Dear colleagues,
Please find attached a new report of the Expert Working Group on
spring forced child labor in Uzbekistan.
The paper is distributed in English and Russian. Thank you in advance
for your attention.
Kind regards,
Sukhrobjon Ismoilov
Director, the Expert Working Group
Uzbekistan: Spring field activities – forced child labor continues
Despite Uzbek authorities’ high-sounding statements and adoption of
several national and international norms banning forced child labor
this practice is still wide spread in the country’s agricultural
sector. Moreover the practice of forced labor has also started
involving other groups of the population. A closer look at the
official statements reveals that the Uzbek authorities have never
acknowledged the forced child labor problem and have avoided any
public promise to eradicate it. The reason to it is simple – the
problem of forced child labor in harvesting cotton has turned into a
serious dilemma for the authorities; they fear to acknowledge this
problem and can’t solve it. Due to a low payment for the labor
involved in cotton harvesting not so many people have interest in
being engaged in this type of seasonal work. The majority of the
population of the labor age prefers incomes as labor migrants abroad.
Incomes from labor migration can’t just be compared to the payment for
cotton harvesting at home. The Uzbek minors, students and personnel of
the state-financed organizations are those groups of the population
whom the Uzbek authorities can still exploit easily.
From the first days of May the Uzbek youth at secondary schools,
lyceums and colleges in Bukhara, Samarkand, Jizzakh, Syrdarya, Khorezm
regions and autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan were forced to
attend spring cotton cultivation activities. This type of work usually
includes weeding and hilling of the ground. It can be suggested that
the same type of practice with forced spring labor is taking place in
all other areas of the country. The minors from secondary schools
involved in this type of forced spring labor are 13-16 years old
(7-8-9th grades of school) and minors from lyceums and colleges are
16-18 years old.
From Monday to Friday the Uzbek youth involved in forced spring labor
attend the local cotton fields from 13.00 afternoon till 18.00
evening. And on Saturdays and Sundays they attend the cotton fields
from 09.00 of morning till 18.00 evening. Thus on Saturdays the
classes for these groups of children are cancelled. The sources say
the spring forced labor for the children would last until May 20-25.
This type of labor is not paid. The Uzbek authorities and other
organizers of the spring forced labor prefer to call this process as
“hashar” in Uzbek which stands for unpaid voluntary physical activity.
Children often reach the local cotton fields on foot accompanied by
their teachers and administration of the schools. They have to take
care of food and drinking water themselves and bring those items with
them to the fields. They take their food directly in the fields. There
are no proper facilities and conditions, including hygienic conditions
for the children to take their food in the fields there is no medical
personnel ready to check the health conditions of children regularly.
Nasiba, an 8th grade girl from a secondary school in Bukhara region
shares her observations: “Each day after our classes we do hilling in
the cotton fields. On Saturdays and Sundays our work starts from the
morning. We have to bring our own food and water with us. We have also
to bring our work instrument with us. It could be a picker or sickle”
Sardor, a college student from Samarkand region was able to buy
himself out from spring forced labor: “I am preparing for entrance
exams to the university right now. That is why I attend privately
hired tutors everyday. They have taken everybody from our college to
the cotton fields. I have reached a deal with the college deputy
director and gave 50 thousand Sums (approximately $ 20 USD under black
market rates). And now I am free both from classes and forced labor.
The major priority for me right now is preparation to entrance exams”
A beginning teacher at a lyceum in Karakalpakstan has also shared his
concerns: “I have started working in the educational sphere recently
after I finished the university three years ago. But for those three
years I have managed to hate my job. Sometimes it is so difficult to
understand whether I am a teacher or a farmer. During spring months we
are forced to be involved in weeding and hilling of the cotton plants;
during summer days we are forced to get involved in chiseling of
cotton plants; and during autumn season we are forced to gathering
cotton crops…Apart from that the teachers and pupils are forced to
cultivate special portions of lands in public parks specifically
appointed to different groups of pupils. We plant flowers, cultivate
the land, etc. I have been thinking to quit my job in the educational
sector if I find a better option”
More likely the problem of forced child labor in cotton cultivation
and harvesting will remain in Uzbekistan for many years yet. Not
finding enough political will to acknowledge the problem of forced
child labor and eradicate it fully the Uzbek authorities as always
prefer taking only symbolic measures which are far from a solution.
On 26 March 2012 the Uzbek Cabinet of Ministers adopted Decree # 82
“On additional measures for 2012-2013 on implementation of the
Conventions on Forced Labor and Elimination of the Worst Forms of
Child Labor ratified which Uzbekistan has ratified”. The Decree
introduced a Government Action Plan for 2012-2013. The Uzbek
authorities and diplomats have started advertising the above mentioned
Decree and Action Plan widely as a measure on countering forced child
labor in cotton harvesting. However neither Decree, nor the Action
Plan (the whole document comes in a 9 page document) acknowledges this
problem. The Action Plan has barely mentioned the forced child labor
in cotton harvesting just in one of the provisions – Activity # 18 of
the Action Plan says the following (highlighted by us – the Expert
Working Group):
“Carrying out monitoring of prevention of forced labor of pupils of
secondary schools in cotton harvesting; submitting an analytic report
on the findings of the suggested monitoring together with
recommendations to the Uzbek Cabinet of Ministers; deadline for the
suggested activities – annually from August to October; Responsible
organizations – the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of
Population; the Ministry of Public Education; the Prosecutor General’s
Office; Council of Ministers of the autonomous Republic of
Karakalpakstan; regional hokimiats (regional administration – the
Expert Working Group) and Tashkent city hokimiat”.
The measure suggested in the government Action Plan raises many
questions: What is the need for the suggested monitoring if the
problem is already well studied? Why it is not possible to just ban
forced child labor in cotton cultivation and harvesting? Why the
government Action Plan aims at covering forced labor of just the
schoolchildren – what about the university, lyceum and college
students, personnel of the government funded organizations who also
face forced labor in Uzbekistan as the Convention on forced labor
implies different categories of population not just children? Why the
government Action Plan aims at monitoring the forced child labor
practice just from August to October – the Uzbek authorities use the
forced child labor during spring, summer and late autumn (November)
seasons as well?
There could be one common response to those questions. The Uzbek
authorities don’t actually want to eliminate the practice of forced
child labor in cotton cultivation and harvesting. However the ongoing
international criticism around this problem has been changing the
situation lately. The Uzbek authorities are forced to put at least
some minimal steps, even if at the level of amendments of existing
legal norms. The international community and the Uzbekistani civil
society should take all possible efforts to achieve full elimination
of forced child labor in cotton cultivation and harvesting in the
country.
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