Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Turkmenistan (Ratification: 2010)

The Committee proceeded with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the observations received from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on 21 September 2020, as well as on the basis of the information at its disposal in 2019. The Committee requests the Government to reply to the observations of the ITUC.

The Committee notes the observations made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 1 September 2019.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (d). Hazardous work. 1. Cotton sector. In its previous comments the Committee noted the Government’s information that the provisions under the Education Act of 2013 and the Rights of the Child (State Guarantees) Act of 2014, require children to attend school until the age of 18 and not to be involved in any work, including agricultural work that stops them from attending school. It also noted from the report of the ILO Technical Advisory Mission that took place in Ashgabat in September 2016, the statement made by the Minister of Education that children under the age of 18 years are fully engaged in education in Turkmenistan. Moreover, the statements made by the international organizations and foreign embassies that the mission met with, indicated that there were no reports of child labour in the cotton harvest, although access to the cotton fields was difficult.

The Committee notes the observations made by the ITUC that there were numerous cases of child labour reported during the 2017 cotton harvest season. According to the ITUC, during this period, in the Ruhabat and Baharly districts, there were secret orders that mobilized children into the fields during their fall break and there were “truckloads” of children sent to pick cotton. Massive use of child labour in the Mary, Lebap and Dashoguz regions were reported. The ITUC is of the view that, due to the centrally imposed quotas, local officials feel immense pressure and resort to forced labour and child labour. However, the Committee also notes the ITUC’s statement that there were efforts by the Turkmen Government to keep children out of the fields in 2018. According to ITUC, while Turkmen.news (an independent news and human rights organization) monitors witnessed some children in the cotton fields, these seemed to be isolated cases instead of the previous systematic use of child labour.

In this regard the Committee notes the Government’s information in its report of 26 February 2018, submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council that it has adopted national measures to prohibit child labour, particularly in the cotton sector and that during school year, children may not be hired to perform agricultural work that hinders their studies. Furthermore, officials of educational institutions are subject to disciplinary action under labour law for the use of child labour in educational institutions in any activity, including agriculture (A/HRC/WG.6/30/TKM/1, paragraphs 209–212).  The Committee therefore strongly encourages the Government to continue taking effective measures to ensure that children under 18 years are not engaged in hazardous work or subject to forced labour in the cotton sector, including during the school holidays or their time out of school. It requests the Government to provide specific information on the steps taken in this regard, including measures to enforce the relevant legislation prohibiting children’s involvement in the cotton harvest, and on any offences reported, investigations conducted, violations found and penalties imposed.

2. State-owned farms and bazaars. The Committee notes from the recent observations of the ITUC that during the 2019 summer, children in the summer camps, were sent by school authorities into harvesting potatoes on state-owned farms. These children between the ages of 9 and 17 were forced to work all day, sometimes in extreme temperatures without proper meals or drinking water. The ITUC further states that Turkmen News has documented in 2019 and 2020 the widespread exploitation of children in bazaars where they were forced to engage in hard labour, including carrying heavy loads in extreme weather conditions. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that children under 18 are not engaged in hazardous work, including measures to enforce all relevant legislation prohibiting children’s involvement in such work and to keep the Committee informed on any offences reported, investigations conducted, violations found and penalties imposed under all such legislation.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government, which reiterates the content of its previous request adopted in 2019.