As the International Labour Organisation assesses Turkmenistan’s compliance with its responsibility to abolish forced labour, a report by independent Turkmen rights organisations alleges that forced labour is routinely used during the country’s annual cotton harvest.
In response to the report, the Cotton Campaign, an international alliance working to eradicate forced slavery, is urging authorities to take action and put pressure on Turkmenistan to uphold basic labour rights.
The extensive research asks for significant reforms to end the practise of forced labour during Turkmenistan’s cotton harvest in 2022 and provides persuasive proof of this.
The research also emphasises the danger of Turkmen cotton made with forced labour infiltrating global supply networks for clothing and textiles, infringing on laws preventing imports and corporations’ responsibility to refrain from utilising products made with forced labour.
The research claims that vendors in nations like Turkey, Pakistan, and Italy use cotton, yarn, and fabric from Turkmenistan and sell their products to well-known international companies. Brands and retailers run the risk of including cotton produced through forced labour at different levels of manufacturing in their supply chains as a result.
Turkmenistan’s compliance with international law on forced labour is being examined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). On the same day the report was published (12 June), the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) began investigating Turkmenistan’s adherence to its responsibility to abolish forced labour.
Government officials from around the world are likely to testify against forced labour in Turkmenistan at the ILO CAS assessment of the country’s compliance with Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour (No. 105).
