(WASHINGTON D.C., 12/23/2021) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed President Biden’s of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (S.65/H.R.1155) into law.
Approved by the Senate and House in July and December respectively, the act will prohibit the importation of goods made with forced labor in China’s Uyghur Region by Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic ethnic minorities.
SEE: President Biden Signs Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Into Law
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Set to Become Law
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/uyghur-forced-labor-prevention-act-set-to-become-law
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw said:
“We welcome President Biden’s historic signing of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The Chinese government is conducting a brutal campaign of genocide against Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic ethnic minority groups in the Uyghur region. As part of that campaign, Chinese authorities have forced millions of Uyghurs into slavery at labor camps.
“By signing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, President Biden has provided our government with a powerful tool to ensure that no American corporation is able profit from Uyghur slave labor and thereby contribute to China’s genocide.”
Introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) with bipartisan support from Senator Jeff Merkely (D-OR), the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (S.65/H.R.1155) prohibits the importation of goods made with forced labor in China’s Uyghur Region by Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic ethnic minorities.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a “rebuttable presumption” that any goods made in the Xinjiang are made with forced labor and prohibited from entering the United States unless “clear and convincing” evidence is shown to the contrary.
The legislation would:
- Prohibit all imports from the Uyghur Region of China unless the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection can certify that the goods being imported to the U.S. are not produced, either wholly or in part, with forced labor and the Commissioner submits to Congress a report outlining such a determination;
- Authorize the President to apply targeted sanctions on anyone responsible for the labor trafficking of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities;
- Require financial disclosures from U.S. publicly traded businesses about their engagement with Chinese companies and other entities engaged in mass surveillance, mass interment, forced labor and other serious human rights abuses in the Uyghur Region;
- Direct the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a public determination of whether the practice of forced labor or other human rights abuses targeting Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the Uyghur Region constitute crimes against humanity or genocide, and directs the Secretary to develop a diplomatic strategy to address forced labor in the Uyghur Region; and
- Require a strategy report from the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (established by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act) and regular updates on the steps taken to enforce the import prohibition on forced labor made goods from the Uyghur Region.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com