JUSTICE FOR UYGHURS - end fashion’s complicity with the genocide
By Beth Meadows and Robin Brusije
The production and consumption of fabric and garments by Uyghur detainees is a prime example of how toxic the fashion industry is, built upon exploitation and enslavement to fit the needs of our consumer society. Hearing about what is happening in the camps in relation to the fashion industry is mortifying, though unsurprising given how rotten the fashion industry is with its untraceable supply chains, normalised labour exploitation, and overproduction which puts profits above people at every given opportunity. According to the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region “Right now, there is near certainty that any brand sourcing apparel, textiles, yarn or cotton from the Uyghur Region is profiting from human rights violations, including forced labour, both in the Uyghur Region and more broadly throughout China.” Therefore, this is an issue that we at Extinction Rebellion Fashion Action cannot, and will not, ignore. Through our work we want to shine a light on this to educate the public, but also call upon brands who are complicit in the forced detention and enslavement of Uyghur’s to change with immediate effect.
As I said, a big part of the exploitation Uyghur’s must endure in the camps is to make fabrics and garments for many household brands consumers know and love in this part of the world. Among them are: Apple, Gap, Nike, Puma, and Zara. However, as 20% of the world’s cotton comes from Uyghur forced labour, it is a systemic problem that many more brands are tainted by – yet this is so hard to trace in an industry that evades accountability by being largely untraceable with its dodgy contracts and sub-contracts of global suppliers. The fact that consumers all over the world are blindly purchasing clothes that have been made with the enforced labour of Uyghurs under such inhumane circumstances like those in the camps is a total atrocity. It reflects not only the distance between consuming and producing bodies in fashion in general, but specifically how detached the public is from the genocide occurring, in China, right this moment in 2020. I know everyone standing here today is rightly enraged by this, and demands that it must stop. So, what is being done currently to bring this enforced labour to an end, and what role can we play in it?
There is a big mobilisation campaign to end enforced Uyghur labour in relation to the fashion industry specifically. It is called the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region, and is made up of 190 organisations from 36 countries, including 70 Uyghur groups. They have created a thorough call to action for brands who profit from Uyghur enforced labour to stop all production with the detention camps, within a year of signing their brand commitment. It maps out in detail how they can and should achieve this. This is a key opportunity to pressure brands to change their behaviour, and we should therefore build upon its momentum to demand that brands display much higher moral standards. We have seen some positive results of brands pledging to do better in the fashion industry before, such as the Accord on Fire and Building Safety following the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013. We therefore know it is possible for brands to cut their ties with this enforced labour once and for all. We whole-heartedly believe they should sign this call to action and fully remove themselves from this state-sanctioned forced labour and ethnic cleansing as, to quote the coalition, “operating in the Uyghur Region in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights has become a practical impossibility. There are no valid means for companies to verify that any workplace in the Uyghur Region is free of forced labour or to prevent the use of forced labour in these workplaces in line with human rights due diligence.” This is therefore a systemic and dangerously overlooked issue that needs the attention of the fashion industry immediately.
If you want to take tangible action against this atrocity right now, you’re welcome to sign the petition by anti-slavery charity Freedom United calling on brands to exit the Uyghur region and thus cut their ties with this regime of hate. This petition will help make the demands of the Coalition be heard louder as it demonstrates the public backing for the cause. Ultimately, brands will only be concerned if they believe they will lose some profit, so let’s show to them that we as consumers want no part in this disgusting practice of garment production. You can also speak to people you know: family, friends, colleagues and tell them about what is happening to Uyghurs in China, and how their consumer behaviour might be tainted by it. You can ask them to sign the petition, and support Uyghur-led groups.
So, finally, listening to the words of the speakers I am honoured to share a stage with today is so powerful, yet tragic that such brutal injustice is happening. But a part of the anti-racist work we at Fashion Action hold ourselves to is sitting with the discomfort of the realities of fashion’s complicity with systematic oppression like that against the Uyghurs. We cannot, and will not, be silent on this issue and will continue to fight against it within the fashion industry, bringing consumers into the know about what they are buying, and challenging brands for their ignorance to their abhorrent malpractice.
We hebben de verhalen al gehoord, maar ik zeg het nog een keer: er is een culturele genocide aan de gang in China en de wereld kijkt toe. De wereld kijkt toe hoe er systematisch mensen van een etnische minderheid worden opgespoord, bespioneerd, opgehokt, ontvoerd, uitgebuit en gebrainwashed. De wereld kijkt toe hoe grote modeketens willens en wetens producten afnemen die in de Xingjiang-regio worden geproduceerd. De wereld kijkt toe en zwijgt.
Wij willen niet langer zwijgen en toekijken, wij komen in actie. De Oeigoeren hebben onze solidariteit nodig in hun strijd, uiteindelijk zijn we allemaal deel van een groter geheel. Ik geloof dat niemand vrij is, totdat allen vrij zijn! Ik kan niet lijdzaam toekijken hoe overheden hun mond houden over deze zaken - er moet nu actie ondernomen worden en sancties tegen China. Totdat de overheid iets doet, moeten wij zelf actie ondernemen.
Wat kan je doen? Teken de petitie van FreedomUnited. Boycott merken die in China produceren. Koop en draag tweedehands kleding, dan weet je dat je niet indirect bijdraagt aan het in stand houden van dit extreem mensonterende systeem. Praat erover met iedereen die je kent, deel informatie en deel ook de petitie. Schrijf naar en tag de merken die zich hier schuldig aan maken - vraag ze om transparantie van de productieketen en eis dat ze alle banden met producenten in de Xingjiang regio breken. Als we met veel stemmen collectief daadkracht eisen, zullen mode-merken moeten bijdraaien.
Het kan niet zo zijn dat we hier en nu in 2020 toekijken hoe de vreselijke geschiedenis zich herhaalt. Voor mij bestaat er niet zoiets als een ‘ver van mijn bed show’. Als je met empathie luistert naar wat voor verschrikkelijke dingen er gebeuren in China, kan je niet meer wegkijken. Elk mensenleven heeft waarde en het is aan ons, de mensen in posities van privilege, om te helpen in de strijd om de Oeigoeren te bevrijden.
Er is een grote campagne aan de gang: the coalition to end forced labour in the Uyghur region. Een samenwerking van 190 organisaties uit 36 landen, waaronder 70 Oeigoerse groepen. Ze maken een call to action om merken verantwoordelijk te houden zich uit te spreken tegen en een einde te maken aan de productie in de werkkampen. Binnen een jaar na het ondertekenen van deze call moeten de merken vrij zijn van Oeigoerse slavenarbeid. Er zijn namelijk geen manieren om te controleren dat producten uit de Xingjian-regio vrij zijn van gedwongen arbeid - daarom moeten de merken de banden onmiddellijk breken.
Het is verschrikkelijk wat er gebeurt - en we zullen meer en meer onze stemmen laten horen. De kledingindustrie heeft bloed aan haar handen, het is nu tijd om dat te veranderen.