Uzbek president establishes migration agency to protect rights of compatriots working abroad

TASHKENT. Oct 25 (Interfax) - A decree and resolution issued by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev envisage a number of measures to reform the system for managing migration processes and work abroad, the Uzbek Justice Ministry said on Friday.

Specifically, the presidential decree establishes a new migration agency under the cabinet of ministers based on the Agency for External Labor Migration. The agency will be in charge of running labor migration processes and protecting the rights of citizens of Uzbekistan who work abroad, the ministry said in a statement.

The government agency will receive powers to license private employment agencies. It will also be in charge of organizing training of citizens in professions and foreign languages, financial assistance in the issuance of documents for employment abroad and for receiving work visas. For these purposes, a migration fund is established in the agency, which will pay for treatment of migrants who need medical assistance and who have no medical insurance, the Justice Ministry said.

According to the adopted presidential resolution, all information on vacancies offered by foreign employers will be published on the electronic platform of the migration agency, in the media and on social networks.

According to the resolution, private employment agencies will be gradually put in charge of organized selection, sending and employment of citizens abroad by January 1, 2026.

According to official data from the Uzbek authorities, more than 2.3 million citizens of Uzbekistan are now working abroad, and some one million of them are working in Russia.