“Migrants rights are human rights, and the Global Compact, as the first intergovernmental document, reflects those rights in a comprehensive way, promoting safe, orderly and regular migration”.

Those resolute words were spoken last week in Tashkent, Uzbekistan by IOM’s representative in Central Asia, Zeynal Hajiyev at an event to jointly mark International Human Rights Day and International Migrants Day.

The workshop, focusing on implementation of the Global Compact for Migration gathered key government agencies, NGOs, academia, independent experts and IOM specialists from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, as well as the IOM Headquarters in Geneva, Global Migration Data Analysis Centre in Berlin, Regional Office in Vienna alongside the National Human Rights Centre.

“The Global Compact for Migration is deeply rooted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It was supported by all the countries in Central Asia, and all of them have already undergone voluntary reviews, with more high-level reviews expected as per the schedule”, added Hajiyev.

Video coverage from Uzbek TV here