CIS to Discuss Migration Issues

The Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS, is to focus on review migration legislation this year. NBCentralAsia observers say that each member state has a vested interest in curbing illegal migration, and the issue is one of the few that really unites them.



During an informal summit of CIS heads of state on June 10, Kazakstan’s president Nursultan Nazarbaev, who holds the rotating chairmanship of the grouping this year, announced that the organisation will concentrate on one common issue every year, which in 2007 will be migration.



Nazarbaev is one of the most forthright advocates of CIS reform and last year he proposed five major areas for change, including migration regulation of migration.



Russia and Kazakstan are the principal destination countries in the CIS, and each year they attract thousands of migrants from Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Including seasonal migrants, the number of “gastarbeiters” in Kazakstan is estimated at between 200,000 and 300,000, while in Russia the figure is put at 10 to 15 million people.



NBCentralAsia observers say that by identifying a common issue that concerns all member states, Nazarbaev may succeed in strengthening the CIS.



Kazak political scientist Dosym Satpaev says Nazarbaev’s initiative affect the interests of all CIS states. Kazakstan, for example, is both a transit country for migrant workers travelling from Central Asia to Russia and a host to migrants, legal and illegal.



Journalist Aigul Omarova adds that Nazarbaev has been pushing for CIS reform for several years, but his ideas are not always shared by other leaders in the grouping. By fixing on migration, he has chosen a clear issue where a common policy could be developed.



According to political scientist Eduard Poletaev, “the CIS countries have no integration initiatives of which they can boast”, so they have to focus on issues like migration in order to cooperate effectively.



The issue has become particularly pressing given the disparity in economic growth between CIS states since the organisation was founded 15 years ago. The Kazak and Russian economies are growing apace, attracting large inflows of migrants from economically unstable countries like Tajikistan.



As a transit country, Kazakstan is trying to clamp down on illegal migration; yet it is also seeking to attract legal migrants to meet its own need for extra labour for its growing economy.



Poletaev suggests that new agreements among CIS members will make it easier for migrants to work legally in other states, which is in the interests of everyone concerned.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)