Today is International Migrants Day.
Nowadays, globalization, together with advances in communications and transportation, has increased the number of people, who want to move to other places.
That’s why migration is a very important question for the world, and especially for the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Today some of the world’s largest international labor migration trends are registered among Central Asian countries and with the Russian Federation. A large proportion of migrant workers come from the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. But other countries are also sources of migration labor in the region, including Ukraine, Moldova, and Armenia.
In the post-Soviet countries, there are no documents that would regulate the issues of HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for migrants as well as their legal status. Migrant workers do not get the adequate services in the countries where they work which inevitably leads to the decline of their health status and to the growth of the HIV epidemic in the region. There are numerous examples where migrant workers with HIV have no access to antiretroviral therapy in the places of temporary residence. Also, legislation of some countries provides for the deportation of foreign citizens with HIV. It causes that migrants experience stigma and discrimination on many levels.
That’s why it’s so important to talk about migrants today and to take actions to improve their lives. Working in Eastern Europe and Central Asia for almost 20 years AFEW International expands access to healthcare facilities for migrants in the EECA region. Ending discrimination and changing laws towards migrants is our common responsibility, it is what we all can do!
