Irregular migration, including human trafficking, remains widespread in spite of all national and global efforts to counter it. In the post-Soviet space, the appearance of new independent states following the dissolution of the USSR has largely facilitated irregular migration. Various ethnic and territorial conflicts have accompanied the respective state formation processes, resulting in a continuous reforming of the migration authorities and attempts of international criminal groups to make use of the situation for their own purposes. The Islamic fundamentalism witnessed in some states has further aggravated the problem.

Russia and Kazakhstan represent the main countries of destination within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The European Union (EU) is another important destination, with the respective migration flows - including irregular ones - continuously growing. Due to the existing visa-free regime among the CIS countries, as well as Ukraine and Georgia (with some exceptions), most regional migrants enter the CIS territories legally for employment purposes. In spite of the national regulations developed in order to counter irregular migration, the irregular employment of labour migrants remains a common feature across the CIS. Since their independence, the CIS countries have built a system of collective responsibility in the fight against this phenomenon, but a large number of labour migrants remains outside the legal field. In the area of combating THB, the criminal law approach still prevails over a balance between the criminal prosecution and the protection of the victims.

The new Analytical Report 'Combating irregular migration and human trafficking in the CIS countries' authered by Dr. Irina Molodikova provides an overview of the irregular migration and human trafficking to, through and from the CIS countries and offers recommendations for possible actions to improve the overall situation.

To preview and download the report please use this link.

Moreover, our Repository contains the latest publications of the Migration Observatory and Training Academy of the Prague Process.

• Analytical Report by Natalia Husieva et al. 'Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Mapping the Flows and Challenges' 
• Background Note by Olga Gulina 'Asylum seekers from the Eastern Partnership and Central Asian Countries in the EU'
• Policy brief by Glen Hodgson "Migration and the Platform Economy"
• Policy brief by Stefan Vogtenhuber "Labour migration from East to West: The example of foreign workers in Austria"
• Policy brief by Haykanush Chobanyan "Armenia's migration cooperation with the European Union and Eurasian Economic Union"
• Policy brief by Rainer Muenz "How will migration to Europe look in the Future? Trends, open questions and four plausible scenarios" 
• Policy brief by Ruslan Minich and Pavlo Kravchuk "The Impact of COVID-19 on Ukrainian Labour Migrants in Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Italy"
• Policy brief by Glen Hodgson "Intra-corporate Transferees (ICTs): The benefits for the EU and the opportunity cost" 
• Policy brief by Kristof Tamas "Making the EU’s Migration and Development Policies More Coherent" 
• Policy brief by Andriy Orlean "Countering Human Trafficking: Identifying, Returning and Assisting Victims from Ukraine" 
• Policy brief by Olga Gulina "Russian nationals looking for refuge in the European Union"
• Policy brief by Dmitry Poletaev "Russia’s Migration Policies after the dissolution of the Federal Migration Service"
• Policy Brief by Yan Matusevich "The EU Central Asia Strategy and Its Impact on Migration"
• Policy brief by Kristof Tamas "Assessing the EU's External Migration Policy"
• Training Manual "How to be a good trainer?"
• Policy Brief by Nermin Oruc and Danica Santic "Highly-skilled Return Migrants to the Western Balkans: Should we count (on) them?"
• Analytical Report by Yelena Sadovskaya "China's "Belt and Road" Initiative and Its Impact on Migration Flows and Policies in Central Asia"
• Policy Brief by Petros Aghababyan "Closing the policy gaps concerning an eventual mass influx of asylum seekers to Armenia"
• Policy Brief by Yan Matusevich "Evaluating the Future of Uzbek Labour Migration"
• Analytical Report by Ivanka Heinzl "Report on the National Action Plan to Fight Trafficking in Human Beings of the Republic of Azerbaijan"
• Policy Brief by Haykanush Chobanyan "Assessing Armenia’s Migration Strategy for 2017-2021"
• Policy Brief by Natia Mestvirishvili "Circular Migration Schemes in Georgia"
• Policy Brief by Katerina Ivashchenko-Stadnik "Ukraine: First visa-free year since introducing the visa-free regime"