Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97) - Tajikistan (Ratification: 2007)

The Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report, due since 2018, has not been received. In light of its urgent appeal launched to the Government in 2020, the Committee proceeds with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal.

Article 1 of the Convention. Communication of information. The Committee recalls that Article 1 of the Convention requires that all ratifying States submit information to the ILO and other members on national policies, laws and regulations relating to both emigration and immigration (migration law but also areas of law that impact on migrant workers, such as for example, labour law, equality law, human rights law, civil law and penal law). The Committee notes that the Government is currently developing a draft “Productive Employment Programme”, in collaboration with the ILO, which contains a number of aspects of relevance for the management of labour migration, including skills training for prospective migrants, as well as an enabling regulatory framework for formalization of employment, which contains a special section for migrant workers. The Committee further notes the Government indication, in its second periodic report to the United Nations Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) in 2019, that (1) a Bill on labour migration was being drafted (CMW/C/TJK/CO/2, 9 May 2019, para. 11), and (2) the National development strategy 2016-2030 aims to, inter alia, improve the productivity and employment of the population and develop legal and social frameworks for labour migration. In order to have a comprehensive and up to date view of the national legislative and policy framework on migration, the Committee urges the Government: (i) to provide information on progress made towards the adoption of the Bill on labour migration mentioned in its report to the CMW; (ii) to give a list of the legislation and administrative regulations, which apply the provisions of the Convention; and (iii) to forward copies of the said legislation.

In its last comment, the Committee requested the Government to provide information, disaggregated by sex and origin, on the number of migrant workers in Tajikistan and Tajik nationals migrating for employment, indicating the countries of origin and destination and the sectors in which they are employed. The Committee notes the information contained in the study entitled “Strengthening support for labour migration in Tajikistan - assessment and recommendations” published in December 2020 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) (hereinafter the ADB study). This study confirms that Tajik migrants’ major destination country is the Russian Federation (97.6 per cent); other destination countries include Germany, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, the United States, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan. According to this study, the types of job migrants engage in depend largely on the migrants’ social capital and not on their skill sets. Tajik migrant workers tend to work in lower paying position in the following sectors: construction (5 per cent), trade and services (17 per cent), manufacturing (5 per cent), transport and communication (5 per cent), and other (14 per cent). The largest group of migrants is between 15–29 years old (45.4 per cent) followed by the group aged 30–44 (39.5 per cent). For both genders, the majority of migrant were unemployed before migrating and migration from Tajikistan is male dominated. Although in 2019 female migration increased by 24 per cent compared to 12 per cent for male migration, women's participation in labour migration has remained between 12 and 16 per cent in the last 5 years. The Committee observes that according to the ADB study, in December 2019, the Russian Federation ratified an agreement on the organized recruitment of Tajik labour migrants who work seasonally in the country; and that, in its concluding observations, the CMW expressed concern about the lack of sufficient guarantees to ensure the protection of the rights of Tajik migrant workers in Qatar, including those who will be involved in the construction of sports facilities before 2022, given that the bilateral agreement between the two States has yet to be concluded (CMW/C/TJK/CO/2, para. 46). The Committee asks the Government to provide: (i) information, disaggregated by sex and origin, on the number of migrant workers in Tajikistan, indicating the countries of origin and the sectors in which they are employed; and (ii) copies of any bilateral and multilateral agreements concluded, in particular the ones with Qatar and the Russian Federation.

Article 8. Maintenance of residence in case of incapacity for work. The Committee recalls that the Convention prohibits the expulsion of a migrant worker admitted on a permanent basis in the event of incapacity for work on the grounds of ill health or injury, unless it falls in the exception of Article 8(2) of the Convention. The Committee requests once again the Government to provide information on the number of foreigners that have acquired permanent residency status in the country and to clarify whether permanent migrant workers may continue to reside in the country in the event of incapacity for work, and whether this right is maintained even if they find themselves without means of support.

Article 11. Frontier workers and short-term entry. In the absence of information on this point, the Committee requests the Government to specify which categories of migrant workers in the country would be considered as “frontier workers”. The Government is also asked to indicate the longest period which is regarded as constituting “short-term entry” within the meaning of Article 11(2)(b).