In the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan Cotton, state authorities force people to harvest cotton. This practice is a fundamental violation of human rights, say the non-governmental organizations Südwind, Inkota, Femnet and HejSupport in a press release. According to the accusation, Turkmenistan is one of the countries in which forced labor is used systematically and organized by the state.
They are therefore calling on the German federal government’s textile alliance, in which the NGOs mentioned are also represented, to finally act instead of remaining inactive. Accordingly, the textile alliance should recommend its member companies to boycott Turkmen cotton and thus stop the systematic forced labor. “By refusing [dieses Aufrufs zum Boykott; Anmerkung d. Redaktion] the textile alliance misses an opportunity to contribute to the abolition of a state-organized forced labor system. In the run-up to the 2023/24 cotton harvest, international pressure on Turkmenistan could have been increased through clear positioning,” the organizations wrote.
The example of Uzbekistan, where systematic forced labor was abolished as a result of the Cotton Campaign and in a process lasting several years under the supervision of the ILO, shows that systematic state forced labor can be ended.