INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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The Taekwang factory is among those using Uighurs
Thousands of Muslims from China's Uighur
minority group are working under coercive conditions at factories that provide a few of the world's greatest brands, a brand-new report
says.The Australian Strategic Policy Institute said this was the next phase in China's re-education of Uighurs.China has currently
detained about a million Uighurs at internment camps, punishing and indoctrinating them
Authorities say the camps are focused on countering extremism.The ASPI report comes after a senior Chinese authorities told press reporters
in December that members of the minority group being kept in the camps had now graduated
What does the report say?Between 2017 and 2019, the ASPI think tank approximates that more than 80,000 Uighurs were transferred out of the
far western Xinjiang self-governing area to operate in factories throughout China
It stated some were sent directly from detention camps.ASPI said the Uighurs were moved through labour transfer plans operating under a
central federal government policy known as Xinjiang Aid.According to the report, the factories declare to be part of the supply chain for 83
well-known international brand names, including Nike, Apple and Dell.The report said it was very hard for Uighurs to refuse or leave the
work tasks, with the danger of approximate detention hanging over them.It included that there was proof of city governments and personal
brokers being paid a rate per head by the Xinjiang government to organise the assignments, which ASPI refers to as a new phase of the
Chinese federal government's continuous repression of Uighurs
Our report makes it really clear that the dispossession of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang likewise has an actually strong
character of financial exploitation, the report's co-author Nathan Ruser informed the TheIndianSubcontinent
We have this hidden and formerly concealed contamination of the international supply chain
Reports of widespread detentions at internment camps in Xinjiang initially emerged in 2018
Chinese authorities stated the vocational training centres were being utilized to combat violent religious extremism
Proof revealed many people were being detained for merely expressing their faith, by praying or wearing a veil, or for having overseas
connections to places like Turkey.Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMedia captionThe TheIndianSubcontinent's John Sudworth
fulfills Uighur parents in Turkey who state their children are missing out on in ChinaBeijing has actually dealt with growing international
pressure over the concern
Chinese state media says involvement in labour transfer schemes is voluntary
Officials have rejected any commercial usage of forced labour from Xinjiang, according to ASPI
Where are they working?ASPI stated it had determined 27 factories in 9 Chinese provinces that had been utilizing Uighur labour moved from
Xinjiang considering that 2017
At the factories, ASPI stated the Uighurs were normally required to reside in segregated dorms, have Mandarin lessons and ideological
training beyond working hours, underwent consistent monitoring and banned from observing spiritual practices
ASPI said foreign and Chinese companies were perhaps unconsciously associated with human rights abuses
It called on them to perform instant and comprehensive human rights due diligence on their factory labour in China
The Washington Post checked out a factory discussed in the report, which produces fitness instructors for sports giant Nike
It said it resembled a prison, with barbed wire, watchtowers, cameras and a police station
We can walk around, but we can't go back [to Xinjiang] on our own, one Uighur lady told the newspaper at the gates of the factory in the
city of Laixi.Nike told the Washington Post it was dedicated to maintaining international labour standards globally which its providers
were strictly forbidden from using any kind of jail, required, bonded or indentured labor
Apple also stated it was dedicated to guaranteeing that everybody in our supply chain is treated with the self-respect and regard they
deserve , while Dell said it would look into the findings
