Uyghur slave labor scandal in Europe!

It has emerged that products labelled "Italian Tomato Paste" sold in most supermarkets in Europe, particularly in the UK and Germany, are actually made from tomatoes picked by Uyghur Turks who are forced to work in the occupied Turkish homeland of East Turkistan. The BBC's special investigation has revealed the dark sides of the global food supply chain.

According to tests carried out by the BBC World Service, most supermarket chains in the UK and Germany are found to be using tomatoes grown in China on a large scale in their own-brand products.

BBC INTERVIEWED 14 UYGHUR TURKS

The BBC spoke to 14 people who have been forced to work in tomato fields in East Turkistan over the past 16 years or who witnessed it.

"Prison authorities told us that the tomatoes were being exported out of the country," one Uyghur Turk told the BBC in an interview. It was also learned that workers who could not meet the daily quota of up to 650 kilos were threatened with electric shocks with clubs.

"THERE WERE CHAINS HANGING FROM THE CEILING IN A DARK CELL"

A Uyghur Turk teacher who was imprisoned in 2015 due to irregularities in his travel documents said that he was forced to work in the fields and beaten because he could not meet the quota and said, "There were chains hanging from the ceiling in a dark cell. They hung me up there and said, 'Why don't you finish the job?' They hit me on my hips and ribs. I still have the scars."

THE SHOCK JOURNEY OF TOMATOES GOING TO ITALY

Tomatoes from East Turkistan are first sent to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and then to Italy. Tomatoes processed in Italy are sold to Europe under the label "Italian tomatoes." However, research shows that these tomatoes actually come from East Turkistan.

PETI GROUP AND THE "CHINESE TOMATO" CONFESSION

The Italian tomato paste brand Petti Group admitted to the scandal by saying, "Yes, we can say Chinese tomatoes" in secret camera footage by the BBC. The presence of barrels with the so-called "Xinjinag Guannong Tomato Products" written on them at the factory revealed serious problems in the supply chain.

According to the news, many supermarkets denied the findings that Chinese tomatoes were in their products and announced that internal inspections were carried out. However, some supermarket chains admitted that they had supplied these tomatoes and stated that they were continuing to investigate the situation.

International civil society organizations are emphasizing that the UK and Europe need to introduce stricter legal regulations to combat modern slave labor. He states that the current laws are inadequate and that stronger measures should be taken to prevent such scandals.

Most of China's tomatoes come from East Turkistan. Tomato farming here has been linked to the forced labor of Uyghurs and other Muslim Turkic peoples.

The United Nations accuses China, which sees these people as a security risk, of torture and abuse. China, on the other hand, denies the accusation that slave labor is used in the tomato industry and argues that the rights of workers are protected by law. They claim that the UN report is based on "disinformation and lies."

All supermarket chains whose products were tested also oppose the BBC's findings in order to hide their scandals.

China produces one-third of the world's tomato needs. Occupied East Turkistan also has a perfect climate for tomato cultivation.

Xinjiang is also a region where China began a mass detention program in 2017. Human rights groups say more than a million Uyghurs are held in hundreds of prisons that China describes as “re-education camps.”