Kazakhstan

(asked on 17th July 2014) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the government of Kazakstan on violation of fundamental labour rights and exploitation of child labour.


Answered by
Tobias Ellwood Portrait
Tobias Ellwood
This question was answered on 1st September 2014

We were deeply concerned by the labour clashes in western Kazakhstan in December 2011.

In November in a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), encouraged Kazakhstan to sign up to the Voluntary Principles on Business and Human Rights, which aim to reduce the risk of human rights abuses connected to the extractives industry.

We are funding a project to promote the implementation of the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework and guiding principles on business and human rights in Kazakhstan.

Finally, we welcome and support Kazakhstan’s efforts to implement its 2012-2014 Joint Action Plan and Joint Work Plan for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, and meet its international obligations in this field.

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