“More than 650 people have been identified as victims of forced labor during the cotton harvest season” – Ministry of Labor

As of October 10, 2020, over 726 studies were conducted in districts and more than 60 statements disseminated on social networks were studied. During the monitoring, more than 650 citizens were identified as victims of forced labor, and administrative fines in the amount of 205 million 160 thousand soums were imposed on 18 officials for forced labor.

According to the ministry, the heads of the Boysun district (Surkhandarya region) and the Boka district (Tashkent region) were fined for making over 30 employees work in the cotton harvest.

The head of the Public Education Department of the Sariosiyo district (Surkhandarya region) and the heads of the People’s Bank of the Jarkurgan district were also prosecuted for forced labor.

19 farmers in the Tashkent region, 12 – in the Khorezm region, 6 – in the Bukhara region, 8 – in the Namangan region and 7 – in the Surkhandarya region were fined for not creating decent working conditions, not concluding labor contracts with harvesters and not paying them on time.

According to the relevant articles of the Administrative Responsibility Code, administrative documents of officials, who are dissatisfied with the results of the study, are submitted to the administrative courts in order to take appropriate action in accordance with the legislation.

In 4 cases in the Khorezm region, in 1 case in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, in 4 cases in the Namangan region, the collected documents on labor violations were submitted to the relevant administrative courts.

In order to restore the violated labor rights of citizens, 4 farms and clusters in the Surkhandarya region, 4 government agencies in the Jizzakh region and 1 farm in the Republic of Karakalpakstan were given written instructions to prevent violations of labor rights. In order to prevent cases of forced labor, 1 submission was presented to the Emergency Situations Department of the Kashkadarya region.

The State Labor Inspectorate received a total of 165 complaints of forced labor and violations of labor rights. The largest number of applications was received from Kashkadarya (24), Tashkent (20), Namangan (23), Jizzakh (17) and other regions.

“If you witness cases of forced labor, call the State Labor Inspectorate at 1176 and the hotline 200-06-00, and also contact the website dmi.mehnat.uz to restore your violated labor rights,” the report reads.