Slave Labor Camps Are Supplying American Fashion Brands

Slavery and indentured labor is widespread in the fashion industry, as I’ve reported in the past. This week, the South China Morning Post reports that China experts have gone to Capitol Hill to explain to lawmakers that American apparel brands may be benefiting directly from coerced labor carried out by Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority living in the Xinjiang autonomous region in China. The New York Times says that more than a million Uyghurs have been forcibly held in camps and subject to political indoctrination. A United Nations human rights panel said that Uyghurs were being detained in a “massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy.” The Chinese government refers to these camps as “vocational training centers.” New evidence has emerged that some of these Uyghurs being coerced to work in factories that make apparel and clothing—and may supply American retailers. Read more at Fast Company.