People from the Turkic ethnic groups in Northwest China including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Uzbek and Tatars are currently the target of the largest organized detention of an ethno-religious community the world has seen since World War II. Since 2017, more than one million people have been rounded up and put into 1,200 internment camps across East Turkistan (Xinjiang). Hundreds of thousands are enslaved for the benefit of major international brands in the factories around those camps. Forced labour conditions include: o restrictions on the movement of labourers, o debt bondage, o constant digital surveillance, o forced isolation, o forced sterilization, o abusive working conditions, and o the withholding of wages. People detained are forcibly pushed to do low-skilled, labour-intensive work across the textile, garment, and automotive sectors. The Australian Government has taken steps to address China’s human rights violations In East Turkistan (Xinjiang) in recent years. However, its action is much behind than other democratic countries. Australia must take a strong stand against the well documented abuse of millions of Uyghur people in Xinjiang. It would be a human rights disgrace if Australia, under our free trade agreement with China, turned a blind eye to profiteering from what amounts to slave labour.
We therefore ask the House to call on the Australian Government to fulfil its pre-election promises to address issues of Uyghur forced labour by passing the Customs Amendment (Banning Goods Produced By Uyghur Forced Labour) Bill 2021.