MALOKHAT URGENTLY NEEDS YOUR HELP
Malokhat is being targeted for her work monitoring forced and child labor in Uzbekistan’s government-run cotton harvest
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Uzbek Official Unleashes Torrent of Abuse at Cotton Meeting
The head of the Parkent district administration of the Tashkent region, Nematulla Abdullaev, held a 45-minute meeting on November 1, 2017, during which he used abusive and insulting language to humiliate and intimidate the heads of organizations, enterprises, and community leaders for not sending enough people to pick cotton and meet quotas. An audiotape of this meeting was given to Radio Ozodlik (the Uzbek service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty) by the head of an organization who took part in the meeting
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Turkmenistan: Children Continue to Pick Cotton Despite Ban
In Turkmenistan, despite a ban on child labor, there are more children and teenagers in the cotton fields for this year’s cotton harvest campaign than in previous years. In addition, for the first time for many years the authorities in several regions of Turkmenistan have orchestrated the mass mobilization of children to pick cotton.
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Article in German Magazine STERN : “Exploited”
Bettina Sengling, a German journalist, has been following Uzbekistan’s most prominent human rights activists. In a recent article, published by the German magazine STERN, she reports on forced and child labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry and the challenges faced by human rights activists in their courageous fight to end these practices.
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We have been picking cotton in Syrdarya for 50 days now. We have only been able to wash ourselves once in a pond.
A member of staff from Andijan Region’s Agriculture and Water Resources Department, who was brought to Syrdarya to pick cotton on 20 September, and who requested to remain anonymous, has complained to OzodMikrofon (Free Microphone) that he has been picking cotton for almost two months in difficult conditions and that the leadership has no plans to replace him or send him back home.
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Children in the Andijan Region Pick Cotton
On November 3, 2017, human rights activist Elena Urlayeva visited cotton fields in the Balikchi district (Andijan region) and saw children at the age of 11-12 picking cotton.
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Uzbek Farmers Spend Night Behind Bars for Selling Cucumbers instead of Picking Cotton
On October 18, at a meeting of the administration of the Shahrisabz district of the Kashkadarya region dedicated to the cotton campaign, a group of farmers was criticized for selling cucumbers at the local market instead of participating in the national plan to collect cotton. After the meeting, several farmers were sent to the district police station. It is reported that female farmers spent the night behind bars.
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Uzbekistan: Teachers, Medical Workers, Welfare Recipients Weeded Cotton Fields under Threat
The government of Uzbekistan forced people to work in the cotton fields during the spring fieldwork season under threat, the Uzbek-German Forum states in a report released today. The report also documents forced and child labor in a World Bank project area in Karakalpakstan.
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Video: Cotton pickers hired by the employees of public organizations
On September 27, 2017, activist Malokhat Eshonkulova visited cotton fields in the Dustlik district of the Djizak region where she spoke to cotton pickers. She learned that 1,100 collectors, mostly hired by employees of various tax offices of Tashkent city, as well as the city enterprise TransYol, had arrived in the Dustlik district. One of the workers said that she came to work for an employee of the tax inspection office of the Mirzo-Ulugbek district of Tashkent who had paid her 600,000 soums ($75) to pick cotton for one month.
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Employees of Tashkent Organizations Hire Cotton Pickers at their own Expense
On September 27, 2017, activist Malokhat Eshonkulova visited cotton fields in the Dustlik district of the Djizak region where she spoke to cotton pickers. She learned that 1,100 collectors, mostly hired by employees of various tax offices of Tashkent city, as well as the city enterprise TransYol, had arrived in the Dustlik district. One of…
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