Forced labour claims put pressure on clothing industry to check cotton source

British retailers are under pressure to stop using cotton from Xinjiang in China after an investigation appeared to show hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other minority groups being used as forced labourers.

The investigation by the BBC uncovered documents and satellite imagery that suggest large numbers of the persecuted Uighur Muslim minority are being forced by the Communist Party to pick cotton or work in textile factories linked to detention camps.

About a fifth of the world’s cotton supply comes from Xinjiang and it is widely used in the fashion trade.

The Chinese government denies the claims, insisting that the camps are ‘‘vocational training schools’’ and the factories are part of a massive and voluntary ‘‘poverty alleviation’’ scheme.

The satellite images appear to show hundreds or possibly thousands of workers wearing the same colour uniforms marching from their ‘‘re-education’’ camp to an adjacent and newly-built textile factory. The content of the images could not be verified.

Schona Jolly, QC, the chairwoman of the Bar Human Rights Committee, told MPs on the foreign affairs committee that the garment industry could no longer be satisfied that Xinjiang cotton was not ‘‘tainted’’ by forced labour.

Only four of the biggest 30 fashion brands – Burberry, Marks & Spencer, Next and Tesco – have a policy of not using raw cotton from Xinjiang.

asked the UK Fashion and Textile Association whether it was confident that the supplies do not come from businesses that use forced labourers. It did not respond to the request to comment. –