Earlier this month an Australian-based Uyghur group launched legal action against Kmart in the federal court. The case has put the retailer’s supply chain under scrutiny for potential links to forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province. Nour Haydar speaks with senior reporter Ben Doherty about the legal action against Kmart and the warnings that Australia could become a dumping ground for products linked to forced labour The Guardian
Tag: Modern slavery
Kmart supply chains under scrutiny for potential Uyghur forced labour links in Australian court case
The letter was effusively polite, the allegations anything but. “We have the honour to address you,” the seven United Nations special rapporteurs began their correspondence to the head of Jiangsu Guotai Guosheng garment factory in China’s Xinjiang province. The 2021 letter then detailed allegations of brutal working conditions for members of China’s Uyghur minority, reportedly forcibly transported hundreds of kilometres and arbitrarily detained for re-education and forced labour. “Workers are reportedly required to work in fenced-in factories … allegedly exposed to intimidation, coercion, threats, and restriction on their freedom of…
At least 20% of NHS suppliers at ‘high risk’ of modern slavery use, review says
Over a fifth of NHS suppliers providing items including surgical instruments, gloves, gowns and face masks are at “high risk” of using modern slavery, according to a government review. Nearly half of all NHS suppliers of gowns and uniforms are based in China, which also provides the bulk of all masks. The finding is included in a review of 1,361 suppliers to the NHS, conducted by the Department of Health and Social Care, following a government commitment to eradicate modern slavery from the healthcare system. The review highlighted specific areas…