Beijing: China has earlier been accused of exploiting Uyghurs and now it seems to continue as the labourers are being used in Chinese companies through contentious government-sponsored programme to produce personal protection equipment (PPE) both for domestic purpose and export.
According to an investigation conducted by the New York Times, as many as 71 companies are part of the programme.
Although they claim the programme is an initiative for poverty reduction, the workers are forced to learn Mandarin and even pledge their loyalty to the Beijing government at weekly flag-raising ceremonies.
“There are these coercive quotas that cause people to be put into factory work when they don’t want to be,” Amy K. Lehr, the Director of the Human Rights Initiative at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted as saying.
” And the could be considered forced labour under international law.”
