Democratization: Migration/Freedom of Movement “The participating States will remove all legal and other restrictions with respect to travel within their territories for their own nationals and foreigners, and with respect to residence for those entitled to permanent residence, except those restrictions which may be necessary and officially declared for military, safety, ecological or other legitimate government interests, in accordance with their national laws, consistent with CSCE commitments and international human rights obligations. The participating States undertake to keep such restrictions to a minimum.” — Document of the Moscow Meeting of the Conference of the Human Dimension of the CSCE, 1991 market economy. Proof of regional residence was used for privatization programmes and in some states it was used in making decisions on citizenship or the granting of residency permits. But now, in addition to contravening fundamental human rights, the remaining application of the propiska system constitutes a barrier for the development of labour markets and market economies. While some countries of the former Soviet Union have been undertaking reforms of the propiska system with varying degrees of success, it remains in force or has changed only in name in others. This lack of progress on its removal stems, in part, from a lack of knowledge about alternative registration systems that do not restrict freedom of movement, as well as from the lack of an understanding of the value of modern civil registration systems for publicpolicy purposes, such as social insurance, providing education or other services, or compiling voter registers. The ODIHR has provided assistance in developing a conceptual and legal basis for the reform of population registration, and offers expertise in drafting new laws and regulations. In 2005, the ODIHR continued its work in this area in Belarus and Moldova. In Belarus, after a new concept for a draft law on population registration had been elaborated, the ODIHR organized a seminar for represent- 42 atives of relevant government agencies to discuss the concept. Later, the ODIHR organized training visits for Belarusian government officials to Latvia, Estonia, and Sweden in order to study technical, legal, and conceptual aspects of the population registration systems in those countries. After the study visits, the concept was amended, improved, and discussed at a seminar organized by the ODIHR. In Moldova, the ODIHR organized training visits for Moldovan government officials to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland to learn about the system of registration of permanent residents and foreigners in those countries. The ODIHR also provided an expert opinion on Moldova’s new draft law on the protection of personal data. The ODIHR also organized a number of conferences, seminars, and technical workshops to disseminate alternative concepts and to discuss draft laws on reforming population registration that resulted in new laws on internal migration, freedom of movement, and choice of place of residence. The ODIHR conference “Exchange of Experience on Reform of Population Registration Systems”, held in Kyrgyzstan in July, brought together policy-makers and experts from CIS countries and the Baltic states. It was the first event of its kind devoted to population registration issues, and it served as a forum for presenting new ideas and showcasing achievements in reforming population registration systems and creating population data management systems. Participants agreed that there is a need to create stable, efficient, and transparent population registration systems, independent of political priorities, and recognized the importance of improving national legislation on registration issues, focusing on real, not formal, places of residence. Promoting the development of integration policies In addition to ordinary citizens, propiska-related restrictions on freedom of movement affect all categories of migrants and are an obstacle to ANNUAL REPORT 2005