Azerbaijan, Baku, June 29 / Trend A. Akhundov /
The growing number of migrants in Azerbaijan is becoming a force that affects the social and economic situation in the country, Azerbaijani Presidential Administration official Mehman Tagiyev said during the International Social Protection of Migrant Workers in a Globalized World Workshop in Baku.
"The situation with migrant workers is the center of social policy in the country," Tagiyev said. "One example of this is that migrants get the same rights to insurance as Azerbaijani citizens in the adopted law on "Compulsory insurance against occupational diseases and
accidents at work."
He said a significant issue for migrant workers is objectively calculating pensions.
"People are working in different countries in terms of globalization, while they have problems with the calculation of their pensions," he said.
Head of the Azerbaijani State Migration Service Arzu Rahimov said that the economy developing in Azerbaijan creates favorable conditions to increase the number of migrants.
"Azerbaijanis, who left the country in early 1990s, return home," he said. "Moreover, the number of migrant workers from other countries also increases."
He said that migrants from 90 countries, mainly from Russia, Turkey, Georgia and Iran, worl in Azerbaijan now.
"About 25 percent of appeals received by the migration service from foreigners today, relate to getting a permission for activity in Azerbaijan", Rahimov said.
The migration service received 20,663 complaints from workers within five months. There were about 5,707 requests for getting permission to work in Azerbaijan.
He said Azerbaijan has adopted more than 20 laws and regulations in the field of migration.
It was stressed that there are not enough measures in the world practice to ensure full social protection for migrants and especially illegal immigrants.
"The issue of exchanging the individual insurance fee data if the able-bodied migrants move has not been resolved yet," said head of the Moldovan National Social Insurance Office Maria Borta.
The mechanisms of registering the individual data and recognizing the insurance periods in the countries, receiving the workforce, are not actively encouraged.
She said that the principle of summarizing the insurance periods and financing of pensions and benefits on a pro rata basis with welfare organizations in the countries where these rights were obtained the right to export pension or benefits] has not been fully implemented.
"We should recognize that these rights apply to a very limited number of people and migrant workers," Borta, a member of the Control Commission of the International Association of Pension and Social Funds, said.