Istanbul: Seventeen officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan met for three days with experts from ICMPD in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss and learn about labour migration management. A representative from the Migrant Resource Centre MRC in Kabul also participated in the training.
In his opening speech, Sayed Abdul Karim Hashimi, Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, explained the push and pull factors of Afghans’ migration and highlighted peace as one of the crucial factors for decent and regular employment. He also stressed the importance of providing aspiring Afghan migrants with factual and up-to-date information about living and working conditions abroad and the consequences of irregular migration.
Three ICMPD experts as well as two external consultants from Italy and Romania provided a variety of insights to increase the participants’ knowledge and understanding of international, regional and national frameworks and guidelines on labour migration, its various phases and challenges, as well as required programmes and services to address them. Particular attention was devoted to the specific context of Afghanistan as a source country of labour migrants in order to match the demands and needs of potential destination countries.
ICMPD also presented a revised version of the pre-departure rules and regulations for labour migration in Afghanistan for discussion and subsequent approval and adoption by Afghan authorities. These rules and regulations will establish the necessary processes and requirements for the employment and deployment of Afghan labour migrants to other countries.
