Modern slavery encapsulates practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage and human

trafficking, etc. 1 It essentially pertains to situations of exploitation wherein a person cannot refuse to

participate in the above-mentioned activities or cannot leave due to threats, violence, coercion and abuse

of power. This essay seeks to address the systematic targeting of Uighur Muslims in China through an

engineered use of forced labour.

The Uighurs are a Turkic Nomadic community, native to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region. The

majority of them are Muslims and their faith has put them at odds with the officially atheist Chinese

Communist Party. 2

The Chinese Government has adopted a range of repressive policies in the form of mass arbitrary

detentions of Uighurs. Furthermore, the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, religion, privacy

and fair trials are blatantly denied to members of this community. China justifies the crackdown on the

Uighurs, pointing to the sporadic terrorist attacks and the growing Uighur independence movement.3

1
United Nations. “International Day for the Abolition of Slavery | United Nations.” the United Nations, 2

December 2021, https://www.un.org/en/observances/slavery-abolition-day. Accessed 2 January 2022.

2
Dou, Eva. “Who are the Uyghurs? China's Xinjiang crackdown explained.” The Washington Post, 11

February 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/11/china-uighurs-genocide-xinjiang/.

Accessed 2 January 2022

3
Miliband, David, et al. “China's Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.” Council on Foreign Relations, 1

March 2021, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uyghurs-xinjiang. Accessed 2 January

2022.
Forced labour plays an integral part of the ethnic cleansing programme being carried out by the Chinese

Government.4 This is exemplified by the introduction of “re-education camps” by the Ministry of Public

Security, wherein incidents of forced labour continue to take place with impunity.

While the Chinese Government holds these camps as an innovative administrative tool that moulds

“offenders” into law-abiding and patriotic citizens, it is estimated that around 1.8 million Uighurs live in

these detention camps and are forced to undergo “patriotic education” and forced labour.5 Failure to

comply with these regulations are met with harsh punishments, including rape and torture.6

4
Ilham, Jewher. “There's a good chance your cotton T-shirt was made with Uyghur slave labour.” 9 April

2021, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/09/cotton-slave-labor-uyghur-region-china
5
Das, Jyoti Hirak. “Uyghur Forced Labour in China.” Vivekananda International Foundation, 6

November 2020, https://www.vifindia.org/article/2020/november/06/uyghur-forced-labour-in-china.

Accessed 2 January 2022

6
Chang, Ailsa, et al. “New Report Details Firsthand Accounts Of Torture From Uyghur Muslims In

China.” NPR, 10 June 2021,

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/10/1005263835/new-report-details-firsthand-accounts-of-torture-from-uygh

ur-muslims-in-china. Accessed 2 January 2022.

Research shows that the labour arising from these ‘re-education camps” has emerged as a major economic

driver in Xinjiang, with one in five cotton garments in the world tainted by forced labour and more than

20% of the world’s cotton originating from the Uighur region.7

The horrible abuses in China drew international condemnation, including accusations of genocide.8 The

United States has emboldened the world to take action against China’s repressive policies by passing the

Forced Labour Prevention Act, banning imports from Xinjiang 9 and calling for a diplomatic boycott of the

2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as a way to protest against human rights abuses in China.

Moreover, the European Parliament condemned China in 2017 for the incidents of forced labour taking

place in Xinjiang.10

7
Ramzy, Austin. “Coalition Brings Pressure to End Forced Uighur Labor (Published 2020).” The New

York Times, 2 July 2021,

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/fashion/uighur-forced-labor-cotton-fashion.html. Accessed 2

January 2022.
8
Miliband, David, et al. “China's Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.” Council on Foreign Relations, 1

March 2021, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uyghurs-xinjiang. Accessed 2 January

2022.
9
Blinken, Antony J. “The Signing of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act - United States

Department of State.” State Department, 23 December 2021,

https://www.state.gov/the-signing-of-the-uyghur-forced-labor-prevention-act/. Accessed 2 January 2022.

10
Frater, James, and Zamira Rahim. “EU Parliament condemns China over Uyghur 'exploitation.'” CNN,

17 December 2020,

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/17/europe/eu-parliament-china-uyghurs-intl/index.html. Accessed 2

January 2022.
However, many countries have turned a deaf ear to these abuses, since China has warned foreign

governments not to interfere in its internal affairs. Hence, there is an urgent need for international forums

associated with human and labour rights such as the United Nations Human Rights Council and the

International Labour Organisation to collaborate in their efforts to pressurise China to end the inhumane

policies against the Uighurs.

To summarise, China’s testament of forced labour reveals the abominable picture of modern slavery that

continues to prevail. Such acts of slavery can only end if nations act in unison to vocalize the rights of the

Uighurs and take action against China.

Reference List

Blinken, Antony J. “The Signing of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act - United States Department

of State.” State Department, 23 December 2021,

https://www.state.gov/the-signing-of-the-uyghur-forced-labor-prevention-act/ . Accessed 2 January 2022.

Chang, Ailsa et al. “New Report Details Firsthand Accounts Of Torture From Uyghur Muslims In China.”

NPR, 10 June 2021,

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/10/1005263835/new-report-details-firsthand-accounts-of-torture-fro

m-uyghur-muslims-in-china . Accessed 2 January 2022.

Das, Jyoti Hirak. “Uyghur Forced Labour in China.” Vivekananda International Foundation, 6 November

2020, https://www.vifindia.org/article/2020/november/06/uyghur-forced-labour-in-china .

Accessed 2 January 2022.

Dou, Eva. “Who are the Uyghurs? China's Xinjiang crackdown explained.” The Washington Post, 11

February 2021,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/11/china-uighurs-genocide-xinjiang/ . Accessed

2 January 2022.

Frater, James and Zamira Rahim. “EU Parliament condemns China over Uyghur 'exploitation.'” CNN, 17

December 2020,

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/17/europe/eu-parliament-china-uyghurs-intl/index.html.Accessed

2 January 2022.

Ilham, Jewher. “There's a good chance your cotton T-shirt was made with Uyghur slave labour.” 9 April

2021https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/09/cotton-slave-labor-uyghur-region-

china

Miliband, David et al. “China's Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.” Council on Foreign Relations, 1

March 2021, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uyghurs-xinjiang . Accessed 2 January

2022.

Ramzy, Austin. “Coalition Brings Pressure to End Forced Uighur Labor (Published 2020).” The New York

Times, 2 July 2021,

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/fashion/uighur-forced-labor-cotton-fashion.html . Accessed

2 January 2022.

United Nations. “International Day for the Abolition of Slavery | United Nations.” the United Nations, 2

December 2021, https://www.un.org/en/observances/slavery-abolition-day . Accessed 2 January

2022.