Xinjiang facility gate

Institutionalized Oppression: Forced Labor Programs Targeting Uyghurs and Other Minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China

Since 2016, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has subjected Uyghurs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) to genocide, state-imposed forced labor, and crimes against humanity. (1)

China officially recognizes 55 ethnic groups in addition to the Han majority. Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other mostly Muslim minority groups are subjected to abuse and discrimination in places like the XUAR and elsewhere in the country.

Uyghurs detained in camps and forced to work in factories must endure oppressive conditions. In one internment camp in Kashgar, Xinjiang, Uyghur detainees work as forced laborers to produce textiles. They receive little pay, are not allowed to leave, and have limited or no communication with family members. If family communication and visits are allowed, they are heavily monitored and can be cut short. When not working, the Uyghur workers must learn Mandarin and undergo ideological indoctrination. However, these abuses are not just limited to the XUAR.

Beyond the XUAR, in the coastal Chinese province of Fujian, Uyghur workers at a factory in Quanzhou face similar abuses. They are made to live in separate dormitories from Han workers, surrounded by an iron gate and security cameras. Uyghurs often work longer hours than their Han co-workers. When finished for the day, the Uyghur workers are escorted back to their dormitories by provincial police officers from the XUAR – not Fujian. The local police say the roll call is to ensure no one is missing. However, Uyghur workers at this factory cannot exercise their free will to leave the premises. Even if they could leave, local police have confiscated their identification materials.

Standardizing State-Imposed Forced Labor 

In February 2024, the International Labor Organization (ILO) issued updated guidance on state-imposed forced labor, which it refers to forms of forced labor imposed by state authorities, agents acting on behalf of state authorities, and organizations with authority similar to the state. (2)

Different forms of state-imposed forced labor utilized by the CCP in the XUAR include prison labor, the “Vocational Skills Education and Training Centers” or reeducation centers, and transfers of non-detained rural “surplus” laborers into factory work, known as Poverty Alleviation Through Labor Transfer. (3) (4) Poverty Alleviation Through Labor Transfer involves local government agencies in the XUAR working directly with companies to relocate people from rural communities to industrial areas for employment, both inside the XUAR and throughout China. (3) The CCP gives subsidies to companies moving to the XUAR and for employing Muslim-minority workers. (5) These practices heighten demand for members of Muslim and ethnic minority groups that the government wants placed in work assignments where they can be controlled and watched, receive Mandarin-Chinese language training, and undergo political indoctrination. (5) Once at a work placement, workers are usually subjected to constant surveillance and isolation. Given the vast surveillance state in the XUAR and the threat of detention, individuals have little choice but to endure these unspeakable labor and human rights abuses. (6) The Poverty Alleviation Through Labor Transfer program has continued to expand and is now Xinjiang’s primary coercive labor system, with labor transfers occurring more than 3 million times in 2022. (7)

China’s State-Owned Paramilitary Force

The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) is a central entity used by the CCP to implement its system of forced labor, forced cultural assimilation, and society-wide control and coercion in the XUAR. The XPCC functions as a regional government, a paramilitary organization, a bureau of prisons, and one of the world’s largest state-run corporate enterprises. (8) The XPCC operates corporations in energy, mining, chemicals, oil and gas extraction, logistics, apparel, electronics, wine, food processing, insurance, tourism, and many other sectors. The goods produced by the XPCC reach far into global supply chains, and XPCC construction projects operate not only in the XUAR but throughout China and around the world. (5) In response to serious human and labor rights abuses committed by the XPCC against ethnic minorities, the United States government issued sanctions against the group and members of its leadership in 2020. (9)

From Cotton to Cars: The Growing List of Goods Produced by Forced Labor in China

Goods from China have been included on the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor of Forced Labor since 2009. The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) added five goods produced by forced labor by Muslim minorities in China to the 2020 edition of the List. These goods include gloves, hair products, textiles, thread/yarn, and tomato products. In 2021, ILAB added an additional good, polysilicon, produced by forced labor by Muslim minorities in China.

In 2024 edition of the List of Goods, ILAB added six more goods produced with forced labor by Muslim minorities in China. These goods include caustic soda, metallurgical grade silicon, polyvinyl chloride, aluminum, jujubes, and squid. Additionally, ILAB has added goods that are manufactured with input products made with forced labor in the XUAR, including Chinese auto parts that contain aluminum produced with forced labor, and Chinese thread/yarn, textiles, and garments that contain cotton produced with forced labor. Finally, ILAB has identified cotton garments produced in Vietnam as a downstream good that contains cotton produced with forced labor in China, which takes place primarily in the XUAR.

ILAB’s research used published victims' testimonies and media and think tank reports, to identify the various industries implicated in this system of forced labor. Given the vast state-sponsored structure in place and the control of information, it is likely that more goods produced with forced labor in China are part of the global supply chain than those currently listed in our reports. (10)

The UFLPA and Beyond: U.S. Efforts to address Forced Labor in the XUAR

In December 2021, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was enacted into law, establishing a rebuttable presumption that goods produced wholly or in part in the XUAR or by an entity on the UFLPA Entity List are made with forced labor and prohibited from importation into the U.S. under 19 U.S.C. (11) In 2023, the United States government published an addendum to the Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory, which encourages businesses and individuals to undertake appropriate human rights due diligence measures by identifying products with inputs from the XUAR, or potential supply chain links to entities operating in the XUAR or included on the UFLPA Entity List. (12) This business advisory, the UFLPA Strategy, and the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor and ILAB's Comply Chain due diligence tool for businesses, are practical guides for raising awareness and addressing this issue. With such severe and well-documented, widespread abuses, it is important that the world remain vigilant with respect to labor and goods linked to the XUAR and employ reasonable measures to guard against complicity in these violations.