Shukhrat Mahmudov, head of the MFA department, told Kun.uz that the living condition of Uzbeks who have gone abroad to work is being studied.

“Representatives of our Ministry, together with employees of the Ministries of Labor and Interior, are meeting with the families of our compatriots who have gone abroad to work, to find out where and how they are employed and what their problems are.

Unfortunately, most of the labor migrants often break the laws of that state when they go abroad. Especially during the pandemic, many of our compatriots went abroad illegally and worked. Many of them have run out of money, their passports have expired. That’s why they are not able to return to Uzbekistan. There are many who are fleeing from the police department. If a migrant loses his passport, he doesn’t know where to go. He is afraid to come to the embassy.

So far, about 1,800 of our compatriots, who have gone abroad to work, have been in such a situation. We have compiled their list.

We received information from the Ministry of Labor the other day that another 400 people had passport problems. Their passports have expired. We found their phone numbers. Each of them will be issued passports or travel documents through embassies to return to Uzbekistan.

If the person does not have money, we provide financial assistance, and if he is unemployed, we provide him with a job. Because all our embassies are in constant contact with major employers. Demand for Uzbek workers abroad is very high.

Our Ministry helped 560,000 Uzbeks return home in 2020. Last year, more than $1.3 million was provided to nearly 19,000 citizens. More than 100,000 people have been provided with consular assistance,” the ministerial spokesman said.

For information, as of January 1, 2021, the number of Uzbek labor migrants abroad was 1,678,400 people. This figure decreased by 782.4 thousand compared to the beginning of last year.