According to the Embassy of Uzbekistan, during the meeting, issues of establishing bilateral relations with the Office of the OSCE Special Representative on Combating Human Trafficking, as well as implementing joint projects in the areas of external labor migration, preventing forced labor and providing assistance to victims of human trafficking were discussed.

Erkin Mukhitdinov informed in detail about the work carried out in the republic to combat human trafficking and forced labor, the introduction of a system of safe, orderly and legal labor migration, as well as the reintegration of persons returning from labor migration.

The OSCE Special Representative welcomed the complete elimination of the practice of child and forced labor in Uzbekistan and highly appreciated the ongoing efforts in the country to identify, protect and rehabilitate victims of human trafficking, provide medical, psychological and other assistance to citizens who have become victims of such crimes, as well as the results achieved.

During the conversation, an agreement was reached to organize in October in Tashkent, together with the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations and other interested ministries and departments of Uzbekistan, an international conference on the topic “Prevention of human trafficking for the purpose of exploiting their labor in the supply chains” and attracting experts from foreign countries and international organizations.

Following the meeting, the parties identified further plans and directions for future cooperation.

The Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking is a special structure within the organization’s secretariat. It was established in 2003 as a high-level mechanism to assist in the implementation of OSCE member states’ commitments to combat human trafficking.