Japan Uighurs Association demands an explanation from companies practicing forced labor in Xinjiang

As reports revealing the forced labor of Uighurs in China continue, Uighurs in Japan and rights activists are urging Japanese companies to take note of workers’ situation and asking that more attention should be paid to China’s restrictive policies on the Muslim minority group.

In a press meet in Tokyo on Aug. 28, a group of Uighurs and advocates approached Japanese companies with industries in China to thoroughly probe their supply chains to check whether they are associated with the continuing suppression of Uighurs, The Japan Times reported. 

As per the BBC, there has been a drone video showing Uighur people taken blindfolded on trains, and which has been validated by Australian security officials. 

The Ambassador of China to the United Kingdom Liu Xiaoming stated that He didn’t have any idea what the drone footage was showing, and according to him, many countries at times move detainees from one spot to another.” However, he maintained that there are no such detention places in Xinjiang, the BBC revealed. 

The BBC also stated that there are speculations that there are around a million Uighur people who are kept in detention centers which are described as re-education camps, and people are made to do forced labor.

As per The Japan Times, Twelve Japanese manufacturing companies are also blamed for complicity in the mass restraint of Uighurs by sourcing supplies from factories abusing the minority group. The Japan Uyghurs Association has demanded an explanation from the companies if they are allegedly profiting from forcing labor from Uighur people.

Other Japanese businesses, whose names were revealed in the report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on global brands lists that are purportedly benefitting from constrained labor, have denied the allegations, The Japan Times reported.

Article Credit: The Japan Times/ The BBC/ Reuters