In order to increase awareness of the child labour practices in the Uzbekistan cotton industry, lobby the EU with a stronger petition, and garner support for fashion free of child labour, we have re-launched our Cotton Crimes Campaign with a short film. Please discuss and share this; let us work communally to end Uzbekistan’s forced child labour practices.
Moving forward with our campaign is important. The deadline for our petition is imminent and the 2011 cotton harvest has begun. In Uzbekistan, the third largest exporter of cotton in the world, it is not the cotton picking machines that are firing up; unlike other major cotton exporting countries, Uzbekistan does not use machines. Instead, it is the country’s schools that are shutting down as Government officials force children as young as nine out of their classrooms and into the fields to pick cotton.
In the wake of our successful lobbying of the EU to block a textile deal with Uzbekistan, due to objections over the country’s continued use of government sanctioned forced child labour, it is important that we keep our feet on the ground. Though we are hugely proud of this progress, we continue to campaign for the EU to enact consistent policy with Uzbekistan in order to pressure the country to end their practice of forced labour.
The European Union must still remove the preferential trade tariffs given to Uzbekistan for cotton imported into the EU. Sign our petition to Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, calling for exactly that.
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