Make sure your name is included in our joint submission calling on the U.S. government to enforce the Uyghur forced labor goods ban. Sign the petition telling the International Olympics Committee to put human rights first! Call for forced labor free solar power! Write to Apple and fashion brands. Write to Urban Outfitters. Read Rahima’s story.
“If the government tells you to work, you go.” — Uyghur laborer, Aksu, China.1
People belonging to ethnic, cultural, and religious groups in northwestern China, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Hui, are currently the target of the largest organized detention of an ethno-religious minority the world has seen since World War II. Since 2017, over one million have been detained.2
Detainees are made to work under constant surveillance, with assigned minders and no freedom to leave. Their forced labor contributes to the production of goods for numerous multinationals.
The native people of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Northwest China—known to locals as East Turkistan—are largely from Turkic ethnic groups. Ethnically and culturally distinct from China’s majority Han population, most Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Hui are Muslim, and their languages—with the exception of the Hui—are unrelated to Mandarin and Cantonese. They have long been persecuted for their ethnicity by the government, which has repressed their language, religion, and culture along with settling millions of Han Chinese in the Uyghur Region. Racial discrimination against Muslims is commonplace.3
In recent years, however, the government’s efforts to oppress and forcibly assimilate people from Turkic and Muslim-majority ethnic groups, like Uyghurs, have expanded dramatically.
Survivor accounts, leaked official documents, and satellite imagery confirm that the Chinese government is subjecting hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Hui, and other Turkic and Muslim people to systematic forced labor in detention camps, prisons, and factories. 4 Forced loyalty to the Communist party, renunciation of Islam, constant surveillance, and torture are among the other horrifying conditions that they face.5 Experts argue that forced labor is now so widespread in the Uyghur Region that all goods produced there should be considered tainted.6
This year, reports revealed that the forced labor of Uyghurs has been expanded beyond the Uyghur Region, with at least 80,000 Uyghurs transferred to factories across China where they cannot leave, are constantly surveilled, and must undergo “ideological training” to abandon their religion and culture.7
Recent video evidence shows that some of these transfers occurred earlier this year, when much of China was under lockdown as a result of the expanding COVID-19 outbreak. This means these laborers were forced to work and exposed to the virus while much of the country’s population sheltered at home. 8
Few detainees are charged with any crime but rather are targeted simply for practicing their Muslim faith. 9 The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination states that Muslim minorities are now “treated as enemies of the State based on nothing more than their ethno-religious identity.”10 Analysts have argued that the Chinese government’s use of forced labor as part of an effort to forcibly assimilate an ethnic group and eliminate a culture and religion sets it apart from more common forms of forced labor and could make the government guilty of crimes against humanity.11 Some have even described the government’s actions as cultural genocide.12
The forced labor of Uyghurs and other people from Turkic or mainly Muslim ethnic groups has become a significant part of the Chinese economy. A complex system of buying and selling their labor has developed, with many brokers and local officials advertising “government sponsored workers” online.13
Countless Western companies are also profiting from this system of forced labor in their supply chains. Over 20 percent of the global apparel’s cotton supply is grown in Uyghur Region,14 with 84 percent of China’s supply grown in the province. Recent reports implicate at least 83 companies, in numerous different industries, in profiting from the forced labor.
- The Huafu Fashion Co. mill in Aksu, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, claims to make yarn that eventually finds its way into clothes for Western fast fashion brands More than 4,000 Uyghurs work there in isolation and under strict “military-style management,” as stated by the local human resources bureau. 15
- The Qingdao Taekwang Shoes Co. Ltd. in Laixi City, Shandong is one of the world’s largest manufacturers for a major sneaker company. As of 2020, around 600 Uyghur people worked in the factory. These workers did not come by choice, are forbidden from leaving, and cannot practice their religion. Photographs of the factory show watchtowers, razor wire, and inward-facing barbed wire fences. 16
- A local government document from September 2019 reported that 560 Xinjiang labourers were transferred to work in factories in central Henan province—including a Foxxcon Technology Co. Ltd. facility in Zhengzhou. Zhengzhou is known locally as ‘iPhone city’ because half of the world’s iPhones are reportedly made there. 17
In May 2021, through the Coalition, we released an academic report conducted by researchers at Sheffield Hallam University that revealed the shocking fact that almost the entire global solar panel industry is implicated in the Uyghur forced labor system. 18 Almost half of the world’s solar-grade polysilicon supply, a primary material in solar panel production, is sourced from the Uyghur Region. Further, the world’s four largest solar panel suppliers all source polysilicon from manufactures implicated in the Uyghur forced labor system.
