Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On May 21, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman), Commissioner of the Russian Federation for Human Rights, National Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights held an Uzbek-Russian forum on the topic "Rights citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Russian Federation: labor migrants and their families”.

It is known that today the regulation of external labor migration, the elimination of those negative consequences of it is one of the urgent tasks facing each country. Migration issues are becoming more and more important and cause serious concern of the world community, especially in the last decade, given regional and local conflicts, unemployment and poverty. According to the UN, currently in the world more than 250 million people are involved in migration processes.

In Uzbekistan, a number of positive steps have been taken to ensure the rights of migrants. In order to regulate external labor migration, 10 normative legal acts were adopted. In particular, in September 2020, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed a decree "On measures to introduce a system of safe, orderly and legal labor migration" abroad, as well as employment, as social support, returning labor migrants and their families.

Also, within the framework of the National Strategy of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Human Rights, a draft law "On Labor Migration" has been developed, which envisages the solution of migration issues affecting society, the state and human interests, ensuring stability in this area, and introducing international standards in the field of migrants' rights.

There are a number of intergovernmental agreements between Uzbekistan and Russia to regulate the movement of labor. In particular, work on the organized recruitment and hiring of citizens of our country for temporary employment in Russia is of paramount importance.

At the same time, the main emphasis is on promoting the employment and hiring of workers by foreign employers for temporary work abroad, on the basis of preliminary orders indicating working conditions and wages, social benefits and other important criteria. To this end, an Uzbek-Russian working group has been working since 2017, headed by the labor ministers of the two countries.

Speaking at the forum, the Russian side highly appreciated the reforms carried out in Uzbekistan under the leadership of the President of Uzbekistan to ensure the rights of participants in labor migration. It was noted that as a result of cooperation between countries during a pandemic, effective work was done to attract citizens of our country to work in Russia, in particular, to obtain permits for entry and work, for the organized dispatch of labor migrants.

Experts from the Uzbek side noted that in the context of large-scale reforms in the field of public administration and the development of international cooperation, the attitude towards migration in Uzbekistan has changed dramatically. They also discussed the ongoing reforms in the country to protect the rights of migrants, as well as cooperation between the Ombudsmen in Uzbekistan and Russia.

The international forum discussed current trends in improving the sphere of labor migration and the further development of Uzbek-Russian cooperation, migration management and protection of migrants, as well as proposals for improving the mechanism for ensuring the rights of labor migrants. Both sides expressed their readiness for close cooperation in the field of migration.