Uzbekistan expels international labor rights consultant
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 25 March 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Uzbekistan expels international labor rights consultant, 25 March 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/552f9d9c34.html [accessed 2 June 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. |
March 25, 2015
By RFE/RL
Uzbekistan has reportedly arrested and deported an international labor rights expert who was looking into labor practices in the Central Asian country.
A release from the Cotton Campaign advocacy group said a consultant for the firm Just Solutions Network Ltd., Andre Mrost, was investigating use of child labor in Uzbekistan's cotton harvesting.
His presence in Uzbekistan was one of the conditions the World Bank insisted upon in order to free up loans for Uzbekistan's agricultural sector, it said.
The statement quoted Mrost as saying "three men in black" and three policemen approached him on March 19, demanded his passport and took him to a police station.
Mrost said he was interrogated, first by a representative from Uzbekistan's Labor Ministry, then by police, and finally by representatives of the national security service.
Mrost said he was forced to sign a document he could not understand, since it was written in Uzbek, and then escorted to the airport where passport control stamped his passport with an order prohibiting his reentry.
Mrost had met with representatives of rights groups while he was in Uzbekistan.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
