Washington DC [US] February 15 : Chinese authorities are transferring a large number of "surplus" rural workers to state-led labour programs throughout the nation in addition to using "vocational skills training and education centres" for forced labour in Xinjiang and Tibet, Voice of America reported citing a recent report by the United Nations' International Labour Organization.
The ILO report, which was made public on Monday, describes how Chinese officials have stepped up their efforts to look into and track poverty rates, increased the goals for labour transfers among provinces, and put pressure on ethnic smallholder farmers to give over their land to big state-run cooperatives.
Thousands of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet have been coerced into industries like solar panel production, battery manufacturing, seasonal agriculture, and seafood processing under the guise of "liberating" rural workers, VOA stated citing the report.
China has five autonomous areas at the province level, including the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Both are found throughout the western parts of the nation, VOA reported.
In VSTECs, Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities were arbitrarily detained in large numbers. This practice has subsequently been replaced with long-term incarceration in ordinary jails, a VOA report revealed.
According to the research as cited by VOA, the second system entails the mass transfer of "surplus" rural workers into state-led labour programs, diverting them from traditional means of subsistence and placing them in sectors like seafood processing, solar panel manufacturing, battery manufacturing, and seasonal agriculture.
The report further highlighted that human rights groups, governmental entities, and UN agencies have asked for accountability and transparency concerning labour conditions in Tibet and Xinjiang in recent years.
They have also urged nations and multinational corporations to reconsider their connections to supply chains associated with these regions.
According to the report, China has been formally asked by the ILO Committee of Experts to give thorough justifications and elucidate the actions it has taken in response to these accusations. To prevent ethnic and religious minorities from being coerced to work under the pretence of employment and deradicalization initiatives, the report urges Beijing to change regional and national policies.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor