Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Migrant Labour in Kazakhstan: A Cause for Concern?

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 37; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1369183x.2011.526783

1469-9451

Bridget Anderson, Blanka Hancilová,

Migration, Health and Trauma

Abstract Kazakhstan, a country with relatively strong economic growth, significant natural resources and low population density, shares borders with countries of low economic growth, high poverty and unemployment. The lack of a coherent strategy for labour migration and a large informal sector have contributed towards a situation where large numbers of low-skilled migrants are working in breach of Kazakhstan's minimum labour standards. There is also evidence of significant incidences of unfree—or forced—labour. This paper considers the living and working conditions of Central Asian migrants in Kazakhstan and the applicability of the trafficking framework to their situation. Keywords: KazakhstanLabour MigrationForced LabourTraffickingLabour Markets Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights for their funding of the research on which this paper is based, for their support during the project, and for their kind permission to use the data. Notes 1. Astana, Almaty, Aktau, Karaganda, Kokshetau, Pavlodar, Taraz, Ust-Mamenogorsk, Uralsk, Shymkent. 2. We have used the term 'respondent' to refer to those answering the survey, and 'interviewee' for those who gave in-depth interviews. 3. This does not include the 70 cases (4.7 per cent) where migrants said it was 'hard to say' whether or not they had a migration card.