Uzbekistan Silk Children

AP News - 530 days ago
Uzbekistan Silk Children
In this May 18, 2010 photo, a child stands next to a woman as she places dry twigs on top of a pile of mulberry leaves in Kokand, Uzbekistan. Silkworms she has raised in her house will climb the twigs to form cocoons. The silkworm business dates back centuries to the Silk Road that ran through this Central Asian country. But its modern-day incarnation as a state monopoly has a dark side. Farmers say they are threatened with fines or loss of their land leases for missing quotas, and that these are so high that they have no choice but to draft their children into the work. (AP Photo)