Uzbeks Caught Trying to Work in Kazakstan
Uzbeks Caught Trying to Work in Kazakstan
Uzbek nationals desperate for work are crossing illegally into Kazakstan in hope of getting jobs on cotton plantations.
On September 16, Kazak media reported that 53 people had been detained close to the Myrzakent checkpoint while trying to slip into South Kazakstan region.
Larisa Dmitryuk of the Kazak frontier guard service told NBCentralAsia that the group was taken to a police station in Maktaaral district for questioning.
“Initially, many of them said they’d wanted to visit relatives living in Kazakstan,” a local policeman told NBCentralAsia. “However, we found out that these Uzbek citizens were coming to Kazakstan in search of work.”
Observers say the number of illegal migrants crossing from Uzbekistan increases when the annual cotton harvest begins.
South Kazakstan region is only the part of the country where cotton is grown, and the crop accounts for almost half of its agricultural output. Harvesting is labour-intensive and there are never enough workers locally to meet the need.
Local human rights activists say that last year Maktaaral district was host to around 10,000 workers from the Fergana valley and Karakalpakstan, both in Uzbekistan.
“They come and stay here illegally,” said one Kazak journalist. “Local workers complain that the wages are too low, but the migrants are quite happy with this.”
As the world’s fifth-largest producer and second-largest exporter of cotton, Uzbekistan has substantial demand for labour at harvest time. However, the poor remuneration for the work drives people to seek higher earnings in Kazakstan.
In Uzbekistan, the rate is 40 soms (about three US cents) per kilogram, resulting in average daily earnings of around three dollars. A picker can expect to earn three or four times this amount in Kazakstan.
“During the [last harvest] season we earned over 1,500 dollars. We pick 500 kilos of cotton a day,” said an Uzbek who gave his first name as Rustam and who brings his family of six to work in Kazakstan every year.
Employers in Kazakstan say they like hiring hire Uzbeks as they work hard and do not complain about the food.
“They aren’t lazy, they work very hard. They don’t ask for much food or money compared with our workers,” said Serik, a businessman who hires Uzbeks as illegal workers. “They pick about 150 kilos of cotton a day. That’s a lot. It’s very profitable to hire these people to work in the fields.”
Back in Uzbekistan, the authorities continue to deal with the seasonal demand for labour by using schoolchildren and students to pick cotton, despite pledges that the practice has stopped.
Schoolchildren in the eastern Andijan province started picking cotton on September 15.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
On September 16, Kazak media reported that 53 people had been detained close to the Myrzakent checkpoint while trying to slip into South Kazakstan region.
Larisa Dmitryuk of the Kazak frontier guard service told NBCentralAsia that the group was taken to a police station in Maktaaral district for questioning.
“Initially, many of them said they’d wanted to visit relatives living in Kazakstan,” a local policeman told NBCentralAsia. “However, we found out that these Uzbek citizens were coming to Kazakstan in search of work.”
Observers say the number of illegal migrants crossing from Uzbekistan increases when the annual cotton harvest begins.
South Kazakstan region is only the part of the country where cotton is grown, and the crop accounts for almost half of its agricultural output. Harvesting is labour-intensive and there are never enough workers locally to meet the need.
Local human rights activists say that last year Maktaaral district was host to around 10,000 workers from the Fergana valley and Karakalpakstan, both in Uzbekistan.
“They come and stay here illegally,” said one Kazak journalist. “Local workers complain that the wages are too low, but the migrants are quite happy with this.”
As the world’s fifth-largest producer and second-largest exporter of cotton, Uzbekistan has substantial demand for labour at harvest time. However, the poor remuneration for the work drives people to seek higher earnings in Kazakstan.
In Uzbekistan, the rate is 40 soms (about three US cents) per kilogram, resulting in average daily earnings of around three dollars. A picker can expect to earn three or four times this amount in Kazakstan.
“During the [last harvest] season we earned over 1,500 dollars. We pick 500 kilos of cotton a day,” said an Uzbek who gave his first name as Rustam and who brings his family of six to work in Kazakstan every year.
Employers in Kazakstan say they like hiring hire Uzbeks as they work hard and do not complain about the food.
“They aren’t lazy, they work very hard. They don’t ask for much food or money compared with our workers,” said Serik, a businessman who hires Uzbeks as illegal workers. “They pick about 150 kilos of cotton a day. That’s a lot. It’s very profitable to hire these people to work in the fields.”
Back in Uzbekistan, the authorities continue to deal with the seasonal demand for labour by using schoolchildren and students to pick cotton, despite pledges that the practice has stopped.
Schoolchildren in the eastern Andijan province started picking cotton on September 15.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
