In his latest report, researcher Dr. Adrian Zenz revealed the realities of forced labor in East Turkistan and Uzbekistan.
German anthropologist Dr. Adrian Zenz published a report titled “Forced Labor in the Cotton Harvesting in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) and Uzbekistan: A Comparative Analysis of State-Subsidised Forced Labor.”
The report strongly condemns systematic practices of state-sponsored forced labor, and reveals deeply embedded socio-cultural contexts and authoritarian regimes that create coercive labor environments in both regions that are not easily captured by standard measures such as the ILO's Forced Labor Indicators.
This new research by Zenz, a senior researcher at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, sheds light on differences in the rationale for coercion between the two regions, where the forced labor system in Uzbekistan exploits the structural marginalization of people for economic exploitation, while the system in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) aims to To achieve broader ethno-political goals. The report also notes that global sanctions target Uzbekistan's rationale for economic pressure and cause systemic change "due to the country's strong need to attract more foreign investment." However, without a coordinated response from the international community, Beijing's long-term economic and political goals in Xinjiang may mean that forced labor transfers to cotton picking and related industries could continue for a long time.
As Dr. said. Zenz in the report: “Beijing continues to exploit Uyghur labor to harvest cotton and increase its economic profits. It is time to coordinate international efforts to end consumer complicity in this brutality. In particular, the EU must develop a tool that not only addresses widespread forms of forced labor in supply chains.” global, but effectively targeting systemic, state-sponsored forced labor for Uyghurs.”