Turkmenistan Cotton: New Reporting Reveals Systemic Forced Labor, Despite Some Steps By Government To Reduce Mobilization
Global Brands At Risk Of Sourcing Forced Labor Turkmen Cotton Through Suppliers In Türkiye And Pakistan, Among Others
(Washington, DC, May 21, 2025) The government of Turkmenistan should expand the preliminary measures it took in the 2024 harvest to reduce forced labor through reforms that address root causes, empower workers and farmers, and allow independent monitoring and reporting, the Cotton Campaign said. The call comes as today the Cotton Campaign's frontline partners Turkmen.News and Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights released their findings of independent civil society monitoring of the 2024 cotton harvest in Turkmenistan. The report, "Turkmenistan Cotton: State-Imposed Forced Labor In The 2024 Harvest And Links To Global Supply Chains" shows that despite some initial steps to address forced labor, such as not mobilizing doctors and teachers in some workplaces and increasing the picking rates to incentivise voluntary picking, state-imposed forced labor remained widespread and systematic. Public authorities and heads of state institutions continued to mobilize public sector employees to pick cotton or extort them to pay for replacement pickers. The report launched today also exposes government interference with ILO monitoring of the 2024 cotton harvest and retaliatory action against the director of Turkmen.News.
“It is positive that the Turkmen government has taken some preliminary measures to reduce forced labor in the harvest, after a decade of sustained independent monitoring and reporting, advocacy, and campaigning by Turkmen NGOs operating from exile and international labor and business groups,” said Raluca Dumitrescu, Senior Coordinator of the Cotton Campaign coalition. “However, dismantling the forced labor system requires not just changes to mobilization of pickers, but also reforms that emphasise fundamental human and labor rights. The Turkmen government must stop punishing activists who speak out about abuses in the cotton sector and should take concrete steps to empower workers and farmers.”
In the 2024 harvest, public authorities did not mobilize or extort doctors working in some regional hospitals and teachers working in some schools. Independent civil society monitors had recorded similar shifts in mobilization in the prior harvest, in 2023. However, it is still unclear if the Turkmen government has the necessary political will to eradicate forced labor. Public authorities continued mobilizing or extorting state employees, including staff of schools, kindergartens, hospitals and clinics, cultural centers, and utilities organizations. The government did not make public statements prohibiting forced labor or hold government officials who used forced labor accountable. Moreover, despite that the government allowed ILO monitoring of the harvest, the report launched today shows that the authorities prevented state employees at a medical facility from meeting with ILO monitors and “coached” those who were allowed to speak to the ILO to falsely claim that state employees had not been mobilized to pick cotton. The Turkmen government also took retaliatory action against Turkmen.News director, Ruslan Myatiev, requesting Türkiye, a strategic trade partner, to impose a travel ban against him.
"The government accepted engagement with the ILO to address forced labor in the harvest, which is important,” said Ruslan Myatiev, director of Turkmen.News, an independent media and human rights organization, which also monitors forced labor in Turkmenistan’s cotton fields. "But equally important, governments and international organizations, including the ILO, should not take success for granted. Instead, they should increase the pressure on the Turkmen government to make real progress in eliminating state-imposed forced labor.”
“The Turkmen government should also introduce reforms that increase farmers’ autonomy, as well as accountability and transparency of the cotton sector,” said Farid Tukhbatullin, Chairperson of Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights. “The government exerts a coercive role over farmers, who are forced to meet production quotas under the threat of penalty, including fines, destruction of their vegetable crops, and loss of land. The majority of farmers are unable to cover production costs and can’t make a living from growing cotton.”
The global apparel and home textiles industry is, knowingly or not, benefiting from the forced labor of state employees and exploitation of farmers in Turkmenistan. The report launched today shows that Türkiye, in particular, is a manufacturing hub of textiles using cotton from Turkmenistan. In addition to Türkiye, brands and retailers are at risk of sourcing Turkmen cotton through suppliers in other countries, including Pakistan, but also European hubs for textile production such as Italy, Poland, or Portugal. In Turkmenistan, forced labor in the harvest is predicated on a top-down system of control whereby regional governors order state institutions to mobilize workers to the cotton fields. At the same time, the government continues to suppress fundamental rights and freedoms, including freedoms of expression and association. This repressive system makes it impossible for brands and retailers to conduct any credible due diligence to prevent or remedy forced labor on specific farms. This means that to comply with current and emerging legislation banning forced labor products—including the import ban specifically against Turkmen cotton which the US introduced in 2018–brands and retailers must map their supply chains and eliminate Turkmen cotton at all stages of production.
