School-children in Yangiul District, Tashkent Region, October 2009
As the cotton harvest season opens this year in Uzbekistan, human rights activists fear that a long-existing climate of coercion will inevitably lead to the exploitation of children, the Experts Working Group of Uzbekistan reported.
In a statement for the press issued September 4 in Russian, Sukhrobjon Ismoilov, coordinator of the Expert Working Group of Uzbekistan, said that due to a policy of imposing state quotas and requiring compulsory labor of state workers, the Uzbek government is likely to fail to prevent forced child labor in the cotton fields this year despite making commitments to do so under international agreements.
In 2008, Uzbekistan signed the International Labor Organization (ILO) convention barring child labor and also revised domestic legislature to ban such exploitation. Officials also launched a national program to prevent child labor.
Yet the practice is likely to continue as farmers and parents once again face great pressures under threat of loss of leases or employment to bring in the harvest according to the government's plan.
Since 2008, due to increased international attention to the problem of child labor in the cotton harvest, the Uzbek government has distanced itself from the practice and shifted the burden to parents, even as it has demanded the population turn out to work. Parents then feel they must say they made a "voluntary" decision to involve children in field work, and even cite the childrens' own wish to help adults.
This fall, principals at schools have already begun obtaining written statements from parents obliging them not to send their children to pick cotton. Yet in the past, government leaders have also made a number of public statements where they have let it be known that in order to fulfill the state production plan, the cotton harvest has to be gathered by the end of October "by any means necessary" -- a hint that child labor will be excused.
The Choihona, as it is transliterated from Uzbek, or Chaikhana, from Russian, is a Central Asian roadside teahouse ("choi" means "tea"), famous for its role on the ancient Silk Road linking China, the Middle East and Europe for traders, explorers, and pilgrims. This community institution has existed for centuries, providing sustenance to travelers and a place to exchange news.
Under the reign of President Islam Karimov, Uzbek society has struggled to tell its story. Independent news operations have been shut down, journalists jailed, and foreign correspondents denied access. A number of online resources are forced to work in exile, and those still gathering and publishing news inside Uzbekistan face grave risks. This kind of setting makes state propaganda, manipulation of the facts, and rumors and speculation the fare for many people.
It is our hope with this blog will provide a place where people can come to get independent and alternative news and views in contrast with the official line. We cover news on Uzbekistan from international and regional sources in English, Uzbek, and Russian and provide some commentary so as to put the complex and changing story of Uzbekistan into perspective. Contact us if you have a story or comment to share.
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