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Forced factory labor suspected in Xinjiang detention camps: report

蘋果日報 2020/12/30 06:00


The Chinese northwestern region of Xinjiang has at least 135 factories built in detention camps in recent years, raising fears that detainees may be coerced into hard labor, according to Buzzfeed News.
Factory facilities had “rapidly expanded” in Xinjiang detention camps, collectively covering more than 21 million square feet, Buzzfeed reported, citing government records, interviews and satellite imagery.
China has relentlessly cracked down on Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, such as Uighurs and Kazakhs, and since 2016 has detained more than a million people in camps and prisons.
Authorities ramped up factory construction in 2018, with nearly a third of the facilities built between 2017 and 2020 located in Hotan prefecture. Other prefectures with high concentrations of factories include Kashgar and Ili.
The factory locations identified in the report matched the registered addresses of 1,500 Chinese companies, non-profit research institute C4ADS found in a database search.
Of those companies, 92 listed “import/export” as part of their business, and some had exported goods to Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Panama, France and California. The search results indicated that rights issues surrounding Uighur workers might affect the supply chains of some international brands.
Many workers in the factories were subjected to coercion and did not receive wages, interviewees told Buzzfeed, adding that forced labor in Xinjiang was also stepped up in 2018.
“Research suggests that some of those transferred to work are not willing and are severely underpaid, raising concerns about forced labor, potentially at a significant scale,” said the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington.
The United States Department of Labor estimated that 100,000 Uighurs and other ethnic minorities were working under compulsion.
The Chinese consulate in New York told Buzzfeed News that allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang were “slander” and that villagers were earning higher salaries and learning new skills.
“We hope everyone can distinguish right from wrong, respect the facts and not be deceived by rumors,” the consulate added.
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