Zara and the Uyghur Emergency
Zara’s parent company, Inditex, claims to have a zero tolerance for all forms of forced labor. With previous statements on record claiming, “We have established policies and procedures to ensure forced labor does not take place in our supply chain.” Yet, after the release of a groundbreaking investigative report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the company has faced a contrasting unearthing. Inditex is now under investigation by French prosecutors surrounding the use of Uyghur forced labor in the Xinjiang province of China.
It’s no surprise that China has the world’s largest manufacturing economy and is the world’s largest exporter of goods. According to data published by the United Nations Statistics Division, China has accounted for 28.7% of global manufacturing output. However, in recent years there has emerged the beginnings of a shift away from mass textile production in the country. This shift is largely driven by stricter laws introduced in the United States and Europe against labor abuses, specifically the alleged use of forced labor in the cotton-rich territory of Xinjiang.
Photo Courtesy from New York Times
Xinjiang is home to the Uyghur population, an ethnic minority in China who see themselves as culturally and ethnically closer to Central Asian nations. Beginning in 2017, millions of Uyghurs disappeared into state sponsored “re-education” camps as a government initiative to forcibly assimilate Uyghur Muslim people with the Han Chinese majority ethnic group. Along with political indoctrination, torture, and religious persecution, the use of Uyghur forced labor is prevalent in Xinjiang factories. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has identified 27 factories in China that use Uyghur transferred labor; transferred labor that is upheld by the Chinese government’s policy term “Industrial Xinjiang Aid.” This policy has facilitated a mass relocation of “idle” Uyghurs to factories and workplaces across Chinese provinces in the name of “poverty alleviation.” Under this guise, it is extremely difficult for Uyghurs to escape or refuse work assignments, as they face constant surveillance, isolation, and threats.
A Zara store © AFP/Loïc Venance
The 27 factories identified by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute are allegedly a part of the supply chain of 82 well-known brands, including Zara. As roughly one out of five cotton garments contain cotton from Xinjiang, it is possible brands such as Zara are benefitting from Uyghur forced labor in their own supply chains. As the investigation continues, this particular case is important as it calls attention to the upsetting reality of forced labor in the fashion industry. It is a business that demands flexible, cheap, and highly profitable labor creating ideal conditions for forced labor to take place. Inditex’s silence on the issue of Uyghur forced labor ensures the possibility of the company’s exploitation of such working conditions. Both the Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region and the WRC suggest that buyers operate on the assumption that all products produced in part or in whole in the Uyghur Region are at high risk of being tainted by forced labor.
Article by Lucy Kaskie, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Alexa Dyer, Graphic Designer, PhotoBook Magazine
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