The infamous forced labour practice in Uzbekistan is still widespread. Two detailed reports on the subject have been released at the same time in July. The 115-page report “We can’t Refuse to Pick Cotton. Forced and Child Labor Linked to World Bank Group Investments in Uzbekistan”, published by Human Rights Watch and the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights, gives a detailed account of how the authorities of Uzbekistan force students, teachers, medical workers, other public sector employees, private sector employees, and in some cases children, to plant and collect cotton. Authorities threaten people with dismissals, discontinuation of social benefits, suspension of students from studies and expulsion from educational establishments if they refuse to work on cotton plantations.
According to another report produced on the basis of a survey conducted by the International Labour Organisation experts in 2015 and 2016 (“Recruitment practices and seasonal employment in the agriculture in Uzbekistan”), more than a third of the Uzbek cotton pickers do it against their free will. Having surveyed more than 10 000 cotton pickers, the authors of the report pointed out that from 20 to 29% of the survey participants stated that they did not want to do it, and from 11 to 14% spoke up about direct coercion. Taking into account that more than 2.9 million people (2015) are engaged in cotton picking, we are talking about at least one million persons who go out into the plantations against their free will.
Hard working conditions and low pay, which arise from the low procurement prices established by the state, remain among the major factors that make the cotton industry an unattractive labour activity in Uzbekistan. This puts off many textile manufacturers including the world brands from using the Uzbek cotton.
The ILO experts rightfully believe that the improvement of wages and working conditions will allow carrying out the entire cotton picking campaign based on people’s free will. “Thus, elimination of forced labour is an entirely manageable problem”, – concludes Beate Andrees, the Head of the ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch. However, the government is in no hurry to fulfill it, instead, it continues receiving lucrative incomes running into millions, from underpaid wages, and persecuting human rights activists and independent journalists.
