Patron: President of Austria, Dr. Heinz Fischer

KCTOS: Knowledge, Creativity and
Transformations of Societies

Vienna, 6 to 9 December 2007

S E C T I O N S

 

Issues of labor migration in East Europe and post-Soviet Central Asia

Section Chair/ Abstracts, suggestions to:

Dinora Azimova (UWED, Uzbekistan) [BIO]

Email: dinora.azimova[at]gmail.com

 
ReferentInnen / Speakers   >>
 

ABSTRACT:

New economic, political and demographic trends show that the entire world enters an epoch of growing migratory pressure: it is estimated that there are more than 80 million migrant workers around the world.(1) Therefore, labor migration becoming a top question in elaboration of strategy for many governments in the world.

Transformations of the last 15 years made labor migration driven force for economic development. At the same time, this is social therapy for less developed and over-populated places, such as rural areas and small cities in East Europe.

Due to its demographic and socio-economic features, Central Asia is related to a category of so-called "labor exceeding" regions. It is caused by all traditional views towards having many children, by national mentality, and also constantly increasing surplus of agricultural population.

Active demographic development of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has stipulated the fact that nowadays the population of the countries has exceeded 31 million people, 50 percent of which are of labor age. Nearly half million young people enter here the labor market annually. Although the rates of an increase in population were steadily reducing during the last decade (in 2004 it reached 1, 1%), according to the forecasts of experts in the year 2060 Central Asia population might be doubled.

There are a lot of dilemmas around the migration phenomenon, especially concerning the labor migrants, their security and human rights, contribution to GDP and GNP of receiving countries, remittances back home, etc. This is very sensitive issue for those small countries, who have no enough domestic market to survive, and who experience difficulties in both: creating contingent policy towards own labor migrants and collaborating with governments of accepting stated in elaboration of better policy towards migrants whom they host.

Migration is both: natural absorber of the socio-economic shocks of the globalizing world and human response to the imperfect markets of globalizing economy. Economic reasons for migration are stipulated by low standards of living, and contrasting situation in the neighboring or remote countries. The most complicated type of labor migration is

1. Illegal labor migration

It has few forms:

  1. Legal exit from EE/CA state to another country as a tourist, or for studies/short business trip, and the subsequent illegal employment taken up voluntarily in small "unnoticeable" businesses, in order to "legalize" eventually residence in the given country (work permit, residence permit, or citizenship). Different sources of statistics indicate the significant scale of illegal migration from CA for the entire period of 1991-2005. The experts’ estimations show that this form of migration has not lost its intensive nature in the 21st century.
  2. Legal exit to another country through various channels, and forced employment in illegal types of activities, such as prostitution, slavery, narco-trafficking, etc.
  3. illegal exit from country of origin and illegal penetration to another country (using huge refrigerators, boats, and so on)
  4. illegal exit from the country and participation in "mafia" structures activities abroad.

2. Seasonal (short term) labor migration

One of the most common forms of migration from Central Asia is the so called "job-hunting". It is particularly widespread in the country’s agricultural regions, as well as small towns, with poor infrastructure, where unemployment is a quite serious problem. In some regions, every third able-bodied man regularly leaves the country for seasonal work abroad.

In case of Eastern Europe, this stream is going towards Central and Western Europe, in case of CA; trend is mainly towards Russia (around 75 percent of them) and other CIS countries (25 percent).

Seasonal work starts in spring and ends well into autumn and is mainly comprised of work on large constructions or in house repair companies. This particular group of workers has general and all-purpose skills, with the exception of a small group of specialists with skills in uncommon construction-repair works.

Peculiarities of 21 century migration is participation of woman in the process, those who left their families back home to create condition for children education, health insurance and so on.

This section welcomed those researchers who are interested in collecting new statistics and develop theoretical basis of research, practitioners, who is dealing with labor migrants as lawyers, NGOs and human right activists. Case-studies, related to the topic is highly appreciated. Especially important for us is concentration on issues of migrant woman.

 


1 International Organization for Migration. The Migration Agency report http://www.iom.int/jahia/page706.html
 

ReferentInnen / Speakers / Orateurs

  • Cooperation on Migration issues in Central Asia
    Davron Abdigapparov (Europa-Institut, Saarland University, Germany)
    ABSTRACT

  • Economic Consequences of Globalization: migration from Turkey and to Turkey
    Bulent Acma (Anadolu University, Eskisehir / Turkey)
    ABSTRACT

  • Problems with Labour Migration in Kazakhstan
    Zaure Chulanova
    ABSTRACT

  • (Inner) Labor Migration in Kyrgyzstan
    Nadejda Egorova (Kyrgyzstan Republic)
    ABSTRACT

  • Legal and illegal labor migration: case of Kyrgyzstan
    Roza Jumaeva
    ABSTRACT

  • State’s Policy on Labour Migration Issues
    Examples of Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Norway
    Kaarmanbek K. Kuluev
    ABSTRACT

  • Situational analysis of migrant women
    Khujanazarova Nargis (Women`s Telecommunications and IT Training Center, Tashkent / University of Information Technologies) and Tursunbaeva Saodat (International Foundation “Woman of East”)
    ABSTRACT

  • La migration de travail des femmes tadjikes en Russie: typologie des migrantes et conséquences sociales
    Nafisa Khusenova
    ABSTRACT

  • Research activity of the UN Conference on trade and development on the issues of employment and activities of transnational corporations
    Nargis Muminova (Department of International Relations, University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Uzbekistan)
    ABSTRACT

  • Migrants and the development of a legal framework
    Elena Y. Sadovskaya (Almaty, Kazakhstan)
    ABSTRACT

  • The influence of labour migration on Azerbaijani Families
    Abulfez D. Suleymanov (Azerbaijan National Academy of Science)
    ABSTRACT

  • Sending State and Transnational Migration
    The Case of Kyrgyzstan
    Nazgul Tajibaeva
    ABSTRACT

  • Effect of External Labour Migration for Ukrainian Family: “Poisoned Gift” or “Dream Realized”?
    Alisa V. Tolstokorova (International School for Equal Opportunities in Ukraine)
    ABSTRACT

  • Monetary indicators' measurement in Economy dependent on migrants’ remittances (Case of Tajikistan)
    Madina Turaeva (Public and Economic Research Center of Tajikistan, Dushanbe)
    ABSTRACT

  • Migratory interaction between Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries
    Zimovina Yelena (Department of Archaeology, Ethnology and Native History, The Buketov Karaganda State University, Karaganda, Kazakhstan)
    ABSTRACT


Patron: President of Austria, Dr. Heinz Fischer

KCTOS: Knowledge, Creativity and
Transformations of Societies

Vienna, 6 to 9 December 2007