All Reading
This section contains a curated list of useful articles, investigations, books and other reading materials. The list is updated on a weekly basis and suggestions for additions are welcome.
Starting Points:
UK High Court judge finds ‘striking consensus’ of abuses in Xinjiang
The High Court in London has said there is a “striking consensus” of “clear and widespread abuses” in Xinjiang’s cotton industry, despite refusing a legal challenge from Uyghur rights activists.
Uyghur rights group fails in legal challenge against UK government
A Uyghur rights group’s legal challenge against the British government for not investigating the import of cotton produced in Xinjiang was dismissed by a London court on Friday.
Making Xinjiang Sanctions Work - Cotton
This Policy Brief from the Xinjiang Sanctions research project summarises the role of Xinjiang forced labour in the global cotton market and the impact of Western sanctions targeting Xinjiang cotton.
Everybody’s Business: The Xinjiang Goods Entering Global Supply Chains
This analysis of the Xinjiang economy examines specific goods produced in the region that have outsized impact on global supply chains. Organizations involved in the purchase of these agricultural and industrial products are at risk of supporting oppression.
Xinjiang cotton found in Adidas, Puma and Hugo Boss tops, researchers say
Researchers say they have found traces of Xinjiang cotton in shirts and T-shirts made by Adidas, Puma and Hugo Boss, appearing to contradict the German clothing companies’ promises to revise their supply chains after allegations of widespread forced labour in the Chinese region.
Hugo Boss And Other Big Brands Vowed To Steer Clear Of Forced Labor In China — But These Shipping Records Raise Questions
Amid rising tensions and the approaching Beijing Olympics, the US banned Xinjiang cotton last year. But Hugo Boss still took shipments from Esquel, which gins cotton in Xinjiang.
Laundering Cotton: How Xinjiang Cotton is Obscured in International Supply Chains
This report explores how, at the same time as Xinjiang cotton has come to be associated with human rights abuses, forced-labor-linked cotton goods from the Uyghur Region wend their way into international supply chains.
Coercive Labor in Xinjiang: Labor Transfer and the Mobilization of Ethnic Minorities to Pick Cotton
Xinjiang produces 85 percent of China’s and 20 percent of the world’s cotton. Chinese cotton products, in turn, constitute an important basis for garment production in numerous other Asian countries. New evidence shows that hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority laborers in Xinjiang are being forced to pick cotton by hand through a coercive state-mandated labour transfer and “poverty alleviation” scheme, potentially affecting all global supply chains that involve Xinjiang cotton as a raw material.
Uyghurs for Sale: ‘Re-education’, forced labour and surveillance beyond Xinjiang
This report reveals how the forced transfers of Uyghurs to factories across China are linked to the supply chains of dozens of international brands.