Kazakhstan: Presidential Decree No. 3419 of 1997, Major Trends in Migration Policy up to the Year 2000 (not in force)

To improve social protection of migrants, stabilization and state regulation of migration processes be it ENACTED:

1.That Major trends in migration policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan up to the year 2000 (attached) be approved.

2.For the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

That practical measures to fulfil this Decree be taken with provision of legal, organizational guarantees and financial support;

That legal acts to arrange the settlement of migrants of indigenous ethnic origin returning to their historic homeland as well as refugees, to form working places ensuring the revival of national handicraft of repatriates, to assist them in entrepreneurial activity, be developed and approved.

3.For Akims of provinces and the city of Almaty :

That regional migration programmes for a medium-term period having regard to specific features of the region (socio-economic, demographic, ecological) and their funding at the expense of the appropriate local budgets be developed in 1997.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Major trends in migration policy up to the year 2000

Major trends in migration policy for a medium-term period are conditioned by new tendencies in migration processes attended by growth of migration activity of the population, unbalanced exodus outside its borders and arrival in the country, internal republican distribution of the population, unavailability of the main regulating legal base and financial support.

Migration policy priorities are as follows:

- efficient regulation of migration flows in the Republic;

- promotion of repatriation of the Kazakhs, their settlement and adaptation;

- development and adoption of relevant national legislation for migration problems;

- improvement and strengthening of state bodies involved in migration problems.

Tasks, targets and principles of migration policy.

- Top-priority task of migration policy is regulation and arrangement of internal and external migration, maintenance of stability and civil concord in the community, likewise creation of the conditions for execution of the rights of migrants and humane attitude to persons seeking refuge in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Major targets of migration policy are:

- protection of the rights and interests of migrants;

- regulation of emigration processes with regard to providing each citizen with the right to free departure from the country, establishing the causes of migration losses and taking preventive measures for their reduction;

- observance of state interests in regulation of immigration by setting up a justified quota with regard to the socio-economic development and climatic features of the regions of settlement, national compatibility, specific psychology of migrants and arrangement of immigration control, ensuring reception and settlement of newly arrived compatriots;

- regulation of migration flows inside the country by supporting and promoting balanced territorial distribution of the population, setting up conditions for reception and arrangement of migrants encouraging their active participation in the adaptation process;

- development of medium-term and long-term strategies for migration policy based on predictive assessment of potential migration.

Judging from the targets set up migration policy should be implemented in compliance with the following basic principles:

- ensuring the right of a person to free choice of residence and the occupation, the right to free exodus;

- inadmissibility of discrimination of migrants in race, religion, sex, age, certain social group affiliation or political convictions;

- ensuring the conformity of migration legislation with international norms and recommendations of the international organization for migration with an account of current socio-economic situation of the republic, its historic past and traditions, prospects of development;

- personal participation of migrants in arrangement at new residence with the state support of their initiatives and spontaneous action first of all migrants from the zones of ecological and natural calamities;

- prohibition of exile or forced return of refugees to the countries wherefrom they arrived, besides the cases prescribed by the legislation of the republic and international agreements;

- cooperation with other countries in particular receiving immigrants in terms of reducing illegal migration, assistance to temporary migration in the form of education, professional training, labour migration.

Tasks, targets and principles of migration policy should be implemented in the following key trends:

- improvement of legislation in population migration, envisaging protection of the rights of migrants, assistance in socio-economic, language and cultural adaptation of migrants;

- assistance in return on a voluntary basis of migrants, as well as repatriates and their reintegration in the life of the republic considering inter-state agreements ensuring social protection and guarantees;

- organization of migration control;

- development of temporary labour migration in the countries with developed market-oriented economy as a means of improving the quality of labour potential, stabilization of the internal labour market and improvement of the republic's currency balance;

- development of proposals making effect on migration processes to implement the external and internal policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

- strengthening and extension of migration service activity, its technical and financial support for comprehensive solution of migration problems of the population;

- prediction of migration processes and formation of the state migration policy having regard to general political and economic situation;

- development of republican and regional programmes and organization of their fulfilment, development of the mechanism for interaction between republican and local bodies of executive power, law-enforcement bodies;

- interaction with republican, international and foreign governmental bodies to render practical assistance and attraction of financial funds to solve migration problems;

- achieving stable guaranteed ties of the republic with the CIS and overseas countries based on regulation of transport, postal, informational services to reduce migration of the population due to break up of inter-state relations.