Baseline Study for the Safe Migration in Central Asia Project

Between July 14 and September 16, 2021, a team of nine researchers based in Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic conducted 133 interviews and 36 focus groups about knowledge, attitudes and practices related to safe migration and human trafficking in Central Asia. In total, 304 individuals participated in the research. 105 of these participants were specialists: employees from relevant government organs, activists and NGO leaders working on safe migration, or other types of experts. The research also engaged with two categories of non-specialists. First, the team interviewed 149 individuals (direct beneficiaries of this project) who were either at-risk of human trafficking (migrants) or those who had experience with trafficking. Of these participants, 11 in Kazakhstan and 18 in the Kyrgyz Republic were survivors of trafficking. Overall, 58% of interviewed direct beneficiaries were women, with women making up 88% of the 29 survivors. Second, the team interviewed 50 businesspeople who employed migrants or were involved in sending migrants abroad.