Tolekan Ismailova: Kyrgyz migrants often work in unbearable, inhumane conditions

Nearly 20 percent of the population of Kyrgyzstan is migrants. The representative of the human rights movement Bir Duyno Tolekan Ismailova told today at a press conference.

According to her, the migration processes in the country is a result of political, social and economic issues. "According to the State Migration Service, about 700,000 of our citizens are working abroad. But we believe that official figures are underestimated, and that nearly 20 percent of the population are the migrants," Tolekan Ismailova.

 "Migration is feminist phenomenon today. Women make up about 40 percent of the migrants. They often work in unbearable, inhumane conditions in Russia and in Kazakhstan. The number of children who migrate with their mothers and parents increases. They are doubly vulnerable," Tolekan Ismailova said.

The human rights activist noted that since the beginning of the 2000s, more and more Kyrgyz leave their homeland. "2006 became the turning point. According to a survey conducted by the National Institute for Strategic Studies of the Kyrgyz Republic, in 2013, 97.2 percent of migrants were ethnic Kyrgyz. According to the State Migration Service, 80 percent of the Kyrgyz migrants are working in Russia, 15 percent - in Kazakhstan that is 95 percent work in EEU countries, which means that they have to take advantage of the simplified legislation in the field of employment of migrants by the law. At least 95 percent of respondents say that the employers neither in Russia, nor in Kazakhstan are interested in the labor contracts. 75 percent of migrants are under 35, that is, there is an outflow of young people. And the worst thing - when we go to Batken region, we see how little young residents remains there," Ismailova said.

About 50,000 Kyrgyz people leave the country every year to go for a work abroad. Very few people use the services of the legal employment agencies. According to statistics for 2015, only 11,600 Kyrgyz citizens have applied for employment to the State Migration Service. Only 1, 572 of them were employed. More than 80 percent of them manage to find jobs through friends and dubious channels. As a result, people fall into slavery.

"In addition, we do not really pay attention to the children who remain in care of grandparents. Many children end up in nursing homes or become "invisible" because they can not get the documents. They have limited access to education, medicine, and they are at risk of violence," Tolekan Ismailova noted.