This week the Cotton Campaign released a report on the use of forced labor to harvest Turkmenistan Cotton. The Cotton Campaign calls on the Turkmenistan government to “expand the preliminary measures it took in the 2024 harvest to reduce forced labor through reforms that address root causes, empower workers and farmers, and allow independent monitoring and reporting.” They also warn that global supply chains may be at risk of using Turkmenistan cotton harvested with forced labor.
"Turkmenistan Cotton: State-Imposed Forced Labor In The 2024 Harvest And Links To Global Supply Chains" shows that despite some initial steps to address forced labor, such as not mobilizing doctors and teachers in some workplaces and increasing the picking rates to incentivise voluntary picking, state-imposed forced labor remained widespread and systematic. … The report launched today also exposes government interference with ILO monitoring of the 2024 cotton harvest and retaliatory action against the director of Turkmen.News. …
The global apparel and home textiles industry is, knowingly or not, benefiting from the forced labor of state employees and exploitation of farmers in Turkmenistan. The report launched today shows that Türkiye, in particular, is a manufacturing hub of textiles using cotton from Turkmenistan. In addition to Türkiye, brands and retailers are at risk of sourcing Turkmen cotton through suppliers in other countries, including Pakistan, but also European hubs for textile production such as Italy, Poland, or Portugal. In Turkmenistan, forced labor in the harvest is predicated on a top-down system of control whereby regional governors order state institutions to mobilize workers to the cotton fields.