China on Wednesday ratified two international conventions against forced labor. It happened months after UN experts raised concerns about the country’s treatment of ethnic and religious minorities. This mainly relates to the alleged abuses, including forced labor, in the Xinjiang region. They are still playing.
China’s top legislature on Wednesday ratified the ratification of two anti-forced labor conventions, one from the International Labor Organization and the International Labor Organization and the other from the Abolition of Forced Labor Convention. The ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) agreements was one of the conditions set by the European Union for the approval of the bilateral investment agreement signed at the end of 2020.
China is accused of using forced labor in the country’s northwest region of Xinjiang, where human rights groups say Uyghurs are subjected to repression, discrimination and imprisonment in so-called re-education camps. The Uyghurs are a Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Beijing strongly denies the allegations. China insists that the camps are vocational training centers. They are said to be intended to diminish the appeal of Islamic extremism.
In February, a group of leading labor experts said in an International Labor Organization report that they were “deeply concerned” about China’s treatment of religious and ethnic minorities, including in Xinjiang.
The United Kingdom and the United States, among other countries, have criticized Chinese policy. The US State Department has previously called on China to end “genocide and crimes against humanity” in the region.
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