RFERL: Forced labor Central Asian cotton fields

The RFE/RL feature dated 2 November 2025 by Farangis Najibullah, reported jointly with Azattyq Asia and the Tajik and Turkmen Services, reports that public workers and students in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are being coerced into cotton picking under threats of job loss or punishment. The report states that authorities claim participation is voluntary, but testimonies and local reports reveal coercion, with some workers bribing officials or hiring replacements, and that forced labour persists due to centralized control of the cotton industry and low wages for pickers and farmers. It states that Uzbekistan is among the world’s top 10 producers harvesting about 1.3 million tons a year, followed by Turkmenistan with around 800,000 tons and Tajikistan with roughly 500,000 tons, and that the harvest runs from late August through November. The article states that in Tajikistan’s southern Khatlon region, education authorities have ordered schools and colleges to send teachers and students to the fields “in their free time,” and that two lecturers from Bokhtar State University said they were instructed to pick cotton on weekends or risk dismissal. A community nurse named Hurmatoi in Sughd is quoted describing a week of cotton work and meals deducted from pay. The report states that on 26 September 2025, President Mirziyoev declared a 10-day emergency campaign; on 14 October the Employment Ministry reported more than 70 labour law violations identified; a deputy district governor in Surkhondaryo was fined 20.6 million soms (US$1,720) for coercing residents. Turkmenistan is reported sending soldiers, former convicts and alimony defaulters into the fields. Alisher Ilkhamov of Central Asia Due Diligence is quoted.