U.N. expert concludes 'forced labour' has taken place in Xinjiang

[August 18, 2022]  By Martin Quin Pollard

BEIJING (Reuters) - It is "reasonable to conclude" that forced labour of members of minority groups has taken place in China's western Xinjiang region, the UN's top expert on slavery said in a report released this week, prompting a fierce response from Beijing.

The findings were "based on an independent assessment of available information", the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoya Obokata, said in a report that he shared on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

"The Special Rapporteur regards it as reasonable to conclude that forced labour among Uighur, Kazakh and other ethnic minorities in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing has been occurring in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China," it said.

China rejects all accusations of abuse of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.

The report, dated July 19, is publicly available in a UN documents library.

Two distinct "state-mandated" systems exist in Xinjiang, it said: a vocational skills education and training centre system, where minorities are "detained and subjected" to work placements, and a poverty alleviation through labour transfer system involving rural workers.

"While these programmes may create employment opportunities for minorities and enhance their incomes, as claimed by the Government, the Special Rapporteur considers that indicators of forced labour pointing to the involuntary nature of work rendered by affected communities have been present in many cases," said the 20-page report, which also covered contemporary slavery-related issues and concerns in other countries.

Security guards stand at the gates of what is officially known as a vocational skills education center in Huocheng County in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 3, 2018.REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

China's foreign ministry on Wednesday reiterated Beijing's denial that there had ever been forced labour in Xinjiang, defended China's record on protecting workers' rights and heavily criticised the report's findings.

"A certain special rapporteur chooses to believe in lies and disinformation about Xinjiang spread by the U.S. and some other Western countries and anti-China forces," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily briefing in Beijing.

Obokata's report is separate from a highly anticipated report on human rights in Xinjiang being prepared by United Nations High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, who has pledged to publish it before leaving office at the end of this month.

Reuters reported last month that China has sought to stop Bachelet form releasing her report, citing a Chinese letter reviewed by Reuters and diplomats who received it.

(Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard; Editing by Tony Munroe and Richard Pullin)

[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.