Between 2017 and 2019, more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred to work in 27 manufacturing facilities that supply 83 global brands.

Since 2017, China has drawn the attention of international human rights activists about the massive and forced transfer of Uyghurs to so-called “re-education” camps. Uyghurs are a Turkic speaking Muslim minority who mainly live in Central Asia, in the Xinjiang region, a province in northwestern China home to several ethnic minorities. After “graduating” from the camps, they are sent to work in factories in different regions of the country in slavery-like conditions. Away from their families, with controlled mobility and without the right to practice their religion, the policy reinforces state control in the region and guarantees Chinese factories access to cheap labor.

From 2017 to 2019, the Australian Institute of Strategic Policies (ASPI) exposed the forced transfer of more than 80,000 Uyghurs to 27 manufacturing facilities that supply 83 global brands, including Adidas, Apple, Amazon, Gap, H&M, Microsoft, Nike, Sony, Victoria’s Secret and Zara. The institute’s report gathers information from the past three years collected from Chinese State media, official government notifications, analysis of satellite images, and academic research. It points to clear pieces of evidence of slave-like labor in such factories. The practices stipulated by the “re-education camps” violate international human rights, the Chinese constitution — which prohibits discrimination based on ethnicity and religious belief — and are called a “government-led cultural genocide” by experts.

The forced Uyghur migration has been taking place in China for at least twenty years. But the country only recognized the existence of such a system, and the camps, in 2018, as a response to international pressure. Still, the tone used by Chinese spokesmen to address the issue is positive. In essence, officials deny the use of Xinjiang’s workforce, and the Chinese media declares that participation in the programs is voluntary. However, Uyghurs who manage to escape this system report scenes of constant vigilance, fear, political indoctrination, torture, and privation.

From Apple to Adidas: Brands Use Ethnic Minority Slave Labor in China | Medium