IOM Dushanbe

Project Overview

IOM Dushanbe activities cover the following areas:

Capacity Building in Migration Management
Information and Skills for Labour Migrants
Enhancing Border Management
Combatting Human Trafficking
Migration Health
Remittances for Development
Preparing Communities against Seismic Hazard and Displacements
Assisted Voluntary Movement Services
Research and Debate on Migration Trends and Policy

Capacity Building in Migration Management

IOM is committed to assisting the government in developing a proactive policy and institutional framework to promote regular foreign employment. Since 2000, IOM has promoted policy reform by instigating the elaboration of a “national concept on labour migration”, promoting the design of a labour migration programme, and organized training seminars for government officials to expose them to best practices of foreign employment.

Today’s institutional framework of foreign employment within the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Tajikistan needs to be reformed to focus on (1) proactive analysis of foreign employment needs and practices, (2) promoting a merit and capacity based certification of skills allowing to profile potential migrant skills, (3) enhancing marketing capacity of foreign employment agencies, and (4) protecting migrant rights through official representations in destination countries.

Information and Skills for Labour Migrants

IOM also targets labour migrants directly with projects aimed at enhancing awareness and skills of labour migrants in compliance with migration and employment laws and labour market demands of transit and destination countries. Tajik labour migrants mostly work in Russia’s informal sector and need to be prepared in order to be better protected and make the most of their working abroad.
This means they need more information on everything related to the trip and work abroad including travel, required identity documents, registration, work permits, employment agencies, travel and employment risks including human trafficking, health risks, health care access, bank contacts to send remittances, help contacts in destination, and other. IOM has developed a series of awareness raising strategies including the Information Resource Centre for Labour Migrants, a TV and radio information campaign, sponsoring of mobile theatre creations and performances, support to a network of NGOs to conduct proactive grassroot outreach in schools and mahallas, together with dissemination of over a million catchy and useful fliers and hand out material, as well as operation of telephone information hotlines.

Labour migrants also need valuable skills that are in demand in Russia to improve their chances of accessing better-protected jobs. This include better Russian language skills and “know-how on the practices and techniques in masonry, carpentry and plumbing would also help. Many Tajik migrants need yet to be convinced of the need to spend time to learn these new skills. To make migrant’s mindset open to learning, an information campaign is needed focusing a lot of attention on the necessary skills that Tajik migrants can and need to acquire. In parallel, IOM is looking at ways to improve educational and vocational training projects.

Enhancing Border Management

In terms of managing its borders, Tajikistan is faced with strong regional security and economic considerations calling for effective and humane borders, the restrictive legacy of the former Soviet Union known for restricting free movement of people, and limited resources and capacity. In 2002 IOM undertook a comprehensive assessment of border management. A series of detailed benchmarked recommendations were issued focused on institutional, policy and procedural reforms, enhancing training of border guards, and necessary technical support to professionalize inspections. Based on reforms that were leveraged through the Inter-ministerial Commission for Border Management, IOM has in addition to advisory support provided training and equipment for the Dushanbe International Airport, the Bratstvo land border crossing, and the creation of a Training Center for border crossing inspection officials. In addition IOM has supported the establishment of a Document Analysis Center and an information system for border management. IOM is currently establishing a new training center for border guards in Khorog.

Combating Human Trafficking

IOM is the leading agency in Tajikistan on combatting trafficking, and has projects to enhance capacity of law enforcement and judges to investigate, prosecute and judge human traffickers and protect the victims. In parallel with important irregular outflows of Tajiks seeking jobs abroad, since the late nineties recruitment middlemen have appeared promising fictive jobs abroad. Men are promised jobs in the construction sector in Russia and women are promised profitable business opportunities mostly in the Gulf countries. The reality turns out to be sheer exploitation.

The Government of Tajikistan has recognized the existence of trafficking in persons from Tajikistan and IOM is building on the government’s readiness to combat trafficking by supporting human trafficking prevention interventions described under “Information and skills for labour migrants” as well as a programme to support the development of a legislative base for effective investigation and prosecution of trafficking crimes and protect victims of human trafficking. In addition this programme includes the elaboration of a training framework for law enforcement officials to investigate prosecute and deter crimes related to trafficking in persons.

IOM realizes all of human trafficking prgrams through an established set of NGO partners throughout the country. For detailed information on counter-trafficking NGO partners, click here.

