Kazakhstan HUMAN “Hellish Work” RIGHTS Exploitation of Migrant Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan WATCH “Hellish Work” Exploitation of Migrant Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-656-X Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org July 2010 1-56432-656-X “Hellish Work” Exploitation of Migrant Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan Summary and Key Recommendations ................................................................................................ 1 Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 20 Part 1: Background ...........................................................................................................................23 1.1 Migration to Kazakhstan ....................................................................................................... 23 1.2 Kazakhstani Law and Policy Relevant to Migrant Agricultural Workers .................................. 26 The quota system ............................................................................................................... 26 Quotas in 2009 and the absence of quotas for agricultural workers ..................................... 27 Permits for hiring foreign workers ....................................................................................... 28 Residency registration for foreigners entering under the non-visa regime ............................ 28 1.3 Philip Morris International and Philip Morris Kazakhstan ..................................................... 29 Philip Morris International .................................................................................................. 29 Philip Morris Kazakhstan ..................................................................................................... 30 1.4 Structure of Tobacco Farming in Kazakhstan ......................................................................... 30 The tobacco season ............................................................................................................ 31 Payment structure ............................................................................................................... 31 1.5 Governmental and Corporate Responsibilities ....................................................................... 32 Corporate responsibility ...................................................................................................... 34 Part 2: Abuse and Exploitation of Migrant Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan .......................................... 38 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 38 2.2 Absence of Written Contracts ............................................................................................... 39 Contracts in previous years ................................................................................................ 40 2.3 Failure to Pay Regular Wages and Payments of Less than Minimum Wage ............................. 41 2.4 Deductions from Final Payments .......................................................................................... 43 2.5 Lack of Transparency and Deception in the Final Payment ..................................................... 44 Migrant workers’ participation in delivery and purchase of the tobacco ................................ 45 Vulnerability to being cheated ............................................................................................ 46 2.6 Induced Indebtedness and Debt Bondage ........................................................................... 48 Ulkan U. and her children ................................................................................................... 49 A family from Karasuu ........................................................................................................ 49 Damira D. and her children .................................................................................................. 50 A family from Karatash ........................................................................................................ 51 2.7 Retention of Identity Documents and Confinement to Farms ................................................. 52 2.8 Forced Labor ........................................................................................................................ 54 International and national legal standards .......................................................................... 54 Almira A. and her family ...................................................................................................... 56 Zhumartbek Zh. and his family ............................................................................................ 57 Makhmud M. and his family ................................................................................................ 58 Umut U. and her children ..................................................................................................... 59 Schakhlo S. and her family ................................................................................................. 60 Almazbek A. and his family ................................................................................................ 60 2.9 Excessively Long Working Hours and Lack of Rest ................................................................. 61 2.10 Exposure to and Inadequate Information about Pesticides and Fertilizers .......................... 62 Pesticides .......................................................................................................................... 64 Fertilizers ............................................................................................................................ 67 2.11 Other Health Risks in Tobacco Farming ............................................................................... 69 2.12 Lack of Potable Water ......................................................................................................... 71 2.13 Poor Sanitary Conditions .................................................................................................... 72 2.14 Substandard Employer-provided Living Conditions ............................................................. 73 Part 3: Protection and Redress ......................................................................................................... 75 3.1 Lack of Effective Government Oversight and Complaint Mechanisms ..................................... 75 Monitoring by the Labor Inspectorate and Ministry of Interior ............................................... 75 Government complaint mechanisms ................................................................................... 76 3.2 Non-governmental Avenues for Redress ............................................................................... 78 Non-governmental organizations ......................................................................................... 78 Trade unions ...................................................................................................................... 80 3.3 The Government of Kyrgyzstan .............................................................................................. 81 3.4 The Role of Philip Morris International and Philip Morris Kazakhstan .................................... 83 The Good Agricultural Practices Policy ................................................................................. 83 Implementation in Kazakhstan ........................................................................................... 84 PMI and PMK response to Human Rights Watch ................................................................... 85 Commitments from PMI ...................................................................................................... 86 Part 4: Child Labor and Other Abuses against Migrant Worker Children .......................................... 90 4.1 Child Labor in Tobacco Farming ........................................................................................... 92 Hazardous child labor ........................................................................................................ 92 International standards, Kazakhstani law, and hazardous child labor .................................. 93 4.2 Violation of the Right to Education ...................................................................................... 96 International standards and Kazakhstani law .....................................................................