Dilfuza Toshmatova, deputy hokim of Sariosiyo district of Surkhandarya region, became the first casualty of this year’s cotton harvest in Uzbekistan, which has faced a shortage of pickers for the past three years.
On September 8, the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction announced that deputy hokim Toshmatova had been held administratively liable for “coercion to labor” and fined 20.6 million UZS ($1,600). This followed the publication of a video message, recorded by Toshmatova and sent to “women’s activists” (mahalla employees), in which she demanded that the activists find 5–10 cotton pickers each, warning that they could otherwise lose their jobs.
In its official statement, the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction reminded citizens that they can anonymously call a special hotline if they are being forced to pick cotton.
Although Dilfuza Tashmatova appears to have received a deserved punishment, the labor inspectorate investigating information in the media or complaints of forced labor during the cotton harvest has chosen not to “notice the elephant in the room”, namely that Dilfuza Toshmatova was clearly carrying out the instructions of the district hokim (head of the local administration) who is responsible for ensuring the timely harvest of cotton.
On September 11, the independent Telegram channel Eltuz published an audio recording in which Anvar Ochilov, hokim of the Bukhara district of Bukhara region, addressed employees of mahalla committees, urging them to work harder to mobilize citizens for cotton picking. “Starting tomorrow, we will work in this way. You must begin no later than 6:30 a.m. Get everyone out to pick cotton. Negotiate with farmers and organize conditions for pickers. Send photo and video reports to this [Telegram] group,” the hokim instructed mahalla employees.
The hokim’s speech revealed that the Bukhara district must harvest 1,100 tons of cotton per day—3.5% of the district production quota. To meet this target, 20,000 pickers in the district must be mobilized daily.
The cotton harvest in Uzbekistan is overseen by presidential adviser Shukhrat Ganiev, who traditionally holds a daily Zoom meeting at noon during the harvest season to hear reports from regional and district hokims throughout the country on the progress of the harvest. Leaked recordings of similar meetings during the 2024 cotton harvest revealed the enormous pressure placed on hokims in districts that are behind on their cotton targets. Ganiev threatened these hokims with dismissal and criminal prosecutions.
During the cotton harvest, the mahalla, which presents as a self-governing citizens’ body, is traditionally responsible for supplying the required number of pickers. As a result, mahalla employees are under immense pressure, since failure to fulfill hokims’ orders could cost them their jobs.
Dilfuza Toshmatova, who was fined the equivalent of a schoolteacher’s six-month salary for forcing mahalla employees to mobilize cotton pickers under threat of dismissal, is nothing more than a victim of an abusive labor recruitment system based on threats and intimidation handed down the chain of command from the very top of government.
Without addressing the motivation and incentives for officials to forcibly mobilize pickers, Uzbekistan’s cotton fields remain a high risk environment for forced labor.
