Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Kazakhstan (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 19 September 2018, as well as the Government’s reply received on 18 October 2018.

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Forced labour of migrant workers. The Committee previously noted that section 7 of the 2016 Labour Code defines forced labour as work or service exacted from any individuals under the menace of any penalty and for which the said individual has not offered himself voluntarily. Moreover, section 128 of the 2014 Criminal Code states that purchase and sale or other transactions in respect of a person, as well as their exploitation or recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring and receipt for the purpose of exploitation shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of three to 15 years with confiscation of property. Furthermore, the Committee noted that, in its concluding observations of 2016, the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations expressed its concern about reports of domestic servitude, forced and bonded labour, particularly of migrant workers in the tobacco, cotton and construction industries, and abuse of migrant workers such as poor and hazardous conditions, delayed payment and confiscation of identity documents.

The Committee notes from the observations of the ITUC that, in recent years, the economic growth of Kazakhstan has transformed it from a sending to a receiving country of labour migrants. The statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs shows that from 100,000 to 150,000 Kyrgyz citizens were registered in the country at the end of 2017. Since the beginning of 2017, Kyrgyz migrants have been victims of repressive operations conducted by Kazakh state services, often enabled by the absence of a “regular status” of migrants within the country. Kyrgyz migrant workers fall prey to deceptive or informal recruitment practices, including misrepresentations concerning the place and nature of the work to be performed, the amount of wages and employees’ legal status. In most cases, employers retained the migrants’ identity documents and did not formalize the working relationship by signing an employment contract. Many migrant workers complained of restrictions on movement and the withholding of wages. Most migrant workers reported hazardous working conditions, including excessive working hours, lack of protective equipment and medical care, as well as inadequate living conditions, such as excessive heat and lack of basic amenities. The migrant workers did not receive any social protections and often suffered from intimidation and threats.

The Committee notes that, in response to the observations of the ITUC, the Government indicates that, pursuant to section 6 of the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners, foreigners may carry out work in the country in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation and the international treaties signed by Kazakhstan. Some restrictions are established by the legislation in this regard. For example, foreigners may not be appointed to certain positions or engaged in certain types of work. The Labour Code prohibits any kinds of discrimination in the field of labour in relation to foreign workers legally working in Kazakhstan.

In this regard, the Committee recalls that migrant workers shall be protected from forced labour practices regardless of their legal status in the country. The Committee also recalls the importance of taking effective action to ensure that the system of employment of migrant workers does not place them in situations of increased vulnerability or prevent them from reporting exploitation of employers to the competent authorities, particularly where they are subjected to abusive practices such as confiscation of identity documents, restriction of movement, hazardous working conditions or delayed payments of wages, as such practices might cause their employment to be transformed into situations that could amount to forced labour. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the national legislation criminalizing forced labour is effectively enforced and that migrant workers are fully protected from any abuse or exploitation that amounts to forced labour, and to provide information on the results achieved in this regard. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide a copy of Law No. 421-V ZRK of 24 November 2015 to Amend and Supplement Several Legal Acts on issues of migration and employment of the population.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.