Migration and mobility in the Euro-Asian region – Prospects for the future
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text
adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of
the Assembly, on 28 November 2008 (see Doc. 11747, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Population, rapporteur: Mr Iwiński).See also Recommendation 1852 (2008).
- Thesaurus
1. For centuries
migration movements and human mobility have played an important
role in the common history and socio-economic and cultural development
of both Asia and Europe. In historical and contemporary terms, the
Russian Federation and Turkey stand as eastern gates to Europe,
connecting it to the Middle East, central Asia and the Far East.
2. After the break-up of the Soviet Union and the creation of
independent states, new patterns of migration and mobility emerged.
The nature of migration shifted from primarily forced migrations
– as a result of military conflicts, social unrest, discrimination
of ethnic minorities and economic crises – to voluntary economic migration.
The transition to market economies has widened income gaps within
the successor states and the regions of the Russian Federation.
These economic disparities and the relaxation of traditionally tight
borders have created strong incentives to migrate.
3. The member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) remain socially and economically inter-related due to their
common history as well as cultural and linguistic familiarity. The
CIS common labour market could be an effective economic instrument
to increase employment of the region’s labour force, to balance
labour market shortages with surpluses, to boost less-developed
economies and to facilitate regional integration.
4. Looking beyond the CIS, the free movement of persons could
be an important stimulant for economic development in a wider Euro-Asian
region. While countries have considerable disparities in terms of
economic development rates, they are complementary as a result of
differences in demographic growth. The sharp population decline
in Russia and Ukraine contrasts with the relatively high population
growth rates in the central Asian states, in Transcaucasia, in the
Middle East and the Far East.
5. Migration from China to Russia and other Euro-Asian countries
is a growing phenomenon. The total number of Chinese migrants in
Russia is sometimes estimated to be 1 million, even if the official
figure for work permits was 230 000 in 2007. Contrary to migration
exchanges within the CIS region, which facilitate regional integration,
Chinese migration to Russia creates many challenges due to the widespread
irregular employment of Chinese workers in the shadow economy run
by the Chinese communities and due to the migrants’ extremely low
level of integration (Chinese enclaves). Moreover, the intense entrepreneurial
activity of Chinese migrants, namely the export of Russian raw materials
to China and the sale of cheap Chinese products, is perceived as
a threat to the Russian economy.
6. As a result of porous borders, the visa-free regimes between
most CIS countries and overly bureaucratic procedures for issuing
residence and work permits, labour migration in the Euro-Asian region
has been mostly irregular. It is estimated that 3 to 6 million undocumented
migrants live in Russia, 30 000 in Ukraine, up to 15 000 in Belarus
and 1 million in Kazakhstan.
7. Irregular migration and illegal employment of migrant workers
are matters of concern for both receiving countries and countries
of origin as they lead to a distortion of labour markets; to growth
in the shadow economy; to corruption, crime and trafficking; to
a loss of tax revenue; but above all to the exploitation of undocumented
migrant workers and serious violations of their human rights.
8. The Parliamentary Assembly therefore welcomes a major shift
in the policy of the Russian Federation, which is one of the most
important countries of destination and transit in the Euro-Asian
region. In January 2007, new legislation and regulations were adopted
to simplify and facilitate the legal flow of migrant workers. Criminal
and administrative laws were also reviewed and amended to reinforce
sanctions against the illegal employment of migrants.
9. Given that the regulation of migration flows is a relatively
recent political priority in the Euro-Asian region, it is crucial
to assist the countries to establish standards with regard to the
rights of migrant workers and their families and to raise awareness
of human rights of all migrants, including migrants in an irregular
situation.
10. In terms of standard setting, the Assembly recalls the European
Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers (ETS No. 93) and
the United Nations International Convention on the Protection of
the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
It also recalls its Resolutions 1509 (2006) on human rights of irregular
migrants, 1568 (2007) on regularisation programmes for irregular
migrants, 1534 (2007) on the situation of migrant workers in temporary
employment agencies (TEAs), 1437 (2005) on migration and integration:
a challenge and an opportunity for Europe and 1462 (2005) on co-development
policy as a positive measure to regulate migratory flows.
