The forced labor of the Uyghurs at the heart of two investigations opened in Canada. Mining company Dynasty Gold and Nike Canada are in the crosshairs of the corporate accountability ombudsman, the latter’s office announced on Tuesday (July 11th), after two reports that suspect them of using forced minority labor ethnicity in China. Several complaints have been filed.
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” These companies, Nike Canada Corp. (Nikes) and Dynasty Gold Corporation (Dynasty Gold)allegedly had or have had supply chains or activities in the People’s Republic of China defined as using or benefiting from the use of forced Uyghur labor “, is it written, in a press release from the Office of the Canadian ombudsman of the responsibility of enterprises. The companies Nike Canada and Dynasty Gold are accused of profiting from the forced labor of the Uyghur Muslim minority. It would happen in the fields, in the workshops, and in the factories from Xinjiang Province.
” Serious questions raised »
Nike Canada is suspected of maintaining ” supply relationships with several Chinese companies identified as using or profiting from forced Uyghur labor ”, according to one of the reports. ” At first glance, the allegations made by the complainants raise serious questions about the possible infringement of the internationally recognized right to be free from forced labor. “, underlines the report dedicated to Nike Canada.
A coalition of 28 civil society organizations had filed several complaints in June 2022, on the foreign activities of these Canadian companies. According to them, ” there is no evidence that Nike Canada has taken any concrete steps to ensure beyond a reasonable doubt that forced labor is not part of its supply chain “.
The second investigation targets the Canadian mining company Dynasty Gold. The company would have benefited from the use of forced Uyghur labor in a mine in China in which it holds a majority stake “.
The two companies dispute these allegations, contacted in the evening, Nike had not reacted immediately. The announcement of the opening of the investigations was welcomed by the Project for the defense of the rights of the Uyghurs (PDDO), an association based in Ottawa, which applauded ” an important step in the right direction “.
With a history of abuse, Nike accused of forced labor by Washington
Nike is also singled out on this issue of forced labor in China by US parliamentarians : they asked last May for an independent investigation against several clothing groups, including Nike.
American equipment manufacturer Nike has a history of labor and human rights abuses. In the 1990s, Nike was at the center of several scandals after being accused of using child labor and using sweatshops (“ sweatshirts ”) in many factories around the world.
In February 2021, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion non-binding equating China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority with ” a genocide “, angering Beijing.
For several years, the Chinese authorities have been accused by Western countries of having massively locked up Uighurs and members of other predominantly Muslim minorities in re-education camps after bloody attacks in Xinjiang.
French justice dismissed a preliminary investigation in April targeting clothing giants such as Uniqlo and Inditex, accused by associations of having profited from the forced labor of Uyghurs in China. A new complaint was filed in May.
Read also“Genocide” against the Uyghurs: “I will never forget this hell, these rapes, these tortures”