We have launched a new action for you to tell world leaders that clean energy must be free of forced labor.
You can write directly to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc. While Mr. Cook last year told US Congress that “forced labor is abhorrent,” several current Apple suppliers operating in China have been implicated in the Uyghur forced labor system.19 Additionally, the New York Times reported in November 2020 that disclosure forms showed that Apple paid lobbyists $90,000 to “educate policymakers” in an effort to soften the language of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act which is currently before the U.S. Senate. 20 Apple explained that they proposed “suggested edits to make the bill more clear and we believe more effective.” 21
Apple has also been supplied employee uniforms as recently as June 2020 by the Esquel group which was sanctioned in 2020 by the U.S. government over forced labor at a subsidiary firm in the Uyghur Region.22 Apple keeps saying it has “zero tolerance” for forced labor so why do they continue to work with companies implicated in modern slavery?
Through garment supply chains, the entire fashion industry, including products sold by Western brands, are potentially tainted. We are calling on leading brands and retailers to ensure that they are not supporting or benefiting from this pervasive and extensive system of forced labor.23
You can write write directly to Nike, Uniqlo and Zara. These are three of the world’s biggest clothing brands by revenue,24 and each comes from a different region of the world: North America, Asia, and Europe, respectively.
Nike, Uniqlo and Zara, like almost all companies, claim to prohibit forced labor in their supply chains, yet offer no credible explanation as to how they can do this considering their links to a region where all goods are likely to be tainted by forced labor. By continuing to operate in and maintaining links to the region, fashion brands like these are complicit in what many have widely recognized as crimes against humanity.
The official sportswear uniform supplier of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Anta Sports, is among many apparel companies around the world that source cotton from the Uyghur Region. In March 2021, Anta Sports defiantly declared: “We have always bought and used cotton produced in China, including Xinjiang cotton, and in the future we will continue to do so.” 25
The Coalition engaged the IOC privately for eight months in 2021 to seek information and assess assurances about due diligence steps that the IOC may have taken to ensure that Olympic-branded merchandise is not made with Uyghur forced labor. On December 21, 2021 the IOC rejected the Coalition’s proposed terms for substantive, constructive, and mutually respectful two-way dialogue. 26 The Olympics may be over but you can still let the IOC know that we’re watching them and their blind spot when it comes to human rights.
The Chinese government has defended the camps where cotton and garments are produced as voluntary “vocational training centers” that serve to provide professional opportunities and eliminate extremism.27 But the stories above are just some among the mounting evidence that reveal this system of modern slavery for what it is.
We have the power to push for change. Although the Chinese government continues to deny any wrongdoing, we can draw attention to the issue and put pressure on them to end the use of forced labor. Western governments and corporations must end their involvement in implicated factories. By making it neither economically nor politically advantageous for the Chinese government to continue its current treatment of these people, we can make a difference.
There is a growing movement calling for these changes, and now we have ample evidence to argue for it. Some officials in the U.S. government and around the world have already started calling for laws banning imports from the Uyghur Region. Some companies have cut ties with their factories in the Uyghur Region, while others have pledged to investigate their supply chains. Let’s take advantage of this momentum and use our voice as civil society to cement real change.
Urge the Chinese government to end the persecution and exploitation of Uyghurs and other marginalized groups through the use of forced labor. Join the campaign by signing the petition.
Freedom United denounces prejudice against people based on their ethnicity, perceived or otherwise, which has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s links to China.
