Roundtable

March 28, 2013

The Tian Shan Policy Center at AUCA arranged a Roundtable “International Experience on Protection of Labor Migrants’ Rights and Its Application to Kyrgyzstan” on March 26, 2013, at the Ala Archa Residence of the President of the KR.   The Roundtable brought together experts from government and international agencies, academic institutions, NGOs, and thank tanks of Kyrgyzstan and the Migration Research Center of Russia to evaluate the preliminary findings of TSPC’s research on global best practices that can help Kyrgyzstan in developing its new strategic plan on labor migration. The Roundtable facilitated dialogue among stakeholder groups on the use of international practices to better protect migrant rights and identify recommendations for improving migration policies in Kyrgyzstan.

The Tian Shan Policy Center (TSPC, http://auca.kg/eng/tspc/),a policy think tank within the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), is now implementing its project, “Protecting the Rights of Kyrgyz Migrants: Utilizing Policy Analysis, Public Outreach, and Stakeholder Dialogue to Mobilize Action toward Reform, 2012-2014”, with support from the Central Eurasia Program of the Open Society Foundations. This work is proceeding within the framework of TSPC’s activities on migration and social protection.

The project aims to raise awareness and foster dialogue to develop new strategies and more effective institutions and programs to protect Kyrgyz labor migrants and their families. TSPC is conducting research and analysis on international standards and best practices that can help to promote more robust government and stakeholder consideration of a comprehensive national migration policy. As part of this project, TSPC also plans to create an Internet-platform for an Information Management Centre on Migrants’ Human Rights Protection, which will be available for free to the public, researchers, and government agencies.

Since the project began last fall, TSPC hosted a Workshop with the participation of leading experts from research centers and international organizations dealing with labor migration. The goal of the earlier workshop was to gather the most up-to-date information, identify gaps in protection of labor migrants, and prioritize a number of important spheres for prospective research. Based on the results of the Workshop, TSPC developed a follow-up report reflecting all of the issues identified by participants in the course of discussions and clarifying a new research agenda.  The report and all other related documents are available at http://auca.kg/en/migration_projects/.To foster dialogue among stakeholders, in January, 2013 TSPC co-organized a seminar for the Working Group on Establishing National Public Council on Migration in Kyrgyzstan, of which TSPC is a member. The goal of the event was to develop agenda for the newly establishing Council. The participants developed an Action Plan and schedule of activities, as well as planned the licensing procedures of the Council.

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