HOW MANY UZBEKS DO YOU HAVE? MIGRANT LABORERS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000877

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN, DRL, G/TIP
LABOR FOR I/LAB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2017
TAGS: ELAB SMIG ECON PGOV PREL PBTS SOCI KZ UZ
SUBJECT: HOW MANY UZBEKS DO YOU HAVE? MIGRANT LABORERS IN
SOUTHERN KAZAKHSTAN

REF: 06 ALMATY 2822

Classified By: Charge Brad Hanson, for reasons 1.4 (b, d).


1. (C) Summary: In coordination with Embassy Astana, Poloff
conducted a one-day visit to Shymkent, Kazakhstan, to monitor
the condition of Uzbek workers. Surprisingly, the vast
majority of Uzbek workers claimed to be legally registered.
Most of those interviewed were seasonal construction laborers
who found their jobs through manual labor brokers. Uzbek
workers commented that working conditions were far better in
southern Kazakhstan than in Astana or Almaty. Members of the
Uzbek diaspora holding Kazakhstani citizenship emphasized
that they enjoyed far better living standards and pensions
than their brethren in Uzbekistan, and were full of praise
for President Nazarbayev. End summary.


2. (C) In coordination with Embassy Astana, Poloff conducted
a one-day labor monitoring of Uzbek workers in Shymkent,
Kazakhstan, and neighboring villages. Shymkent, a city of
over half a million people, is 100 kilometers (62 miles) from
the Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan border crossing at
Chernyaevka/Ghisht Kuprik, and a 1.5 hour drive from
Tashkent. (Note: The border crossing itself is less than
fifteen minutes' drive from the Embassy. End note.) On
April 19, a weekday, the Chernyaevka crossing was packed with
Uzbek migrant workers headed to Kazakhstan. Most were
traveling on buses and had to disembark for immigration
checks. The Kazakhstan side of the border crossing was far
more professional than the Uzbekistan side. In stark
contrast to the Uzbekistan side, immigration and border guard
booths displayed the names of the officers on duty;
International Organization for Migration (IOM) posters
informed travelers and workers of their rights; a poster
highlighted a telephone hotline for reporting illegal or
corrupt practices; and a box was labeled "suggestions,
comments, and complaints."


3. (C) We interviewed dozens of Uzbek construction workers in
and around Shymkent. Workers hailed from all over Uzbekistan
including the Ferghana Valley, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khorezm
and Surkhondarya. Nearly all workers interviewed claimed to
be officially registered. Workers said that Migration
Service police regularly visit construction sites to check
documents. Legalized workers receive special migrant cards
allowing them to work for three years. According to workers,
police have detained employers who were using illegal workers
until the employers agreed to pay the requisite sum to
register them. (Note: A Kazakhstani law approved last year
offered amnesty to workers from the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) who had entered the country before
May 31, 2006, and had then registered between August
1-December 31, 2006. According to the Kazakh Ministry of
Internal Affairs, 164,586 CIS citizens were legalized through
last year,s amnesty, of whom 117,133 (more than 71 percent)
were from Uzbekistan. The remainder were from Kyrgyzstan,
Russia and Tajikistan - reftel. End note.)


4. (C) Construction workers are grouped into teams with
others from the same region. Most workers we spoke with had
found their jobs through Uzbek manual labor ("mardikor")
brokers "selling" their services to Kazakhstani brokers.
Many workers, for example, were "sold" in the Kazakhstan
border town of Zhetisay. None of the workers interviewed had
heard of Uzbeks being held as slave workers in the Shymkent
area. All agreed that Uzbeks in southern Kazakhstan were far
better treated than in Astana or Almaty. (Note: Uzbeks who
had worked as construction workers in Astana said the
conditions were appalling, with tough hours and awful bosses.
End note.) Some members of the local Uzbek diaspora who
hold Kazakhstani citizenship stated that many Uzbek girls had
come from across the border to work in southern Kazakhstan as
domestic helpers--mainly cleaning ladies and maids--and as
commercial sex workers. According to the sources, Uzbek
girls are well represented in Shymkent's "sauna" and
"massage" salons.


