European Parliament calls on China to end forced labour schemes and incarcerations of ethnic minorities

MEPs debated the growing evidence of forced labour and the worrying situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. MEPs strongly condemned the Chinese government-led system of forced labour – in particular the exploitation of Uyghur, ethnic Kazakh and Kyrgyz, and other Muslim minority groups – in factories within and outside internment camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The parliament has also denounced the continued transfer of forced labourers to other Chinese administrative divisions, and the fact that well-known European brands and companies have been benefiting from forced Chinese labour.

The EPP (European People’s Party) Group called on the EU Member States to implement effective control mechanisms in response to Uyghur forced labour and urges them to impose an import ban on cotton and cotton products originating from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They also said that Chinese officials responsible for the persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang as well as for other violations of human rights across mainland China and in Hong Kong should be subject to EU targeted sanctions.

“We must not be morally complicit with the appalling human rights abuses by buying goods produced by forced labour in China”, said Miriam Lexmann MEP at today’s plenary debate on the Resolution which condemns the situation of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.”

“All aspects of our external policies must be guided by the values upon which the Union was established. We must ensure that we consistently adhere to these values. They are not a weakness, but a strength”, she added.

“The time has come for democratic countries to unite in common defence of our shared values. We must actively support the millions of people around the world who continue to yearn for freedom every day. The EU can’t stand by idly, and should make full use of all its tools, including its Magnitsky Act”, she concluded.

Chair of the European Parliament's China Delegation and Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on ChinaReinhard Bütikofer MEP, said: "The atrocities against the Uyghur ethnic minority in Xinjiang and rampant state-imposed forced labour are crimes against humanity. The European Parliament is calling on European companies to break off business relations with Chinese partners if they abet human rights violations. International corporations violate every ethical norm if they make profits off of the backs of forced labourers. We demand that the comprehensive investment agreement with China must include adequate commitments to respect international conventions against forced labour."

MEPs are deeply concerned about the increasingly oppressive regime that many religious and ethnic minorities, in particular Uyghurs and Kazakhs, are facing in mainland China. These “violate their human dignity, as well as their rights to freedom of cultural expression and religious belief, to freedom of speech and expression, and to peaceful assembly and association”.

They also deeply deplore the continued persecution and the serious and systematic human rights violations that amount to crimes against humanity, while urging the Chinese government to put an immediate end to the practice of arbitrary detention without charge, trial or conviction for criminal offences of members of the Uyghur and other Muslim minorities. MEPs call on the Chinese government to end the “mass incarceration” of ethnic minorities in camps and detention centres and demand the immediate and unconditional release of those detained.

The text was approved by 604 votes in favour, 20 against and 57 abstentions. For all the details, it will be available in full here.

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