11. Attention is drawn to the need to intensify the activities
of intergovernmental committees of the Council of Europe, the International
Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for
Migration (IOM) in promoting standards and devising guidelines on
how to apply them in the Euro-Asian context.
12. In the context of recent readmission agreements which were
signed with the European Union, there is an urgent need to provide
Russia, Ukraine and Turkey with assistance in developing standards
and capacities to deal effectively with the readmission of undocumented
migrants, including third country nationals and stateless persons
who will be expelled from the European Union. In this regard, the
Assembly recalls the 20 guidelines on forced return adopted by the
Committee of Ministers in May 2005.
13. In terms of regional co-operation, the Assembly has a long-standing
and fruitful co-operation with the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly
of the Community of Independent States (IPA CIS) which undertakes
important initiatives in the framework of CIS regional co-operation
on migration, particularly with regard to bilateral and regional
agreements on labour migration, harmonising legislation and facilitating
the transfer of remittances. In April 2008, the IPA CIS and the
Parliamentary Assembly adopted a joint declaration following the
Conference on the Globalisation of Migration Processes and Problems
of Legal Regulation.
14. Considering the above, the Assembly invites the main destination
and transit countries in the Euro-Asian region – namely Russia,
Turkey, Ukraine and Kazakhstan – to undertake the following steps
with the assistance of the Council of Europe, the ILO, the IOM,
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
and the European Union:
14.1 with
regard to labour migration to:
14.1.1 create
or strengthen governmental services for migration;
14.1.2 harmonise data on migration flows;
14.1.3 analyse the economic sectors with labour shortages and
identify current and future needs for migrant labour;
14.1.4 establish partnerships between the state employment services,
state migration services, regional and local authorities, employers’
associations, trade unions, private employment agencies, diaspora
communities and NGOs working in the migration field;
14.1.5 develop norms on migrant labour in accordance with international
standards and to include them in the Labour Code;
14.1.6 sign, ratify and implement the European Convention on
the Legal Status of Migrant Workers;
14.1.7 sign, ratify and implement the United Nations International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers
and Members of their Families;
14.1.8 strengthen monitoring mechanisms and enforce labour migration
legislation through labour inspection, dissuasive sanctions and
penalties including criminal prosecutions;
14.1.9 facilitate integration of migrants and their families
through the provision of housing and access to services, including
health care and education for children;
14.1.10 monitor and sanction discriminatory practices against
migrant workers;
14.1.11 use the guidance of the Handbook
on Establishing Effective Labour Migration Policies in Countries
of Origin and Destination published by the OSCE, ILO
and IOM;
14.2 with regard to irregular migration to:
14.2.2 sign, ratify and implement the Council of Europe Convention
on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197);
14.2.3 reinforce control mechanisms to prevent exploitation of
undocumented migrants by employers, employment intermediaries or
agents, smugglers and traffickers;
14.2.4 consider regularising undocumented migrants who are gainfully
employed in the shadow economy while taking into account lessons
learned from the pilot regularisation programme which was undertaken
by the Russian Federation in 2005.
15. The Assembly encourages the countries of origin in the Euro-Asian
region to:
15.1 negotiate bilateral
agreements with host governments to ensure that employers abide
by regular employment contracts and make social security payments;
15.2 create partnerships with regional and local authorities,
private recruitment agencies, employers, trade unions, diaspora
communities and NGOs with a view to identifying job opportunities
and to guaranteeing safe recruitment;
15.3 conduct information campaigns which provide potential
migrants with knowledge of safe recruitment and employment procedures
and their rights as migrant workers in the countries of destination;
15.4 provide language courses to labour migrants prior to their
departure, in co-operation with cultural centres of the countries
of destination;
15.5 set up assistance in destination countries through labour
attachés;
15.6 in co-operation with countries of destination, closely
monitor recruitment which is undertaken by employment agencies to
minimise abuses and introduce criminal proceedings against serious
offenders;
15.7 consider setting up migrant welfare funds with a view
to providing support services to vulnerable migrants.
16. The Assembly urges the European Union to provide assistance
programmes to help the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey to
develop standards and capacities to deal effectively with the readmission of
undocumented migrants, including third country nationals and stateless
persons who will be expelled from the European Union.
