Press Release – For immediate release
14 January 2021
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
+49 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) welcomes decisions by the U.S., U.K., and Canadian governments to take new measures to address the grave human rights abuses against Uyghurs in East Turkistan, in particular focused on ending Western companies’ complicity in the use of Uyghur forced labour.

On 13 January, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a ban on imports of cotton and tomato products from East Turkistan over forced labour concerns. This follows earlier import restrictions by the Trump Administration, including a Withhold Release Order (WRO) on cotton shipments from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a Chinese-government-sponsored paramilitary organization that is responsible for the many ‘labour transfer schemes’ used to move Uyghurs into forced labour settings.

On January 12th, the U.K. Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, announced new government requirements for British companies to prove that their supply chains are not tainted by Uyghur forced labour. “Our aim, put simply, is that no company that profits from forced labour in Xinjiang can do business in the U.K. and that no U.K. business is involved in their supply chains,” the Foreign Secretary told lawmakers. Although announced measures such as export controls and guidance to U.K. businesses are welcome, the U.K. should introduce stronger legislation that compels businesses to take action to end their complicity in Uyghur forced labour, holding them legally accountable if they fail to do so. 

“The Foreign Secretary’s words are strong, and these measures are welcome, but it is too little, too late”, WUC UK Director, Rahima Mahmut, said. “Two clear steps are urgently needed: a genocide determinatoin mechanism and robust, clear sanctions. I hope that today’s announcement is just the start and that the UK government will quickly expand its efforts.”

In coordination with the U.K., Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, François-Philippe Champagne announced on the same day that Canada is taking similar measures to ensure that products of Uyghur forced labour are not entering Canadian supply chains and making companies complicit in these human rights abuses. The total of seven measures introduced by Canada include a Xinjiang Integrity Declaration for Canadian companies, a Business Advisory on Xinjiang-related entities, as well as enhanced export controls.

“These new measures from the U.S., U.K., and Canada show that the international community has come to recognise that business as usual with the Chinese Communist Party is no longer possible” , WUC President Dolkun Isa said. “Though, as long as the Chinese regime continues to subject hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs to forced labour and other severe human rights abuses, more steps are needed to put an end to these crimes.”

Whereas the WUC welcomes the new measures taken, it simultaneously reiterates that more governments and businesses should increase their efforts to address Uyghur forced labour. This includes a complete ban on imports tainted by China’s gross human rights abuses against Uyghurs. Furthermore, instead of pursuing enhanced trade relations with China despite forced labour concerns, the European Union must take a principled stance and make ratification of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) conditional on China respecting its human rights obligations.