Turkmenistan -The Central Asian country of Turkmenistan has recently adopted a national action plan on combating human trafficking in March. Alongside this development has come a focus on human rights issues including migrants’ rights.

This week in the capital Ashgabat, representatives of the State Migration Services, Institute of Democracy and Human Rights, Ministry of Labour, NGOs and public organizations met with UN Migration Agency (IOM) experts to explore International Migration Law and the human rights of migrants to see how they could be best applied in the Turkmenistan context.

During the course of the training, Turkmen counterparts had an opportunity to increase their understanding, knowledge and skills on branches of international law, to whom these branches apply, principles surrounding entry and exit of countries, protection of migrants and victims of trafficking, and mechanism to ensure this protection.

“The principles of International Migration Law not only create a solid basis for the development of national policy in the area of migration, but also support and promote human rights of migrants,” noted Vassiliy Yuzhanin, International Migration Law expert from IOM’s regional office in Vienna.

“Participants demonstrated an increased interest in addressing the subject matter during the practical exercises and cases studies,” he added. “The trained state and civil society representatives of Turkmenistan are well-equipped now to further promote the application of International Migration Law as well as protection of migrants’ rights.”

For further information please contact Mahym Orazmuhamedova, Tel: +99312 48 84 07.  Email morazmuhamedova@iom.int