Amazon suppliers in China resort to forced labor

amazon works with Chinese suppliers linked to the forced labor. The American commercial giant would use up to five companies in the region of Xinjiang linked to the exploitation of forced labor, as revealed on Monday by a report from Tech Transparency Project.

Like other large technology or textile companies, Amazon has been outsourcing part of its production chain for years to countries like Chinawhere workers have lower wages and less labor rights. Those vendors produce various devices for the company that are then sold around the world such as the Echo smart speaker, the Kindle e-book or the Fire TV device. Some goods that could be stained by the exploitation of ethnic minority employees Uigur, Persecuted Muslims in China.

Amazon states that it “does not tolerate suppliers who traffic workers or otherwise exploit workers through threats, force, coercion, kidnapping, or fraud.” However, these reports indicate that three of its Chinese suppliers have directly used forced labor while two others resort to the work of factories involved in such exploitation.

repressed ethnic minority

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The investigation directly accuses Amazon of continuing to cooperate with companies that serve this Uyghur minority despite their documented repression. As an example, the TTP reports that the e-commerce giant continued to work with one of those companies, Esquel Group, even a year after the United States government sanctioned one of its subsidiaries for the same labor exploitation. Washington has intensified sanctions to prevent its companies from cashing in on forced exploitation, something that does apple too.

The Uyghurs are a minority ethnic group that is concentrated mainly in the Xianjiang region and, unlike the Han ethnic group (majority in China), speak a Turkic language and profess Islam as their religion. In 2009, violent ethnic clashes took place in that part of the country, causing 200 deaths and more than 2,000 injuries. In recent years, Beijing has intensified its repressionbeing displaced and constantly watched in internment camps and even victims of forced mass sterilizations. According to the TTP, China transfers Uyghurs to factories across the country where they are forced to work against their will.