Labour Migration in the Cotton Fields: Challenges and Exploitation in Southern Kazakhstan

1. Uzbek Labour Migrants in the Cotton Fields of Southern Kazakhstan Daur Dosibiyev Presented at the SOAS conference ”The Cotton Sector in Central Asia: economic policy and development challenges”, 3-4 November 2005 (English version)

2. Southern Kazakhstan • Southern Kazakhstan is the only part of the country where cotton is produced • The major cotton growing areas are located along the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan • Kazakh farmers gladly hire unemployed citizens of Uzbekistan since they are paid three times less than local workers • The Uzbek migrants are also satisfied: at home they are paid even less

3. Three Groups of Uzbek “Gastarbeiter” • Relatively well-off Uzbek farmers who are hired along with their entire families every year by the same farms (they form around 30% of all gastarbeiter) • Largest group: those who arrive in Kazakhstan illegally (they are hired by small and medium farms on conditions dictated by the employers and do not complain about any inconveniences) - around 50% • Smallest group: those without documents who agree to work for free board and lodging; they make up about 20%

4. Immigration Statistics • In 2004,more than 4,000 illegal immigrants were identified in Southern Kazakhstan. The real number of illegal immigrants, however, is much higher. • In August 2005,the regional employment authority announced that 12,000 people who do not have a permanent job take part in the cotton harvesting in Southern Kazakhstan; approx. 2,000 of them are officially registered as unemployed.

5. Motivation of Labour Migrants • Illegal workers receive 4-5 tenge ($0.03) for each kg of picked cotton. In a month, an experienced worker earns up to $200. The pay for Kazakhstani workers starts at 10 tenge ($0.06) per kg. • Example: In a season, the Abdukarimov family (a father and two sons) takes home about USD 800. Taking into account that in Uzbekistan wages of USD 20 per month are considered normal, one may assume that the Abdukarimov family is quite happy with their earnings.

6. Abuses and Violations of Human Rights • Kazakhstani farmers sometimes use forms of exploitation that openly resemble slavery. It is not unusual for an employer to report his workers to the police at the end of the season if he knows that they have entered Kazakhstan illegally. In that way, he does not have to pay for their work. • Representatives of the law-enforcement bodies do nothing to stop the situation, accepting bribes from the farmers instead. The farmers are not even put off by the fact that there are people with criminal records among the illegal workers .

7. Socio-economic and Legal Dimensions of the Problem • Farmers see little reason to register their workers: registration only leads to an increase in expenses and taxes • There is no insurance for labour migrants • Kazakh law does not account for the status of labour migrants; their employment is not recorded anywhere; the whole process of recruitment is based on the verbal agreement between workers and employers. Accordingly, the rights of Uzbek citizens working on the cotton fields of Kazakhstan are not protected in any way. • The production of cotton cannot function normally without additional workers.

8. Recommendations • It is necessary to establish a resource centre where labour migrants can go for legal or other information. Thus, they can avoid the situation of employers exploiting their lack of legal protection. It is also necessary to publish special brochures for illegal labour migrants. These brochures should describe Kazakhstani legislation regarding this category of people, explain the disadvantages of this status and the difficulties illegal labour migrants will face, and show ways to resolve conflicts.