European Union Statement 

112th International Labour Conference

Committee on Application of Standards



Turkmenistan

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)

Geneva, 7 June 2024

Chair.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro* and Albania*, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

1. The EU and its Member States are committed to the respect, protection and fulfilment of human rights, including labour rights. We promote universal ratification and effective implementation of fundamental ILO Conventions and support the ILO in developing and promoting international labour standards and supervising their application.
2. Human rights are an essential aspect of our bilateral relations with Turkmenistan. The European Union and Turkmenistan hold an annual Human Rights Dialogue, allowing for discussions on issues related to this topic.
3. In June 2023, the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) deplored the persistence of widespread use of forced labour in relation to the annual state-sponsored cotton harvest and the Government’s failure to make any meaningful progress on the matter since the discussions of the case in 2016 and 2021.
4. In this context, we welcome the recently increased cooperation between the Government of Turkmenistan and ILO to address this long-standing concern related to the effective implementation of ILO fundamental Convention No. 105. We thank the Office for its active engagement in the promotion of labour rights and the abolition of forced labour in Turkmenistan and welcome that the Government of Turkmenistan has availed itself of ILO technical assistance, including several ILO missions in this regard. We call on Turkmenistan to translate this engagement into concrete progress.
5. We took note of the written information provided by the Government of Turkmenistan, including on the priority areas of the adopted Roadmap for cooperation activities between the ILO and Government of Turkmenistan 2024-2025. We welcome that priority is given to the abolition and prevention of child labour and forced or compulsory labour during the cotton harvest through policy, administrative and legislative measures.
6. In line with the Roadmap, we expect the Government to ensure the adequate protection of all individuals who file complaints, as well as provide appropriate support services and effective access to remedies for victims. We acknowledge the planned involvement of the Ombudsperson Office in monitoring the situation and handling complaints related to forced labour. It is essential that the Government of Turkmenistan ensures decent employment and working conditions, including fair and decent pay for cotton pickers through social dialogue. Continued collaboration with the ILO is important in this regard, including in view of the ratification of Labour Inspection Conventions No. 81 and 129, fundamental OSH conventions No. 155 and 187, Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention No. 102, as well as the Protocol 29 to the Forced Labour Convention.
7. We welcome the collaboration with the ILO with regard to preparing a draft Memorandum of Understanding on a survey of working conditions during the 2024 cotton harvest in Turkmenistan and express our strong call for the planned improvements in the legislative framework in the country to take place. We took note of the information, provided by the Government of Turkmenistan, on the engagement of the Parliament of Turkmenistan in awareness-raising activities on forced and child labour and encourage the Government to continue the activities in this regard.
8. Whilst welcoming the initiatives undertaken by the Government, we note with great concern the observations by the ITUC on increased pressure on heads of state-owned enterprises to mobilize workers for cotton harvesting, including public sector employees, to meet the State’s cotton harvest plan. We are also deeply concerned by the hazardous conditions under which the work is performed, the practice of imposing fees for replacement pickers and the fact that the majority of the civil servants subject to forced labour are women.
9. We regret that the findings of the independent ILO observance mission, carried out during the harvest in October 2023, also show direct or indirect evidence of a widespread mobilization of public servants for cotton harvesting.
10.  We reiterate the Committee of Experts’ call and urge the Government of Turkmenistan to further strengthen its efforts to engage with the ILO and the social partners to fully implement Convention No. 105 in practice, thereby ensuring complete elimination of the use of compulsory labour of workers, particularly from the public sector, in cotton production. We expect the Government to continue to provide information on concrete measures taken to fully implement the Roadmap.
11. The EU and its MS welcome the Government’s recent openness on the issue of eradication forced labour in the country and its readiness to continue cooperation with the ILO. We hope it is followed by concrete progress soon. We stand ready to support Turkmenistan in meeting its obligations under the ratified Conventions and we will continue to follow closely the situation in the country.

Thank you, Chair.

*North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.