DUSHANBE, August 11, 2016, Asia-Plus — When cotton-picking season comes around in Uzbekistan, lists of names start to be compiled by local officials up and down the country, Eurasianet.org reports.
On them are the names of the teachers, civil servants and health workers that make the backbone of a press-ganged army of harvesters that support this economically important industry.
A stint of picking cotton means a 40-day stretch under the punishing summer sun. Those that feel unable to carry out the task reportedly must pay their way out of their predicament. Workers lists are detailed and include full names and passport data.
Uzbekistan has grown increasingly sensitive to pressure applied by international nongovernment groups objecting to use of child and forced labor in the cotton fields. Significantly, hundreds of global companies have boycotted Uzbek cotton over concerns of forced labor.
Tashkent is eager to be seen to be taking action to prevent abuses, according to EurasiaNet.org. On July 28, Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev reportedly told a government meeting that during this upcoming cotton harvest campaign, no school or university students should be sent out into the fields. Those kinds of statements are part of the cat-and-mouse game that Uzbekistan is now obliged to play because of an inspection regime implemented by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
In fact, students from all regions except those around the capital, Tashkent, have to go into the fields on pain of expulsion. The much-criticized practice of deploying children has largely disappeared, so the burden has fallen on students at vocational colleges, lyceums and universities. First-year students at colleges and lyceums get a pass, which means harvesting is done by boys and girls over 16 years of age.
An official in the Ferghana regional administration told EurasiaNet.org on condition of anonymity that harvesting in his area was being done mainly by civil servants and employees of agricultural enterprises.
One farmer, Muzaffar, said that without gatherers from the city and regions, there is no way the harvest could be completed. “According to the plan, we are supposed to gather all the cotton in 40-50 days. I have 80 hectares of land — of that, 50 hectares is reserved for cotton,” Muzaffar told EurasiaNet.org.
Compulsory laborers receive paltry compensation. Cotton-pickers in Ferghana said that last year they were paid 260 soms ($0.04) per kilogram gathered. The fees for this season have not been decided yet, but there is every likelihood that they will remain the same.
Last year, farmers were paid 1.2 million soms ($200) for every ton of cotton they supplied.
Uzbekistan produces around 3.5 million tons of cotton annually. The crop is of strategic importance to Uzbekistan’s economy, bringing in about $1 billion every year.
Many of the foreign sales are made at a cotton and textile fair in Tashkent every October. The fair is held under an intense veil of secrecy, and journalists and rights activists trying to attend are actively hindered in their attempts. In 2015, agreements were sealed with foreign companies for the sale of 700,000 tons of cotton fiber. Buyers of Uzbek cotton mainly come from Bangladesh, China, and South Korea.