Migration Health

Over the past decade, Tajikistan has seen a rapid rise in cross border seasonal migration. Steep rises in migration levels can be seen in two age groups, migrants from 20 to 29 years old and from 40 to 49 years old. According to a survey the importance of sexually responsible behaviour is not widely understood among Tajik migrant workers. Sex outside marriage has traditionally been a taboo for Tajiks and Uzbeks. Social disapproval continues to inhibit public and private discussion and therefore the dissemination of accurate information. People engaging in non-marital sexual relations therefore fail to use methods of contraception and safe sex, increasing the risk of unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS. Migrant workers are especially concerned with this issue since STIs and HIV cases are registered among them.
In 2005, IOM, in cooperation with local NGOs, started an informational campaign on STIs and HIV prevention including training of volunteers, distribution of condoms and booklets, theatre performance and other public events.

Labour migrants from Tajikistan are also faced with other difficulties connected with health questions. The main reasons are the following: Undocumented status of Tajik labour migrants; hard and dangerous work; poor housing conditions; scorn; and absence of labour agreement and medical insurance. The most frequently registered diseases are trauma, disease of the upper airways, tuberculosis, neurologist diseases (radiculitis), kidneys and cardiovascular system diseases. More than 90% of the labour migrants from Tajikistan go to the Russian Federation. Irregular legal status of Tajik migrants complicates their integration into the existing national programmes of the Health Care system in the Russian Federation. When labour migrants working abroad experience health problems, they often address diaspora representatives who have medical education and work in medical institutions for help. These representatives have normally no opportunity to receive migrants in the medical institutions and migrants therefore often resort to phone consultations, consultations without test results, or they practice self-treatment. The absence of formal mechanisms of sending labour migrants from Tajikistan, complicates medical examination of the migrants, including for tuberculosis.

Remittances for Development

Migrant remittances benefit all sectors of society and can have a potentially high development impact especially on poor households. In Tajikistan, remittances could well be one of the most equitable and sustainable engines of the country’s economy, provided migrant households are enabled to capitalize on remittances to create small businesses. IOM is building the capacity of migrant households and local authority and civil society actors to capitalize and promote the investment of migrant remittances for the development of viable and alternative small businesses in rural areas. The main target groups include households headed by women as well as households that have been internally displaced as a result of natural hazards. A pilot programme has been successfully implemented in Khatlon Province and a bigger programme will be implemented in the Zarafshan valley.

In close cooperation with local employment authorities, local NGOs and other relevant social actors, IOM has coordinated surveying, aptitude testing, profiling, selection and training of targeted participants in starting and running their own business. Credit applicants were required to invest labour migrant remittances to receive an additional loan of fifty percent of the total value of the remittance and free advisory services. This programme relied on over three years of successful IOM project implementation experience in Tajikistan in the field of micro-finance; reintegration of vulnerable groups such as ex-combatants, former detainees, returnees and IDP; established working relationships with migrant groups, field actors and micro-credit institutions.

Preparing Communities against Seismic Hazard and Displacements

Tajikistan is an earthquake prone area. Since 1996 when IOM organized a regional conference on Lake Sarez, IOM has been following developments in the area of disaster preparedness. Since 2003 IOM together with NGO Shelter for Life with the support of DIPECHO have implemented a “Seismic Hazard Reduction” project in four regions (Khujand, Penjikent, Ayni and Hissor). The project involved collection of data regarding vulnerability of structures in 20 communities in each of the four regions and establishment of community-based earthquake awareness and preparedness teams in specified communities that were judged to be especially vulnerable to earthquake disasters.

There is a need to further strengthen earthquake awareness and preparedness within these communities, by training local masons and builders on earthquake-safe construction practices, assist local NGOs with institutional development, and conduct structural mitigation and retrofitting of selected vulnerable structures. This programme will contribute to promote indispensable capacity building of earthquake preparedness by assisting community people, leaders, local masons and NGOs.

Assisted Voluntary Movement Services

On the basis of negotiated advantageous airfares with major international air carriers, and a transportation network linked to Afghanistan of a fleet of 100 trucks, IOM has developed unmatched capacity in the region to facilitate transportation of migrants. In cooperation with authorities, UNHCR and other partners, IOM, manages the logistics of orderly return or resettlement of Afghan nationals residing in Tajikistan and wishing to return to Afghanistan or allowed to resettle in third countries. To date IOM has facilitated movement of some 10000 Afghan nationals (since April 2002) temporarily residing on the Pyandzh border islands between the Tajik-Afghan border, and over 8 000 Tajik migrants that were displaced during the Tajik civil war (1996-2000).

Research and Debate on Migration Trends and Policy

IOM has also published research studies and assessments on migration and participated in regional studies. For more information see Publications.