Coalition puts pressure on fashion to end forced labour

An international coalition called on
fashion and garment giants Thursday to break supply chains from the Xinjiang
region of China and cut ties with those implicated in Uighur forced labor
within the next year.

The Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region, an international
group of rights, civil society and trade organizations, warned that one-fifth
of the cotton garments “in the global apparel market are tainted by forced
labour.”

“We are calling on leading brands and retailers to ensure that they are not
supporting or benefiting from the pervasive and extensive forced labour of the
Uyghur population and other Turkic and Muslim-majority peoples, perpetrated by
the Chinese government,” the group said in a statement on its website.

Warning that “almost every major apparel brand and retailer selling cotton
products is potentially implicated,” it urged brands and retailers to exit the
region “at every level of their supply chain” no later than one year after
making the commitment.

It said that more than 200 organizations from over 35 countries had
endorsed its call.

China has come under increasing international pressure, including from the
US, over its treatment of Uighurs, a Muslim-majority ethnic group who live
mainly in western Xinjiang.

More than one million Uighurs and mostly Muslim Turkic minorities have been
rounded up in internment camps, according to human rights groups and experts.

China contends that the facilities are vocational education centers where
Uighurs learn Mandarin and job skills in order to steer them away from
extremism following a spate of ethnic violence.

Major US retailers responded to the call to action Thursday by saying that
rooting out forced labor in their supply chains is a “key priority”.

However, a joint statement from the National Retail Federation, the world’s
largest retail trade association, and other industry groups, did not say if
they would sign the call.

Instead, they wrote that the solution requires “state-to-state engagement
and collaborative partnerships across government, industry, labor advocacy
groups, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders”.

The statement called for US leaders to establish “a multi-stakeholder
working group to develop and deploy a collective approach that accurately
assesses the problem, identifies constructive solutions to increase
transparency, and protects both the rights of workers and the integrity of
global supply chains.”(AFP)

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