Uzbekistan joins International Organization for Migration

Uzbekistan’s application to join International Organization for Migration was supported at the 109th Session of the UN Migration Agency’s Council, which opened on November 27  in Geneva. With Uzbekistan joining the organization, total number of members becomes 173.

“With profound pleasure I welcome Uzbekistan into the IOM family”, declared new IOM Director General António Vitorino. “Your country is one of the  world oldest and most auspicious  trade  routes,  so  you  have  been  crisscrossed  by  migrants  since  time immemorial.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  had  the  honour  to  welcome  a  new  Member State and I hope to welcome many more during my tenure”.

The item was included into the Council Session agenda on the request of the Uzbek Government, which is represented at the Session by Mr. Bahodir Nizomov, Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations.

In the meantime, Ms. Helena Fraser, the UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan, welcomed the decision of the 109th Council Meeting of the International Organization for Migration (UN Migration Agency) to accept Uzbekistan’s request to become a member-state of IOM.
 
“The UN team in Uzbekistan warmly welcomes the Government’s decision to join the IOM - UN Migration Agency”, - said Ms. Fraser. “This signals the firm commitment of the Government to promoting safe, orderly and regular migration, in line with agreed international standards and principles. We believe that membership of IOM will unlock critical support for the Government’s efforts to assist Uzbek migrants before, during and after their migration experiences, thereby striving to put migrants’ needs and rights at the heart of national migration policy. This is good for migrants, good for Government, and good for human rights”.
 
Since 2015, IOM and the Government of Uzbekistan have been steadily advancing mutual cooperation, focused mainly on counter trafficking and labour mobility, migration and health becoming the next priority area for partnership. The cooperation based on systematic and stage-by-stage approach resulted in Cooperation Roadmap between IOM and Uzbekistan, as approved by the Government of the country in June of this year. Among others, the Roadmap had foresaw accession of the country to IOM. The UN Migration Agency has also formed fruitful interaction with the UN Country Team in Uzbekistan, including the RCO, UNDP, UNODC, UNICEF, FAO, ILO.
 
Last week within the first Asian Forum on Human Rights in Samarkand, Ms. Argentina Szabados, IOM Regional Director for South Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, shared her vision on safe and orderly migration and expressed support to the rights of Uzbek migrants, stressing: Migrant's Rights are Human Rights. On IOM's initiative, the Samarkand Declaration of Human Rights, adopted as a result of the Forum, contains the a special paragraph on that: “States shall strive to ensure the respect, protection and fulfillment of the human rights of all migrants, regardless of their migration status and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals”.
 
“In migration terms, the region is one of the most dynamic and fast-changing in the world”, commented IOM Regional Director Argentina Szabados, who has just returned from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where she addressed the first Asian Human Rights Forum. ”Based on everything I have seen and learned in Uzbekistan I am wholly convinced that the partnership between IOM and the Government will bear rich fruit in terms of responding to the challenges and opportunities of migration management. This will be of immense benefit nationally, regionally and globally”.

Established in 1951, IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. Now with 173 member states, a further 8 states holding observer status and offices in over 100 countries, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants. IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems. The IOM Constitution recognizes the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement.