Uzbek Cotton-Picking Claims Eighth Victim
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 23 October 2013 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Uzbek Cotton-Picking Claims Eighth Victim , 23 October 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/526fa1904.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A student has died in Uzbekistan's northwestern province of Khorezm during mandatory cotton picking.
Sixteen-year-old Erkaboi Yuldoshev, who reportedly had a preexisting heart condition, died on his bed in a barracks after he had picked the required daily norm of 20 kilograms of cotton. An official in Urgench district said Yuldoshev died of a heart attack on October 21.
It's the eighth death to have occurred at mandatory cotton-picking sites in Uzbekistan in the last several weeks from a variety of causes, including suicide, electrocution, and a fatal stabbing.
Uzbek authorities have been criticized for years for forcing children to work against their will in the cotton fields. In recent years, not only children but teachers, actors, doctors, and athletes have been under pressure to pick cotton, one of Uzbekistan's biggest exports.
