Project: Prevention, Protection and Integration of the Human Trafficking Victims in Serbia

14Nov2014

Uzbekistan’s pledge to end child labour in its cotton industry is leading to an increasing number of adults being forced to work in the state-controlled industry, according to an assessment of the 2014 harvest by a coalition of labour rights groups.

A report by the Cotton Campaign, published on Friday, said that a ban on the use of child labour in the Uzbek cotton harvest has resulted in increased pressure on adults to fill the gaps left by children in the workforce. It says 4 million adults were forced to work in the harvest this year.

Uzbekistan has faced sustained criticism over its use of mandatory manual labour in the cotton industry. In recent years, a ban on Uzbek cotton by leading retailers and fashion brands protesting against the use of millions of schoolchildren in the annual harvest led to government decrees demanding the enforcement of a 2008 ban on child labour.

Earlier this year, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) praised the government for monitoring the situation to ensure that children were kept out of the harvest workforce.

Yet, in its annual assessment of the Uzbek cotton harvest, the coalition reported that the government has imposed new quotas on schools, hospitals and local administrations, requiring them to send up to 60% of their adult staff into the fields. This demand seriously undermines the provision of key public services such as healthcare and education.

The report also says that, in addition to coercing millions of people into unpaid manual labour, the systemic use of forced labour has resulted in institutionalised harassment, extortion and deaths.

The coalition claims that authorities were forcing teachers, businessmen and students to weed the fields or pick cotton or face fines of up to 1 million soum (about £210) for university students. Some teachers were ordered to sign up for agricultural shifts to pick cotton or resign their posts, while university students were threatened with expulsion if they did not comply with work orders. The government set picking quotas at 50-60kg a day for college students and 60-70kg for other adult workers.

Human rights activists and journalists who attempted to document the mass mobilisation of workers were subjected to harassment, persecution and intimidation by the authorities, the coalition says.

“Cotton in Uzbekistan is produced by massive human rights violations, including forced labour, said Umida Niyazova, director of the Uzbek-German Forum, a cotton coalition member.

“Reducing the number of children in the fields by forcing even more adults to work against their will is not sufficient. The government needs to dismantle the forced labour system.”

The coalition claims that, despite the national ban on child labour, the forced mobilisation of children continues in some regions, due to rising pressure on officials to ensure that enough people work in the fields.

“When faced with the decision of whether to fulfil their central government-imposed cotton quotas or follow the law against child labour, officials sent children to the fields, knowing failure to deliver their quota would risk their jobs,” says Niyazova.

Uzbekistan is the fifth largest cotton producer in the world. This year, its harvest generated 3.3m tons of cotton, mainly for export. Revenues from cotton have contributed substantially to developing the country’s industrial sector and keeping food and energy prices stable.

The government controls every aspect of the national cotton industry and has long been criticised for its use of domestic forced labour in cotton production and harvesting.

The Guardian

Photograph: Dozier Marc /Alamy