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Human Rights Commissioner calls on Uzbekistan to abolish child labour
Markus Löning, the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office, has called on the Uzbek Government to abolish child labour in the country. He issued the following statement today (9 November):
“I am gravely concerned to receive continued reports of child labour being used in the cotton harvest. Uzbekistan has the obligation under international agreements to combat child labour. I therefore call on the Uzbek Government to clear up these accusations and finally let observers from the International Labour Organization into the country.”
Uzbekistan ratified ILO Conventions 138 and 182 in 2008 and developed a national action plan to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
According to the ILO, however, Uzbekistan has so far refused to accept a high-level mission of observers, which could check on the implementation of the Convention and provide assistance in the fight against child labour.