Сhild labor is moving to “the worst forms” in Azerbaijan namely drug sales, prostitution and child trafficking to Dubai and Turkey, says the document published by WikiLeaks.

“Following the release of the Department of Labor’s report on International Child Labor, Econoff toured cotton-producing regions of Azerbaijan and witnessed child labor during the harvest.  It’s unclear if child labor is a problem or a symptom of an awful school system.  One teenager asked Econoff, ‘Why should I go to school?  I will just sit there for no reason for two more years, and then I will come back to work here.  I should start working now’,” reads the cable summarizing economic and commercial issues in Azerbaijan.

According to the report, the cotton industry has suffered a 95 percent decline (from 32,000 hectares of production in Soviet times to 1,700 hectares today), and as the sector shrinks, child labor is moving to “the worst forms,” namely drug sales, prostitution, and child trafficking to Dubai and Turkey.