Uzbekistan is a country that is not particularly present in Central Asia even today. However, the country of Uzbekistan has a unique "characteristic product", that is, the bride. Uzbek brides can be said to be "sold overseas".
In addition to the bride being "exported", there is another "feature" that is somewhat scary, that is, the forced sterilization of women.
(Uzbek girl)
- Compulsory sterilization
In China, we also had a family planning program. Although our family planning is also mandatory, it is still mainly carried out by citizens' consciousness. But in Uzbekistan, their "family planning" is even more "violent".
In Uzbekistan, forced sterilization is used to completely eliminate the ability of women to have children, and through this way to achieve the ultimate goal of controlling population growth.
This policy is even implemented by the central government of Uzbekistan. All women who have given birth to two or more children are "potential targets" of the policy.
(Tashkent)
And Uzbekistan's population growth curve is really quite exaggerated. Uzbekistan had only 21 million people in 1991, but in 2022 it has grown to 33.37 million!
The reason for this explosive population growth is actually caused by the movement of local people to the city, and this reason will be discussed later.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a large number of ethnic Russians in Uzbekistan began to "reverse immigration" to Russia. Ethnic Russians in Uzbekistan are mainly concentrated in the cities. This also freed up a lot of space in Uzbekistan's cities, and locals naturally filled the void.
The city's superior environment has made the local fertility rate soar. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, life in Uzbekistan's cities is much worse than it was in Soviet times. However, compared to the rural areas of Uzbekistan, the urban environment is still very favorable.
(Uzbek woman)
Today, 75 percent of Uzbekistan's poor live in rural areas. In 2023, there will be 700,000 more people living in cities than in rural areas. Uzbekistan is the only Central Asian country where the urban population is higher than the rural population.
This data can also explain at least three things. First, Uzbekistan's urban population is growing faster than its rural population. Second, Uzbekistan's population is still moving to the cities. Thirdly, the environment of arable land in Uzbekistan continues to deteriorate, which also causes the rural population to move to the cities.
But the city's carrying capacity is limited, and Uzbekistan cannot afford "endless population growth." As a result, Uzbekistan has had to "go out of its way" to implement forced sterilization measures for women. The reason for the forced sterilization is that the local people in Uzbekistan are mostly Muslims and have the concept of "having many children and being blessed".
(Uzbek woman)
The Uzbek government's family planning policy is difficult to fully implement in the local area, so it must be enforced. In addition, the target of forced sterilization is mainly concentrated in urban residents, and the same practice is not applied to the countryside. This is also because the main goal of the government is actually to control the urban population.
Due to the legacy of the Soviet era, bureaucracy has also led to officials at all levels in Uzbekistan, in order to meet the needs of the upper leadership. They also began to set local targets and push forward the policy of forced sterilization. Many women who did not meet the standards in the first place became victims of forced sterilization policies...
- Dire consequences
This forced sterilization is also indicative of a phenomenon. That is, in Uzbekistan and the whole Central Asian region, the status of women has always been in a state of "neglect." Not only are forced sterilizations of a state nature, but domestic violence of a family nature is also very serious in Uzbekistan.
(Domestic violence scene)
On June 16, 2022, a terrible event took place at a wedding in Uzbekistan. The bride was slapped by the groom in public at the wedding because she won the wedding game! Once the video was posted on the Internet, it immediately attracted considerable attention.
The New York Post in the United States described the woman as "the most miserable bride," and the British media also pulled out a video from 2019, also in Uzbekistan, the same wedding, the same small game, the same groom slapped the bride. This also seems to indicate that similar phenomena are very common, at least in Uzbekistan.
"People think that violence against women is very unfortunate, but the most unfortunate thing is that in Uzbekistan, it has become a custom, an integral part of traditional culture, a sad but inevitable thing," said a local lawyer.
(Domestic violence scene)
The local judiciary later said the bride and groom in the video had "reconciled" and were now living together. It is reported that the groom, even if charged, will only be detained for a maximum of 15 days. So, if you are an Uzbek woman, do you identify with the country?
Uzbek women almost inevitably try to flee the country, and cases of "export" brides have also begun to emerge. After all, if women can escape the misery and bring an income to the family, it is naturally not a bad result for the family.
(Uzbek woman)
But on the other hand, poverty in Uzbekistan is also one of the main reasons for the locals to "go out". It's not just for women, it's for men as well. In today's Russia, there are a large number of Uzbeks who work in Russia and send their earnings home.
For many families in rural Uzbekistan, the main income is remittances from young people working abroad. But Russia is ultimately less attractive than developed countries such as South Korea or Japan. Marriage, of course, is a way to go to developed countries, which is particularly "simple and convenient" for local women.
This is also the case in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where political chaos and poor security have made the situation even worse than in Uzbekistan. However, due to the economic downturn in various countries caused by the global pandemic, and the increasing difficulty of cross-border travel.
(Uzbekistan)
As a result, the labor export of Central Asian countries has also been affected to some extent. As a result, extreme poverty in Central Asian countries is slowly rising. In Kyrgyzstan, extreme urban poverty has begun to approach rural poverty. But in Uzbekistan, this is not happening as fast.
Central Asia's economic fragility, however, must be traced back to the distant "Russian era."
- Special Uzbekistan
Historically, Central Asia has long been a part of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union (hereinafter referred to as Russia). During the period of Russian rule, Central Asia had long served as an "agricultural and pastoral region." This also makes it difficult for Central Asian countries to develop their own industrial systems, and agriculture has always occupied a large proportion in Central Asian countries.
(Soviet Union)
Therefore, in this period, under the domination of Russia, Uzbekistan launched a large-scale construction of agricultural irrigation facilities. The spread of irrigation facilities has also allowed Uzbekistan's agricultural output to soar every year. But both the Uzbeks and the Russians have deliberately ignored one problem: the environment.
The Central Asian region in which Uzbekistan is located is itself quite arid. The large-scale agricultural production is almost destined to cause soil erosion, this kind of drain fishing development, but also made the local natural environment suffered serious damage. Especially the water resources, because the loss is too large, the production is less, so the reduction of water resources is unusually serious.
It was not until the late 1980s that this began to manifest itself. But for Uzbekistan at this time, this issue is still not too much to worry about. Because under Moscow's macro-control, whatever Uzbekistan lacked, it was able to get support from the entire Soviet Union.
But the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Central Asian countries have also lost support from Moscow. But for Uzbekistan, they are facing the most serious situation, because Uzbekistan is the Central Asian countries, the largest proportion of agriculture in a country!
It is also one of the most environmentally damaged countries in the world. In the 1990s, much of Uzbekistan's arable land was no longer suitable for growing crops.
Large numbers of peasants, effectively losing their land, began to flood into the cities. And the locals who remained in the countryside, whose incomes were no longer what they had been in Russian times, could be bought by the government at a flat price. It will be affected by international food prices, and its income will fall off a cliff.
Previously, Uzbek grain shipped to Russia, are not required to pay taxes, but now need to pay tariffs, tolls, and so on costs are soaring. Uzbekistan's industry, though small, was also built on the basis of Moscow's macro-control. It can be said that all industries in Uzbekistan are in the service of Russia.
However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan's industry lost the Russian market, and naturally lost the meaning and value of existence. Uzbekistan has also become the "rust belt" of Central Asia, or the whole of Central Asia.
So without Moscow's macro-control, Uzbekistan's economy naturally went lower and lower. However, while Uzbekistan's economy continues to decline, population growth continues to rise. This is also the inertia of Central Asia's development, and this inertia is starting to become a big problem in the 21st century.
It is clear that if the situation does not improve, Uzbekistan will have no future.
