UK supply chains and Uyghur and Turkic Muslim forced labour in China

Situation in Xinjiang

Most of China’s Uyghur and Turkic Muslim population live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang).

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in their most recent human rights report published in July 2023, stated that in China in 2022: “Systematic repression of Uyghur culture, society and religion in Xinjiang continued, including ongoing mass detention”.

In 2021 the UK government placed sanctions on four Chinese officials and an official body, labelling them as “perpetrators of gross human rights violations taking place against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang”.

The NGO, Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a 2021 report states that “there have been numerous credible reports that Chinese authorities are subjecting Turkic Muslims to forced labour under the government’s ‘idle labour transfer programs’”. Under this program “ethnic minorities are placed in jobs, including in factories, in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China”. HRW also reports that forced Uyghur labour is linked to camps where Uyghurs are subject to mass detention.

China has denied allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and says reports of forced labour in the region are “an outrageous lie”. It claims that the West is trying to “fabricate lies” to “create ‘forced industrial decoupling’ and ‘forced unemployment’ in Xinjiang to suppress Chinese companies and industries to serve their malicious agenda to mess up Xinjiang and contain China”.

UK policy and legislation on forced labour

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is the key legal framework for assessing forced labour issues in supply chains in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own respective legislation.

Under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 commercial organisations with a turnover exceeding a specified threshold (currently £36 million) are required to produce an annual ‘Transparency in Supply Chains’ (TISC) statement setting out the steps they are taking to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

In 2019, following an Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and a consultation on business reporting under section 54 of the act, the government committed to improving supply chain transparency by extending requirements to public bodies and requiring these statements to be published on a register, which was set up in 2021.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre and the UK branch of Anti-Slavery International both welcomed the legislation but have called upon the government to strengthen it further.

The government has also addressed modern slavery and forced labour issues in government supply chains through public procurement rules.

In February 2023, the Cabinet Office updated its policy and guidance on tackling modern slavery in government supply chains (Procurement Policy Note 02/23). This sets out how government departments can manage modern slavery risk in public procurement. The Procurement Act 2023 entering into force in 2025, introduces a more stringent supplier exclusion regime, which permits contracting authorities to exclude suppliers from public contracts if they are involved in labour market misconduct.

Legislation in other countries

The EU is strengthening legislation to tackle modern slavery and forced labour. It passed a corporate sustainability due diligence directive in 2024 (that comes into force in 2026), which includes measures on slavery, child labour and labour exploitation. Large companies will be held liable for damage caused by violations and will be liable for compensation. UK companies with turnover within the EU over €1,500 million will have to apply the directive from 2027.

The United States has also introduced legislation tackling forced labour, including the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). This law created “a rebuttable presumption” that goods made in Xinjiang or by certain entities with ties to the region are made with forced labour and are banned from entering the US.