German firms accused of Uyghur forced labour

GBNEWS24DESK//

Rights activists said Tuesday they had filed a criminal complaint in Germany against five retailers including C&A, Lidl and Hugo Boss, accusing them of benefiting from forced labour among China’s Uyghur population, reports AFP.

The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) said it had submitted the case, which also targeted the two supermarket chains Aldi Nord and Aldi Sued, after carrying out an open source investigation.

The ECCHR’s Miriam Saage-Maass said it was difficult for civil society organisations to obtain clear evidence of the abuse but there was enough for prosecutors to take a closer look.

She said there was plenty of information emerging to suggest forced labour was taking place.

“The question is whether entertaining business relationships is not a way of aiding and abetting those international crimes,” she said.

Saage-Maass added that the five companies had listed “publicly and voluntarily” their supplying factories from Xinjiang — the Chinese region at the centre of forced-labour allegations — but that they may just be the tip of the iceberg.

“We do believe that those five are really only an example of a much wider and more systematic problem,” she said.

She pointed out that Chinese cotton made up 20% of global production — and 80% of it was produced in Xinjiang.

“So it’s very likely that there are many more companies sourcing from the region,” she added.

– Boycott calls –

Contacted by AFP, fashion retailer C&A denied purchasing any garments from Xinjiang-based manufacturers. It added that it has not been sourcing yarn or fabric from the region.