Notes:
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/western-companies-get-tangled-in-chinas-muslim-clampdown-11558017472 ↩
- https://www.csis.org/analysis/connecting-dots-xinjiang-forced-labor-forced-assimilation-and-western-supply-chains ↩
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-22278037 ↩
- https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/16/world/asia/xinjiang-china-forced-labor-camps-uighurs.html ↩
- https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uighurs-xinjiang ↩
- https://www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/documents/reports/fla-brief-xinjiang_forced_labor_risk_final.pdf ↩
- https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale ↩
- https://www.rfa.org/english/video?v=1_yjoodoqr ↩
- https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uighurs-xinjiang ↩
- https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23452&LangID=E ↩
- https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/simon-skjodt-center-director-delivers-remarks-on-chinas-systematic-persecut ↩
- https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/19/china-has-chosen-cultural-genocide-in-xinjiang-for-now/ ↩
- https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/ad-aspi/2020-03/Uyghurs%20for%20sale_UPDATE-06MAR.pdf?TJHUQi1T50fUpbjD9zKRLeutM8wuWxpv#page=24 ↩
- https://www.gujcot.com/upload_files/news/Jernigan%20Global%2022-July-2019.pdf ↩
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/western-companies-get-tangled-in-chinas-muslim-clampdown-11558017472 ↩
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-compels-uighurs-to-work-in-shoe-factory-that-supplies-nike/2020/02/28/ebddf5f4-57b2-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html ↩
- https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale ↩
- https://www.shu.ac.uk/helena-kennedy-centre-international-justice/research-and-projects/all-projects/in-broad-daylight ↩
- https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale ↩
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/20/apple-uighur/ ↩
- https://enduyghurforcedlabour.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/Response-by-Apple.pdf ↩
- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/aug/10/apple-imported-clothes-from-xinjiang-firm-facing-us-forced-labour-sanctions ↩
- https://enduyghurforcedlabour.org/call-to-action/ ↩
- https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Retail/Our%20Insights/The%20state%20of%20fashion%202020%20Navigating%20uncertainty/The-State-of-Fashion-2020-final.ashx ↩
- https://www.axios.com/olympic-uniform-supplier-anta-xinjiang-cotton-438a046b-ac3e-4a85-8379-2954ddfbe2d2.html ↩
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/olympic-committee-becomes-latest-target-in-standoff-over-treatment-of-uyghurs-11641324698?st=ywrhzihi9qbujq3&reflink=article_email_share ↩
- https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uighurs-xinjiang ↩
Freedom United is interested in hearing from our community and welcomes relevant, informed comments, advice, and insights that advance the conversation around our campaigns and advocacy. We value inclusivity and respect within our community. To be approved, your comments should be civil.
How about naming the Western companies that are using the products coming from this region. Then we can choose not to purchase their products…corporations don’t care about issues like this (they will pretend to so they sound socially responsible) unless it costs them real, significant dollars.
Totally agree,see my comment
I agree, there should be transparency
Someone helping with this movement spoke at our church about it. Here is a website listing organizations that are complicit or are making steps to change: https://enduyghurforcedlabour.org/fashion/
Lets get our family and friends to join the search for companies who sell slave labour sourced goods! ‘Stop The Shop Here’ campaign could start to have an impact and allow the information to spread!
And you will see,the paper money trail always goes back to governments and their banker mates.
An excellent idea, surely. But, disappointingly, I don’t have the health, energy, and certain forms of computer savvy to practically pursue it.
To Robert Davies
No single one of us can change the world. But I think many of us try to do our bit. Apparently Squire Bill Widener of Virginia said “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are. If everyone did this, imagine where we would be. In the meantime let’s not get despondent and keep fighting the good fight! All the best to you.
I agree the names would be very useful.
I agree, when buying goods online or in shops the country of origin should be clearly visible.
Very good idea Dave. Yes it is ordinary people who understnad and make the important decisions.
stop Buying Made in China.
I believe we need to put our own house in order. We are being manipulated into believing that CHINA is the bad guy – I am not for one minute defending China or any other country, but we need to fight back against Main-Stream- Media Manipulation and Lies. We in the UK are constantly told that X country is enslaving people, but we are not told of the company or organisation that makes people work additional/extra hours unpaid & forced to attend work while ill, because they have no right to sickness pay – I heard today of women forced… Read more »
When we are the ones being slowly led into digital slavery
I do as often as possible. Buy HOTTER shoes only, made in England.
Absolutely agree!
Better still. Unions bycott all shipping from China.
changed of China government might be a great solution for humanity.
Or we could all wear our clothes until they start to get holes, and then mend them and continue to wear them. It is hard, trust me, I know! I really struggle to go out in public, because I feel embarrassed, but if everyone did this, then I wouldn’t feel embarrassed about how I look.
Why would you be embarrassed? I have my clothes mended locally and continue to use them. I refuse to replace perfectly good clothing when it can be repaired and used again. Everyone should be doing this and maybe we could escape the throw away society label we have in this country. Obviously do not buy shoddy clothes if you can avoid it especially if they have been shipped half way round the world. That is not environmentally friendly nor good for local business.
