In light of the COVID-19 outbreak that started in Wuhan, China there has been heightened scrutiny of the country’s questionable business practices and allegations of basic human rights violations.
According to a new report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, China’s been accused of forcing Uyghur Muslims to work at factories that produce goods for well-known global companies including Apple, Nike, BMW, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen.
The Chinese government has previously been condemned for their practice of detaining an estimated million people, most of them Uyghurs, in internment camps. These so-called camps are basically prisons for the Uyghurs. The people are held involuntarily and subjected to forced ideological and behavioral re-education. Today In: Careers
The report documents that the Chinese government moved large numbers of the Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups to factories across the country. Over the last few years the Chinese government allocated approximately 80,000 Uyghurs to factories across the country where they work “under conditions that strongly suggest forced labor.” The Uyghurs produce an array of different parts and products on behalf of roughly 83 well-known international brands.
The report offers a harrowing insight into the conditions faced by the Uyghurs. In one of the shoe and sneaker factories in eastern China the site has watchtowers, barbed-wire fences and police guard boxes.
PROMOTEDDeloitte BRANDVOICE | Paid ProgramScaling The Heights: Digital Platforms And The Marketplace Of The FutureJapan BRANDVOICE | Paid ProgramHow This AI Engineer-Turned CEO Is Reshaping The Way We Work For Society 5.0Tableau APAC BRANDVOICE | Paid ProgramCorrecting Australia’s Skills Mismatch
The Uyghurs have been sent far from their homes and segregated from the outside world. They are subjected to ideological training, kept under constant surveillance and prohibited from observing their religious practices.
The Chinese government claims that the program is designed to help train Uighurs and provide them with jobs. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said that the allegations are “groundless” and “slander.”
The New York Post contacted a number of the companies implicated in the report. Apple said it had not seen the report and “Apple is dedicated to ensuring that everyone in our supply chain is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.” A number of the other companies offered similar responses.
It feels as if the outbreak is forcing respected global corporations to honestly look at the manner in which they conduct business. Yesterday, I reported that an unintended consequence of the COVID-19 virus is that major companies, including JPMorgan, Amazon, Twitter and Google, may start offering work-from-home options.
The genesis for the initiatives was to both try and avoid spreading the virus by not having too many people together in close proximity at the office and to test the efficacy of a large number of employees simultaneously working outside the confines of the office.
If these programs prove successful, companies may implement this work-from-home strategy on a large scale. The results will benefit everyone involved. The corporations will save a considerable amount of money in office rents. Parents will be overjoyed to have the opportunity to work at home and care for their children. They’ll also avoid long stressful commutes. Fewer cars and reduced traffic will contribute to helping save the environment.
The tragic story of what’s happening with the Uyghurs may force corporate changes. Executives will have to take a cold hard look at their supply chain and the circumstances of the workers making their products. They won’t be able to pretend that they’re unaware of some of the horrendous conditions that some workers are forced to endure.
Companies headquartered in the United States may elect to cut ties with certain countries and suppliers that don’t share our values such as offering basic human rights, dignity and freedoms. Manufacturing may return to the U.S. or to countries that care about their workers and employees.
From a horrific account of how some workers are treated, changes may be made for the better.