated from Kazakhstan than immigrated to, leaving a negative migration balance of just over 2 million people - a serious issue for a country slightly smaller than India, but with a population of just 15 million. And while Kazakhstan, given strong economic indicators, has long been a destination country or transit point for migrants from neighbouring countries in the region, many Kazakhs have opted to leave instead. “From 1991 until 2003, a negative migration balance has been observed in Kazakhstan,” Ainour Danevova, programme assistant and media spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Almaty, told IRIN. Emigration reached its peak in 1994 when more than 480,000 people left the country, the IOM official said. After Kazakhstan gained independence, large numbers of Russians and other ethnic groups returned to their countries - much like they had in other Central Asian states, despite the fact that many had left their "home" countries several generations earlier. At the same time, many Kazakhs in search of a better life continue to do whatever is necessary to secure their futures in Western Europe, the United States or the Middle East, Pak said. "Migration from Kazakhstan is accompanied by a brain drain of skilled workers that are needed for the construction of a post-Soviet and modern society and state," she said, noting at the same time, migrants arriving in Kazakhstan often failed to compensate for this brain drain, offering their services only on the market for unskilled (illegal) workers. Human trafficking is another issue within the scope of migration. "Trafficking of women is a problem both for women leaving as well as those coming to Kazakhstan," she said. Meanwhile, fostering the integration of migrants already inside the country, while at the same time providing a solid legal basis for further incoming migration - protecting both the Kazakh labour population, as well as the people entering the country from exploitation - were the primary challenges of the country now, Pak maintained. "To ensure that Kazakhstan does not become a major country of transit for human trafficking towards Western Europe," she added. Organised by the FES, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Beijing-based Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP), the conference included some 40 participants, including speakers from Kazakhstan, Germany, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, the United States and Russia.