(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/2/23) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today expressed support for a bipartisan call by some two dozen members of Congress for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to halt the initial public offering of Chinese fashion giant Shein until it proves it does not use forced labor.
SEE: US lawmakers push SEC to order audit of Shein IPO over Uyghur forced labor fears
Shein: China fashion giant faces US calls for probe over Uyghur claims
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65452976
The congressional letter calls on the SEC to independently verify “that the company does not use Uyghur forced labor as a condition of being registered to issue securities in the United States.”
“We welcome this bipartisan congressional effort to ensure that companies doing business in the United States do not profit from human rights abuses,” said CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw.
He noted that CAIR recently asked all Americans to take part in its easy-to-use click-and-send action alert requesting members of Congress in the U.S. House and Senate to co-sponsor and support the reintroduced bipartisan Uyghur Policy Act.
TAKE ACTION: CLICK HERE
Reintroduced by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Representatives Young Kim (R-CA) and Ami Bera (D-CA), this bill is critical to increasing U.S. support for the Uyghur diaspora in the United States and other countries, while advocating for the protection of Uyghurs in China who continue to suffer human rights abuses at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
CLICK HERE: READ THE BILL
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
On April 14, CAIR commended the efforts of congressional lawmakers for urging greater enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) to combat the ongoing human rights abuses faced by the Uyghur Muslim and other Turkic minority communities in China.
The prior day, Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), released a letter to Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Robert P. Silvers urging the Biden administration to increase transparency, prioritize the implementation, and enforcement of the UFLPA.
That week, CAIR also condemned the Chinese government’s reported use of spies to keep Muslim Uyghurs from fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
According to a report by Radio Free Asia, Chinese officials have deployed spies in neighborhoods in the Xinjiang province to monitor their adherence to religious practices during Ramadan. During the first week of Ramadan, authorities reportedly summoned 56 Uyghur residents and former detainees to interrogate them about their activities and determined that 54 of them violated the law by fasting.
SEE: CAIR Condemns Chinese Government’s Use of Spies to Disrupt Muslim Uyghurs’ Observance of Ramadan
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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, [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 Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]