A draft agreement on temporary labour activities of citizens of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) member states was approved today at the session of the council on social policy under the EurAsEC Integration Committee. It guarantees social protection for migrants, Tajik news agency Asia-Plus website reported.

Tajik Labour and Social Protection Minister Shukurjon Zuhurov said the project envisaged such issues as medical insurance for migrants and social protection for members of their families.

"The document specifies the body and official, who can seize an illegal migrant’s passport," he said. "This was done so that policemen do not simply seize documents or IDs, and then return them in exchange for money."

The minister added the draft agreement had been approved by all the EurAsEC member states, except for Uzbekistan.

"The Uzbek side did not endorse the draft, but expressed a special opinion. In particular, representatives of Uzbekistan’s labour ministry noted that multilateral agreements in the field of migration were not effective, while such issues, in their opinion, should be resolved at a bilateral level."

Zuhurov also noted that relevant decisions had been adopted on all the 11 issues on the agenda. He said the session paid special attention to the draft of a plan for top-priority measures to implement a blueprint for concerted social policy in the EurAsEC member states.

The session also considered the issue of setting up a council on migration policy under the EurAsEC Integration Committee. "The decision to set up the council has already been adopted. The sides only have to present candidates who could join it," Zuhurov said.

However, the Uzbek side once again expressed a special opinion on this issue. In particular, they believe that the creation of a separate migration council is not expedient, because migration issues are resolved by the council on social policy.