Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan has approved a procedure for providing social services to people who have been victims of human trafficking. The Cabinet of Ministers adopted the relevant resolution on 6 October.
Victims can receive assistance at Inson social services centers, specialized institutions, through a mahalla social worker or by calling the National Agency for Social Protection’s hotline at 1146.
Applications for social services can be made within one month after a person is recognized as a presumed victim of human trafficking or within one year after the person is officially granted victim status.
Victims will receive emergency medical, psychological and legal assistance.
They will also be assisted in restoring lost or unusable documents, obtaining residence permits and completing procedures related to citizenship.
In addition, victims may be referred for vocational training and assisted with employment through employment promotion departments.
Specialized institutions will provide free accommodation for up to six months. During this period, victims will receive safe housing, food and hygiene products.
An individual rehabilitation programme will be developed for each victim. This will be carried out by a multidisciplinary group comprising a social worker, lawyer and psychologist.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has been instructed to ensure continuous support for victims when they are transported to specialized institutions.
Minors accompanying victims may also stay at such institutions, along with one legal representative of a minor victim and one accompanying person providing care to a victim with a Category I disability.
Discharge from a specialized institution is possible after completion of the rehabilitation programme or on the basis of the victim’s personal application.
Other grounds for discharge may include systematic violations of internal rules, a court decision imposing imprisonment and other cases предусмотренные by law.
After discharge, Inson social services centers will monitor the victim’s condition at their place of residence for six months. The monitoring results will be entered into the Unified National Social Protection information system.
The resolution also sets the staffing limit for the Republican Rehabilitation Center for Assistance to Human Trafficking Victims under the National Agency for Social Protection at 11 positions. The center is also allocated one service vehicle.
The National Agency for Social Protection, together with the Ministry of Digital Technologies and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has been instructed to improve and integrate the Unified National Social Protection system by 1 November.
The measure is intended to automate the provision of social services to human trafficking victims.
A new support system for people affected by human trafficking has been in place in Uzbekistan since 1 September. Under the system, victim status may be granted for a period of no more than one year.
