The main countries of origin for labor migrants from third countries in Latvia are Uzbekistan, India, and Belarus, reported Ilze Briedis, head of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA), at a meeting of the parliamentary investigation commission on immigration regulation on Tuesday.
The topic of the meeting was ensuring that enterprises comply with employment requirements, the state language, and labor law. In the European Union, the term "third country" refers to all countries that are neither EU members nor part of the European Economic Area.
Speaking about the employment of third-country nationals in Latvia, Briedis reported that as of January 1 of this year, there were 15,700 people in Latvia who had a valid right to work and whose purpose of entry was employment. Throughout the year, around 22,000 work permits are issued in Latvia, as one person can hold multiple permits. For example, a person can distribute their working hours between two employers.
The main countries of origin for labor migrants from third countries are Uzbekistan, India, and Belarus. Briedis particularly noted Uzbekistan, as 7,200 work permits were issued to citizens of this country last year. Citizens of India received relatively fewer permits - 3,000.
Traditionally, the transport sector and heavy-duty transport have consistently held the top position for inviting people to work for many years.
The director of the State Language Center (SLC), Inese Muhka, noted that the center focuses primarily on kebab vendors and couriers. This is related to public activity, as the center responds to complaints, and accordingly, its representatives go out for inspections. Muhka acknowledged that the situation regarding knowledge of the state language is not encouraging. "There is no knowledge of the language; there is nothing to discuss here," she added.
As for solutions, Muhka urged Latvian society not to automatically switch to English or Russian when communicating with third-country nationals. She believes that cooperation between regulatory authorities is a solution to improve the situation. "Often we find serious violations during inspections and then report this to our colleagues, while we receive information from other authorities. If the authorities work together, this issue can be monitored and resolved," says Muhka.
The parliamentary investigation commission was established by the Saeima on November 27 of last year at the initiative of 34 deputies to address several questions: how the procedure for assessing immigration applications is carried out and what measures are taken to prevent illegal immigration, what the problems are with the legal framework for asylum seekers, how many people disappear from the sight of government institutions after obtaining a residence permit, what the risks are with temporary residence permits and their misuse, and whether Latvia has the opportunity to apply exceptions to EU migration legislation.
