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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION (2020/2913(RSP))

On Forced labour and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

B-9-2020-0434

on behalf of the ECR Group · Rapporteur: Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Raffaele Fitto, Anna Fotyga, Adam Bielan, Assita Kanko, Elżbieta Kruk, Dace Melbārde, Elżbieta Rafalska, BertJan Ruissen, Bogdan Rzońca, Hermann Tertsch, Valdemar Tomaševski, Evžen Tošenovský, Alexandr Vondra, Veronika Vrecionová, Witold Jan Waszczykowski, Charlie Weimers, Jadwiga Wiśniewska

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Parliament's resolution on forced labour and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region expresses deep concern at mass internment camps, forced labour and human rights abuses, and urges China to close all camps and release detainees. It calls on China to end targeted birth prevention measures against Uyghur women and to ratify core International Labour Organization conventions. It asks the EU and member states to reduce imports of goods made with forced labour from China, set up a blacklist of implicated Chinese companies, ban exports of surveillance technologies and include human rights clauses in trade agreements with China. It welcomes the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime and calls for targeted sanctions against those responsible for human rights violations against Uyghurs. It calls on member states to suspend extradition treaties with China to prevent the extradition of Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Tibetans and other Chinese dissidents.

Key points

  1. Expresses deepest concern at the system of mass internment camps in Xinjiang, forced political indoctrination, ill-treatment of detainees and mass forced sterilizations.
  2. Urges the Chinese Government to end arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Kazakhs, close all camps and detention centres, release those detained and reunite Uyghur children with their parents.
  3. Urges the Chinese government to immediately end targeted birth prevention measures, including forced abortions, against Uyghur women.
  4. Expresses profound concern over reports of forced labour in internment camps in Xinjiang and of forced labour systems outside the Xinjiang region.
  5. Calls on the Chinese government to ratify core International Labour Organization conventions.
  6. Calls on the EU, member states and the international community to implement effective control mechanisms in response to Uyghur forced labour, and on private sector actors to scrutinise their supply chains.
  7. Welcomes the adoption by the US Congress of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and by the House of Representatives of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
  8. Encourages the EU and member states to reduce imports of goods made with forced labour from China, establish a blacklist of Chinese companies implicated in Uyghur forced labour, ban exports of surveillance technologies to China and include human rights clauses in trade agreements with China.
  9. Calls on its President and the European Commission to order the replacement of equipment acquired from a Chinese company accused of complicity in human rights abuses in Xinjiang and to apply due diligence more strictly with contractors.
  10. Welcomes the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime and calls on the Council and member states to impose targeted sanctions against those responsible for or involved in grave human rights violations against Uyghurs.
  11. Calls on member states to suspend extradition treaties with China to prevent the extradition of Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Tibetans or other Chinese dissidents to stand political trial in China.
  12. Stresses that promotion of human rights and the rule of law must be at the core of EU engagement with China, and calls on the EU to closely monitor the human rights situation in Xinjiang and raise it in all meetings with Chinese counterparts.

Who is affected

  • Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, who face arbitrary detention, forced labour and other abuses.
  • EU companies doing business in Xinjiang, which are asked to scrutinise their supply chains to ensure they are not involved in human rights violations.
  • The European Parliament and the European Commission, which are asked to replace equipment acquired from a Chinese company accused of complicity in abuses.
  • EU member states, which are called on to suspend extradition treaties with China and to impose targeted sanctions.
  • The Chinese Government, which is urged to close camps, release detainees, end forced sterilizations and ratify ILO conventions.

Figures and deadlines

  • 1.8 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and members of other Muslim minority groups arbitrarily detained since 2017.
  • More than 380 suspected detention facilities newly built or expanded since 2017.
  • At least 61 detention sites newly constructed or expanded between July 2019 and July 2020.
  • Xinjiang produces 85 percent of China's and 20 percent of the world's cotton.
  • In the first 7 months of 2020, the region had trained over half a million rural surplus labourers.