Don’t feel embarrassed, make your repairs stand out, its fashion
no embarrassment…i shop for clothes maybe every 10 years or longer, try my best to keep them in good condition by not putting in the tumble dryer to dry and only wearing outside clothes outside and special loungewear clothing for romping about the house. This has worked for me for decades and has kept me from wasting money in the shops and contributing the this forced labour/slavery.
I don’t buy new clothes and not embarrassed to go in public. It is about doing our part in NOT consuming goods made in China that we DO NOT NEED to survive. This will take down China faster than any sanctions. We the people are just as guilty when we buy the goods.
Good point. I now look at any products I’m intending to buy and avoid those made in China
should be more thoughtful people like you
Had a Ben Sherman shirt when I was 14(sorry don’t know where it was made.) Was still wearing it when I was 25. Only stopped because I could read the print on the ironing board cover through it. Loved that shirt. But to be fair I also hate shopping.
Totally agree with you
Good idea, no need to be embarrassrd
That’ very IN you know
Nike and Apple seem to still be using Uighur forced labor. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53481253
Also check the news on Disney’s Mulan filmed in Xinjiang (the home of Uighurs).
Nothing Nike and Apple do would surprise me. Money not people is their motivator.
Really want to see this list
Watch Warroom Pandemic. There are at least 270 corporations. Steve Bannon has been covering this topic for 10 years now!
Hi Dave and Myroon! Freedom United just joined a coalition of over 190 organizations calling on brands to make a formal commitment to exit the Uyghur Region. You can read the brands we’re targeting on the coalition website here: enduyghurforcedlabor.org
Don’t see a list of brands there.
Start from Apple’s iPhone!
I see the coalition of organisations at that site but I cannot find any of the brands being targeted???
Hi Janet and Anne. The list of brands that have been publicly implicated is here https://enduyghurforcedlabour.org/news/402-2 but it’s important to realize that the entire industry is potentially tainted, which means seeking specific brands to boycott, while commendable, is not enough. We need to urge all brands to exit the Uyghur Region.
We will soon name some influential brands on which we are strategically centering our efforts for maximum impact. We will update you when these are live.
Thanks for this information. Without you I would have no idea who to avoid – now at least I have some definite ones. Being vegan also, there are so many brands of everything that I choose to avoid but need the information. I look forward to the time we can access a list of brands that are slavery-free!
I would love it if everyone committed to only wearing recycled or secondhand clothing. I know the clothes can be ugly and it can be hard to find suitable clothes for your lifestyle and the right sizes, but it’s so much better for the environment and also you won’t be supporting slave labour!
As much as this is what I do, i.e. wearing something until it is worn out, and even then, mend it as much as I ca.
Thw sweat shops in Banadesh and Indonesia depend on this frivolous and junk consumerism in the West!
My closet is full. I’m best dressed in the Drs. office. Can’t go any where else. I hate these fabrics being put together for the lack of cotton. I don’t buy many items because of it.
I travelled in the area in 2016. I saw that all Uighur farmsteads had been closed and people relocated to showy red painted villages with inadequate space traditional life style, but most of the villages were empty, so where were the people? The Old City in Kashgar, which has stood at least 2000 years, ha been emptied (of the Uighur people who lived there) except for a token family on show to tourists. The bulldozers were in. I saw much evidence of oppression and have boycotted China since.
Free Tibet as well, they are destroying Buddhism from Tibet.
DONT BUY ANY THING MADE IN CHINA, EVERY HUMAN DESERVES THE RIGHT TO BE FREE & CHINA IS TAKING THAT FREEDOM FROM ETHNIC PEOPLE OF CHINA, SHAM ON CHINA.
The problem is everything is made in China. We Have Mr. Obama to thank for that.
Stupid. Obama is not to blame for globalization!
Yes he and the Bushes are.
its actually Nixon and Reagan that put the ball in motion for china labor.
china are beating and killing our black people and invading our countries., dont order anything formt hem dont support them. they are racist.
O u r countr i e s ?
Said the pot to the kettle.
They are evil
I agree….very evil
No they are not evil. Governments are to blame, not the people. Large corporations are to blame, choosing to source cheapest rather than locally and better made so they can make larger profits. Big business is to blame.