Cotton On in human rights abuse claim
A COALITION of more than 180 human rights groups has named Geelong-based retailer Cotton On in its claim that “virtually the entire apparel industry”was complicit in forced labour and human rights violations in China.
Cotton On was one of 38 brands named by the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uighur Region (CEFLUR) on Friday as “linked … to specific cases of Uighur forced labour”.
The Uighurs are an ethnic minority group from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Re
GEELONG’S popular Piccadilly Market has reinvented itself to continue to support local makers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The market turned 10 this year and owner Janina Lear gion in China’s northwest, with a 2019 Four Corners investigation revealing Uighur Muslims had been detained and forced to work in textile factories.
But the brand responded that none of its direct suppliers or subcontractors were based in Xinjiang.
The CEFLUR on Friday called on retailers to “end their complicity in the Chinese government’s human rights abuses” by cutting ties to suppliers implicated in forced labour and no longer sourcing cotton or clothing from the Uighur region.
“Now is the time for real action from brands, governments said she expected to be celebrating with a large festivaltype event. Instead, she will today open Piccadilly Pop-Up General Store and sell products from 40 Victorian makers.
Instead of each maker manning their own stall and being based on site, Ms Lear will sell and international bodies – not empty declarations,” AntiSlavery International chief executive Jasmine O’Connor said.
“To end the slavery and horrific abuses of Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Turkic Muslim peoples by the Chinese government, brands must ensure their supply chains are not linked to the atrocities against these people. The only way brands can ensure they are not profiting from the exploitation is by exiting the region and ending relationships with suppliers propping up this Chinese government system.” all products with just 12 customers allowed in the James St store at one time.
“This means they still get their products to the world, so it is really helping small business for sure and it’s helping me too, this is my survival,” she said. “My goal has always been
Cotton On provided a statement on Friday declaring it had traced “100 per cent of our direct suppliers and subcontractors” and audited them regularly in partnership with its team in China.
“In mid-2016, we began publicly disclosing the details of our supplier base on our corporate website, reviewing and updating this list twice-yearly,” the company said
A March report from the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China found as many as 1.8 million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslim minorities “are, to support makers. This allows me to still do that and to run my business.”
The pop-up store will sell items including clothing, gourmet food, plants and decor.
“The majority of makers are local from Geelong and it is all Victorian. Everyone has to eior have been, arbitrarily detained in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region”.
“The severe human rights abuses, torture, political indoctrination, forced renunciations of faith, and widespread and systematic forced labour occurring in mass internment camps may constitute crimes against humanity under international law,” the report noted.
CEFLUR cited “credible investigations and reports” linking 38 brands with Uighur forced labour, including Nike, Adidas, Patagonia, Ikea, H&M, Woolworths and Target Australia. ther make or design the product,” Ms Lear said.
The store opens Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-4pm, with social distancing and hygiene standards in place.
The shopfront, opposite Coffee Cartel, is supplied free by Batman Investment.