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TASHKENT (TCA) — The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors has approved a $145 million loan to help improve water supply and sanitation services in the Republic of Karakalpakstan (RK), an autonomous republic in northwestern Uzbekistan. The project will benefit about 388,000 residents, half of whom are women and girls, the ADB country office in Uzbekistan said.
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DUSHANBE (TCA) — Cancer patients in Tajikistan will have greater access to treatment with ongoing support from the IAEA technical cooperation (TC) programme in strengthening oncology services in the country. For many cancer patients, receiving treatment means a lengthy journey to the country’s single radiotherapy facility—the Republic Oncology Research Centre in the capital, Dushanbe. Many others go abroad to receive timelier care, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on its website.
Paul Goble
BISHKEK (TCA) — The issue of opening a second Russian military base in Kyrgyzstan has re-emerged in recent weeks, which shows Moscow’s determination to strengthen its positions in Central Asia. We are republishing this article on the issue, written by Paul Goble, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor:
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ASHGABAT (TCA) — The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has concluded a five-day workshop designed to help transport and logistics companies in Turkmenistan improve their management systems and increase their export opportunities, the US Embassy in Ashgabat reported. Turkmenistan has developed numerous large-scale infrastructure projects to improve trade potential but, without good management practices, local transport and logistics companies will not be able to take advantage of improved trade opportunities.
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ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed the Law “On Amendments and Additions to Some Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Improving Regulation of Entrepreneurial Activity”.
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ASHGABAT (TCA) — The U.S. government has banned all imports of cotton goods from Turkmenistan, which activists have accused of rampant use of child and forced labor in cotton harvesting, RFE/RL reported.
The Withhold Release Order, filed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service on May 18 and made public on May 24, did not specify the reason for the ban.
But members of the U.S. Cotton Campaign, Alternative Turkmenistan News, and International Labor Rights Forum had petitioned the CBP to ban importation of all goods made with Turkmen cotton that was produced with forced labor.
“These three groups alleged that the Turkmen government forces public-sector employees under threat of punishment, including loss of wages and termination of employment, to pick cotton,” the Crowell & Moring International Trade Group said on its website on May 24.
U.S. law prohibits the importation of products produced through slave or child labor or by violating labor laws.
“The decision of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service is an important step towards the complete cessation of one of the most egregious practices of using forced labor still left in the world,” said Erik Gottwald, director of the International Forum on Labor Rights for Policy Development and Legal Affairs.
Ruslan Myatiev, editor and founder of Alternative Turkmenistan News, said that “annually, the Turkmen government forces tens of thousands of public sector employees, including teachers, nurses, and doctors, to pick cotton, pay a bribe or hire a replacement worker, all under threat of punishment, including loss of wages and termination of employment.”
Several leading global retailers, including H&M and IKEA, have said they were no longer using Turkmen cotton and textiles in their products.
The 2016 Global Slavery Index listed the countries it said have systematically forced their population into labor, including Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Belarus, China, Eritrea, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam.
The report said that an estimated 15,800 people were believed to be held in “modern slavery” in Turkmenistan.
