2023-07-12 20:02:15
Among other things, it was claimed that Nike Canada Corp. maintains supply relationships with several Chinese companies that, according to the Australian think tank Australian Strategy Policy Institute (ASPI), use or at least profit from Uyghur forced labor. The Uyghurs are an oppressed Muslim minority in China.
In 2020, think tank ASPI released a report estimating more than 80,000 Uyghur men and women were employed to work in factories across China. The report said Nike “has not taken any concrete steps to ensure beyond any doubt that forced labor is not used in its supply chain.”
“We checked with contract suppliers”
Nike responded that it no longer had any ties to the Chinese companies accused of using Uyghur forced labor. According to the report, Nike declined to meet with the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), but did provide information.
Graphics: APA/ORF.at; Source: dpa
Nike also sent a letter to Ombudsman Sheri Meyerhoffer saying, “We are concerned about reports of forced labor in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.” that they do not use any textiles or yarn from this region.”
The Dynasty Gold report suggests the company benefited from the use of Uighur forced laborers at a mine in China in which the gold mining company has a majority stake. Dynasty Gold said it had no connection with the mine. The allegations arose after the company left the region. Executive director Ivy Chong told the CBC the original report was “completely unfounded”.
Complaints in other cases
The ethics watchdog has a mandate under Canadian law to hold Canadian apparel, mining and oil and gas companies operating outside the country accountable for potential human rights abuses, including in their supply chains.
“The allegations made by the complainants raise serious questions about possible abuses of the internationally recognized right to freedom from forced labour,” Ombudsman Meyerhoffer said in her first assessment, published on Tuesday. “It is our job to resolve human rights grievances fairly and impartially to help those affected and to strengthen responsible business practices by affected companies.”
This is the first such investigation CORE has conducted since its inception in 2021. The regulator investigated all the complaints filed in June 2022 by a coalition of 28 civil society organizations. In addition to the complaints against Nike and Dynasty Gold, there were eleven others that the regulator plans to publish reports on shortly.
Beijing denies allegations
For years, China has been accused of systematically repressing the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the north-western province of Xinjiang. A 2022 United Nations report said China had committed “grave human rights abuses” against Uyghurs that “may constitute international crimes, particularly crimes against humanity.”
More than a million people are being held in camps in the region, according to human rights organizations. Beijing is accused, among other things, of forced sterilization and forced labour. A number of Western companies, especially in the textile sector, are suspected of benefiting or having benefited. Beijing denies all allegations.
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