Natalia Abdullayeva

Specializing in spreading awareness, Natalia Abdullayeva works to make sure the labor force of Uzbekistan remains informed about trafficking.

Ms. Abdullayeva is the head of an organization named “ISENIM,” which stands for the Information Enlightening Resource Center, and is headquartered in Nukus. The town of Nukus sits close to the border of Uzebkistan and Turkmenistan, and is the capital of one of the administrative divisions of Uzbekistan. Ms. Abdullayeva works primarily to build awareness of human trafficking issues, although the Center also runs a hotline. The Center has worked with various NGO groups, the International Organization for Migration, and the Nukus city authorities to co-ordinate their efforts to inform people about forced labor in the North of Uzbekistan. Ms. Abdullayeva has been working since 2003 to do this. From distributing pamphlets in the markets and at the bus stations, primarily to buses headed to Kazakhstan, to actually boarding buses and providing small information sessions, she works to try and prevent these migratory workers from being abused or from ending up in a forced labor situation. Acknowledging the role that poverty, and lack of access to education, can play in the trafficking process, she has attempted to reach out to the rural areas in Northwest Uzbekistan, where people do not have access to TV, internet, or mobile phones, in order to help them understand the dangers of trafficking, and spot when a labor situation may be exploitative.

In the 2014 TIP Report, Uzbekistan was listed as a Tier 3 country, the lowest classification. Human Trafficking is common, and, during the cotton harvest, often government-supported. It is only a source country. Internal trafficking is common, for forced labor, as well as trafficking to neighboring countries such as Kazakhstan. Some victims are also trafficked overseas, mainly for sexual purposes.