What is the extent of ‘forced child labour in Uzbekistan’?
Each autumn, all school children aged 10 to 15 in Uzbekistan (except those in schools in the capital and other major cities), are ordered by school administrators to harvest cotton. High-school (Lyceum), college, and university students, as well as local civil servants are also required to labour in cotton fields during the harvest period. Children in rural areas are also generally required weed the cotton fields in the Spring season. In total, compulsory work in agriculture requires school children to miss 3-4 months of study each year. According to surveys and rough calculations, child labour accounts for approximately half of all cotton picked during harvest season in Uzbekistan. Cotton pickers, including children, are forced to work seven days a week. Children and adults work up to 10 hours a day with only a short break for lunch. Children who do not live close to the harvest camp in the cotton fields in very poor living conditions without sanitation. Most suffer from malnutrition
