KHUJAND, October 14, 2008, Asia-Plus -- The Social Partnership Club at Tajikistan’s Public Council held a meeting, formally titled “Labor Migration: Problems and Prospects,” in Khujand on November 13. 

The event, staged by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan in association with the Public Council, brought together representatives of political parties and public associations, experts and journalists.  

Presidential senior adviser Subhon Koshonov noted that more than 500,000 Tajik seasonal workers travel abroad each year, primarily to Russia.  According to him, because of poor knowledge of the employment realities abroad as well as legal requirements, many of them find themselves in irregular situations.  

Representative of the migration service within the Ministry of Interior (MoI) Diloavar Shomatov noted that an estimated 609,104 Tajik nationals are currently outside the country.  Of them, 429,995, including 41,359, are labor migrants.  

The deputy Sughd governor, Vahhob Nabiyev, noted that the Sughd province had concluded labor migration contracts with Russia’s Astrakhan, Volgograd and Altay regions.   

According to Shuhrat Ahmadov, representative of the MoI migration service for Sughd, 170,763 residents of the province, including 22,769 women and 10,533 minors, traveled to other CIS states, primarily Russia, this year in search of seasonal work.  

We will recall that similar meetings were held in Dushanbe and Qurghon Teppa, the capital of the Khatlon province.