**5. Legislation and migration policy of Uzbekistan to protect migrant workers from human trafficking and slavery**

Over the years of independence, the number of migrant workers from the country has steadily increased, as well as the geography of their trips. Measures were also being taken to improve legislation to combat illegal migration. Uzbekistan is the main supplier of labour to Russia and ranks first in cases of people trafficking, mainly men. Article 135 of Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan (1996) [34] has included the provision "recruitment and export for the purpose of exploitation" in 2003. The Convention against Labour Slavery was signed by Uzbekistan in 2003, but was ratified only in 2021. Readmission agreements have been concluded with the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan, and draft readmission agreements with the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Moldova are under development.

To improve and collate the legal regulations of labour migration processes, on April 5, 2017 the Government of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan signed and ratified the same year the Agreement on the Organized Recruitment and Recruitment of Citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Temporary Labour Activities in the Territory of the Russian Federation (hereinafter the Agreement). *The purpose of the Agreement is* to ensure the protection of the social, economic, and other rights of migrant workers from Uzbekistan engaged in temporary working activities in the territory of the Russian Federation [35]. Recruitment is carried out by the Agency for External Labour Migration (hereinafter the Agency or AELM) under the Ministry of Labour.

The new president Shavkat Mirziyoev made supporting migrants one of the priorities of the state's social policy in the field of organized recruitment of migrants [36]. In 2022, the AELM plans to organize the employment of 60 thousand Uzbeks abroad, a significant part of which will go to Russia.

The same year the Republic of Uzbekistan began comprehensive reforms by adopting a Strategy of Action on the Five Priority Development Areas of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017–2021. The main areas were educational and qualification programs, reintegration of returnees, and organized recruitment of migrant workers [37]. The agency provides assistance to migrants in finding employment, and also helps them solve emerging problems directly during their work in the Russian Federation. For this, representative offices were opened in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Ufa, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Tula, Voronezh, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Irkutsk and Amur regions, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk and Perm territories, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous region. For example, with the intervention of the Russian representative offices of the Agency for the 7 months of 2022, with the help of the NGO "Tong Jahoni" the payroll arrears had been paid to migrants in the amount of 570 thousand dollars. "Reliance on organized recruitment 2022 [36].

In order to prevent people trafficking, Uzbekistan was also actively working on migration policies. In July 2019, a Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, "*Additional measures to further improve the system of combating trafficking in persons and forced labour,*" entered into force. It transformed the Interdepartmental Commission of the Republic for Combating Human Trafficking into a National Commission under the guidance of the President of the Senate. Regional commissions were created in each of the Country's regions and a national *rapporteur* was eventually appointed [38].

In August 2020, the country's 2008 law on human trafficking [39] was amended as new concepts. The law provides a specific definition of the status of the National and Territorial Commissions for combating human trafficking and forced labour, as well as the powers of the Council of Ministers. The relevant government agencies include the General Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will create a unified database for human trafficking crimes, with information on traffickers, victims, and the various types of exploitation [38]. If a person receives the status of alleged victim of trafficking they are entitled to rehabilitation and social integration programs. Uzbekistan has some rehabilitation centers for assistance and protection of THB victims [4].

In the context of international cooperation, the Sub-Commission and Winrock International, as part of the USAID project "Safe Migration in Central Asia," launched a virtual online consultant on migration and human trafficking in the form of Telegram-bot @ salom\_migrant\_bot in 2021. There migrants can learn about the rules of work and residence abroad. It is possible to send an online appeal to the "hotline" on human trafficking, and from there appeals are sent to the Sub-Commission on Combating Human Trafficking of Uzbekistan [40].

In May 2022, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations of Uzbekistan Nozim Khusanov announced that Uzbekistan and Russia plan to conclude an agreement, including significantly reducing the cost of a work permit for Uzbek migrants.

## **6. Organized recruitment system and how it should ideally work**

Uzbek officials believe that the organized recruitment has many advantages [41]:

**Firstly,** most of the documents necessary for issuing a patent for the right to work in Russia, including a medical examination and fingerprinting, are issued in Uzbekistan. As noted above, at the request of chapter 6 of the Regulations, this should be done at the expense of Russian employers.

**Secondly,** the process from the moment of selection of an employee to the beginning of his work on the basis of a patent in the Russian Federation should reduce the time and costs for migrants, taking a maximum of 18 days. In Uzbekistan, it is planned to conduct fingerprinting, medical examination (TB analysis is done for 4 days), testing in the Russian language (certificate is made for 7 days), and remote registration of the taxpayer ID number (done for 5 working days) in branches of the Passport and Visa Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Uzbekistan. Then in Russia the migrant will only have to register at the place of residence and receive a ready-made patent, all the procedures for which have already been completed in Uzbekistan.

**Table 1** below shows how Russian officials see an organized recruitment of Uzbek citizens for temporary work in Russia [41] using the example **of the Organized Recruitment of Foreign Citizens Program from Uzbekistan in the Leningrad** 

**region. The Leningrad region is** one of three participants in a pilot project to attract Uzbek citizens to work in the Russian Federation. Companies wishing to attract migrants need to conclude an agreement with the AELM of Uzbekistan [42]. Potential


#### *21st Century Slavery – The Various Forms of Human Enslavement in Today's World*


#### **Table 1.**

*Scheme of the mechanism for the organization of search, selection, pre-departure training and sending of migrant labourers at the request of employers to Russia (using the example of the* **Leningrad region).**

workers will be given tests for HIV and tuberculosis, get vaccinated, and provided with an exam in the Russian language. All this should be financed by the employer, as well as pay for the flight and patent costs. This is stated in chapter 6 of the Regulations on the Procedure for the Organized Recruitment of Citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Temporary Work Abroad (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations). However, in real life, employers use many ways to shift these costs to a migrant or through his salary to regain this money. The cost of attracting one employee is estimated at 45–50 thousand rubles (about 500 USD).

It should be noted that the recommendations to scheme 1 state that "in the case of death or injury to the health of a migrant worker due to an industrial accident or occupational illness caused by the employer, the employer shall reimburse the costs of returning the migrant worker or transporting the body to the Republic of Uzbekistan." Compensation, corresponding guarantees shall be provided according to the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. These are the

*State Organized Recruitment for the Russian Enterprises: Is It a Pass to a Better Life or to Slavery? DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110740*

requirements of Chapter 4 of "Regulations on the procedure for organized recruitment." [42] In fact, this requirement is implemented by means of the forced purchase by a migrant of an insurance in the company of ASK "UzAgroSugurta," which covers the shipment of cargo 200 (it means return of the body of dead person) or the emergency return of the patient to Uzbekistan. At the same time as signing an employment contract, employees are forced to sign a voluntary termination of employment letter without a date—this is a way for the operator to evade responsibility for industrial injuries, non-payment of labour, and other violations.
