As the COVID-19 pandemic started to take hold thousands of Kyrgyz labour migrants found themselves without jobs, salaries, or a place to live.  

When they decided to return home many became stranded in airports or on the borders of the Russian Federation, Turkey, Kazakhstan and UAE.  

IOM’s offices teamed up to distribute masks, gloves, antiseptic, hot meals and a place to sleep in airports in Moscow and Novisibirsk.  For those that could not get home, the recent Presidential Decree on the status of migrants will give them a measure of security and allow them to seek work.

A statement from IOM Kyrgyzstan noted that stranded migrants were vulnerable to COVID-19 “and also to exploitative practices. Data on past crises revealed that criminals, employers and others can use the opportunity to exploit migrants by cutting or withholding wages, threatening to report migrants to authorities, and exploiting them in other ways. Therefore, of key importance is to identify the most vulnerable amongst the migrant population, develop and implement case plans, and deliver services necessary to uphold their dignity and rights.”

The mission in Bishkek is striving to mobilize more resources to be able to continue the assistance to most vulnerable Kyrgyz migrants in the destination countries, primarily in the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. However, the statement continues “it should be noted that COVID-19 crisis has affected not only Kyrgyz migrants abroad. The of the state of emergency and quarantine imposed by the government here affected also foreigners residing in Kyrgyzstan. Many foreign workers in the country suddenly found themselves in a difficult situation. We gave food and other assistance to 35 Moldovans stranded in the south of the country. “

City of Dispatch: Bishkek