The United States has intensified its crackdown on forced labor practices by including three more Chinese companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List (UFLPA).
This decisive move comes amid growing concerns over the exploitation of Uyghurs and other minority groups within the U.S. supply chain.
On Tuesday, a government notice revealed the incorporation of Xinjiang Tianmian Foundation Textile Co, Ltd, Xinjiang Tianshan Wool Textile Co. Ltd, and Xinjiang Zhongtai Group Co. Ltd into the UFLPA entity list, highlighting the ongoing effort to address and eliminate forced labor within Xinjiang, Reuters reports.
The law mandates importers to substantiate that the goods have no connection to forced labor practices, effectively imposing a ban unless proven otherwise.
The entities enlisted are implicated in collaborations with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, allegedly engaging in the recruitment and transportation of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other minority groups who are reportedly persecuted, facilitating their removal from the region.
The U.S. administration posits that Chinese officials have orchestrated the establishment of labor camps in Xinjiang, accommodating Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, and subjecting them to forced labor.
This action underscores the U.S.’s commitment to human rights and its endeavor to eliminate abuses from its supply chains.
The Chinese government, however, steadfastly refutes the allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, denying the existence of such labor camps and any form of mistreatment of Uyghurs and other minority groups within its territory.
In 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the bipartisan ‘Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’ to prevent goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from being imported to the U.S.
The Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group, originate from Xinjiang and exhibit a distinct cultural identity, setting them apart from the Han Chinese, who form the majority ethnic group in China.
Identified as the second-largest Muslim ethnic group within the country, Uyghurs consider Islam a crucial element of their identity.
China has been repeatedly accused of crimes against humanity against the Uyghur population and other mostly-Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang, according to the BBC.
Human rights organizations assert that, over recent years, China has involuntarily detained over a million Uyghurs within an extensive array of facilities, termed “re-education camps” by the state.
Over the weekend, it was reported that a prominent female Uyghur academic had been jailed for life by China for “endangering state security.”
Rahile Dawut’s (57) sentence was confirmed after she appealed against a 2018 conviction, according to the US-based Dui Hua Foundation rights group.
“The sentencing of Professor Rahile Dawut is a cruel tragedy, a great loss for the Uyghur people, and for all who treasure academic freedom,” said executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation John Kamm.
Per BBC:
Ms Dawut is an expert on Uyghur folklore and traditions and had been teaching at Xinjiang University College of Humanities before her arrest. She founded the Ethnic Minorities Research Centre at the university in 2007 and conducted field work throughout Xinjiang. She had lectured in universities in the US and UK, including Harvard and Cambridge. Dui Hua said Ms Dawut was among "the long and growing list of Uyghur intellectuals" who have been detained, arrested, and imprisoned since 2016. The US is among several countries to have accused China of genocide in Xinjiang. The leading human rights groups Amnesty and Human Rights Watch accuse China of crimes against humanity. China denies the allegations.
