OSCE conducts training seminar on integration of labour migrants in northern Kazakhstan
PETROPAVLOVSK, Northern Kazakhstan, 30 July 2015 -- A one-day training seminar on the integration of labour migrants took place today in Petropavlovsk. Its aim was to review the legal and operational framework regulating the migrants’ access to the host country’s labour market and obligations of OSCE participating States related to labour migration.
This event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in co-operation with the Committee of Labour, Social Security and Migration under the Health and Social Development Ministry, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). IOM and ODIHR experts shared international practices with 25 representatives of local authorities and non-governmental organizations that work on the rights of migrants and their integration in the recipient country. The participants also discussed ways to apply the experience in counselling migrants of the Centre Sana Sezim working in southern Kazakhstan since 2001, to the Northern Kazakhstan region.
Mirco Guenther, Deputy Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, said “For many years, the OSCE has been supporting Kazakhstan in formulating migration policies and legislation that are gender-sensitive, protect the rights of migrants and facilitate their integration into society.” He noted that the training seminar series in different parts of the country is an important contribution to Kazakhstan’s efforts to establish an effective and integrated system of monitoring and recruiting foreign workers.
Marat Shintemirov, Deputy Head of the Internal Politics Unit of the Northern Kazakhstan Regional Administration, pointed out that labour migration constitutes an integral part of globalization. “These days, we are witnessing an acceleration of this process. The degree to which governments are able to efficiently foster and regulate labour migration, will determine the social well-being of these countries,” Shintemirov said.
The event is part of the OSCE Programme Office’s activities supporting Kazakhstan in promoting good governance in labour migration through capacity building and introducing good international practices.