Today, we’re excited to announce that Freedom United is joining an international coalition of over 180 organisations from 36 different countries, including 70 Uyghur groups, calling on apparel brands and retailers to stop using cotton from the Uyghur Region in their business. Our collective voice is helping to power this new call for change.
As part of the Coalition, Freedom United will bring your crucial public support and engagement to this international effort. We need your action because a well-supported petition makes the Coalition’s call harder to ignore.
Add your name today and call on the Chinese government to end its system of forced labour and free detained Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim people.
Join the campaign
Over one million Uyghurs and other members of persecuted ethnic groups in northwestern China have been detained since 2017.[1] Among the many human rights abuses they face—which include forced sterilisation, torture, and family separation—many detainees enter a vast system of forced labor that encompasses camps and factories both in the Uyghur Region and across China.[2]
Despite the ongoing atrocities, most major brands continue to source cotton and yarn from the region. In fact, roughly 1 in 5 cotton garments sold in Europe and North America contain cotton grown in the Uyghur Region.[3] Among the many brands that are reported to be linked, either directly or indirectly, are H&M, Marks & Spencer, Uniqlo, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Gap.[4]
Whilst brands may claim to prohibit forced labour in their supply chains, many offer no credible explanation of how they ensure their products are not tainted by forced labour. Brands therefore face a real risk of being complicit in what is widely recognised as crimes against humanity.[5]
The new Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region is calling on apparel brands to “make a formal commitment to exit the XUAR, at every level of their supply chains, and to complete this exit within twelve months.”[6] The coalition will work with governments, multilateral organizations, brand leaders, and other stakeholders in order to build the economic and political pressure necessary to push the Chinese government to end its system of forced labor.
It can be hard to grasp the enormity of the atrocities taking place in the Uyghur Region from thousands of miles away, so take it from Rahima, who hasn’t heard from her family since 2017. Rahima’s organisation and Freedom United partner, World Uyghur Congress, is one of over 70 different Uyghur groups in the Coalition. Uyghur people like Rahima have been ignored for far too long, and now the pressure is finally building on brands and governments to take a stand.
Take action today and call for an end to forced labour in the Uyghur Region.
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