Labour Migration

Central Asia is one of the most remittance dependent regions in the world. For the past two decades, Tajikistan has been experiencing a large scale outflow of labour migration, with roughly a tenth of Tajikistan’s population being employed abroad. The majority travel to the Russian Federation seeking employment (current estimates note about 1.6 million Tajiks migrated to Russia in 2021 to work).

Labour migration is a key livelihood strategy for many Tajik households and communities, with almost a third of the country’s GDP coming from remittances (World Bank, 2020). In 2021, households in Tajikistan with at least one labour migrant abroad is 44 per cent, and remittance income for households increased to 18 percent. However, Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine puts the 1.5 million Tajik labour migrants in the Russian Federation at risk of unemployment and it’s estimated to lead to a contraction of the Tajik economy by roughly 2 percent in 2022 due to a predicted 40 percent drop in remittances (World Bank, 2022).

IOM provides assistance to the Government of Tajikistan on the regulation of labour migration, including policy making, capacity building activities, research and other activities aimed at maximising the benefits of migration.

Diaspora Engagement

In line with GCM Objective 19, IOM has been supporting the Government of Tajikistan to engage with the Tajik diaspora, the majority of which are based in the Russian Federation. IOM provided trainings on diaspora engagement, mapping exercises of the Tajik diaspora, and technical assistance, to the Government of Tajikistan to develop both a Concept note and Action Plan on Engaging Tajik Diaspora in the Development of Tajikistan 2015-2020.

Families remaining behind

The majority of labour migrants leaving Tajikistan are male, and as a result many women and children remain behind in communities of origin. Families left behind are at heightened risk of school drop outs, reduce labour force participation or independence for women, mental and physical health impacts among many other challenges.

To address these risks, IOM Tajikistan provides free legal and psychological assistance to women and children from migrant sending families, and enhance the protection services offered to them. Awareness raising activities were also conducted with (non)-government partners and the public on the need for children from migrant sending families to stay in school.

Labour Migration Governance

IOM Tajikistan is supporting the Government of Tajikistan to develop both a Concept Note and an Action Plan on Engaging Tajik Diaspora in the Development of Tajikistan 2015-2020. Additionally, IOM’s LMI unit supported the inclusion of labour migration in the Government of Tajikistan’s Migration Strategy by providing technical assistance and capacity building to the Tajik Government’s Interministerial Working Group on the Migration Strategy. IOM has also successfully supported the Government to implement the Migration Governance Indicators (MGI) tool to take stock of the comprehensiveness of their migration policies, as well as in identifying gaps and areas that could be strengthened.

Research

In order to assess the impacts of external shocks on Central Asian labour migration, such as the war in Ukraine, IOM Tajikistan jointly with IOM offices in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan will be conducting assessments on labour migration flows in the region and what impacts external shocks effect. For more information, please contact Gulnora Kamalova (gkamalova@iom.int).

Labour Market Reintegration

To ensure the full inclusion and reintegration of Tajik labour migrants returning to Tajikistan, IOM provides support to reintegrate them into the labour force. To do so, IOM delivers skills building and training programmes, entrepreneurship training and support, services to match skills to occupations, training on financial inclusion supported by the National Bank of Tajikistan, and support to expand small to medium sized enterprises. Additionally, the LMI unit assists return labour migrants with psycho-social support to address mental health needs of return migrants.

Additionally, IOM is creating a database for employment and local business grants to support the integration of displaced Afghans in Tajikistan.

Pre-Departure Orientation (PDOs) and recruitment networks

IOM Tajikistan has provided capacity building and training to the state recruitment agencies who carry out Tajikistan’s PDOs. The training curricula focuses on ensuring that migrants’ rights are upheld; that they understand their responsibilities and obligations; and that they are able to integrate meaningfully and sustainably into their new communities.

In order to raise awareness on safe migration, IOM had held information campaigns throughout the country. These sessions reached more than 100,000 Tajik citizens, of which 30% were females. Additionally, IOM produced Radio and TV programmes on the legal dimensions of migration, and migrants rights and ethical recruitment which targeted 2 million people in Tajikistan. IOM has also supported the development of private recruitment networks to combat the risks inherent to informal migration as this is a large phenomenon.