The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed the U.S. government’s decision to bar imports from 43 additional Chinese companies under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) over their alleged involvement in forced labor targeting Uyghur Muslims and other persecuted groups in China’s Xinjiang region.
The newly-designated companies are accused of participating in or benefiting from forced labor and will be prohibited from importing goods into the United States unless they can demonstrate their products are not connected to forced labor. The action expands U.S. efforts to prevent products linked to the Chinese government’s human rights abuses from entering American supply chains.
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw said:
“We welcome this important action to strengthen enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and hold companies accountable for profiting from the Chinese government’s campaign of repression against Uyghur Muslims. No business should benefit from forced labor or from a system of mass surveillance, arbitrary detention, and religious persecution. The United States and the international community must continue taking concrete steps to ensure that those responsible for these atrocities face meaningful consequences.”
Earlier this month, CAIR condemned China’s new “Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress,” warning that the measure will further institutionalize the Chinese government’s campaign to erase the religious, cultural, and linguistic identities of Uyghur Muslims, Tibetans, Mongolians, and other ethnic minorities.
Earlier this year, CAIR called on the State Department to demand that the Chinese government free Uyghur Muslims allegedly arrested observing the fast of Ramadan and allow the Uyghur population to observe the holy month in peace.
CAIR has repeatedly condemned the Chinese government’s genocide targeting Uyghur Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]