Irish shoppers are buying clothing made from cotton produced through forced labor in China, human rights groups have warned.
Several well-known fashion and sports brands are named in documents submitted to Revenue Commissioners in recent days.
The groups called on the Treasury to impose an outright ban on imports of cotton products from China’s main cotton-producing region, which is also home to oppressed Uyghur people.
If Revenue fails to act, the groups say a case will be taken to the European Court of Justice citing member states’ duty to enforce EU law banning slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.
The move is occurring in parallel with legal action in the UK citing the failure of authorities there to investigate Chinese cotton imports under the Foreign Prison Products Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act.
It follows a law introduced in the US last year that assumes all goods produced in the Uyghur region are made using forced labor and prohibits their importation unless proven otherwise.
Xinjiang, the traditional home of the Uyghurs who call it East Turkistan, is the source of 85% of China’s huge cotton industry, which produces about 20% of the world’s supply.
Human rights groups have documented the detention of hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs in camps where they are used as forced labor in the industry.
The Galway and London-based Global Legal Action Group (GLAN) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) say they presented “overwhelming evidence” to Revenue last Friday that textiles and products from the region are ending up in Irish shops. .
Dr Gearóid Ó Cuinn, director of GLAN, said that international and EU human rights law prohibited forced labor and Ireland, as a signatory to both, had a duty to uphold that prohibition.
“It is remarkable that Ireland, the UK and the EU in general are open to imports of goods known to be produced from forced labour,” he said.
“The situation of the Uyghurs highlights the need for urgent action and a strong legal framework capable of excluding these controversial assets.”
The Chinese government disputes any abuse in relation to the Uyghurs and has described the camps as training facilities aimed at deradicalizing extremists, teaching livelihoods and alleviating poverty.
However, a report by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights last August concluded that “serious human rights violations” were taking place in the region.
The first of the UK cases is scheduled for a High Court hearing there on October 25-26.
Under the Foreign Prison Manufactured Goods Act, it is illegal to import goods made by people incarcerated abroad, but the law has never been cited in a case like this before.
The Proceeds of Crime Act prohibits the purchase of goods that are the proceeds of crime and GLAN and WUC will argue that buying cotton from forced labor is such an offence.
In their letter to the Revenue Commissioners here, they say that the EU and international law explicitly recognize the prohibition of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labor as a fundamental human right.
“Ireland is obliged to apply its import laws in a way that respects that prohibition,” they say.
Source: news.google.com