TURKMENISTAN: POST FINDINGS ON COTTON CHILD LABOR

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000092 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN; DRL/ILCSR FOR MITTELHAUSER; G/TIP FOR STEINER DOL/ILAB FOR RACHEL RIGBY AND BRUCE YOON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB PHUM EIND ETRD SOCI KTIP TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: POST FINDINGS ON COTTON CHILD LABOR ISSUE REF: A. STATE 1730 ¶B. ASHGABAT 0066 ¶1. This is Post's response to Ref A's request for information concerning child labor in the cotton fields and forced labor in Turkmenistan. According to local UNICEF representatives, reports about the widespread use of child labor in the cotton harvest in Turkmenistan predate the government's 2005 ban on the practice. This ban was reaffirmed by President Berdimuhamedov in August 2008. UNICEF is unable to confirm that child labor was used during the 2008 cotton harvest. A 2007 UNICEF study to monitor child employment and educational opportunities indicated a very low level of employment among children between the ages of 12 and 16, with no specifics as to the type or conditions of employment (Ref B). ¶2. Child labor during the 2008 cotton harvest was not noticed by or brought to the attention of Embassy officials during travel outside the capital. A FSN who closely follows agriculture, and cotton farming, in particular, has heard of no reports of child labor during the 2008 harvest. During a trip to a village in early November 2008 at the end of the harvest, a local contact explained that the ban on child labor was in effect and school officials would be held accountable if children harvested cotton. ¶3. Post was not able to locate any material that reported about the actual use of child labor during the 2008 cotton harvest in Turkmenistan. A pre-harvest August 2008 article, disseminated by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, cited various observers' doubts that the presidential ban would be effective, but there was no further reporting about the issue. Post did not receive a response from the Government of Turkmenistan to its request for information on any goods produced by child labor or government efforts to combat the problem. MILES