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Retribution
Uzbekistan’s government has never taken too kindly to those who would expose its crimes against its own people. The brave people documenting the forced labor of children in the cotton harvest are no exception. The BBC reports the latest violence against one of them here.
Expelled for being sickened by cotton
It’s worth reading through the entire (slightly redacted) message below from the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, just to get a sense of the Orwellian humiliations people in Uzbekistan must endure during their annual “cotton campaign.” This student was lucky enough to get reinstated in her institute, from which she was expelled for having [...]
October in the fields
What’s so bad about cotton conscription: Part II, violence and accidents
Each year that children are forced out to pick Uzbekistan’s cotton, many will be injured, sickened, crippled and some will be killed. Their families will receive little or no compensation. A few reports have already emerged on the victims of the 2009 harvest.
Deaths by violence
At least one young person has been killed in a [...]
What’s so bad about cotton conscription, anyhow? Part 1: toxins
There are sometimes blog commenters (and authors!) who downplay the harm to children brought on by their forced stints in the fields each Fall. Never mind that the work clearly meets the standards of the UN Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. The thinking goes, if I did this back in college and [...]
“Little Slaves” by Yodgar Obid
Little Slaves
Bitter frost and biting wind at their backs
How it howls and wails;
Weakened and bent, they trudge with their sacks
Little hands, little slaves
Torn galoshes and worn out clothes
They dream of warm sunny days;
Shaking from cough they tremble as they go
Little hands, little slaves
Childish thoughts, sweet dreams
All of them perish, dead and gone;
In their native land [...]
Bukhara U. dean to students: pick cotton or be expelled
Expulsion is a real threat for students at Bukhara State University, according to the dean of the Humanities faculty, S. S. Raupov, if they don’t immediately report to the cotton fields. Those with a “documented excuse” are ordered to report to the University daily and are forced to clean the classrooms or do yardwork on [...]
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REPORTS
Download 2010 SOAS Report What Has Changed
The production and export of cotton continues to be a major feature of the economy, politics and everyday lives of the people of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. This report analyses the nature and causes of their use of child labour in the cotton sector.