Interior Ministry Put in Charge of Migration
Interior Ministry Put in Charge of Migration
In Tajikistan’s recent government reshuffle, the job of controlling immigration and emigration was handed over to the interior ministry. While police are confident they are up to the task, NBCentralAsia commentators says there are some unfamiliar areas where they will need to draft in outside help.
The interior ministry is taking over the functions formerly carried out by the Migration Service, part of the labour and welfare ministry.
An interior ministry official told NBCentralAsia that his ministry has had a department for combating illegal migration since 2002, and also has a great deal of experience in cooperating with law enforcement agencies in Russia, the main destination for migrant workers from Tajikistan.
“The staff at the Migration Service are civilians and are thus unable to deal with the various situations that migrants come up against, such as discrimination and violations of their rights. I think that close collaboration with the Russian interior ministry will enable is to help our citizens who are working in Russia,” the official said.
Rahmatullo Valiev, deputy head of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, says the recent changes to the government, especially the transfer of migration to the interior ministry, make its structure increasingly resemble the Russian government – wrongly, he argues, since the two countries differ greatly. “In a country that does not have a large influx of labour migrants there’s no need to make this function part of the interior ministry,” he said. “It’s a poorly conceived move since conditions in Tajikistan and in Russia are completely different.”
In contrast to this view, Firuz Saidov of the Tajikistan office of the International Organisation for Migration, IOM, says there are many countries where the law enforcement agencies handle migration.
“The change is… the right decision, I think. As things were, the Migration Service was already having to work with law enforcement on passports, [residence] registration and other legal matters,” he told NBCentralAsia.
However, Valiev and other commentators believe there are aspects of migration control that the ministry will struggle to cope with unless it seeks outside help.
Muzaffar Zaripov, director of the IOM’s information centre, said potential migrants need training in vocational skills, language and basic legal matters – an area the interior ministry has never ventured into. It will therefore have to work with other agencies working on migration issues, and Zaripov offered to put his own office’s skills at the ministry’s disposal.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
The interior ministry is taking over the functions formerly carried out by the Migration Service, part of the labour and welfare ministry.
An interior ministry official told NBCentralAsia that his ministry has had a department for combating illegal migration since 2002, and also has a great deal of experience in cooperating with law enforcement agencies in Russia, the main destination for migrant workers from Tajikistan.
“The staff at the Migration Service are civilians and are thus unable to deal with the various situations that migrants come up against, such as discrimination and violations of their rights. I think that close collaboration with the Russian interior ministry will enable is to help our citizens who are working in Russia,” the official said.
Rahmatullo Valiev, deputy head of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, says the recent changes to the government, especially the transfer of migration to the interior ministry, make its structure increasingly resemble the Russian government – wrongly, he argues, since the two countries differ greatly. “In a country that does not have a large influx of labour migrants there’s no need to make this function part of the interior ministry,” he said. “It’s a poorly conceived move since conditions in Tajikistan and in Russia are completely different.”
In contrast to this view, Firuz Saidov of the Tajikistan office of the International Organisation for Migration, IOM, says there are many countries where the law enforcement agencies handle migration.
“The change is… the right decision, I think. As things were, the Migration Service was already having to work with law enforcement on passports, [residence] registration and other legal matters,” he told NBCentralAsia.
However, Valiev and other commentators believe there are aspects of migration control that the ministry will struggle to cope with unless it seeks outside help.
Muzaffar Zaripov, director of the IOM’s information centre, said potential migrants need training in vocational skills, language and basic legal matters – an area the interior ministry has never ventured into. It will therefore have to work with other agencies working on migration issues, and Zaripov offered to put his own office’s skills at the ministry’s disposal.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
