News

Human rights organisations and ILO experts confirm the mass use of forced labour in the cotton industry of Uzbekistan

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”

Head of District Educational Department: “Teachers, not the farmers need the cotton”

On 21 July 2017, the Uzbek website www.sof.uz posted the audio recording of a meeting of school directors and heads of kindergartens held at the Uzbekistan District Education Department in the Fergana Region. [The meeting was recorded covertly and sent to the local journalists].
At the meeting, the head of the Uzbekistan district Education Department in the Fergana region Nafisa Nishonova told the teachers that agricultural issues had priority.

Uzbekistan: Forced Labor Linked to World Bank. Systematic Violations Underpin Country’s Cotton Sector

(Brussels) – The World Bank is funding half a billion dollars in agricultural projects linked to forced and child labor in Uzbekistan, Human Rights Watch and the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights said in a report released today. Under the loan agreements, the Uzbek government is required to comply with laws prohibiting forced and child labor, and the World Bank can suspend the loans if there is credible evidence of violations.

World Bank funds linked to forced labour in Uzbekistan

Report by human rights groups says Bank-funded projects in the country’s cotton industry are using child and forced labour. The Bank refutes the allegations

Uzbekistan: The Hard Labor Behind Soft Silk

As has always happened at the end of every May, Nasiba Barkasheva’s home burst with frenetic activity as the silkworm cocoon harvest reached its conclusion

Human Rights Defender Nuraddin Jumaniyazov dies in detention

After six months it has become known that Nuraddin Jumaniyozov (68), who planned to set up a trade union for hired laborers, died in prison on 31 December 2016.