Uzbekistan cotton
Regional authorities in Samarkand Province have started ordering wedding venues to cancel celebrations until the cotton harvest is completed, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Uzbek Service. Pensioners, students and government employees are reportedly being sent to pick the crop. The increasing use of adults appears to be a result of attempts by President Islam Karimov's regime to be seen to be keeping children out of the cotton fields. Cotton is a crucial source or revenue for Uzbekistan. As remittance payments from migrant workers in Russia fall and hydrocarbons prices remain low, the crop's importance will grow.
Education and healthcare will suffer up to the end of the cotton season in November as students and doctors are forced to pick the crop.
United States upgrading of Uzbekistan's status on human trafficking risks decreasing pressure on Tashkent to reform further.
Continual reliance on cotton industry will worsen water tensions between Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states.