5. (C) Employers generally provide migrant workers with basic
food and lodging. An eleven-man group of Samarkand workers
building a house under the supervision of a Kazakhstani
landlord's fifteen-year-old son said that they collectively
earn $8,000 for a four-month job lasting from April to July,
or about $725 per person. (Note: This is approximately $180
per person per month -- or almost triple the average monthly
salary in Uzbekistan. End note.) A five-person team from
Kashkadarya said that they were awarded a $5,000 contract to
build a house, which came to $300 per month for each worker.
They added that they return home about every two months to

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visit their families. A four-man team from Khorezm said that
they each earn $400 per month. In order to return home
safely, workers often pay as much as 3,000 tenge
(approximately USD 25),for a shared car to Tashkent's
central bus station, where they catch onward transportation
to their final destinations. Uzbeks seemed able to easily
identify fellow countrymen in nearby houses saying, for
example, "those over there are from Khorezm, and in that
house are from Andijon."


6. (C) Workers typically send remittances home through
friends returning to their city or region. Due to the longer
distance, workers from Khorezm Province prefer to send money
home via electronic fund transfer services such as Western
Union or Contact. Most workers told us that they were
obliged to work abroad in order to feed their families,
commenting that although some jobs were available back home,
the salaries were insufficient to sustain their wives,
children, and parents.


7. (C) Shymkent's markets and bazaars are full of Uzbeks
selling fruit and vegetables, much of which is imported from
Uzbekistan. Although some of the traders hail from the
Ferghana Valley and other Uzbek provinces, most are ethnic
Uzbeks who grew up in Kazakhstan. Agricultural workers
raising onions in a neighboring village told Poloff they were
all ethnic Uzbeks from Kazakhstan. Salesmen at Shymkent's
main car market told us that Uzbeks were among their best
customers, particularly on weekends. Shymkent's car market,
with its wide array of brands and models, including pre-owned
luxury cars, is a popular destination for Uzbek car brokers
and middlemen. (Note: Uzbekistan's car market is comprised
almost entirely of Korean and Russian vehicles. End note.)
Only well-connected or wealthy Uzbeks can generally afford to
purchase cars from Shymkent, however, since Uzbek law
requires that imported vehicles be assessed import duties and
other taxes totaling 100 percent of the value of the vehicle.



8. (C) Members of the Uzbek diaspora, ethnic Uzbeks who hold
Kazakhstani citizenship, invited us into their homes and
emphasized how pleased they were with life in Kazakhstan.
(Note: Many neighboring villages near Shymkent, such as
Sayram, are predominantly ethnic Uzbek. End note.) The
Uzbeks said that they maintain close ties with their brethren
across the border. They stated that Uzbeks were very well
treated, and proudly displayed local Uzbek-language
newspapers. They noted that they enjoyed a much higher
standard of living than their cross-border kin, adding that
Kazakhstani pensions far exceed those in Uzbekistan. They
also noted that it is much easier to get a bank loan or line
of credit in Kazakhstan. They commented that the vast
majority of local Uzbeks enthusiastically support President
Nazarbayev and voted for him in the presidential elections.
They also claimed that in recognition of their strong
support, President Nazarbayev regularly meets with them
during his trips to southern Kazakhstan. (Note: The head of
the Southern Kazakhstan District Tax Committee, who often
visits Tashkent to play golf, has told Poloff that Nazarbayev
maintains a palace in Sarygach, a small Kazakhstani town just
across the border from Tashkent, where a golf course is being
built. End note.)


9. (C) Comment: Other than our surprise at how many Uzbeks
appeared to be officially registered, our research in
Shymkent fits with what we expected. Kazakhstan is a popular
labor destination for Uzbeks, and is closer geographically
and culturally than Russia.


10. (U) This cable has been cleared by Embassy Astana.

HANSON