In China’s Xinjiang region, minorities were recruited for forced labor in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, according to a report by a UN independent expert, which he said could amount to “slavery as a crime against humanity.”
Beijing is accused of detaining more than a million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, as well as forced labor and forced sterilization of women.
The United States and lawmakers in other Western countries have gone so far as to accuse China of committing “genocide” against minorities, accusations Beijing vehemently denies, saying its security measures are a necessary response to extremism. A report released yesterday by UN Special Rapporteur on Modern Slavery Tomoya Obokata refers to “two different state systems” in China that used forced labor, citing reports from the research center and NGOs, as well as victims.
One is a focused education and training system whereby minorities are held in anticipation of being assigned to available jobs, and the other includes attempts to alleviate poverty through labor transfer, whereby rural workers are transferred to work in other sectors, especially in industry and services.
