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

TA-9-2020-0375 · P9_TA(2020)0375 · PE661.566

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Parliament's resolution condemns a government-led system of forced labour and persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, which it says amount to crimes against humanity. It demands China close all camps and detention centres, release those detained, end forced labour and sterilisation, and allow free access to Xinjiang for journalists, observers and a UN fact-finding mission. It urges China to ratify ILO conventions on forced labour and freedom of association and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It calls on the Commission to propose mandatory human rights supply chain due diligence legislation by the second quarter of 2021, including a ban on placing relevant goods on the EU market. It asks the EU to use its new global human rights sanctions regime against Chinese officials and entities responsible, and to protect Uyghurs abroad from deportation to China.

Key points

  1. Condemns government-led forced labour of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslim minorities in factories in and outside internment camps in Xinjiang, and the transfer of forced labourers to other Chinese divisions.
  2. Calls on private sector actors to assess their engagements in Xinjiang, conduct independent human rights audits of their supply chains, and terminate business relations where these abet violations.
  3. Deplores persecution and systematic human rights violations amounting to crimes against humanity, and urges China to end arbitrary detention, close all camps and detention centres, and release those detained.
  4. Calls on China to cease government-sponsored forced labour and mass sterilisation, and to provide information on the location and medical condition of those detained.
  5. Condemns digital surveillance in Xinjiang, including facial recognition and 'Uyghur alarms', and calls on the EU to monitor these technologies and refrain from giving their providers access to EU public funding and procurement.
  6. Calls on China to allow free and unhindered access to Xinjiang and the internment camps for journalists, international observers and EU officials, and for a UN fact-finding mission and Special Envoy.
  7. Requests China to allow a European Parliament mission to Xinjiang on condition of free and unrestricted access, with confidentiality and safety for the local population.
  8. Condemns the campaign to suppress Uyghur birth rates and calls on China to end measures preventing births, including forced sterilisations, abortions or sanctions for birth control violations.
  9. Urges China to ratify and implement ILO Conventions 29, 105, 87 and 98 and to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
  10. Calls on the Commission and member states to investigate harassment of Uyghurs abroad, protect the Xinjiang diaspora, expedite asylum requests, and prevent deportations and extraditions to China.
  11. Calls for an independent UN inquiry on China, and welcomes the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime while asking for swift evaluation of sanctions against responsible Chinese officials and entities.
  12. Welcomes the planned 2021 legislative initiative on mandatory human rights supply chain due diligence and calls for three proposals by the second quarter of 2021, including a prohibition on placing relevant goods on the EU market.

Who is affected

  • Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, whom the resolution says face detention, forced labour and birth prevention measures.
  • European brands and companies whose supply chains may benefit from forced labour; they are asked to audit and terminate such relations.
  • The Commission, which is asked to propose due diligence legislation and a holistic EU strategy on human rights in China.
  • Member states, asked to protect the Xinjiang diaspora, suspend extradition treaties with China and consider sanctions.
  • Parliament's own administration, urged to sever business relations with Hikvision and improve procurement transparency.

Figures and deadlines

  • More than 10 million Muslim Uyghurs and Kazakhs live in Xinjiang.
  • More than one million people are or have been detained in 'political re-education' centres.
  • More than 380 suspected detention facilities newly built or expanded since 2017; at least 61 between July 2019 and July 2020.
  • Over 880 000 Uyghur children placed in boarding facilities by the end of 2019.
  • 80 % of all new IUD placements in China in 2018 were in the Uyghur region, which makes up 1.8 % of China's population.
  • 27 factories in nine Chinese provinces using the labour of at least 80 000 Uyghurs transferred from Xinjiang between 2017 and 2019, supplying at least 82 global brands.
  • Xinjiang accounts for over 20 % of global cotton production and 84 % of Chinese cotton; at least 570 000 persons mobilised into cotton picking in 2018.
  • A list of more than 2 000 Uyghur detainees held in Aksu prefecture between 2016 and 2018.