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On May 21, 2025, at 15:00 - 16:00 CET / 9:00 - 10:00 ET, the Cotton Campaign coalition will be hosting a webinar to discuss the findings of the report. Please register here.
The Cotton Campaign is a coalition of human and labor rights NGOs, independent trade unions, brand and retail associations, responsible investor organizations, supply chain transparency groups, and academic partners, united to end forced labor and promote decent work in cotton supply chains in Central Asia.
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Background information
Turkmenistan–which ranks 14th in global cotton production–is one of the most repressive countries in the world. It exerts control over all aspects of public life and severely represses all civic freedoms. The government uses widespread and systematic state-imposed forced labor in the annual cotton harvest. Every year between August–November, public authorities force state employees to pick cotton or pay for replacement pickers under threat of penalty, including loss of employment or reduction of work hours or pay.
Key findings of independent civil society monitoring of the 2024 cotton harvest monitoring
Public sector employees were mobilized to pick cotton or extorted to pay for replacement cotton pickers.
Doctors in regional hospitals and teachers in some schools were not subjected to forced labor, although doctors and teachers in other institutions were.
Other groups of state employees—including technical staff of schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and clinics, and employees of utilities organizations and public agencies—were subjected to forced labor.
Child labor was used in the 2024 harvest, despite the fact that the state no longer mobilizes children and that in 2024, the government classified cotton picking as hazardous work and prohibited for children under 18.
The government increased the rates for cotton picking. In some districts, this incentivised voluntary picking, including by children.
The government increased procurement prices for cotton.
Links to global supply chains
Supply chain research into specific trade flows through which forced labor Turkmen cotton enters global supply chains conducted by the Cotton Campaign shows the following:
Türkiye: Between 2020-2023, exports of cotton and semi-finished cotton products to Türkiye made up on average 84% of Turkmenistan’s total exports of cotton products. In 2023, Turkey imported from Turkmenistan yarn valued at over US$86 million and fabric valued at over US$23 million.
Pakistan: Imports of cotton yarn and fabric from Turkmenistan have been increasing. In 2024, Pakistan imported from Turkmenistan cotton and cotton semi-finished goods valued at a total of US$29 million. This is a significant increase from 2023 and 2022, when it imported goods valued at US$8.6 million and US$18.6 million, respectively.
European importers:
Italy, Poland, and Portugal are key European importers of cotton semi-finished goods from Turkmenistan. In 2023, Italy imported fabric valued at almost US$1.8 million, closely followed by Poland with imports of fabric valued at US$1.4 million, and Portugal, which imported fabric from Turkmenistan valued at US$1.1 million.
Belgium is a key European importer of cotton fiber from Turkmenistan.
Italy is a key European importer of cotton finished goods from Turkmenistan.
Recommendations by UN bodies to eliminate forced labor and child labor in the harvest
There is a strong record of reporting and communication from authoritative international observers, finding that Turkmenistan has made insufficient progress to end its state-imposed forced labor system in cotton. These include:
2024: The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended the government to “strengthen its efforts to ensure the effective implementation of existing legislation prohibiting child labour” including by conducting effective investigations into and prosecuting cases of child labour in cotton harvesting, and taking effective measures against the intimidation of or retaliation against those who make complaints about forced child labour.
2024: The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women “note[d] with concern reports of widespread use of the forced labour of civil servants during the cotton harvest (mainly women)” and recommended the government to “promptly put an end to forced labour in the cotton sector” including by, inter alia, fully enforcing the legal framework prohibiting forced labour and clearly communicating to public officials and the public that the mobilization of persons to pick cotton under coercion or threats is unlawful.
2024: The ILO Committee on the Application of Standards “deplored the persistence of the widespread use of forced labour in relation to the annual state-sponsored cotton harvest in Turkmenistan” and called on the government to, inter alia, “ensure the complete elimination of the use of compulsory labour” including to prosecute and sanction appropriately public officials who participates in the forced mobilization of workers, and to continue engaging with the ILO and independent employers’ and workers’ organizations.
2024: The ILOCommittee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations “reiterate[d] its deep concern about the continued practice of forced labour in the cotton sector” and “strongly urge[d] the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure the complete elimination of the use of compulsory labour of workers, particularly from the public sector, in cotton production.”
