'Sorry, I'm not buying it'
Contact a company you recently bought clothes from and ask them to prove that they don’t source their cotton from the Uyghur Region – you could write anything from a letter to a tweet.
- Tweet or comment this on the brand’s Facebook posts:
‘How can I buy your products knowing they could be linked to the forced labour of Uyghurs? I urge you to check your supply chains and end all sourcing from Xinjiang. #ForcedLabourFashion @csw_uk’ - Write a personalised letter to your favourite brand using the template below.
- Sign this petition from our partners, Freedom United, calling on the Chinese government to free Uyghurs from forced labour.
How to write your letter
If possible:
- Begin by mentioning the latest item you bought from them, or how often you usually buy their products.
- Do some research and address your letter to someone at the company. It could be the CEO or, even better, someone who works in the Ethical Trading or Sustainability dept.
Dear
I am sure that you are committed to responsible sourcing and I would like reassurance that your sourcing from China is no exception.
Since around 2017, between one and three million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups have been placed in ‘re-education camps’ in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They are incarcerated for ‘crimes’ such as ‘unusual beards’, possessing a religious book, or meeting with others to pray.
Many of those released are sent to clothing factories that supply Chinese and Western brands. Gulzira Auelkhan, a Kazakh woman who was initially detained in an internment camp and then subjected to forced labour in a factory said: “The clothes factory was no different from the [internment] camp. There were police, cameras, you couldn’t go anywhere.”
The entire clothing industry is potentially tainted by forced Uyghur labour, and credible reports have implicated dozens of brands. The onus is on each corporation, including yours, to make a clear statement and ensure that you are not part of the problem.
I am writing as a supporter of CSW, a human rights organisation specialising in Freedom of Religion or Belief, and we are calling on brands to ensure that they are not supporting or benefiting from the forced labour of Uyghur and other peoples.
As a company that prioritises responsible sourcing, I urge you to sign the Coalition to End Uyghur Forced Labour’s ‘Brand Commitment to Exit the Uyghur Region’, committing to:
- Stop sourcing cotton, yarn, textiles and finished products from the Uyghur Region, directing all factories that supply your company with textiles and finished goods not to use cotton or yarn from the Uyghur region.
- Cut ties with companies implicated in forced labour – those that have operations in the Uyghur region and have accepted government subsidies and/or government-supplied labour at these operations.
- Prohibit any supplier factories located outside of the Uyghur Region from using Uyghurs or Turkic or Muslim workers supplied through the Chinese government’s forced labour transfer scheme.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Find out more
For more information on the situation in China read our latest report, Repressed, Removed, Re-Educated: The stranglehold on religious life in China.
If you have questions about this campaign, you can read these FAQs.
If you have questions about this campaign, you can read these FAQs.
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