According to the research, there is a new reality in China when it comes to forced labor and Uyghurs- labor transfer schemes. Even worse, more than a hundred global brands have been linked to factories using labor “recruited” for the scheme, reports Pulitzer Center. And all these factories are located thousands of miles from the Uyghur region, pointing to a massive expansion of the use of forced labor in China.
When a choice is not a choice
This new research was done by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). It provides the most detailed picture to date of how the labor transfer scheme is moving tens of thousands of people from the region to factories located thousands of miles away in eastern China. Yet, authorities only recruit ethnic minorities like Uyghurs for the scheme. These groups are being “invited” to sign up for labor transfer programs. But what sounds like a choice is really no choice at all.
Laura Murphy, a former senior policy adviser to the Biden administration on Uyghur forced labor said:
“When a government official knocks on the door of a Uyghur person and says they should take a job far from home, the person knows this is not merely a request,”
According to Murphy, the government has issued directives saying refusal to participate in a labor transfer scheme is punishable by detention.
Murphy stated:
“Every Uyghur in Xinjiang has either been in detention themselves or has someone close to them who has been. This is not a choice. This is not consent.”
The new “recruits” are then systematically loaded onto buses and taken to new locations to live and work. Making everything from keyboards to cars, as well as components that end up in products shipped all over the world. Many of the items being made are just elements of a whole. And tracing these components through the product’s supply chain becomes difficult if not impossible. The new research reveals this largely hidden use of state sponsored forced labor is helping turbo-charge China’s economic expansion.
Just “helping and guiding”- no forced labor here
Significantly, this devious labor transfer scheme is just the latest phase of Beijing’s larger plan. Indeed, the Chinese government has engaged in a decades-long crackdown on Uyghurs and ethnic minorities in the Uyghur region. Calling them “surplus laborers” millions of mainly rural ethnic minorities have already been moved. It’s all part of the broader drive to forcibly re-engineer their identities under the guise of “poverty alleviation.”
Adrian Zenz, a leading scholar on the region stated:
“You have a strong political mandate from the central government that idle Uyghurs are a threat to national security (and) the coercion is systemic, built into the system, the very notion of choice becomes highly questionable.”
High profile brands, like Apple, Volkswagen and LG Electronics, are tied to factories supplied by the labor transfer scheme. And the list of products that may contain tainted components is equally varied, from Skechers shoes to KFC chicken. In all, the new research implicates more than a hundred consumer brands. China’s change of tactic to spreading the tainted workforce out across China effectively makes legislation aimed at blocking forced labor imports almost meaningless.
No covering up modern slavery
This is just the latest tactic by Beijing to try and cover up their use of forced labor and keep fueling their economy using modern slavery. But we have the power to say “NO” and push for change. There have been wins and some companies have cut ties with their factories in Uyghur region. However, this new research highlights that we need to take advantage of the momentum and keep up the pressure. Stand with us and add your voice to those calling on companies to purge forced labor from their Chinese supply chains and be diligent in searching it out. Together we have the power to push for change.
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